Dear Members, Queridos Miembros,
Christmas greetings to you, and to all the different nationalities in our family of members – English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Dutch, Danish, Belgian, South African, Italian, Finnish, Swedish, American, Swiss, South American, and more! I hope you too enjoy Christmas, whatever your custom, and wherever you spend it.
Firstly, Membership Fee Increase next year: The Executive have decided that we need to increase the annual fee from €5 to €10 (there will still not be any joining fee). Some of you will have read this already in my report to you all about our last General Meeting. The reason for the increase is that, during the pandemic, activities and expenses were greatly reduced.
However, now that, post pandemic, we are ‘firing on all cylinders’, a review of our annual finances shows that, in order for the Committee to be able to organise events as we would wish, we need the freedom that would come from more income – otherwise it restricts the number and quality of events open to all members, and being held in a suitable venue. These social events allow members to, not just meet their colleagues in whatever Group they are in, but meet other members and learn about other Groups, and of course, meet the Committee who attend all these events.
We propose (as has always been the custom in the past), to introduce the increase with effect from 1 January next. We will then vote on it at the next AGM. While this was the custom in the past, I would like to change this in the future. So this year will be the last time that we will have a fee increase before it gets voted through by the members. Henceforth, we will wait until the following AGM, or have an Extraordinary General Meeting if deemed necessary.
Secondly, change of date for the AGM: Normally the AGM is in March. Next year we shall have the AGM on Wednesday 31 January. This will leave less time between the fee increase and the vote, and also allow those who wish to travel around the time of the Easter celebration (March & April) to do so without missing the AGM.
Thirdly, Welcome New Members: This year our membership has increased to just under 1,100 members, 174 of whom are new members this year. We note a significant and increasing diversity in nationalities joining. Many are new to Javea. I am delighted to tell you that we have established a “New Members Group”. They are welcoming new members and inviting them to come and join their Group, in order to learn more about Javea, Spain and the U3A itself. They have already asked us to establish 3 new groups, and we look forward to more new members adding their energy and enthusiasm to the organisation. The U3A Javea is alive and well!
Fourthly, Charity: We collected for charity at various social events this year. We donated €560 to Help of MARINA ALTA (who have helped various of our members in and out of hospital this year), and we have just donated €1,600 to Make A Smile (plus bags and bags of gifts and toiletries donated by members) for their Christmas Collection. Thank you everyone. Gracias a todos.
Happy Christmas everybody. Feliz fiestas. Or as they say where I come from – Nollaig shona.
And as they say here Un abrazo fuerte (a big hug).
Claude Grealy, President
