Bude Bridge Club
Committee Minutes of Meeting
Date/Time of Meeting: 10:00am 14 th February 2024 Location: The Weir, Bude.
Attendees: Chris Nichols, Chairman
Steven Clifton, Vice Chairman
Val Ridding, Secretary
Tom Salt, Treasurer
Tertia Salt, Assistant Secretary
Mary Hicks, Assistant Treasurer
Ian Curtis
Rosemary Kemble

Apologies: None
1) Minutes of Previous Committee Meeting
The minutes of the previous committee meeting dated the 24 th January 2024 were signed as correct.
2) Matters arising from the minutes.
Hilary Dorren & Tim Benson approached Chris to request occasional masterpoints on a Monday. A vote by
the Monday group would be required.
It was agreed that the views of the Monday players would be sought by Steve.
3) Chairman's Report
None
4) Secretary's Report
This will be included in a separate item
5) Treasurer's Report
Tom presented the financial position for 2024 up to the present day . A graph and associated table was
presented to the meeting and is attached to these minutes.
The bank forms have all been completed but Tom would like to consider changing to a local bank.
Stephen Smith is no longer willing to do the auditing so we need to find a new auditor.
Thanks to the previous treasurer Steve Trenner for the smooth handover of the accounts
Our appreciation to Tom for all his hard work.

6) Sale of club assets
Val had written to the former committee about the boards.

She had a reply from Deb asking for a retraction, also from Steve Trenner as they thought we were accusing
them of theft.
A reply would be sent explaining the meaning of Misappropriation with the intention of closing this issue.
7) Calendar for the year 2023-2024
The remainder of the calendar would stay as set by the previous committee.
The AGM will be held on April 16 th .
The trophies need to be collected and taken for engraving. Rosemary will organise that.
8) Calendar for the year 2024-2025
The John Ridding club championship would be held over 2 sessions in week 1 of February and week 1 of
March. A minimum of 24 boards to be played each session.
Frank and Doris Clifton trophy to be played in March a minimum of 24 boards
Handicap pairs to be played May to December, wine to be presented to winning pair the following month.
Other trophies to be discussed.
We will have one Christmas party where the June Justice individual trophy will be played for. The members
will be consulted as to the date.
Sept 9 th -17 th the EBU is holding a week for cancer research and are encouraging clubs to take part. They have
lots of events they suggest clubs can hold. See 'Its a Big Deal' on the EBU website.
9) Any other Business
1) Complaints committee
Ian as chairman of the complaints committee asked Chris and Steve to leave as he wanted to discuss the
complaints letters from the former committee.
2) Trainees
Tertia had asked Bob for the details of the trainees. Bob has responded saying that they would be recorded if
/when they joined Bude bridge club.
3) Quieter Area
It was requested that we find a quieter area for the next meeting. Val will try and book table in bottom
corner
The remaining items on the agenda will be put on the next agenda.
10) Date of Next Meeting
The next committee meeting will be held on Wednesday 14 th February 10:00am at the Weir.

Meeting closed at 11:50 am.

  Bude Bridge Club  
MINUTES OF COMMITTEE MEETING
held on Monday 10 th July 2023 at 5.10pm
at The Parkhouse Centre

Present: Deb DelValle (Chair) Steve Trenner (Treasurer) Linda Ashworth
Mary Hicks Pauline Sear Peter Oldfield
Apologies: Vicki Lucas Rob Waterhouse
The Chair having previously announced to the Committee Members her decision
to resign said it was vital to appoint another Officer of the Club at this meeting so
that any future meetings of the Committee can be quorate (2 Officers plus 3 other
Committee members) Discussion ensued about the way forward generally. It
was felt that the Club needs to elect a new Committee as all other Committee
members in attendance today have the desire to resign as well and Vicki (unable
to attend this meeting) had earlier today indicated a similar wish. As no one
wants to leave the Club without a functioning Committee it was unanimously
resolved:-
1. To call an EGM as soon as possible for the single purpose of appointing a
new Committee, at which time all present at this meeting (except Deb but
including Vicki) propose to resign from the Committee.
2. To appoint Pauline to be Secretary to fill that vacancy (Pauline having
indicated her willingness to fill the role pending the EGM).
Deb then formally offered her resignation as Chair and (for the avoidance of
doubt, as a Committee member) with immediate effect, which was unanimously
accepted.
There being no other business, the meeting closed.

  Bude Bridge Club  
MINUTES OF COMMITTEE MEETING
held on Monday July 3rd 2023 at 12.45pm
at The Parkhouse Centre

Present: Debra DelValle (Chair) Steve Trenner (Treasurer) Linda Ashworth, Pauline
Sear, Peter Oldfield, Vicki Lucas, Val Ridding (until departure)
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, mentioning apologies from Mary and
Rob. The agenda for this short meeting is as set out in Deb’s email to everyone dated
1 st July 2023.
The first item of business was to consider appointing Val to be Secretary to fill the
vacancy. The Chair reported having consulted and considered further the provisions of
the Constitution and is of the view that the Committee is empowered to fill any vacancy
(from amongst those on the Committee) under the provision of clause 4 (f). All were
agreeable on reflection that this was the likely proper interpretation.
There was discussion about the way in which the business of the Committee had been
transacted at the last meeting and how it should be handled in the future so that we can
all work well together. In the circumstances Val felt she could not continue to work with
this Committee so she resigned from the Committee and departed. Linda proposed,
Steve seconded, the motion to accept the resignation, which was carried unanimously.
Val is thanked for her time on the Committee.
The following outstanding items were considered for the Club Calendar:
1. Christmas celebration Tuesday 19 th December and Individual Event playing for the
June Justice Trophy: Linda thought that June, who was a founder member of this Club,
would have wanted it to be a fun event so it was decided to make this a non-regulated
(no Masterpoints) event so that it might be more fun for everyone, including the
director(s). Basic Acol (all natural bids) to be followed, which obviates the need to
discuss what you’re going to play with each new partner. Wine and seasonal snacks at
the break.
2. The AGM has to be in April. Our financial year (accounts) runs from 1 st March to end
of Feb every year, giving the Treasurer, Committee and auditor time to prepare for the
AGM in April. Steve thought it would be tight to get everything ready by early April,
allowing for getting bank statements, auditor on holiday, etc so it was decided it would
be held on April 16 th .
3. Team of 4 Event: this was not played last year (the first opportunity since Covid) due
to lack of numbers attending then. Although numbers have improved it is still difficult to

