The Committee in Support of the Cypriot Community of Melbourne and Victoria held a meeting two Sundays ago to discuss ways of addressing the financial woes of the Community.
More than 100 people attended the meeting held at the Cypriot Community clubrooms in Brunswick.

The meeting was called to discuss the financial state of the Community and to discuss ways of securing its financial well being and future.
Concern has been expressed about the dire financial state of Cypriot Community of Melbourne and Victoria.

The Community’s overdraft facility has increased from $65,321 in 2007 to $186,944 in 2009. Similarly the loan of the Community has risen from $800,000 in 2006 to $1,000,000 in 2009.
The chairman of the Committee in Support of the Cypriot Community, Kypros Kyprianou commenced the meeting by stressing the fact that the organisers would not tolerate any verbal attacks against people who were either absent from the room or present at the meeting.

“The purpose of our gathering is to seek ways of supporting our Community and not to engage in futile criticism or personal attacks,” Mr Kyprianou said.
Former president, Jim Wood, detailed the current financial situation of the community, saying:
“We are not trying to blame anyone. We’ re not here to accuse [anyone].

We came here to try and find or [at least] help to find solutions.”
At the end of the meeting a set of initiatives were proposed, including meeting with with the Cypriot Community Board to discuss possible solutions to the Community’s financial problems;
organising an open meeting to draw the wider participation of Community members and of people of Cypriot descent in general; exploring the possibility of calling for an Extraordinary General Meeting, if the Community Board deemed it necessary.

The Cypriot Community president, Stelios Angelodimos responded to the meeting by pointing out that the Board had tried to organise a meeting with Mr Kyprianou and his associates since October 5 but to no avail.
Mr Angelodimos pointed out that Cypriot Community members could submit their questions, proposals and concerns during the annual general meeting.

“The so called Committee in Support of the Cypriot Community did not do this but instead preferred to call its own meeting,” Mr Angelodimos said.
He went on to say that any member of the Community has the right to be a candidate for a position on the Board through which they can undertake the “realization of their vision, something that has not occurred with this group,” Mr Angelodimos underscored.

Mr Angelodimos welcomed any dialogue with the Committee in Support of the Cypriot Community and added that he wasn’t worried about the future of the Community because the value of its assets had doubled over recent years.