On behalf of the HCP Council I have the privilege of rendering the following report on the community’s activities for 2015.
The Council has as per our constitutions objectives co-ordinated, managed, directed and controlled the non –Ecclesiastical functions of the Greek Orthodox Church, the School, Dancing, Benevolent and other committees by –
- Celebrating our National Days (25 March & 28 October) and holding a memorial service for the invasion of Cyprus. Thank you to all committees that were involved with the 25th of March and in particular the Dancing Tutors for having revived the 28th October celebration with great success this year, they were ably assisted by the Youth and Soccer Club members.
- We ensured our church worked regularly and observed all major Saint’s days. I would like to thank Pater Michali, our chanters, choir & the church committee.
- We ensured our Greek school worked regularly at the community centre and satellite schools. Thank you to the teachers and parents that assisted Aphro and Spiro. We are expecting an even more successful New Year’s Eve Dance this year, book your tickets ASAP to avoid disappointment.
- We ensured our Greek dancing classes continued once again successfully, with close to 100 students learning Greek traditional dances this year. As mentioned in my last report we had to be respectful to Mrs Mary Vasilliou through the transition of appointing an assistant to assist her and we thank Helen Spirides and the tutors for having taken over this duty.
- We supported our Benevolent committee in attending to the needs of our needy, thank you Mrs Kiki Procopos and your dedicated committee members.
- Our PHYC was led under the able Chairmanship of Costa Kyriakou.
- The Hellenic Soccer Club with dedicated coaching staff has managed to keep both senior and junior teams competitive in various leagues and competitions.
- We maintained friendly and courteous relations and co-operation with:
- The Greek Embassy
- The High Commission of Cyprus
- The Metropolis
- The Federation of Hellenic Communities, Cyprus Brotherhood, sister communities and other associations.
I would like to thank Grant Thornton our auditors.
Once again I would like to thank the members of our community that organised and held a successful HCP golf day which raised over R350 000.00, a successful and fun filled New Year’s Eve Dance 2014/5 as well as a most enjoyable and well arranged Easter lunch !
A special word of thanks to Val Nichas, Maria Simitopoulos, Soula Zotos and Theo Papaioannou for having designed our new web page – behellenic.co.za.
Most of our functions and community expenses would not have been possible to cover if we did not receive various donations and sponsors from our friends, members and business’s – thank you very much !
I would like to thank Maria, Loryn, Benson and Simon.
A lot of the above would have been difficult to arrange and manage if we did not have two capable ladies in the office, thank you Louiza & Athanasia.
As you have all noted and experienced over the past year many fun filled functions were held which resulted in the most important objective – to draw back and offer fun filled and relevant events and functions to all ages of our community and most important to attract back young members. All this would not have been possible if you our members were not actively involved with our community by being on committees and ad hoc committee’s to take charge, be responsible and accountable for various events and functions as mentioned above.
A community cannot be successful if a few members want to do all the events and receive all the praise, we all have to assist and do our bit, at the end of the day the community belongs to all of us and can only function successfully if we all come forward and assist with our free time and goodwill.
It is also important that its understood that there is a constitution which the Council and all members have to abide by. A few members on the Council cannot take decisions by themselves, decisions can only be taken if the majority of Council members agree and that’s how this Council has managed and directed our community’s affairs over the past two years. I would like it also to be clear that our community has expenses and we have to ensure we generate enough income to cover such expenses.
As you can see most of the Council members are young professionals and business people that were co-opted over the past two years. Co-opting younger members was a very important function as they have to gain experience and carry on managing the future Councils and making the necessary changes to keep our community relevant and of interest to the upcoming generations.
I lastly thank all the Council members for their dedication and manner in which they carried out their responsibilities, thank you !
Nic Efthimiades
