Committee Present: President: Val Dromgoole Vice-President: Peter Allin Deputy Secretary: Jacqui Rogerson Treasurer: Mick Cox Communications Officer: Ian Rogerson Groups Coordinator: David Whybrow Deputy Membership Secretary: Julie Robson
Apologies: Membership Secretary: Stan Staines Location: Parador, Jávea The Meeting convened at 11.00am
1: Welcome & Apologies
VD welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were sent by the Membership Secretary (SS). The President (VD) apologised for the fact that she would not be at the September General Meeting as she will be away on a cruise.
2: Approval of May 2019 General Meeting Minutes
Last month’s General Meeting minutes were agreed and signed by two members from the audience.
3: Announcements
VD requested that members stop using the old .org website and now use the new u3ajavea.com website. If you wish to write to a committee member, you are able to do this quite easily by logging onto the new website .com address and then hovering over the picture of the committee member – then their email address will appear where you can directly write to them. VD emphasised that all trips and group activities are for U3A members only, although, in the event of places becoming available, non-members may be invited to attend.
4: President’s Report
VD reported that Hallowe’en Party tickets are still available. VD appealed for members to donate more raffle prizes in order to raise money for our chosen charity. VD reminded members that many U3A events take a break during the summer months and the next General Meeting would be in September. She wished everyone a lovely summer.
5: Vice-President’s Report
PA stated that the next two speakers for September and October General meetings would be Angela Chantry (History of Javea) and John Hopwood (The History of the Bicycle) respectively. He appealed to members to let him know of any other good speakers for next year. The Discount List continues to be updated regularly.
6: Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer (MC) reported that Javea U3A currently has €65,587.97 in the bank, of which €35,511.80 is being held for Travel, special events etc as well as €150 for charity. This leaves a balance of €29,926,09.
MC reported that the U3A was transferring its bank account from Caixa to Sabadell and that an announcement would be made when the move was finalised and the account up and running. He urged members to ensure that, when makings bank transfers, they use the .com email address.
MC did not finish with the customary treasurer’s jokes out of respect for the loss of his wife Val’s daughter, Sharon, who had sadly passed away on Monday morning, aged just 41.
7: Communications Officer’s Report
IR reported that the May Glitter Ball had been a great success and he had taken over 250 photos, many of which had been posted on Facebook, on our new website and in local newspapers. Members wishing to attend the Hallowe’en Party would still be able to purchase tickets at the September meeting. In closing, IR wished everyone a good summer.
8: Groups Coordinator’s Report
Groups Coordinator (DW) said there had been considerable interest in forming a new Chess Group, but appealed for someone to volunteer as group leader. Marion Monsell is retiring as group leader of Sunday Singles and Netta Tyler will be taking over in July. DW said that our Gesters, LexTax, will be handling sports centre bookings over the summer. DW thanked all group leaders for their hard work throughout the year and wished them a good summer.
9: Membership Secretary’s Report
Deputy Membership Secretary (JR) welcomed 10 new members who had joined today, which now brought the total membership to 1,317.
10: Questions from the floor (AOB)
There were no questions from the floor.
11: Guest Speaker – Robert Van De Loo
The meeting finished with an extremely interesting and entertaining talk by guest speaker Robert Van De Loo on his career as a UN peacekeeper. He talked about his experiences in some of the most dangerous war zones throughout the world, but said it had been tremendously rewarding and he had no regrets. He was grateful to his wife and daughter for their support, not least for their patience having to move home 37 times! There were several interesting questions from the audience.
Robert was thanked for his talk by Vice-President (PA) and presented with a gift.