predict that there would be sufficient numbers to play, in multiples of 4, of a Tuesday
night. Deb suggested that this be something we play not in one of the regular sessions,
but at a special session, say on a day in the weekend where the whole Club gets
together for some food, socialising and Bridge. After discussion as to how to teams
could be made up, it was decided to leave this particular event for this year, and focus
instead on doing the same for
4. Mix and Match: this had been all but abandoned pre-Covid due to lack of interest on
the part of some of the high-achieving members who have since left the Club. Linda felt
that there was unlikely to be any high-achieving member now who would not be willing
to play with someone from the other half of the spectrum, so we should give it a go in
the context of a special session (a party) as mentioned above – a good opportunity for
all members who haven’t yet met to meet each other. After some discussion, it was
decided to do what had been done before: divide the participants into 2 halves
according to recorded performance and then draw for pairs, one half of the pair from
each hat. Bring-a-plate (“potluck”) is the favoured source of sustenance, gets people
talking and exchanging recipes, etc. The Club to lay on a basic supply of wine (people
can bring more of course). If we can be self-sufficient for food and drink, then it could be
at the Parkhouse, Deb to investigate room availability. We are looking at the autumn,
before things get busy with Christmas parties. Pauline will coordinate the plates being
brought to ensure we don’t end up with too much of one thing. Leslie Davis Cup to be
awarded, as before. Deb thought if this event is well-supported, then having all/lots of
members participating could be the way back for the Team of 4 Event, which is a really
enjoyable thing to play. Because this is special, with details to be sorted, this will not
appear on the Club Calendar for this year, and will be the subject of special
announcement and promotion.
5. Events over the Christmas Period: Vicki suggested that we should play some Bridge
over the Christmas period, as it can be a difficult time for some, just about everything
regular being shut down then, including the Parkhouse. This was felt to be a very good
idea. Vicki will lead the investigation into ways and means, all help being welcome,
particularly over alternative venues. Because this is special, with details to be sorted,
this will not appear on the Club Calendar for this year, and will be the subject of special
announcement and promotion.
6. The Christine Carey Cup was not played for this last year. Deb explained that once
afternoon sessions became a regular, year-long thing (late 2016/early2017) this
unallocated cup was decided by a previous Committee to be awarded to the winning
pair on a particular afternoon in the Club Year. Deb suggested, and it was agreed, that
this event needs to be looked at in the context of the afternoon sessions as a whole, at
our next meeting as there is no time left in this meeting.
There being no other business, the meeting was concluded. The next meeting planned
will be a full-agenda meeting, for which Deb will see if there is a time in the not-too-
distant future when we can all get together. (Single-agenda short-notice meetings may

happen sooner if needed and the general consensus seems to be to have such
meetings after Monday afternoon sessions, rather than

Minutes of the committee meeting held Tuesday 5th November 2019

at 5.45pm in the Parkhouse

♣ ♦ Bude Bridge Club ♥ ♠

MINUTES OF COMMITTEE MEETING

held on Monday June 26^th 2023 at 12.45pm 

at The Parkhouse Centre

Present:  Debra DelValle (Chair) Steve Trenner (Treasurer) Linda Ashworth, Mary Hicks, Pauline Sear, Robert Waterhouse, Peter Oldfield, Vicki Lucas, Val Ridding

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, delighted that all could attend.

The Chair announced that because this is a Short Meeting, the Agenda is curtailed to cover the two items of business outlined in her email dated 20^th June to all present.  For that reason, the paper agenda that Val had produced in anticipation of this meeting will not be followed.

The first item of business is to co-opt Val Ridding onto the Committee as she has expressed willingness to act as Secretary to take and produce drafts of the minutes of meetings to alleviate pressure on the Chair’s time.  A point of order was raised by Vicki, that a Secretary should be elected by an AGM as specified in our Constitution.  The Chair was of the view (looking at Clause 5 (f)) that there is lack of clarity in the Constitution, because the Committee is empowered to “co-opt at its discretion additional members to serve on the committee” but doesn’t make it clear if that includes officers.  The Chair suggested that the quick fix on this occasion, given that Val is here, ready to be co-opted and take the minutes, is to co-opt her onto the Committee now and ask her to be Acting Secretary, pending further consideration of this point of order.  All existing members agreed, and resolved accordingly.

