We were delighted to welcome 82 members to our Christmas General Assembly in Murla on Thursday 5th December. Fortunately, the weather was kind to us after a very wet November meeting and even heavy rain the day before! Perhaps a tad chilly until we worked out how to increase the heating!
As is a tradition, Bill White very kindly entertained us by playing wonderful Christmas favourites from the moment the doors opened at 10am, and I know how much members enjoy hearing him play, as do I! Thank you Bill. You set the tone for the morning beautifully.
Membership and Travel and Entertainment desk were open for those wishing to renew their membership and book and pay for trips.
The formal part of the meeting commenced at 10.30am but, as is normal at Christmas, we did not have an external speaker or a Meet a Member slot, allowing lots of time to enjoy the festivities.
Paula announced this year´s Goodwill charity fundraising total of an incredible 12619.91 euros and explained how the money has been and will be spent. This is only possible due to members´ generosity and support and a lot of hard work by the Goodwill team and she expressed her thanks to everyone.
Not only have we been able to support the 5 valley charities as usual (ARC, Jalon Valley Help, Jalon search and rescue, Paws and Caring for Cats), but also the Valencia flood appeal, Cancer Care Javea, the volunteer Bomberos, Project 4 All for the homeless, a school for children with autism in Javea, the Alzheimers support centre in Teulada and the children´s home in Benissa (via Make a Smile).
In addition, we donated a trampoline to the school in Murla and contributed towards a hospital bed that was purchased with a generous donation from Caixa bank.
And we collected and delivered 37 bicycles for Valencia that members and friends kindly donated!
We still have nearly 1000e in hand to buy whatever is needed for Valencia.
We are incredibly proud and honoured to be able to support so many local charities and organisations as well as the Valencia victims, so a huge THANK YOU!
Throughout the morning members were invited to guess the weight of the Christmas cake and competition was fierce, being narrowly won by Sheila Skinner who got to take the cake home.
Similarly, the competitive spirit came into play to guess the number of sweets in the jar, and Sally Ellis won these.
Peter Ellis had kindly prepared a festive table quiz so members could put their heads together and come up with collective answers. The winning table won a prize of chocolates to share.
Marian White held her usual excellent free raffle with some super prizes and 28 lucky members took home a gift. Thank you to Christine Brazier and Sally Ellis who made beautiful floral decorations as prizes.
Gillian Woodward won the most festive attire competition with her Mrs Santa outfit, tutu and stripey elf tights! It was lovely to see so many festive jumpers, hats and outfits and the hall was a sea of red!
As is usual at Christmas and Easter, we collected toiletries and household goods on behalf of Caritas and, once again, members came up trumps, donating a vast selection of goods. Thank you on behalf of Caritas. They are always very grateful, and the goods will be shared amongst those in need in local villages. The wife of Francisco the caretaker came to collect them as the head of the local Caritas.
And then the singing started lead by Paul Corazzo and the Let´s Sing Together group and all members were invited to join in. We sang an assortment of carols and festive songs which added to the warm atmosphere in the room, and it was super to see everyone joining in. Carol West, part of the singing group, took central vocals with her beautiful, clear voice and it was truly joyous.
We then all took part in a hilarious rendition of the 12 days of Christmas with each table taking a day! It was certainly sung with great enthusiasm!
Margaret Staines, accompanied by Bill White on keyboard, then showed us how glorious singing can be with her wonderful solos of Silent Night and Once in Royal David´s City. It was magical to listen to and we are very grateful to Margaret for her special performance. For one day only!
After all this singing everyone was ready for the ¨bring a plate to share¨ buffet which looked and tasted wonderful. There was plenty of food for everyone and a huge variety, both sweet and savoury. Thank you to everyone for bringing. The food was washed down with cava and orange juice, and everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy their brunch!
We were paid a pleasant surprise visit as a piano was delivered ready for a carol concert tomorrow and the Mayor of Murla asked the pianist to play for us. Margaret Staines and Carol West sang Silent Night accompanied by him which was delightful.
Santa then presented the winners of the competitions and quiz with their prizes and the raffle was drawn.
The morning finished with everyone joining in to 2 special festive songs: We wish you a Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad and taking home the remains of the buffet.
We hope all members enjoyed themselves. Thank you to everyone who came and to those who organised the meeting and those who took part.
We wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a healthy and peaceful 2025.