Minutes of the Meeting on 4th April 2016

University of the Third Age Moraira-Teulada
Minutes of the Meeting held on 4th April 2016
at the Salon G.L., Teulada

It is confirmed that the President and Secretary attended this Monthly Meeting as voted in at the AGM on 7th March 2016.
John Hopwood welcomed everybody to this Meeting, especially the 43 new members. John explained the emergency procedures and said that the lift should not be used in the case of evacuation.
David Haxon read out the synopsis of the Minutes from the 7th March meeting. The full minutes had been posted on the Website and were proposed by Robin Wood and seconded by Peter Lobb. The minutes were approved by the members with a show of hands.
There were no matters arising from the minutes.

President’s Address

John welcomed everybody and advised that before the meeting there were 1663 members, this was 21 more than at the end of 2015. With the 43 new members at today’s meeting, the membership numbers were looking good. This must be a reflection on the efforts and time put in to creating and managing groups and the efforts of the Committee members. The members showed their appreciation with a round of applause. John advised some very sad news of two members of the U3A that had passed away suddenly. Carol Barnérias died on Friday after a short illness and condolences go to her brother, her only family. Michael Ballantyne had collapsed and died whilst on a charity walk and condolences go to his wife, Glynis.

REPORTS

Treasurer

Carin Derksen presented the report to the Members. A copy of the full report is attached to the Minutes.

Group Coordinator

Lynn Clark introduced herself, explaining that she used to be known as Shirley Baehr’s ‘little helper’ but now had a helper of her own – her husband Brian. Although he has been helpful in collecting notes from members, he was on a verbal warning due to promising that Lynn would reply to members immediately. Lynn went on to explain her role of coordinating Group activities and the need for suggestions of new Groups and enthusiastic Group Leaders. Some ideas had already been given to Lynn, Poetry, Francophile, French, Scrabble, Slimming for Summer and Line Dancing, and welcomes anyone that felt they could be a Group Leader. Two groups are looking for new leaders. Any volunteers would receive a big hug.

Travel Group

Carol Mantle announced the following Trips:

Day Trips – 21st September and 16th November coach to Valencia, as they are very popular Carol suggested booking as soon as possible.
A trip to Cocentaina is being planned for 31st October.
Overnight Trips – 29th November to 2nd December 2016 Christmas shopping in Barcelona, 4 days and 3 nights at a cost of €235 per person.
February/March 2017 a trip to Cambodia and Vietnam provisionally costed at €2.800,00 per person with a single supplement of €1.000,00. Possibly stopping at Bangkok Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and a cruise in the Halong Bay.
The Lisbon trip has been rescheduled for 5th to 10th June 2017, flying to Lisbon via Madrid with a coach return. 3 nights in Lisbon, I night in Merida and I night in Ciudad Real. The cost is €590 and will include the flights, airport transfer, half-board during the stay and lunch in a Bodega on the return journey.
Full details of all the trips are available on the website and on the display board near the Travel desk at the monthly meetings.

Cultural Arts

A brief outline was given by Beverly & Hugh Stewart of some of the planned events over the months to come.
The Royal Opera House broadcast live at Cine Roma in Alfaz del Pi and at Condado theatre in Denia – a few of the forthcoming productions are:
6th April – Ballet, Giselle
25th April – Opera, Lucia di Lammermoor
18th May – Ballet, Frankenstein
The Cine Jayan in Javea is offering opera screenings:
21st April –Opera, Barber of Seville
12th May – Opera, Nabucco
Calpe Gilbert and Sullivan society’s spring production will be Ruddigore :
13th April, Wednesday at Casa de Cultura, Alfaz del Pi
21st April, Thursday at Salon Blau, Calpe
La Boheme, opera concert is at the Casa de Cultura in Calpe on 15th April.
It is 400 years since Shakespeare died, so there will be a good many events to celebrate this anniversary, one of which will be the flower festival to be held at the Ermita San Josef on Saturday 23rd April from 11.00 to 15.00. For more information please contact Eileen Hudson or visit the website.
Concerts Costa Blanca present:
24th April – Idomeneo (Mozart) at the Valencia Opera (Reina Sofia)
15th May – Don Quijote at the Reina Sofia (Valencia)
7th,8th & 9th April – Christopher Robbie in ‘Beyond Paradise’ a one-man play, the life of Darwin at La Senieta, Moraira.
18th May- Adda,Alicante and 19th May Teulada Moaraira Auditori – Curtis Institute of Music (European Tour).
Haochen Zhang (piano) with the ‘Orquesta de Camara de la Comunidad Valenciana, various dates at the beginning of June in Alicante, Teulada and Valencia
12th June Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Valencia Opera (Reina Sofia)
Full details are on the U3A Moraira-Teulada website.

Members/Committee Liaison Officer

Prue Jackson introduced herself and thanked Brian Nicholls for helping her take over this position. Prue said she was happy to meet any member who wishes to speak with her, which would be confidential as the committee would not be told of individual names. Prue mentioned the events planned for this year, by the social committee, following comments by members. The Summer Dinner Dance, A picnic at Font Santa and The Christmas Party.
There were no matters arising from any of the Reports.
Any Other Business
John mentioned the Summer Dinner Dance on Friday 10th June starting with a cava reception at 19.00, followed by the dinner at 20.00 at a cost of €25 per person. Although the event is some way off, there were only two chances to buy tickets, at the meeting today and the next Monthly Meeting on Monday 2nd May.
John had noted there were 23 Group leaders at this meeting ready to talk to any member, requiring any information about a Group. All the Groups and Leaders can be seen on the website.
John reminded members that a paper copy of the News Letter was available at La Senieta, and kept on the back desk, under the counter.
As no other business, John introduced Eileen who is responsible for finding Speakers for the Monthly Meetings.
Eileen Haxon introduced Peter Atkinson who would give a talk on the Life and Works of Antoni Gaudi.
After a very interesting talk, John thanked Peter on behalf of the Members and presented Peter with a gift of appreciation, which was followed by a round of applause.
The raffle was drawn and Eileen Hodson had the winning ticket, the prize was a €50 voucher for Pepe La Sal.
The meeting closed at 11.45.

The next Monthly Meeting will be on 2nd May 2016

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

Click to access treasurers-Report-May-4-GM.pdf