President 2023 AGM Report – January 2024

We had planned to hold our AGM on Monday 29 th January 2024 but – due to the
rise in Covid etc with masks becoming compulsory in some places – we felt it
prudent to postpone the meeting for a week or two. However, in February, people
are still suffering with one virus or another and it doesn’t seem as though a
physical meeting can be held any time soon. As we need to re-elect our current
committee and ratify the co-options, we are sending this report out to members via
email. A hard copy of this and the end of year accounts will be available in the
centre for any member to ask to read.
1. Minutes of last year’s meeting
These have been held in the centre since the last AGM, with the end of year
accounts for any member to read on request.
2. President’s report
We have had quite a year with lots of new initiatives.
First of all, we had to call an Extraordinary General Meeting on 24 th January to
re-elect our committee members, and in particular the bank signatories. This
would normally have waited until the AGM on 30th January, but the bank had
frozen our account until we provided this paperwork and we had a travel
deposit to pay immediately.
We then held the AGM on 30 th January as planned. Several suggestions were
made at this meeting, which we subsequently implemented – the first one being
the re-introduction of a Suggestion Box in the centre.
On 31 st July we held a brainstorming meeting upstairs in the centre – entitled
‘Use it or Lose It’ – to ask for members’ ideas on how to attract more members
and how to improve our services to current members. Thank you to all who
attended and those who couldn’t but sent in their feedback.
We have taken every single suggestion forward. We have been able to
implement some, others are still in progress, some turned out to be
impracticable but we tried them all.

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In October, Coffee Spanglish moved to the centre from various hostelries. It is
held from 5.00 to 6.30/7.00 on a Thursday evening and we have about 24
participants although not all attend at the same time. It is very flexible. We are
very fortunate to have Cristina Diaz Garcia running it with many of her Spanish
colleagues from the Saliente school also attending.
Also in October we produced a 25 th anniversary edition of the magazine to mark
the first newsletter published in October 1998 by Max Kite – the forerunner of
many versions before our current one. And from where the group originated all
those years ago.
On 6 th November the new Albox mayor came to visit with some of her
colleagues. They were very impressed and particularly interested in Coffee
Spanglish. They confirmed our continued use of the premises and we will sign
a new contract in due course.
Finally, in December, Caritas used upstairs in our premises to wrap the donated
gifts to give to the children on 6 th January. Thank you all for your generosity.
3. Treasurer’s report
A copy of the end of year accounts is available in the centre for members to see
on request.
We ended the financial year in a healthy position. One change that was
approved by the committee was to close an investment account (which the
previous bank had forced us to open). The account had not performed as well
as expected due to the economic climate globally and we felt it safer to keep the
funds in the current account. Going forward we continue to support our local
charities and seek out travel excursions that the membership will actively
support. Here's to a bright 2024 financially !   
4. Centre Manager report
2023 was a busy year for the volunteers, booking people on the many trips and
excursions. As a positive move and to encourage ideas from our members, we
introduced a suggestion box to the library, as suggested at the AGM.

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At the end of May/early June, after a heavy rainstorm, the storeroom on the
ground floor was flooded and the water had seeped into the library. Fortunately
there was no damage to the books, although the Tuesday ladies spent a couple
of hours mopping up the water. Again, one day during the summer, another
heavy rainstorm flooded the storeroom and a few of us spent a Sunday morning
clearing up the debris.
As a result of checking the source of the flooding problem, Martin checked the
upstairs storeroom to find that not only was there a blockage in the drain but
there had been an invasion of termites. There was considerable damage to
shelving, paper records and files, many of which had to be destroyed.
During the following weeks Martin cleared the drains and the room for termites
and was confident that the eggs had been removed and there appeared to be no
evidence of more infestation; destroying the damaged shelving and files was
considered to be the correct action. However, we still have to be vigilant,
particularly during the summer months when the outer door will need to be kept
open to allow air flow.
In September it was found that we had a problem with the electricity- possibly
as a result of the heavy rain seeping into the building – and the fridge in the
storeroom had ceased to work. As a result of this a new, slightly larger fridge
was purchased in Electro Ahorro, and the old one was removed by them
Referring to the electricity, this had now become urgent and the Ayuntamiento
had been notified. Martin had demonstrated a dangerous fitting on the internal
circuit/switch board. He also pointed out there was a problem with the
incoming electricity on the outside of the building. This had also affected the
internet connection. An electrician from the Ayuntamiento visited and rectified
the problem.
In September we started a tidy up of the foyer, removing all old books for sale
and donating them to local charities and introducing two display boards on the
walls. However, a few of our members said they liked to look through the
books and asked if we could reintroduce them which we have started to do.

