Apr 262023
 

Our AGM took place on Wednesday, 26th April to a full house of around 100 of our members.

Here are the main documents from the AGM:

Congratulations to the 2023/24 committee of Brian Jones, Carole Meade, Cath Bauman (Secretary), Dave Chambers, Dennis Smith, Dianne Parslow (President), Julie Smith, Karen Redrup (Vice President), Margaret Schooneveldt (Treasurer), Milena Gojanovic, Pam Griffith and Rob Glanvill (Vice President).

Congratulations to our two new Life Members, Eve Scopes and Bill Naim.

Thanks to everyone who helped out at the event, including Dave Chambers, Greg Scott, Hector Hart, Jane Hammett, Jenni Bull, Karenne Lack, Leanne Ipsen, Michael Bull and Pam Griffith. And, as always, a special thanks to Cath Bauman for organising everything.

There was a lively, if sometimes a bit confusing, discussion about geographic issues. This is an important subject so I (Guy) have decided to summarise it here.

  1. 45% of our members live in Eltham/Research and only 15% of our members live in the rest of Nillumbik (with 40% living outside of Nillumbik).
  2. This dominance of Eltham/Research is much greater than the respective populations would imply – whilst around 5% of the total population aged 60+ in Eltham are members of our U3A, the corresponding proportion for the rest of Nillumbik is only 2%.
  3. Whilst the number of our classes in Eltham has been increasing, the number of our classes in Hurstbridge has been falling.
  4. Our three main, stable and least expensive venues are all in Eltham.
  5. Many of our tutors and committee members live south or west of Nillumbik.
  6. The net result of all the above is that we are becoming ever more Eltham centric.
  7. An important strategic issue is how much we should be proactively working to reverse, or at least halt, this trend by revitalising our activities outside of Eltham.
  8. In an informal poll, just about everyone at the meeting agreed that the Committee should proactively work to substantially increase our classes in Nillumbik outside of Eltham.

Finally, here are a few photos from the event.

  

  

  

Apr 172019
 

Franciscus Henri was our guest speaker. He performed a short autobiographic collection of music that covered his career over four decades and that featured his own writing as well as other composers.

Franciscus is one of Australia’s most enduring performers and writers in the medias of theatre, radio, music and television for children. Since making his first recording in 1971, he has recorded eighteen albums of music for children and two recordings for adults as well as two DVD’s.

Franciscus believes in the immense importance that music and play have in the lives of young children, enhancing their learning ability as well as bringing great joy and celebration.

Apr 192017
 

Christine Nixon APM, Former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, was our guest speaker. She shared her experiences from entry into the police force as an 18-year-old female, how her career unfolded, her educational opportunities at Harvard University and the challenges that were presented as the Chief Commissioner Victoria Police. She also discussed her subsequent role as the Chair of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority and her current role as the Deputy Chancellor of Monash University.