Dear Association Members and Friends of the community. Hope you all are keeping well. Durga puja is now less than 2 months away and I would like to take this opportunity to inform you about the activities of the Association so far and what is to follow in the coming weeks and months.
AGM
The AGM took place at the end of April this year, when we had a very lively debate on many topics. Sadly, we had to report a deficit of £2K in our 2022 accounts in spite of many cost-saving measures we introduced, to combat the rising costs and inflationary pressures.
By introducing in-house cooking, we have saved anything in excess of £6K by not sourcing our meals from caterers, as was previously the practice. Everybody appreciated the fresh and hot meals served during all our functions. Without this initiative, our deficit would have been significantly larger.
As a result of the above deficit, we had to increase our Membership Fees marginally. Broadly we agreed on the following matters during our AGM:
1. Increasing our Membership charges to cover some of the cost increases in food and
other costs.
2. Introduce a New membership scheme for 18-25 years.
3. Introduce a subsidised rate of £5 per meal for all non–members.
4. We agreed to stringently implement a Meal pre-booking system for all meals to avoid
waste or food shortage.
5. All communication from the Association will become digital to avoid postage costs.
6. Puja Invitations will not be sent by post. The Invitation will be sent to you by e-mail in
advance. Hard copies will be available for collection from Mahalaya day at the venue.
7. Puja Brochures will be available at the venue as usual for collection.
New Membership Charges
The New Membership charges agreed upon by the EC members and the Association members present during the AGM are as follows:
- Adult Members – £40 per year (previously £25 per year).
- Young Members (18 – 25) – £25 per year. This is a new membership plan introduced to
encourage more younger members to join the association.
View the booklet below for further details:
