Committee Report: 2025
COMMITTEE REPORT ON 2025 ACTIVITIES OF THE ALMANZORA GROUP OF FRIENDS
We welcomed some new committee members at the last AGM and were able to carry out a lot of the activities we had had on our ‘wish list’.
One item on our ‘wish list’ was to try and set up a transport service to the library for those at home who cannot get in. In order to judge the feasibility of this we asked members who would find it useful – but we had little response, so regretfully we had to shelve it. We also talked about the possibility of taking books on loan to members’ homes, but this was also put on hold for the moment.
One of Shelagh’s ‘babies’ is Coffee Spanglish which she and Sarah Makin introduced in 2016. We now meet in the library on a Friday from 4:00 to have conversations on topics of our choice in Spanish and in English. We must sincerely thank Cristina Diaz Garcia for keeping this going and for Alison Shand
for helping with the facilitating.
The centre team were on hand all year to book members on trips, renew membership, join new members and lend out library books.
That said, we would love to see more of you visiting the centre for a chat, choosing a book from our extensive library, and/or using upstairs for social activities.
Kate Salt continued to offer her translation services to members and Nicki Wakeman of the Angels Nursing Care continued her blood pressure check-ups on the first Thursday of each month.
Maura Hillen offered members advice on matters relating to property and inheritance planning but (unfortunately for us, happily for her) Maura will be retiring in July 2026 to devote her time to a little dog charity in Chirivel and also to travel more. Maura has been very helpful over the years in guiding us through legal matters affecting the association and we are very grateful.
Membership
We have sadly lost some members and others have moved away, but we have gained new arrivals so our membership over the last 10 years remains steady – around 250.
Advertising
We have added a new advertiser – the Rambla Cafe who sponsored our Autumn Open Day.
Publicity
Linda Wisbach was persuaded to take on this role after the last AGM. With her computer abilities she has produce some lovely posters and spread the word on a multitude of Facebook sites as well as radio stations, especially Breeze fm who have supported us for the last few years. She has also resumed contact with the Euroweekly and we have had a few articles published there.
We have been gradually updating our website and Facebook pages to make them more useful . We now have almost 1,000 followers on Facebook. This seems to be an effective way to publicise ourselves.
Library
We have put 152 new additions onto the shelves, of which 36 were newly purchased.
Puppy Rescue moved from their stall at Los Llanos market to the larger one from which Dean used to sell his books. He left hundreds behind which Puppy Rescue offered to us. We took a great deal of them – some we added to our library shelves but Martin took most of them to the schools, who were extremely grateful.
We donated €100 to Puppy Rescue as a thank you.
Events
- 11 th April – Alison Shand’s Glue Gun Day for Beginners which was great fun.
- 23 rd April – St George’s Day and Day of the Book and the Rose – we gave away a
free book and rose in the library to all who came through the door. - 26 th April – Walk for Life – Linda, Melanie, Val and Alan, Martin, Andrea and
Shelagh did the walk. Martin was dressed as a Monk for which he won first prize
for Best Fancy Dress. He was delighted !! - They were thrilled with our donation of €1,000.
- 3rd May – Fun Day in the library and the plaza, sponsored by Ibex Insurance, where Martin thoroughly entertained the local children (and adults!).
- 21 st June – Alison’s Rock Art class combined a local resource that is all around us (rocks and pebbles) with some fun interpretations of nature painted on them.
- 13 th September – we held our Autumn event, sponsored by the Rambla Cafe who provided the buffet. Chris Weir gave a very useful and amusing talk on home and personal security. Ian provided the ever popular ‘Play Your Cards Right’ and Martin with Andrea entertained the children in the plaza. Vicky from Caritas was overwhelmed by your donates of €250 in cash and three crates of food.
