Minutes of General Meeting 7th September 2015

University of the Third Age Moraira-Teulada

Minutes of the Meeting held on 7th September 2015

At Salón de Banquettes, Teulada

 

It is confirmed that the President and the Secretary attended this Monthly Meeting as voted in at the AGM on 1st December 2014.

Jill Cole welcomed all the members to the September Meeting and especially the 30 new members. Jill explained the emergency procedures and said that the lift should not be used in the case of evacuation. It was requested that mobile phones were either turned off or put on silent.

David Haxon read out the synopsis of the Minutes from the Meeting held on 6th July 2015. The full minutes had been posted on the Website and they were proposed by Ian Brown and seconded by John Hopwood. The minutes were approved by the members with a show of hands.

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

President’s Address.

Jill opened her address by hoping that all present had a good summer and that the area had certainly been busy with lots of holiday makers, which has been good for the local economy.   As an aside, her father arrived on Friday and seemed to bring the rain with him, which was a shame as he wanted to see some sun, so hopefully we will have a few days of sun before he returns.

Jill asked if everyone enjoyed the Vuelta, as it certainly caused congestion getting off the Cumbre on Sunday evening.   Watching it on the TV afterwards, she was looking to see if she recognised anyone, and managed to spot Shirley as she was standing back from the crowd.

Jill said that she had been informed by a members that there had been changes at Denia hospital in its procedures.   When you have an appointment for screening, x-ray or scan, it is necessary to take your passport, copy of your NIE and SIP.   Help have confirmed these changes.

During the summer we have heard of a few members that have unfortunately passed away, Gerald Dobson, Richard Singleton and Kate O’Connell.   Our condolences go to their wives, family and friends.

It has been brought to the Committee and my attention that during some Group activities, there has been some unacceptable behaviour.   I wish to remind everyone that this U3A has a zero tolerance policy on such matter.   Should you feel that you have reason to complain, such complaints should be taken up with the Group Leader in a calm and responsible manner.

On a lighter note, in the company of Shirley Baehr she had a very successful meeting with the new Mayor Carlos Linares and Laura Hillstead on Wednesday.   Carlos was very interested in what we did as an organisation and how it enables people in the expat community to meet and make friends.

Carlos suggested that the Town Hall could provide a selection of talks/demonstrations on the local history, fiestas and culture.   These could be part of our Monthly Meetings or one ‘offs’ in La Senieta.

It was understood that there had been problems this month in distributing the Newsletter by email, possibly because some members might have assigned it to SPAM.   Members who do not want to receive the Newsletters, were asked to inform Pat Clarke, Membership Secretary of this, so as to avoid the problem being repeated.

 

REPORTS

Treasurers Report General Meeting on 7th September 2015.

On July 6th we held the following amounts
Contingency €  4.000,00    
Deposit account € 6.000,00    
Current account € 13.836,80    
Cash in hand €      935,57    
TOTAL € 24.772,37    
       
Income      
July 6 Renewals 8

   80,00

 
  New members 19

190,00

 
  Dinner/dance tickets 93 2325,00  
July/August 10 Interest bank account        0,33  
August 25 Keep Fit Group balance      52,70  
     

+   2.648,03

Expenses      
July/August Bank account charges/tax      14,41  
  Art/History Group    109,98  
  Raffle      50,00  
  Newsletter      22,50  
  Salon rent and coffee    131,00  
August 25 Golden Oldies sound system 2829,00  
August 25 Press Liaison      40,00  
August 25 Raffle tickets        2,60  
September 2 Farewell gift GroupL Keep Fit      50,00  
      -/- 3.284,49
       
On September 7th we hold the following amounts
Contingency €   4.000,00    
Deposit account €   6.000,00    
Current account € 13.593,72    
Cash in hand €     577,19    
TOTAL € 24.170,91    

 

Carin Derksen stated that there was a possibility of further expenditure by the Golden Oldies Group, now known as the U3A band, as €3,000 had been approved.

Group Coordinator

Shirley Baehr hoped that everyone had a great summer break.