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We would like to thank both Kate Salt, who offers her help and support for free
on a Friday, also Nicky Wakeman of the Angels Nursing Care for her monthly
blood pressure check-ups on the first Thursday in the month. Also our lovely
cleaner, Marina, who keeps the building spic and span.
A big thank you goes out to our team of volunteers who are always on hand;
without them the library would not open. Unfortunately our helpers have
dwindled, with many leaving the area and the country. With a bit of a juggling
act we managed to keep the doors open. You, our members, have been very
understanding and always come through the door with a smiling face and
cheerful manner.
If you can spare a few hours to come in and help it would be very much
appreciated.
Unfortunately we cannot offer a lucrative salary, just a chance to meet different
people, work with a friendly team and often leave the centre with a smile on
your face. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your
continued support.
5. Membership report
We ended the year with 272 members. We sadly lost several long time
members but we gained some who have just moved into the area. We hope our
current members will spread the word and encourage their new neighbours to
join.
We look forward to seeing you at the Library whenever you can make it,
whether it’s to return/take out books, attend our social events, seek information
or just drop in for a chat.
If you enjoy what we have to offer, please recommend us to your family,
friends, neighbours and new residents.
6. Advertising report
We really appreciate the continued support of our advertisers. A few dropped
out during the past year for a variety of reasons, but we have had new
companies join and there are others in the pipeline.

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The revenue generated by the advertisements goes towards the publication of
the magazine and our continued support of Caritas, the Ukrainian appeal, other
local charities and the local community.
Please support our advertisers by shopping locally whenever possible.
7. Publicity report
On 29 th April, Shelagh, Kathy, Frank, Martin and Andrea Evans and Sheila Dye
represented the group in the ‘Walk for Life’, Arboleas.
On 14 th October , Kathy, Martin and Andrea represented the group at the ‘Make
a Wish’event in Cantoria.
We are happy to promote the group at any such event so please do let us know
if there is anything appropriate in your area.
Again we have been supported by Breeze FM in their various charitable events
(especially the Caritas Christmas Appeal).
Alan Pearce from Arboleas Life has also helped very much by sharing our
Facebook posts and including our contributions on his online magazine.
Almeria Living has included us in their community new page and the Euro
Weekly News have printed our articles on prominent pages.
Our thanks to them all.
We have been gradually updating our website and Facebook pages to make
them more useful to our members.
8. Travel report
2023 was another successful year with day trips and mini holidays, all well
subscribed and some with a reserve list.

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In April we visited Huelva and Seville, staying in the superb Hotel Barceló
Punto Umbría Mar 4* in Punto Umbría.
In June we had the ‘Best of Castilla’, taking in the wonderful cities of Avila,
Salamanca, Segovia and Toledo. This was an extremely interesting trip, with
positive feedback from the travellers.
We finished off the end of the year with a trip to Valencia. Again, Danny from
Hidden Corners of Spain did us proud with an excellent hotel.
Day trips saw us visiting Cartagena in March, a Mystery Lunch in May, Velez
Blanco in September – visiting the Castle followed by a delicious lunch at a
local restaurant.
Finishing off the day trips In October we visited the Monasteriode Santa Eulalia
in Aledo near Totana, partaking in a very tasty lunch in their excellent
restaurant.
If you have suggestions for day trips we would love to hear from you. Thank
you to members for your continued support.
Finally, Frank would like to add that it has been a pleasure working with Ian
Hurley over the last few years and his contribution will be sorely missed by the
group. At the same time, we welcome Alan Boscott to the travel team. We are
sure he will do a great job.
9. Librarian’s report
Thank you to all who donated books for the library and money to buy new
books. This allowed us to put 180 new additions onto the shelves, of which 60
were newly purchased.
We have been reducing the number of Science Fiction/Fantasy and non-fiction
books on the shelves as many have not been taken out for years. We will use
the extra space to bring the children’s books from upstairs and increase some of
the other categories.

