Happy New Year to all our Members! I can imagine that you are now thinking that I am a bit behind the times with my greetings. Well, I was actually referring to the Chinese New Year, which begins on 16th February 2018, and is a “Year of the Dog”. Chinese years are in a sequence of twelve animals, six domestic and six wild, and are the starting points for Chinese horoscopes. Dogs are traditionally seen as faithful animals, whether in Chinese or Western cultures. If you have a loyal companion, why not make this the year you reward him or her with, say a new basket? It‟s time for me to stop wittering on, and to tell you that in this issue we have full details of our AGM at the Exeter Golf and Country Club. This will be another excellent value lunch, with the added bonus of a fascinating speaker, and we promise to keep the formal bits to a timely minimum. We hope to see you there. Andrew Green, Hon Secretary
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Wellbeing
Pensioners Forum
Garry and I attended this now bi-annual event at Canary Wharf back in November. Two issues arose in their Welfare sessions:
Loneliness: – came down to basic awareness and communication. We can only improve here, so we would rather be told things twice than not at all. Please contact your Wellbeing Officer or a member of the committee if you feel we can be of help to another member.
Bank Workers Charity: – again reiterated their wish to provide support, either financial or otherwise. They have overseen our summation of their activities on our now updated web page.
Finally, several clubs were impressed with our name change (Welfare to Wellbeing), and were looking to change theirs as well!
Death of a Member We will advise those on email as soon as we are made aware, and – if known – the funeral arrangements. As above, rather twice told than not at all.
Connection Magazine – Useful Contacts I have had cause to get involved in several instances recently, and there has been some change to the way we need to process probate and pension matters. No real issue if you ring the wrong number – as I did – as you are soon pointed in the right direction! Worth a look the next time you read it though.
Scams There appears no end to the amount and type of scams that are about. From email to telephone and computer „errors‟ to Bank refunds, even suggesting HMRC, and supposed tax and PayPal refunds. Please all be very aware!
Ray Cavill, Wellbeing Officer
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Annual General Meeting
The Club‟s Annual General Meeting takes place on Thursday, 8th March 2018 at 11.00am in the Mews Suite at the Exeter Golf and Country Club, Topsham Road, Exeter EX2 7AE. There is plenty of parking available in the two car parks situated in the grounds and disabled parking is at the entrance to the second parking area – you can take your car to the entrance (paved area) and then have it moved to a suitable bay. If you would like to come but need a lift, please contact one of our Wellbeing Officers who will do their best to find a lift for you.
Access will be available for (free) coffee/tea and biscuits from 10.30am and we would ask that you are in your seats prior to the start of the meeting at 11.00am so that there is no distraction whilst we remember those who are no longer with us.
We have saved some costs by not including the Agenda with this newsletter, planning to distribute on the day, but if any would wish for a copy prior to this, in print or electronically, we shall be happy to oblige.
Guest Speaker We are delighted to announce that the Guest Speaker for the Club AGM this year is Julia Tremlett, Treasurer for the East Devon Section of the
National Gardens Scheme (NGS). Julia will be telling us how this charity started and has developed over its 90 years and the amazing monies they have raised. Julia‟s talk will be illustrated by slides on a large screen so be prepared to be „wowed‟ by her pictures of some of the wonderful gardens that take part each year.
Julia herself has opened her garden for many years and is an experienced and knowledgeable gardener. This promises to be a fascinating and interesting talk.
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Functions
AGM Luncheon
The Annual General Meeting will be followed by lunch. View and print the menu/booking form. This should be returned to me with your cheque by Monday, 19th February 2018. Cheques will be banked on Thursday, 22nd February. No refunds will be given after this date. The cost per head for members is £12.00 or £25.00 per head for non-members. The cost includes a glass and a half of wine OR a glass of orange, apple or grapefruit juice.
Please also let me know when replying of any special dietary requirements you may have, e.g. if you do not want sauces or gravy.
The lunch will be in the Duckworth Suite. Please try to collect your booking form from me, showing your food choice, if possible before the AGM, to place on your chosen table; remember we do not have a seating plan for this event.
The restaurant staff will take a note of your food selection around 12.40pm so please do not move your place setting after this time.
Bars in the Mews and Duckworth Suites will be available from approximately 12.30pm and lunch will be served at 1.00pm.
Future dates for your diary:
Tuesday, 17th April 2018 free Coffee Morning, Halfway Inn, Sidmouth Road, Aylesbeare EX5 2JP 10.30am-12noon
Tuesday, 15th May 2018 Lunch, Belmont Hotel, The Esplanade, Sidmouth EX10 8RX
Thursday, 21st June 2018 free Cream Tea (scone, jam, cream, tea/coffee), King‟s Garden Centre, Higher Hulham Road, Exmouth EX8 5DZ (new venue – designated area) 3.00pm-4.30pm
Details of additional functions will be shown in future Newsletters.
Lynne Ring, Committee Member 01392 879446 lynne_ring@hotmail.com
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Answers to Christmas Quiz
Here are the answers to the „Initially it‟s Christmas‟ quiz. Only two allcorrect answers were received and the winner drawn from those two was Barry Cross.
1. 5 = GR Gold Rings
2. 1 = HOS Horse Open Sleigh (from Jingle Bells)
3. 26 = BD Boxing Day
4. 9 = N of L in the W „C‟ Number of letters in the word „Christmas‟
5. 1ce = IRDC In Royal David‟s City
6. 56 = C in P of SCS on a CC Cost in pence of second class stamp on a Christmas card
7. 2 = US in the P “C” Ugly sisters in the pantomime „Cinderella‟
8. 2017 = Y S the B of J Years since the birth of Jesus
9. 3 = SCSB Ships come sailing by
10. 5 = D in J of TN Date in January of Twelfth Night