The Spanish group were recommencing this and next week and members were asked to contact Pauline McGough direct for her group or Linda West who would give them information about Carmen and Laura’s groups.   All the Spanish groups require that you pay one month in advance and that applies even if you are away for one or two weeks during that month, as the teachers give us their commitment for the month regardless of the number of people attending the class.

Members were asked to check with individual groups regarding their arrangement after the summer break.

We have been approached by a Flamenco dance teacher to see if we like to form a group. If you are interested please come and see me (Shirley).

Patricia Klien has offered French lessons.   Information will be posted on the website when known. 

It is essential that we have new groups all the time otherwise we go stale.

Please let me (Shirley) have your ideas as she will do her best to fulfil them.

Do you want more social groups like Dining Out, Ladies Lunch or more hands on groups like Mosaics and arts, or other card games etc.   Please come forward if you feel you can run a group or have new ideas, I will help you in any way I can.

The website is a font of information and will give details of group activities, local events and much more.   We have been quiet, over the summer, but please keep looking, don’t forget to join our closed Facebook group, it is easy to join from the website.

Some groups are finding it difficult to continue.

Pilates is having problems getting enough people to attend and is therefore not covering the costs.   Julie Barry the group leader has suggested and she has spoken to Rani an excellent teacher, who can offer a class on Tuesday afternoon (previously Wednesday) from the 15th of September at 14:30 – 15:30 back in the larger room in Benitachell, which now has air conditioning.   The price would be €6 and Rani needs at least 8 people to make this class viable.  If you are interested contact Julie via the website.

Keep fit is also struggling, no pun intended and although Sue Hopwood has tried to find someone to take over running the group, this has not proved positive, so for the moment this group is on hold until someone comes forward to run it.   It has been a very successful group and Sue has worked very hard to keep it going.   We would like to thank her for all her hard work.   Sue was asked to come forward as we had have a gift in appreciation for you (to a round of applause).

I hope you continue and have fun with all your groups and as usual, I am happy to discuss any ideas for new groups.

Travel Group

Carol Mantle presented the report:-

All the day trips, the two to the Turron and Chocolate factory and also to the Ducal Palace and Xàtiva Castle were full with the exception of shopping trip to Valencia on the 11th November, where there were 10 places because as it was so popular another bus had been put on for this trip.

There are also spaces available on the IKEA trip on the 21st October, which is going to Murcia, mainly because the store in is bigger than that the one in Valencia and offers a wider range of products. We will also be going to the Shopping Centre as we usually do.

There are still places available on the Granada trip which is 6 days 5 nights from the 14th to the 19th May next year at a cost of €315. You will have the option on this trip of spending all you time in Granada or doing two days trips, one to the Alpujarras and the other to Nerja. Included in trip are entrances to the Alhambre and a Flamenco show. We will also be having a celebratory meal in the hotel on the last night of our stay.

Full details of all our trips are on the display board adjacent to the Travel Desk.

Cultural Arts

Hugh and Beverly Steward presented their joint report:-

From the 7th to 11th of September at 8 pm, the Javea Players present Crocodiles in Cream.   A portrait of Lewis Carroll in the Javea Players Studio, performed by Kevin Moore.   Crocodiles in Cream celebrates the 150th anniversary of the first publication of Lewis Carroll’s timeless classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Tickets €12.50.

Friday, 11th September 6:30 pm, Duo Intermezzo. A musical night to remember in the gardens of the Finca Jacaranda, Pedramala. Bring your own garden furniture and picnic tickets €12 – Cava draw.  Drinks available. For tickets contact Len Hartley on 96 584 7210.     One of the members present stated that they had been told by Jacaranda, that the evening was oversubscribed.

As reported last month, the Royal Opera House broadcast their top productions live around the world. The season starts with Romeo and Juliet on 22nd September at Cine Roma in Alfaz Del Pi. This is followed on 5th October by the Marriage of Figaro with other productions following more or less monthly. Call 96 888 266 for more information.

