The Year Ahead

Since our first meeting of the New Year is very early in the month I thought we should begin with a survey of members' resolutions, if any, for the New Year. We can also devote some time to a consideration of the future of the group, which may be in question due to health and business problems of key members. As a start I have chosen a new, more colourful, Template for the blog.

The meeting is on Thursday 9 January, from 7 pm to 9 pm at the White Rock Hotel. This will also be the occasion to make or renew your annual subscription to the group, which costs £6 (a further £2 is charged at each future meeting, or £3 if you remain a non-member). These fees are to cover the cost of the meeting room and payments to visiting speakers.

I have now set up a Programme for the first three meetings in 2014 but wish to reduce my activity after that. This could be done by appointing a Programme Manager to arrange speakers for the meetings from April onwards. I hope newer and younger members will take on the task of continuing the group and taking it in new and more active directions.

I have modified the title of this meeting to "The Year Ahead" to give people more to talk about, such as the anniversary of the First World War, the World Humanist Congress, The Euro-Elections, and other upcoming events. Are there other important anniversaries we should take note of?

Our December Free For All

Our Thursday 12 December meeting will be the now customary Free-For-All where everyone has a chance to make a five-minute presentation on any subject of their choice. This can be a rant (something you need to vent your spleen on), an original idea you have thought of, a book or article or video you would like to recommend, or anything else that comes to mind. Usual time 7pm to 9pm and venue, the White Rock Hotel.

Report: This meeting attracted only 10 people, though this included two new and younger potential members which is encouraging, and several of our regular active members were unable to attend for health, business and family reasons. The five-minute talks turned into more of a round-table discussion than a series of presentations. Next year we may have to revert to a Quiz.