The Chair then proceeded to address the following list of events for consideration: 

Handicap Pairs on the first Tuesday of every month:  as the EBU has scheduled the Children in Need Sim Pairs event (mentioned below) to be on the first Tuesday of November 2023 Deb has checked with Chris Nichols and he agreed that he could see no reason why the two events cannot be held in the same session.  Val suggested there were too many Handicap Pairs sessions, that many participants did not even realize they were participating in a Handicap Pairs session and should be reduced to something like only 4 a year, incidentally saving the cost of the 2 bottles of wine that are won in each session.  There was general disagreement to these statements: most people (especially pairs who are regularly competing) do realize they are participating in a Handicap Pairs event, and that it was a very popular event – an opportunity for those who don’t normally win to win something.  Deb indicated that the cost of the wine was inconsequential, at £3.75 or so a bottle, and explained that a year of so prior to Covid, there had been only 7 Handicap Pairs per Club year (increased from 5 the previous year) but as these sessions were the best-attended of all the Tuesdays in a month, it was considered to be very popular with the regulars and so it had been decided to run it every month on resumption after Covid, provided Chris was willing to do the calculations that often, which he had said he was.  The sessions had in the past been based on the Club year (AGM to AGM) but because the post-Covid sessions only restarted in January 2023 (after attendance numbers had stabilized) it made sense to run the competition for the trophy based on a calendar year, as otherwise the trophy would have been awarded based on only 3 sessions in the 2022-2023 Club year.  Linda recalled that to win the trophy, pairs had to have participated in at least 4 events, or maybe even more.  It was decided to continue with these sessions 12 times a year, based on a calendar year starting January 3^rd 2023, on the same basis as already exists and Chris was thanked for his willingness to do this.

The Clifton Trophy:  Deb explained that this has been a single-session event in which a minimum of 24 boards are played.  Val explained that this trophy was presented to the Club to honour Frank and Doris Clifton who were the driving force behind the creation of this Club, and was last competed for in March 2023.  All agreed it should continue in that format at that time of year.  Given that Easter Sunday is March 31^st 2024, the week preceding should be avoided, but otherwise as late as possible in March so March 19^th 2024 was decided upon.

EBU (seasonal) Sim Pairs:  Deb explained these events are 4 times a year, the next ones in this Club year being 25^th July 2023, 10^th October 2023 and 16^th January 2024 (the next Spring Sim Pairs is April 9^th 2024 which may be in this or the next Club Year, depending on when we decide to set the date for the AGM.)  In years gone by there had not been participation in the Summer Sim Pairs, but prior to Covid lockdowns a previous Committee had decided that attendance in the summer was sufficiently stable to participate in the Summer Sims.  It was decided to continue with all 4 seasonal Sims, keeping attendance under review.

BBC Children in Need Sim Pairs:  Deb explained that this happens in November every year, fundraising for Children in Need by various means, including all money collected at the table being passed on.  The afternoon sessions since inception had participated in the fundraising, but because these are not regulated sessions, players could not participate in the Sim Pairs competition in the afternoon session so only Tuesday nights participated.  Last November 2022 it was devised that the afternoon session would play the Sim Pairs boards for that particular day, and if the session complied with the Laws of Duplicate Bridge, as determined by Chris in attendance at the session, then the results would be forwarded to the EBU for inclusion in the competition, otherwise the results would just be posted in the usual way.  Chris determined that there had been compliance, and attendees generally felt ok with having regulation in order to benefit from participating in this national event.  As such, it was resolved both weekly sessions would participate again on November 6^th and 7^th 2023.  Rob queried if the Club was allowed to enter twice – it was explained to him that some Clubs (like us) have more than one session a week so it is normal practice for each different (regulated) session to be entered.

Voting for the  Beryl Mardon Memorial Cup:  Deb explained that Beryl was an afternoon regular who died and her partner donated a cup in her memory, to be awarded to any member of the Club in recognition of their service to the Club.  Voting is by all members (they can choose any member and the member with the most votes is honoured) and takes place in the week either side of her birthday which was January 14^th, so for 2024 that would be January 8^th to the 16^th, giving members plenty of opportunity to put in their vote.  Agreed to continue that.

Last Bridge Session in 2023:  agreed will be Tuesday December 19^th

First Bridge Session in 2024:  agreed will be Tuesday January 2nd 

The Club Championship (John Ridding Memorial Cup):  Deb reported on the 3 formats of this event over the last 35 years, as told to her by Chris:-

1. A Saturday afternoon and evening all-plays-all over a minimum of 36 boards, including a break for refreshment.  

2.  Two heats and a final, spread over the same Tuesday in the first 3 months of the calendar year, with a secondary prize of the Championship Plate

3.  Combined results of two sessions.

Chris would like to see a single event that involves playing a minimum of 36 boards.

Steve Clifton said “the Championship should be played over all the weeks of the year like a ladder and must have played at least 20 sessions, this is done in most EBU Clubs”