The Valencia Opera House has published their 2015/2016 program. You can view it directly on their website or look at the Cultural Arts desk for more information.

It was understood that the concert on the 4th October arranged by Concerts Costa Blanca in conjunction with Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia for La Boheme at the Valencia opera house (tickets were €75, including the bus) was sold out.   It might however be worth checking with the booking office.

Saturday 10th October, Costa Blanca Male Voice Choir presents “Just Us in Concert” at Salon de Actos in Teulada.   Tickets €10.

Sunday 18th October at 6 pm in the Auditori Teulada, Madame Butterfly is presented. Tickets €42.

Friday, 30th October – The Bourbon Street Stompers at the Teulada Moraira Auditori. This is the fourth visit of the Stompers, presented by Concerts Costa Blanca.   They will perform also in Palma de Mallorca, 1st November 2015.

On Friday, 6th November at 8 pm, Teulada Lions present, Simon Patrick as “Elvis”, with very special guests, “Mills and Boone” at Espai La Senieta, Moraira. Tickets €15.

 

Member Committee Liaison.

Brian Nicholls reported that the following in connection with the committee’s recent meeting:-

The committee reversed an early decision that was not in favour of speakers at the General Meetings giving talks on general financial products but for next year some members will be faced with having to declare UK State pensions, which will have a specific impact on those who also receive a Civil Service pension.  It was therefore decided that such a talk will be arranged to help clarify the situation, with specific regard to “wills and pensions”.

Some members were concerned about what they felt, was publicity for Bull Running in recent Newsletters. This was fully debated.  The conclusion was that it was only our role to simply convey this information on behalf of the Town Hall, which in this case, was about local fiestas, of which Bull running was a part. Members could obviously choose to attend or not.

Member Colin Mcnae is going to make a parachute jump in the autumn in aid of the RAFA charity association of which he is vice chairman of a local branch. Colin was a RAF pilot for 30 years included 10 years on the VIP and Queen’s flight. The committee agreed after debate, that a sponsorship form would be placed at the next general Meeting on the 7th September for anyone who would like to sponsor his jump from 14,000 feet.

It had already been agreed that this year a member of the British Legion would attend the October and November meetings to distribute the well-known red Flanders Poppy.

A request was made by a group of members to clarify why it was that a sum of €2.50 per person was collected on Music Nights, and how it was used. There was a long debate on this issue and I made it clear that this was just an enquiry and that it was in no way a criticism of the excellent reputation that our U3A band has.  Although the Group Leader has regularly presented very detailed annual accounts to the treasurer, the auditor and the Groups Coordinator, which have been fully accepted, it was finally decided by the committee that some items of the expenditure listed could be best met by an alternative method of payment and that the entrance fee may then be revised. The October concert had already been announced as being free entrance.

The only other issue is that the discussion and evaluation about the introduction of ‘PayPal’ continues. As soon as a decision is reached it will be circulated.

In conclusion, Brian advised those present that he was standing down in December as Member/Committee Liaison and that Lynn Clark had agreed to take over this role until the elections in March. In the meantime please contact either of us with issues to the Committee.

Any Other Business

Coral Guise-Smith explained the problems the claimants were having who independently took out personal insurance with Euroscope Insurance, despite the help from the organisers of the trip, in obtaining redress for losses during the recent trip to Vienna, Budapest and Prague.   It was being suggested that the losses fell outside the policy as they were deemed as ‘consequential’.   Her advice to members, was to check the small print.

Jill asked John Manley, who had agreed to take the minutes of this Meeting and the last Committee Meeting, as both the Secretary Yvonne Romain and her Deputy Secretary Margaret Roberts were in the UK, to draw the winning ticket.   The raffle, a gift voucher for Iceland Overseas was won by Dot Garret with ‘white ticket’ number 2.

 

There was no further business and the meeting closed at 11:15.

 

The next Monthly Meeting will be on 5th October 2015.

Proposed as a true and accurate record of the Meeting held on 7th September 2015.

 

Proposed by………………………………..Seconded by……………………………Date……………………………..

 

Secretary of the meeting John Manley.