- 6 th December – our last event of the year, Dave Sharpe MBE, Conductor of the Orquestra Ciudad de Vera, entertained us with some Christmas songs along with tales from his career in the Royal Marines. Martin entertained the children in the plaza and attendees brought money and gifts
- for the Caritas children’s Christmas appeal.
Travel
2025 was another successful year with day trips and mini holidays, all well subscribed and some with a reserve list.
Overnight Trips
Unfortunately, due to low numbers, we had to cancel the proposed May trip to Cadiz and Jerez.
In September a group of 43 travelled to Merida. They were taken on a guided tour of the town, which included the theatre and Roman amphitheatre. There was a visit to Cáceres, one of the best-preserved medieval centres of Europe, where they were introduced to the town by a local guide. The group also visited Torta del Casar cheese factory in Casar de Cáceres, where they learnt about the process and were
offered samples of the sharp-tasting cheese. All in all a successful trip.
Our final overnight trip of the year was in December to Madrid. 44 joined the coach. With the exception of a group morning visit to the Valley of the Fallen (Valle de Cuelgamuros) a spectacular monument dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives during the Spanish Civil War, the remaining days of the three-night trip were spent enjoying free-time to explore the city.
Day Trips
In 2025 we ran six trips:
- February saw us returning to the Sierra Nevada ski resort.
- March we visited a rum distillery in Motril.
- May a trip around the Cabo de Gata, this was followed by a gastronomic lunch in
Carboneras, which was a great hit with our travellers. - In June we visited the Butterfly Farm and Cactus Gardens in Nijar. We finished
off the day in Carboneras with free time to relax and enjoy the lunch of our choice. - October saw us making a return visit to Castril. Unfortunately, the trip was
disappointing and not up to our usual standard. - Our final trip was in November to Alicante. A great day out with free time for our
travellers to explore the city.
We hope to run another six trips in 2026 and have a few ideas in the pipeline, which hopefully all will be up to our normally high standards.
Editor
By the last AGM Maria Elena had completed a year as Editor before she had to resign, after the December issue, due to other commitments.
The committee decided that while trying to find another magazine editor we would produce a simple newsletter which we would email to members. Chris Hurley, Angela Curran and Shelagh spent many happy (and frustrating) hours producing the January newsletter. But then we found Alison Arnold (one of our Friday library team) who has the necessary expertise and enthusiasm to take this on and since then it has been onwards and upwards.
The majority of feedback is that the emailed version has been welcomed but others prefer a hard copy. For those who cannot print one off at home, we can do this in the centre on request.
Thanks to Jos for her very amusing articles and to Brian Firth for his book reviews. Also to Di Drummond for her new puzzle.
Schools Visits
Ian Hurley continues to work with the Albox Secondary School – RES Martin Garcia Ramos – to help with conversational English, working in line with the school’s curriculum.
Martin Evans works with the local primary schools and had this to say:
Lots of interesting things happening in the schools we visit, also other things come out of these visits.
We were very lucky to be invited to visit Huercal Overa school in December to help 50 new students with games and English speaking activities. This happened because one 7-year old child at Saliente school, Albox went home and told her mother what a fantastic time she had had with five crazy English people playing games. Her mother was a teacher at Huercal Overa school and wanted us to do the same for her students, which we did and had a great time. We will be asked back as the year progresses.
Albox town council have asked us to read to 200 children over three days in May for World Book Week, this comes from the lady who works in the library seeing us working with the children in the school.
Shelagh highlighted that Martin and Andrea and their team are proving so popular with the schools in Albox and Zurgena, that they have been approached by other schools to come and practice English with their students in an interactive way. But they need help.
If you enjoy talking to and playing with children then this could be for you. If you can spare an hour on a Thursday or Friday morning, please have a chat to Martin after the meeting. No previous experience required; no formal contracts. Try it and see if it is for you. It is fun and very rewarding.
Finally, at the end of the year, Vicky White from Caritas again used upstairs in our premises to wrap the gifts for the local children, who were so excited to receive them.
