The Malta Geographical Society
Founded 1943
Committee Report Year 2023
Annual General Meeting
29th February 2024
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to our Annual General Meeting.
As Vice Chairperson of the Society, I will be giving the yearly report of the Society for the year 2023.
Richard Davies resigned as the Chairperson of The Malta Geographical Society in November 2023 due to procedural and technical reasons caused by the society's affiliation with OCVA and its constitution. If re-elected at this Annual General Meeting, he will continue serving as a committee member. Although Richard faced mobility issues limiting his ability to walk in rough areas, he remained actively interested in the activities of the society. He significantly improved the website and contributed to other forms of getting information to members.
This was his second period as Chairperson having served previously from 2005 to 2010, and over the years has shared a great deal of his experience in the organization of the Society’s activities.
He chaired the organizing of the society’s 80th anniversary with a commemorative dinner attended by over 85 members and guests, including past chairpersons and members from previous committees.
Richard would like to thank all the committee members, present and past, for their efforts in making the Society activities so successful.
The following members were on the Committee during 2023.
Timmy Zammit: Vice Chairperson
Richard Davies: Honorary Treasurer
Anna Dalli: Honorary Secretary
Maura Marlow: Membership Coordinator
Mario Farrugia: Walks Organizer
Evelina Albanozzo: Social Events Coordinator
Doris Debono: Walk Leader
Mary Mangion: Social Event Coordinator
Helga Camilleri: Walk Leader
Mario Borg: Walk Leader, Website
The Committee held 7 meetings from January to December 2023. The running of an organization such as ours involves a lot of work, and I am pleased to inform you that all the members sitting on the current committee have agreed to remain in situ for the coming year.
Walks
During the year we continued with our system of organizing three walks each month. In the year under review (January 2023- December 2023), we organized 28 walks and a total of 1298 attended. As usual, our walking program was coordinated by Timmy Zammit and Mario Farrugia who keep records of all walks and the statistics of those attending. It is the Society’s custom to scout all walks a week or so before the actual walk. Our thanks go to Mario Farrugia who leads, together with our small team of walk leaders, namely Helga Camilleri, Maura Marlow, Doris Debono, Eva Albanese, Mario Borg, Frans Attard, and our other helpers.
Walks Abroad
During the year we had two walking tours to Sicily in April and September organized for us by Go Sicily Tours with a combined total of 76 attendees. For 2024 we have organized a tour to Italy in May, and I am pleased to say it was sold out within a few days.
Social and Cultural Events
For our 80th Anniversary celebrations, we had the most memorable evening at the Sea View Hotel, in St Paul’s Bay where 85 members and guests enjoyed a pleasant evening. As a committee, we felt it was important to celebrate this event and in doing so we invited members who had contributed their time and experience to the Society over the last 25 years. I am pleased to say we had 21 guests including ex-Chairmen and ex-committee members going back to 1998. Our President Alexander Welsh gave the toast to the Society as the guest of honor.
We had three visits to non-walking sites that were an enormous success. These were: Ville Frere, the Railway Museum and Zabbar Museum. We will continue to offer these types of activities in the future.
A report on these events will appear in the Treasurer’s Report.
Membership
The membership for the year-end 2023 is 280 paid-up members and combined with our previous life membership the total exceeds 440. Maura Marlow keeps the membership register as well as collecting subscriptions - a demanding job which she does so well. I am happy to report that once again there will be no increase in the membership subscription this year.
Facebook Page & Website
The Facebook page is extremely popular with photos and walks information uploaded regularly. Special thanks go to member Antoine Attard who takes care of this page and to all the members who upload their photos.
The Website is visited by many interested parties from all over the world. The Society invested in a new operation in 2021 and members can now see all the information on PC’s and mobile phones. We note the increasing number of visitors who access the site with their mobile phones - we will continue getting information to members in this way.
Conclusion
Finally, I thank you, our members, for giving us your continuous support, keeping in mind that we all belong to the finest and oldest walking group in Malta.
We will be starting the year with a new Chairperson and Committee, hoping to keep the momentum that we have been working through over the last 12 months.
Timothy Zammit
Vice-Chairperson, The Malta Geographical Society