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10. Events report
During 2023 we held 8 events as follows:
On 25th March we held our usual Easter celebrations together with an Easter
bonnet competition.
Our Summer event held on 1st July included games outside on the Plaza. This
event was not very well supported, but we put it down to the heatwave we all
experienced last summer.
On 23 rd September we were originally going to organise a BBQ, but owing to
some complexities of local laws the BBQ could not take place. However, we
all enjoyed the social get together and the usual buffet and refreshments
provided by our volunteers and committee members.
On 4 th December we had our Christmas event, which was very well supported;
thank you. We were fortunate to be joined by children from a local Spanish
school in Albox, who sang some festive songs for us and handed us handmade
Christmas cards. The day was very much enjoyed by all those who attended.
During the year we were able to hold some additional events with the help of
two of our members. The two quizzes in May and July were a great success and
enjoyed by all. Planning such events requires a lot of time, so a huge thank you
to John Fry for organising them.
We were also fortunate to have two art demonstrations in the year, hosted by
Marion Nobbs. Marion showed us how to paint with both acrylics (June) and
with water colours (October). Both demonstrations were very interesting to
those attending. The final pictures were outstanding and were displayed in the
Centre for a while. A huge thank you to her, too, for sharing her skills and talent
with us.
On reviewing past events we have decided not to have a Summer Event in
June/July this year, particularly given the summer temperatures.

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We have also taken on board your comments on location and timings of any
future quizzes/art demonstrations. We do appreciate your feedback and reviews
of all the events we put on for members, so please do continue to provide
comments/reviews; it is extremely valuable to us.
Finally, thank you to our volunteers for their continued support of our events,
providing refreshments for the buffets and helping out with all of the activities
on the day of events.
11. Editor’s report
Lisa started to work on the magazine 3 years ago and she stepped down as
editor at the end of 2023.  
During her tenure as editor she tried to provide a balance between informative
and fun.  A series of articles was started highlighting famous Spaniards, and this
is ongoing.  The August edition was available earlier and was mainly puzzles
and a couple of light-hearted articles. We have been very fortunate that
members from the Written Word Group have provided a variety of articles to
publish.  Lisa received positive feedback for the colouring page she introduced
and this has been included as a regular feature.  
As always, we rely on a few people who regularly contribute but would
welcome articles, recipes, puzzles or even jokes from all members.
Lisa is going to continue with her interest in the magazine and as well as
supporting Maria-Elena in producing the publication will produce and submit
articles. 
Lisa has said if anybody would like to share events or stories she would be
happy to meet to write an article for their approval. 
12. Report on School visits

We were asked in early February to attend Instituto de Education Secondarie les
Cardenal Cisneros school to help out with a cultural day.  It was a festival day
(Dia de Andalucia week) so we played games and helped with English to older
teenagers. We were presented with a huge box of cakes at the end of the day. 

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Shelagh, Andrea and Martin were very pleased with how the day went.
Martin and Andrea have been really successful with their visits to Virgin del
Salient school this year. Visiting on a Friday morning they read and sing songs
to the 3 to 5 year old children from 10.30 to 11.00. From 11.00 they play games
outside with the older children. They try to encourage them to speak English
and count.
The headmaster, Victor, is pleased that we show them games they can play
physically without using their phones. For example: 
Limbo dancing 
Egg and spoon race 
Sack race 
All of the teachers we work with are really supportive of the activities and take
part in the games each week with as much enthusiasm as the children.
Some highlights of the year were:
1. Being asked to be Master Chief judges for the children’s attempts at
healthy cooking. Shelagh, Andrea and Martin sampled 70 dishes !!!
2. The headmaster putting on a celebration lunch for us in his office.
3. Listening to children who are fluent in multiple languages engaging
with others.

Going forward we are building on the team games as they really enjoy them.
Being joined by other helpers will allow us to expand to other schools, so please
consider taking part in this very rewarding activity.
At the other side of town, Ian continues to go into the senior school at least once
a week for them to practice conversational English. He also gives support in
the adult education class where they are learning business studies in English.
All this is so much appreciated by the schools and teachers.
13. Re-election and Nominations
The bank requires us to re-elect our committee members every year.
Shelagh, Kathy, Cliff, Francine, Stephen, Debbie and Martin need your
agreement to continue.

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We now have 2 new nominees to the committee who are currently co-opted and
need your ratification. A brief background from them both is attached to this
report.
Maria-Elena Heed was proposed by Shelagh Murdoch Copeland and seconded
by Kathy Moorhouse.
Peter Williams was proposed by Shelagh Murdoch Copeland and seconded by
Martin Evans.
If we do not hear from you to the contrary we will assume that these
appointments meet with your approval.
We were also delighted to propose and second Val Boscott as a committee
member but unfortunately she is not well enough at the moment to consider it.
We wish her a very speedy recovery and hope that she will be able to join us in
the near future.
Our Statutes allow us to have 12 committee members and we currently only
have 9. It is very difficult to run the group effectively without a full committee.
Please ask one of us what it involves and think of joining the team. It really is
not too onerous when there are 12 of us to share the load.
14. Any questions or suggestions
As always, we welcome any questions, comments or suggestions. We have a
suggestion box in the centre and you can email us on
almanzorafriends@gmail.com