Val said she had experienced something like that in her previous (other) club with the worst results being dropped from the pairs’ standings depending on the number of times the pair had played. In response to Linda’s query, Val said that John Ridding would have wanted the Club Champion Pair to be determined by their performance over the whole year rather than by a single (albeit big) event.  Pauline said that she and Pamela occasionally have a fantastic result, and it would not be fair if they happened to win the Club Championship if it was a single event and be able to call themselves the Club Champions when there were many other more worthy pairs.  Many concurred with that view and it was agreed it should be based on whole-year (meaning Club year) results even though the Club year has already started.  Deb said she was not comfortable with the idea of pairs being able to drop their 3 any number of worst results from the year – for top pairs, this might give them a significant advantage.  Deb suggested an average, records of which are already kept on the Club website, so people can follow the “horserace” throughout the year – this might encourage people to improve, even though there is some distance between top and bottom, but it certainly could be interesting to follow if it was close at the top.  All agreed that taking an average felt right.  Peter thought that in practice, to drop or not to drop any number of worst results wouldn’t make much difference.  So average was agreed by the majority without the ability to drop any bad results.  Discussion ensued about the minimum number of sessions that had to be played throughout the year to qualify:  Deb pointed out that many people who were likely to want to participate had different partners for different weeks of each month eg Mary Hopwood has 2 partners and Linda, Ian and Fiona to name but a few have at least 2.  This raised the question of people being in the competition with more than one partner, or should they be forced to pick one.   Deb thought it would be unfair to make people with more than one partner choose (they may already be at a disadvantage by not playing with the same partner week in week out) and pointed out that this is already the case as shown in the Pairs (2023) section of “Competitions” on the website eg Mary Hopwood is shown twice, with different partners.  Deb suggested it would be fairest if a pair had to play a minimum of 12 sessions to qualify to be in the competition but others pointed out that one couldn’t be certain to play with a partner 12 times in a year, holidays, sickness, etc so a minimum of 10 sessions was preferred.  Steve wondered if the sessions should be played on the same day of each month (like playing for the Handicap Pairs Trophy) – Val thought that a good idea as people might plan their holidays around those days – general disagreement that people would do that.  Steve dropped his proposal as he realized it wouldn’t work for those members with multiple partners in a month.   Rob said that hitherto he has played with many different partners so if he settles to say two or even more regular partners he could be entered as many as 5 times if there were 50 playing weeks in the year.  It was agreed that this would be ok, we have to accommodate the realities of our Club, as it is not unusual that many players have multiple partners. Finally it was agreed, pairs’ results averaged over the whole Club year, no discounting of any bad weeks, and a minimum of 10 sessions to qualify to be in the competition. This pairs competition applies only to Tuesday night regulated sessions.

Christmas Events:  Val said that she and Steve want to see a Whole-Club fun Christmas event.  Deb explained that if we only had one event, then the usual problem of some people wanting it at night, and some in the day, would arise.  Any attempt at a Whole-Club event should be considered for a different time of year (this is listed for discussion later in the list) so as not to disturb what seems to have worked well for Christmas in the last few years, namely, different Christmas events have been organised for Tuesday night and what was Wednesday afternoon (now Monday afternoon) to reflect the wishes of those who regularly attend each.  In both cases, it is run as an Individual (as opposed to Pairs) event to create a more fun atmosphere.  In the Tuesday event, it’s mince pies and a glass of wine at the break and they play for the June Justice (individual) trophy – Steve Clifton has suggested to Deb that it should no longer be a regulated event (no Masterpoints or NGS rating) to avoid some people taking it too seriously.  The afternoon event starts with a bring-a-plate lunch with wine and afterwards individuals play for the Jug of Wisdom.  The majority agreed that Monday’s Christmas event, as described above, would be on December 19^th and Tuesday’s event, as described above, would be on December 20^th, although Steve’s suggestion about de-regulation remains to be discussed.

 As the afternoon session was nearing the start, it was decided to adjourn the meeting and resume next Monday at 12.45pm, here at the Parkhouse, to discuss remaining calendar items and suggestions.  Apologies in advance from Mary and Rob.     

Present: Deb DelValle (chair), Linda Ashworth, Ann Bennett, Hilary Dorren, Maureen Fallows, Alison
Osborne, Christine Theobald, Steve Trenner.
Apologies: Stephen Smith.
Minutes of last meeting (3rd September): agreement proposed by Maureen, seconded by Linda.
Chair’s report: a written report had been circulated prior to the meeting with various items being
discussed in detail.
Deb’s claim for £35 re-imbursement of the Directors’ course was approved. She noted that Carole Reid
had also attended, through Barnstaple Taw Vale Bridge Club.
Tuesday and Wednesday attendances over the last couple of months have been slightly better than the
same period last year, but there is an on-going issue with Fridays. Asking members to commit in advance
has certainly saved the club money in room hire/cancellation fees, however our inability to make firm
plans in advance has resulted in a less than optimum headcount. Play has been possible only about 25%
of the time making the arrangements disproportionately time-consuming for Deb. It was suggested that
rather than abandon Fridays altogether perhaps it should be reduced to one set evening per month. Deb
will make enquiry of the membership and discuss this with the regular Friday players.
SIMS pricing: until now members have paid only the standard table money and the additional EBU
SIMS fee (£2.80 per person) has been covered by the club on all 3 of these annual events. We agreed that
it would now be more appropriate for members to pay £3.50 table money for EBU events, which would
be a more equitable allocation of club funds. (Any visitors attending would pay £6.50). This will apply
from 14th January onwards. The pricing will remain unchanged for the 2 Charity SIMS nights.
Club Anniversary event (November 10th). Hilary has arranged to buy serviettes, borrow glasses/plates
etc and Deb is organising the drinks. There has however been a disappointing level of interest so in the
meantime more members will be encouraged to attend and contribute to the ’bring and share’ meal.
Children in Need SIMS (November 12th). As previously all table money will go to the Charity and
Hilary will approach members who might contribute cakes for fundraising.
December 10th June Justice trophy: Chris Nichols is running this with Deb who will organise the
wine. Maureen and Christine will organise mince pies. Wine will also be organised for the Jug of
Wisdom party on 11th December.
Voting for the Beryl Mardon Award will take place in the w/c 8th January. Deb will be away so
Maureen will put out the ballot box and collect the results the following week.
Club Championship/Club Plate (February 11th). This has previously been a 2-session event with 2
trophies awarded. Some members feel that there is now an insufficient number of pairs to continue with a
‘qualifier’ evening while others still support the existing format. We will discuss this further at the next
committee meeting and AGM, but are planning to run the February 2020 event as scheduled.
Members have suggested that more Teams nights should be organised, perhaps with a Teams ladder
league, and it may be that the Club Plate could be awarded for this in future. Linda agreed to discuss this
with Steve Clifton and Chris.
Directors & Scorers: Deb will be away for several weeks early next year so Alison & Steve will
administer Wednesday afternoons in her absence. Tom Salt will be asked to become a scorer for the Club

as we are one scorer short as Deb could not become a scorer because her computer doesn’t work with the
software take Deb’s place as scorer. We are grateful to all who contribute as Directors and Scorers,
particularly Chris who handles the Duplimated boards and SIMS/handicap events.
Bridgemates: it has been suggested that the club would benefit from this or a similar package, however
we believe it would cost about £1k and would need to be administered by someone having the relevant
computer skills. Tom Salt would be willing to set up the system and train the Directors, but given our
relatively small number of players we wonder if the investment is worthwhile. We will investigate the
possibility of a 2nd hand package and will take any further advice and opinions that may be offered by
people who use them in other clubs.
Learners: we have expressions of interest from about 8 possible new players. Chris has been looking at
beginning tuition in January and Bob Bennett is also willing to teach beginners.

