December 2009

The Welcome Group is now going into its 7th Year and when it started we could never have imagined it would be still running and being the success it has. It is really nice hearing about the friendships that have started when people have met at various events and we even had our first wedding in August this year with Vivian and Carol who met at a Welcome Dance. Being able to donate money to various good causes over this time has certainly made it all worthwhile. We were so delighted when recently the Welcome Group was made honorary members of the AECC in Spain for the donations we have given to the cancer screening programme which many people in the Mazarrón area have benefitted from. This is a very prestigious award and we were delighted to have been given a beautiful plaque denoting this. Thanks go to Jane Goss who kindly went along to the presentation in Murcia and represented the Welcome Group. We were also presented at our November Meeting with a certificate from MABS (Cancer Support Group) for the support that the Welcome Group has given this very worthwhile charity. Thanks go to them and you can be assured that Welcome will continue with that support.

The Autumn Members Petanca Competition took place in beautiful sunshine on the afternoon of 21 October at the petanca lanes, Mariano’s, Camposol. It was a close-run competition with the final winners being Jo & Cliff, who received maximum points. It was their first time of partnering, so well done to them. Joint runners-up were John & Diane and John & Carol. Joint third place were Mike & Jean and Derek & Pat who all received some lovely goodies. Well done to Frankie & Barbara who certainly joined in the spirit of the competition. Sometimes it pays to come at the end, as they received some wine. Well done ladies! A meal of ham, egg & chips went down very well at the end of the afternoon and thanks go to the Trevi Bar, Camposol and to Les for the organisation.

We welcomed back after 2 years the lovely and very funny Jimmy Cricket to our 27 October Dance. This guy is so up to date with all his material and with no swearing, soon had the packed room full of laughter. We were so delighted when he agreed to come back to entertain us, as he is such a very special man. The evening wouldn’t have been complete without some great dancing. Music kindly supplied by the very popular Lucinda, who soon had the dance-floor packed. Some great pictures on our web site www.welcomegroupspain.com.

The second Race Night of the year was held at the Salidillo Vista Bar, Camposol A, on the evening of 11 November and thanks go to Dougie & staff. The event was held in memory of loved ones who have lost their fight against cancer and through the kind generosity of the 95 people who attended, we were able to present a cheque to members of MABS (Cancer Support Group) for 1,134€. Thanks go to Jan, Mary, Dede, Bert, Brenda & Carol for their help during the evening and special thanks to Colin for once again being a great compere and making sure everything ran smoothly. We were quite overwhelmed by the generosity during the evening, especially in these hard times with the euro, but the betting was started off with a donation of 100€ kindly left with us by Aubrey (Pintura) who recently left Spain to return to the UK. A donation of 50€ was kindly given by the Book/Jigsaw Swap and because of their success during the evening two generous donations were given by Malcolm Bell & Jean Barrie.

All our December events have now sold out and waiting lists are in operation (always worth putting your name down). Tickets on sale at time of going to print for the very popular Games Night on Wednesday 13 January 2010 @ 3€.
Our next meeting will be Saturday 5 December at 2pm @ Mariano’s Restaurant, Camposol. All welcome and no membership. Tickets will go on sale from that meeting for the Valentine’s Theme Dance taking place on Friday 12 February. We are delighted to be welcoming the legendary Roy G Hemmings from the original Drifters line-up and welcoming back the very popular Lorraine with her exceptional Tina Turner Tribute. Roy Hemmings is coming over from the UK for this night and we are sure he will certainly have the dance-floor packed with all the great hits from the Drifters. Tickets are priced at 10€ (5€ extra for the light supper). If you are unable to attend the meeting, contact us after the meeting on the numbers shown below.

The Book/Jigsaw Swap will finish on 1 December and will resume after the Christmas break on 5 & 19 January 2010. For information on this popular morning, please contact Jo (630 351 509) or Rosemary (620 105 179).

Our entertainment programme up to the end of April is now available from Pasty Shack (Puerto de Mazarrón), Jane’s Hair & Beauty Salon (Bolnuevo), Dragontours, Costa Cálida Property Services & Melissa’s Hair Salon (all on Camposol) or by contacting us.

We would like to take this opportunity of thanking everyone who has attended our events this year and special thanks must go to all our loyal volunteers who give up so much of their own time to make Welcome the success that it is. The continuous support is very much appreciated and we would like to take this opportunity of wishing everyone a Very Happy Christmas & a Healthy & Happy New Year. Look forward to seeing you in 2010.

Details on events and ticket sales, please contact Rosemary 620 105 179/Maureen 618 254 143 or look us up under www.welcomegroupspain.com.

Remember there is no membership for Welcome
but just quality and value for money