BRADSHAW BRIDGE CLUB
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
HELD AT 7.15PM ON TUESDAY 19 MAY 2015
AT MAIDEN PLACE COMMUNITY CENTRE
1. Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Marion and Mike Fleming, Roy and Pippa Mills, Melvyn and Thelma Tuson, Richard Lark, Gill Smith, Elaine Dunage and Molly Anderson
2. Minutes of meetings held on 20 May 2014
The Minutes were agreed by the members present.
3. Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
4. Chairman’s Report
Mike said that it had been a good year with a friendly atmosphere and good bridge. Membership had been maintained at around 150. Sadly Dave Mullen had passed away during the year. The new website was up and running and he wanted to thank John Crook for all the hard work he had put into this. The Bridgemates, after some teething problems, were working well but it was vital that members were seated by 7.20pm on Tuesdays and 1.20pm on Wednesdays in order for the Technical Director to set up the computer. There was a successful quiz in November and Mike thanked Elaine for organising this and Roger Wareham and Brian Buckley who were the quizmasters. The two Christmas parties were very successful and he thanked Gail and her helpers for organising them. The Winter Weekend was held in Bournemouth and he thanked Lynn for organising this and congratulated Jill and Richard on winning the Victor Ludorum. We shall be returning to the Marsham Court for our weekend from 26 to 28 February 2016. Mike reported on the Teams of 4 in the Bracknell Leauge, where the team captained by Gail will be relegated to Division 3. There are two Teams of 8 in the Bucks and Berks League run by Pat Gordon (Division 2) and Nick Higham (Division 4). The teams finished about halfway up their respective divisions. Richard Lark runs a Teams of 24 each year against Bourne End and Bradshaw currently hold the trophy awarded to the winning team. He thanked all Captains for their hard work. He also wanted to thank the Committee, Directors, Bridgemate operators and Richard Lark for auditing the accounts and organising the Directors’ Rota. Finally, he wanted to thank the retiring members of the Committee Jill Lark, Gail Houghton, John Crook and Roger Merlyn.
5. Treasurer’s Report
Brian circulated a copy of the income and expenditure account for the year ending 30 April 2015 showing a profit for the year of £2015.13. This was largely due to the implementation of an increase in table money from £1 to £2 per session. There had been an increase in expenditure of £618 for the hire of the hall. The accounts show that we held £5335.53 in our bank accounts at the end of our financial year and Jill would be speaking on a proposal to make use of some of these assets. Brian thanked Richard Lark for his work in auditing the accounts.
6. Teams Report
Mike had already covered this item in his report.
7. Proposals for discussion
Jill presented a proposal from the Committee that the Club should purchase a Duplimate dealing machine giving details of the benefits – all hands would be truly random, details of hands would be available on the website for discussion, conforming to the EBU rule from 1 August this year where master points will only be awarded if 75% of hands had been played, etc and the drawbacks – the estimated cost of £3,150 and organising a group of volunteers prepared to produce the pre-dealt hands. She said that the overwhelming plus for the Duplimate machine is that it can be returned within 12 months for a full refund. There were questions from the floor including a query regarding insurance when the equipment was in transit or in someone’s home. Brian said that he thought we would be covered under our insurance policy but that he would check this. Although Mike did not want to take a formal vote on this proposal, a straw poll was taken and an overwhelming majority of members present were in favour of going ahead with this idea.
A second proposal had been received regarding refreshments at the Club; namely that there should be no biscuits and that we should use paper cups. After discussion, it was agreed that we would continue with the current system if a member volunteered to provide the milk on Tuesday evenings for both sessions. Margaret Hull had already offered to be responsible for organising the biscuits, coffee, tea etc and clearing the kitchen for the Wednesday session. Jan Buckley and Norma Allen offered to do this between them.
8. Election of Committee Members
Mike said that three nominations had been received - Estelle Merlyn, Ken Jones and Peter Wilde. These had all been proposed and seconded and it was agreed that these members would all be adopted.
9. Presentation of Prizes
Mike presented prizes to the following winners during the year.
Tuesday Champions Carrington Trophy Jill and Richard Lark
Mixed Pairs Hawley Trophy Ann Musson and Roger Ellis
Ladies Pairs Cheadle Trophy Riona Reid & Trish Lee
Mens Pairs Stretford Trophy John Crook & Nick Higham
Individual Farnham Trophy Mike Gordon
Teams Event Margaret Biddle Trophy Jean James, Gail Houghton
Ken Jones, Chris Byron
Wednesday Champions Egham Trophy Nigel & Rosa Hague
Mixed Pairs Ascot Trophy Marion & Mike Fleming
Ladies Pairs Handforth Trophy Maureen Carver & Pam Hanson
Mens Pairs Loddon Trophy George Sankey & Ken Casey
Individual Lensbury Trophy Ken Jones
Teams Event Hilda Lillley Trophy Marion & Mike Fleming
Bill & Pauline Mason
Ascenders Stuchbury Cup Elspeth Caldwell & Vince Hull
Winter Weekend Victor Ludorum Jill & Richard Lark
2014 Teams of 24 Bradshaws
Finally, Mike said that he would like to present the Chairman’s Cup to Roger Merlyn for all his hard work and dedication in running the Bridgemates for the Wednesday sessions during the past year.
10. AOB/Vote of thanks and handover to the new Committee
Riona Reid asked about donations to charity during the year and Mike said that it had been decided to send donations to nominated charities when members passed away. However, he said that this should be discussed by the new Committee.
Gail said that membership renewal forms were now available and subscriptions were now due and should be paid to her.
Angela Andrews suggested that any profit from social events should be sent to charity. This was agreed.
Marilyn Collins said that a Wednesday member had suggested that the AGM should be held on a Wednesday as more members attended that session. It was agreed that the Committee would discuss this idea.
Mike thanked members for attending and the meeting closed at 8pm.
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