The September 2019 Teams Competition ended as a draw, leaving us with the option of putting 8
names on the trophy or deciding on a tie-breaker. The 1st option was impractical so the trophy is to be
awarded to the team which scored highest in the ‘head-to-head’.
Club competition rules: There was a member’s suggestion to put in place policies which restrict certain
competitions to ‘members only’, as indicated already on the website calendar. The committee had no
issue with this limitation. It had also been suggested that the restriction on club competitions should be
extended to exclude members whose main club is not Bude, however the committee was not in favour

Committee Meeting September 2019

Present: Deb Delvalle (chair), Linda Ashworth, Ann Bennett, Maureen Fallows, Alison Osborne, Christine Theobald, Steve Trenner.

Apologies: Hilary Dorren, Stephen Smith.

Minutes of last meeting (21st May): accepted.  On-going matters covered below.

Chair’s report:  Deb had circulated a detailed report in advance of the meeting. 

She congratulated club members who had raised £494 for the Cornwall Sims Charity event in June. Special thanks to Hilary for organising and catering the event, along with Alan Merchant-White who donated 4 paintings  and organised the auction.  (Christine added that the total raised by the six competing clubs was £1210 making Bude’s contribution even more notable.)

Deb has completed the Club Director’s training course with the final assessment to follow at the end of October.

The Bude-Stratton Heritage Fair in July was well-supported by club members and they raised £95 for the Cornwall Air Ambulance, however the event probably did not attract many potential new Bridge players.

Attendances over the last few months have been very variable.  There have only been a few Friday sessions and  Wednesday attendances declined over the summer, however savings were made by using a smaller room.  Tuesdays have been unpredictable and we may therefore need to consider implementing savings on room costs for evening sessions next summer.

Treasurer’s report: Stephen had sent through a report summarising transactions over the first half of our financial year. Attendances have been down 13% compared with the corresponding period last year with a consequent loss of £247 and it is expected that the second half of the year will also show a shortfall, however there is still £2427 in the bank.  Stephen reminded us that he will be resigning as treasurer next year and noted that decisions will need to be made in 2020.  The committee already has a mandate from the last AGM to increase the annual membership fee to £5 and it was resolved to do this with effect from January 1st 2020. If that rise does not cover the shortfall then the Committee may need to consider increasing table money or moving to a smaller room to avoid a further depletion of reserves next year and this will be kept under review.

The committee discussed SIMS pricing.  The club pays an additional fee to the organisers but does not currently pass this charge on to the members who play in these events so we will investigate the cost of this subsidy for discussion at the next meeting.

Forthcoming events: Deb reported that we have not been asked to provide reserve players for the Falcon Congress this month.  Our Teams of 4 championship on 24th September will be organised by Chris, and Steve will run the Clifton trophy on October 15th.  We will again invite members to make cakes/muffins to encourage teabreak donations at the Children in Need SIMS event and the Wednesday session in that week.

We have had offers from members who would be happy to help with online scoring however registering new users incurs a cost so we have not followed up on this in the past but Deb will investigate further if the time has come to add one or more scorers.

Member’s suggestions: Deb (along with Linda and Maureen) met with Alan Biggs in June, and his comments were discussed by the committee at length. His main concern is the loss, actual and potential, of quality players from the club.  He suggested the more regular use of Duplimated boards and the committee agreed that this would be appropriate  to add the Handicap pairs evenings (now going to be a monthly event every year) to the other competitions which already involve Duplimated boards.  These extra sessions would mean that Duplimated boards will be used for about half of the evening sessions. Deb has agreed with Chris Nichols who organises the Duplimated boards for the Club that this is workable.

Alan also suggested that Bridgemates (or a similar instant scoring system) should be used and we will make further investigations into the cost and benefits of such an investment.  It was noted that almost all clubs have now moved over to this kind of computer scoring system which allows for analysis of mistakes and potentially improved play.

Further discussions took place at this meeting on the balance between afternoon and evening club sessions.  It has been suggested  that the on-going afternoon sessions have a detrimental effect on evening attendances:  the less people who attend means the boards are played fewer times which negatively impacts on the value/validity of the Duplicate result.  Following on from this, committee members will again try to encourage Wednesday players to attend the evening sessions but are aware that there are many reasons why people choose to play in the afternoon, and do not see this as the cause of dwindling attendances on Tuesdays.  One of the factors could be players’ lack of confidence and so we are looking at tuition for “improvers”.  This might be done free of charge by qualified club members, or by paid teachers if there is sufficient support and interest.

