Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
Firstly I would like to start by saying thank you to those that braved the cold, snowy night to find us, and to those that did not manage to find us too. Thanks for the apologies. I realize that a trip to Marakech or back home to the States does not really compete.
Points discussed and conclusions reached :
1) Outings – Skiing in Orange one Saturday (date to be decided)
- Indoor places ie Yato Land, Vitapark…
- Summer excursions to Evian/Yvoire/Chamonix/Summer Bob Sleigh
- Summer BBQs or Lakeside Picnics
I will check if there will be group/association discounts applicable.
2) Fundraising events – St.Patricks Day party, May Day festival, Easter Bunny, cake bakes etc
3) English for Kids
The first workshops are at Easter.
As numbers are limited ESA members get priority.
Venue is still to be set.
Dates are April 7th-9th for Kids in the Swiss system, April 14th-16th for Kids in the French system and French, April 21st-23rd for Kids in the French sytem and bilingual.
There is a little flexibility with the dates, that will depend on demand.
Prices have not been decided, although as this is a test run fees will be low.
4) Contacts :
There are companies and associations contacting us through our new website www.esa-hs.com. We will shortly be putting up a links page so you can contact them via ourselves. In any correspondence please quote ESA as you are likely to receive discounted rates. Here are a couple of people who have been in touch: Kathryn from “The French Paper” and www.myamericanmarket.com.
We will also be linked to the Tax office via Magali Thimel. She is here to help the English speakers of the area understand various Tax systems like Income Tax, Wealth Tax etc
5) Grants and Banks
In the New Year I’ll be trying to see if ESA can get any grants. The money would lower the cost of any outings or English for Kids workshops we do.
The same can be said for sponsorship-If anyone knows anyone who would be interested in sponsoring us please let us know.
A bank account will be set up, hopefully for free, in the New Year.
Now that we have paying members we need a safe-ish place to keep the money!!
6) The Mediatech in Bonneville has a bookshelf of English books.There is a fee to become a member.Please contact them for more info.
We will hopefully be creating a page on the ESA site with a list of books that we are willing to exchange or give away. At every event a “Book Box” will be available for delving into.
There is a second hand book fair in Geneva every November-On the ESA web site we will create a Diary of events page-This information and lots more will be available then.
Please do not hesitate to forward this onto any interested parties,
Have a wonderful festive period and I look forward to meeting you again in the New Year.
Warm wishes,
Kerry