30 March 2026

• Two members -the website manager and the future speaker organiser - were co-opted on to the committee.
• In the absence of the chair, the secretary will fill the role of vice-chair until the AGM.
• The Aberdeen University student had sent his thanks for members' help with his research project. The committee agreed that any further participation should be up to individual members.
• We currently have 211 members.
• The groups co-ordinator reported back on the group leaders’ and deputies’ meeting. As it is unclear which groups are full and which have spaces, it was decided that leaders should keep waiting lists in date order. Leaders should also keep their group's web page status updated and shown as either “Active” or “Active, full but can join waiting list”.
• The lack of support for both the “Drop In” and the proposed “Desert Island Discs” groups has been disappointing.
• The groups co-ordinator will contact all members who have joined in the past three years to enquire about their experiences joining groups.
• Speakers have been booked for the monthly meetings through to January 2027 and there is also a list of potential speakers for later dater in 2027. The programme for 2026-27 needs to be finalised by early June in order to be ready for publication in the annual newsletter.
• 25^th anniversary celebration - it was agreed that all reservations and payments for the lunch must be received by 1 May so that members' menu choices can be completed via the Radisson link. Members can pay either by bank transfer or by sending a cheque to the membership secretary.
• There will be no publicity ahead of the event but photographs taken at the lunch will then be sent to the P&J and the Third Age Trust magazine and other bodies.

2 March 2026

• It was noted that there will be a deficit this year as the expenditure on the monthly meetings no longer matches the income at these events.
• The contract for using the Mercure for monthly meetings for August/September to December has been renewed.
• Concern was expressed that new members have found several of the interest groups are full. The groups co-ordinator will be raising this at the Group Leaders meeting in March and will look at the possibilities of splitting some groups.
• As there has not been a great deal of interest in “Desert Island Discs”, the proposed initial meeting was postponed.
• The “Drop In” at the Mercure on the second Wednesday of the month has been poorly attended.
• Membership currently stands at 205.
• Monthly meeting speakers have been booked to the end of the calendar year. The current speaker organisers will liaise as necessary with the member who has volunteered to take on their role after the summer.
• Following visits to Ferryhill Hill House Hotel and the Park Inn by Radisson to see what facilities they could offer for the AGM and the 25^th anniversary lunch, it was agreed that, based on viewings, costs, services and ease of access, that the Park Inn by Radisson offered the best value and was more easily accessible for members. Costings and other aspects of the celebration will be discussed further at next month’s meeting.
• To improve the flow of information to the committee meetings page of the website, the website manager is to be invited to attend the monthly committee meetings. If she agrees, she will be co-opted on the committee then need to stand for election as a trustee at the AGM.