In addition we will continue to seek completely new players/lapsed players.  Bob and Ann have found 2 people in Widemouth who have expressed an interest and as a first step they are going to organise an informal “taster” session at their house.  Chris has drawn our attention to page 50 of the latest EBU mag on running taster sessions, and there is a piece on the EBU website on how to play “miniBridge” (Bridge without bidding)  Lindsey has given Deb the contact details of 4 people who used to play Bridge and now want to learn to play better and Deb is going to ask Chris if he would be willing to work with them.  Steve has had 5 people at the tennis club (all lapsed players) express an interest - he’s not been there the last few weeks but is just about to go back and will follow this up.   Deb is going to write something for the local paper.  Following Deb’s recent email request to all existing members we hope that existing members will continue to find interested people through their non-Bridge activities and provide Deb with contact details for potential new players.  It was envisaged that a charge should be made for these lessons, something in the region of £60 per person for 10 lessons (which is comfortably within the going rate for other Adult Education courses of similar duration) depending on what external expenses there were (e.g. course material) and something for the tutor’s time.  The Club has 2 EBU-qualifed tutors - Chris and Neil - the complete course is 2 years long but all agreed that very few absolute beginners would ever embark on such a course if they knew that, so it’s best not to mention that at the outset and confine initial lessons to the first 10, and then take it from there for those with sufficient interest to go on.  Alan Biggs has offered to teach, preferably beginners,  autumn or winter when he’s not so busy with his business.  Apart from these three, Chris has told Deb that there are a reasonable number of qualified teachers within a 20-mile radius who would come to the Club if paid, something like £50 per visit.  All agreed that we need to find willing candidates to learn first, and then take it from there.  Deb also agreed to investigate the merits of being included in the Council’s annual Adult Education programme for next year as it was recognised that this reaches every household over a wide area.

Other business:  A special all-Club event is planned for a Sunday early in November at the Parkhouse.  Deb will co-ordinate with relevant people over the exact date.  Hilary is aware of the plan and is happy to take the lead on organising the non-Bridge aspects of the event.

We convey our best wishes to Brian and Elaine,  life members of the club.

Date of next meeting: 5th November 2019 Parkhouse Centre at 5.45pm.

Meeting closed at 6.45pm.

Present: Deb Delvalle (chair), Linda Ashworth, Hilary Dorren,  Maureen Fallows, Alison Osborne, Stephen Smith, Christine Theobald.

Apologies: none.

Minutes of last meeting (30th October):  acceptance proposed by Alison, seconded by Maureen.

Acting Chair's report:  Deb thanked the committee members for their contribution during the year and it was confirmed that all are willing to stand again - however  Stephen and Christine indicated that they would like to be replaced (as treasurer and secretary) during the coming year and Alison also may not be able to fulfill a full term. Deb is willing to stand as Chair and would  welcome two additional committee members, particularly any person(s) with an interest in competitive play to achieve a greater balance on the committee.

Treasurer's report: Stephen reviewed the year's accounts, noting that the club is financially healthy.  He suggested that while there is currently no need to raise table money he would like to propose an increase in the annual membership fee from £1 to £5 which would keep the bank balances healthy without allowing them to build up too high.  This will be raised at the forthcoming AGM.

He also needs to reinstate the electronic banking facility which was lost last year when the bank mandate was updated.

Secretary's report: Christine had nothing to report but queried a couple of items relating to the booklet.  We have not yet had firm confirmation from North Coast Wine whether they will sponsor the Handicap pairs this year but regardless of that, a majority of those who expressed an opinion were in favour of keeping the booklet in its present form.  Christine will need a list of members who have renewed.

Club Calendar: the draft calendar compiled by Chris Nichols was reviewed.  Deb suggested a couple of amendments -

a) date of AGM to be 7th April

b) January 3rd (Friday) to be the first night of 2020

c) voting for the Beryl Mardon award to take place between 8th and 14th January.

As there were issues this year with the 'Teams of 4' event Deb will discuss with Chris Nichols the feasibility of moving it to another evening.  The Cornwall charity SIMS evening on June 18th will be in aid of 'Penhaligon's Friends', a small Cornish charity which supports the bereaved for which a few £100 would mean a lot.

Restrictions on entry to Club competitions:  some members had suggested that entry to selected events should be restricted to regular players.  Most committee members did not support this.

A question had also arisen with regard to the John & Bill award as it is not clear at present whether slams achieved on Wednesdays  are eligible for the award. It was felt that given the differences between Tuesday and Wednesday sessions the most fair solution would be to  initiate a similar but separate competition for Wednesdays for a 2nd bottle.

Arrangements for AGM:  Linda has been collecting the trophies and making arrangements for engraving.  She shared the concern of some of the members about some confusion last year with regard to the order in which the cups are awarded and we will try to avoid a similar situation again by following the order in which the competitions occur in the Club Calendar so far as possible.

Directors training: Deb is attending both days of the forthcoming directors' training course in Stratton and Linda is also booked in for one day.  The Club will pay for the course (£75 in total) but Deb and Linda will cover the cost of their own up-to-date “Laws” booklets.

A.O.B.: Maureen had ordered cards costing £116.

Hilary raised the subject of celebrating the Club’s longevity.  In the last year a lot of work went into planning such an event so Deb will cover this in her Chairman’s report at the AGM.

D.O.N.M.:  Next meeting will be Tuesday 21st May at 5.45pm.

The meeting closed at 6.45pm.

Bude Bridge Club

Minutes of the committee meeting held on Tuesday 30th October 2018 at 5.45pm in the Parkhouse

Present: Deb Delvalle (chair),  Linda Ashworth, Hilary Dorren, Maureen Fallows, Alison Osborne, Christine Theobald.

Apologies: Stephen Smith.

Minutes of the last meeting (4th September): agreed.  Acceptance proposed by Maureen, seconded by Hilary.

Matters arising: Alan Merchant-White will pick up the wine as discussed previously.  Improvements to the email circulation list are still outstanding, as is the meeting with Alan Biggs.

Acting Chair's report: It has been confirmed that we have to pay the full EBU contribution for Wednesday sessions but Masterpoints are not awarded as the sessions are not compliant with EBU regulations.  Table money is now £2.50 for all sessions.

Terry and Penny (with input from Chris Nichols) have instigated enhancements to the website scoring and results section.  These can now show contracts and a commentary on exceptional hands which is instructive and interesting.

We discussed the need to send a letter to members who achieve promotions but felt that verbal congratulations and notification on the website is sufficient.

A date had been selected for the proposed 40th anniversary event but this had to be dropped as there was a County event scheduled  for that weekend  We will try to highlight the website link with the CCBA for improved communication in the future but this had served to remind us that the club's more competitive players may not be adequately represented on the committee.

Secretary's report: there have been a couple of issues with the registration of Wednesday players as EBU members but these will no doubt be resolved shortly. We have been sent paperwork for our 2019 room bookings which will be completed in due course.

Table money: There has been no negative feedback on the new standard pricing.  Attendances have been lower than we might have hoped, particularly on Fridays, but for the time being we will carry on as at present.

Events: Chris organises all the competitions except for the Clifton cup, and will continue to do so. He will also make arrangements for the Christmas event/June Justice Trophy once the committee has decided on what should happen. We agreed that on the Tuesday evening there will be wine and mince pies - Alan M.W. will arrange the wine and Maureen and Christine will deal with mince pies. On Wednesday refreshments will be 'bring and share' as last year.   All members will be encouraged to  attend either or both events. We will talk to Chris about the feasibility of running the Justice competition over two days.

Deb has been in touch with Chris Skipp about the Beryl  Mardon Memorial award and the proposed vote for a person who has made a notable contribution to the club during the year. There will not be a session on Tuesday 1st January so voting will be arranged for Wednesday 2nd and Tuesday 8th January (and the intervening Friday if appropriate).

40th anniversary:  The plan had been for a bridge-related event to be held probably in November, but as there were issues with the proposed date and the catering arrangements it now seems unlikely that anything could be arranged before next April so there are no plans to proceed with this at present.   We are still  uncertain about exactly when the Club was formed.

Date of next meeting: March 12th 2019 at 5.45pm.

Meeting closed at 6.45pm.

Present: Deb DelValle (chair), Linda Ashworth, Hilary Dorren, Alison Osborne, Stephen Smith, Christine Theobald, Steve Trenner.
Apologies: Maureen Fallows

Co-opting of additional committee members: Ann Bennett could not attend the meeting but had agreed to rejoin the committee, taking on the role of Vice-Chair. Steve Trenner had also accepted an invitation to join the committee and was welcomed. Chris Nichols is willing to attend meetings as necessary to assist the committee with his knowledge and experience.

Minutes of last meeting (12th March): acceptance proposed by Hilary and seconded by Linda.

Matters arising: none from the last meeting, however Linda reminded us that Alan Biggs had previously offered to share ideas to ensure the club’s viability. This had not been followed through but Deb agreed to get in touch with him for some specific suggestions.

Chair’s report: Deb had just completed the 3rd day of Directors’ training but would need to undergo an assessment probably in September before being qualified as a Club-level Director. She apologised for the late posting of AGM minutes onto the website and said that this would be remedied soon. She was also aware that her AGM report had been longer than usual - she had felt this was necessary to communicate fully with members that she does not see regularly. Mary Hopgood has agreed to act as recruiter for Friday evenings and we thank her for this. The first Friday session since January has just occurred and there are reasons to believe that this should continue for the summer at least.
We need to plan ahead and encourage new people to learn Bridge and play at the club (tuition is not currently available on a Wednesday). There had not been anyone new wanting to train as a teacher, but Neil might be available again to run a course in the autumn. Stephen suggested an email to all members asking if they knew anyone who would like to form a small group and learn.

Treasurer’s report: Stephen noted that although table money has generally been holding up well, there has been a marked drop in attendances over the last few weeks and it remains to be seen if this is a temporary situation or a trend. 

Secretary’s report: We now have confirmation of the committee, calendar and membership list so the booklet will be printed at the earliest opportunity. 

Handicap pairs: It had been suggested that this might run over 12 months rather than just in the winter, provided there was no conflict with other events such as SIMS. Chris is happy to continue organising the event so we agreed to try it next year, beginning in April 2020. There will be additional cost associated with the prizes, bearing in mind that we no longer have sponsorship for this competition, but this event seems relatively well-supported and we should respond to that. It had also been suggested that ‘higher’ level conventions should not be allowed, thereby downgrading sessions from a level 4 to a level 2. The committee accepted that although some players might find unusual conventions  intimidating, we would not see it as anything which would have an adverse effect on attendances so feel there is no need to change the competition rules.

Wednesday summer room rental: last year the afternoon sessions were held in the smaller conference room. While this was a cheaper option the room does get very hot in summer, attendance did not drop last summer as anticipated and setting it up seems to involve much more effort from Parkhouse staff. It was agreed that Wednesday sessions would continue in the large room, however this will be kept under review to ensure that attendances justify the cost.

Cornwall SIMS charity event: Hilary will again organise the sale of cakes etc to support bereavement charity Penhaligon’s friends, CCBA’s chosen beneficiary for this event.

A.O.B. : We did not have time to discuss a social event or any other business so this will be carried forward to the next meeting.

D.O.N.M: September 3rd at 5.45pm.

The meeting closed at 6.45pm.

Minutes of the committee meeting held on Tuesday 4th September 2018 at 5.45pm in the Parkhouse

Present: Deb DelValle (chair), Linda Ashworth, Hilary Dorren, Maureen Fallows, Alison Osborne, Stephen Smith, Christine Theobald.

Apologies: none

Minutes of last meeting (June 26th): agreed.  Acceptance proposed by Linda, seconded by Maureen.

Matters arising: all covered below.

Acting Chair's Report:  Alan Merchant-White has resigned from the committee but has indicated that he will gladly support the club in whatever other ways he can.  We thank him for all he has done for us, especially with Hilary regarding plans for the 40th Anniversary.

Neil had asked if Alan could be responsible for picking up the prizes donated by North Coast Wine and Deb will ask him.

Attendances have held up well over the summer.

Deb has not yet spoken to Alan Biggs who had offered advice on club matters.

Partner-finding service - no change.

Updates to the website have been identified and mostly dealt with and Deb will work to ensure continuity. 

A change in the reporting of results (mainly on Wednesdays) was initiated by Penny and Terry Abbott by adding details of the bid contract which has been helpful and well-received.

We also need a protocol for email circulation and updates to the email list.

Chris has agreed to handle arrangements for the SIMS events in October and November and the Handicap pairs, but he asked for assistance with internal publicity for these events, which Deb has agreed to do.  Unfortunately he had to look outside of our club for volunteers to help with the forthcoming Congress.    Steve Clifton will be directing the Clifton Trophy evening on 16th October and Deb will ask him if he needs any assistance from the Committee with that.

We need to be thinking about arrangements for Christmas.

Treasurer's Report: The bank mandate forms have been sent off and electronic banking is now in place.  Passwords and account details have been passed to Deb as backup.  Electronic banking requires only one person to operate it so Stephen will report on transfers he has done alone.

The financial situation is quite positive at present. Table money is up compared with last year and costs are down.  The flexible arrangements for Friday nights and use of a smaller room on Wednesdays have saved us about £200 and improved attendances on Tuesdays have generated an extra £250 income, leaving us with a modest profit in the first half of the financial year and nearly £3k in the bank, although against that there are a number of routine annual payments that are to be made in the second half of the financial year.

Secretary's Report: In May the EBU sent out a  contract to all clubs regarding data processing, and they had indicated that agreement was mandatory so we signed. We have now been told that there are uncertainties about the interpretation of the new regulations so this may not have been necessary.

Review of table money & EBU 'Pay to Play':  As a result of correspondence over the summer months we discussed the status of our afternoon sessions in relation to the EBU regulations.  We believe that the sessions have evolved such that we can no longer claim that these are 'novice' sessions under EBU rules and so we will now need to start making UMS (P2P) payments. We will have to increase the table money to cover this but Masterpoints will still not be available - points can only be awarded in an EBU-compliant session but the committee thought it important that the current format and ambiance of the Wednesday sessions should take priority to maintain this session as a vital stepping stone to evening (i.e. EBU-regulated) play. At present only players who have attended in the evenings are registered with the EBU but this will now change so that all playing members will have access to EBU resources.

We understand that Truro Bridge Club has identified a way to obtain a discount on P2P charges for sessions like this where Masterpoints are not awarded.  Neil and Deb have already been in touch with them and Stephen will follow up to find out how to achieve this through the scoring software.

Session fees were discussed at the last AGM and the committee was given a mandate to increase table money by 50p.  We therefore plan to make all 3 sessions chargeable at the same rate (£2.50) from the beginning of October.  Proposed by Maureen, seconded by Stephen, agreed unanimously.

40th Anniversary Celebrations: There seems to be some doubt about exactly when the club started but we have just had our 40th AGM so Hilary and Alan MW have been investigating possible ways to mark the event.  It has not yet been possible to speak to each club member individually but so far an overwhelming number favour a 'bridge-related' event, possibly to be held on a Sunday in March. We would hope for a good attendance which would exclude many smaller local venues and so it might be held in the Parkhouse with an outside caterer. Hilary will put a proposal together.

Date of next meeting: Tuesday 30th October at 5.45pm

Other business: Alison will be meeting up with Neil for further discussion on press and website reporting .

Meeting ended at 6.45pm

Minutes of the committee meeting held on Tuesday 26th June 2018 at 5.45pm in the Parkhouse

Present: Deb Delvalle (chair), Linda Ashworth, Hilary Dorren, Maureen Fallows, Alan Merchant-White, Alison Osborne, Stephen Smith, Christine Theobald

Apologies: none.

Minutes of previous meeting (22nd May): agreed.  Acceptance proposed by Maureen, seconded by Alan.

Matters arising: covered later in the meeting.

Acting Chair's report: The Club raised a total of £210 for the Cornwall Sims chosen charity (Coastwatch).  This was composed of table money and donations from both Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon.  Deb thanked Hilary for co-ordinating the fundraising efforts and also the various members who had contributed cakes and raffle prizes.

Bob Bennett and Stephen Smith have agreed to direct an evening session once a month to relieve the pressure on our current Directors and Deb continues to run the Wednesday sessions.  We will still look for any other members who might want to be trained as Directors.

Penny Abbott has agreed to help Chris Nichols with updating the website and Terry Abbott has been shown how to score.  Another potential scorer has been identified for the future.

We are currently using the conference room for Wednesday sessions which is cheaper than our usual room.  Although smaller it is adequate for the likely number of summer attendees.

Prior to the AGM minutes of the meetings were put on the website before being agreed by the full committee but for the last two months we have been posting them only after they have been approved.  This has led to complaints from members and so we are now going to circulate minutes by email to the committee at the earliest opportunity, and provided there are no disagreements the website can be updated more promptly.

Treasurer's report: The bank has several requirements that we have to action before we can alter the mandate.  They need a copy of the committee minutes approving the changes with 2 signatures - this has now been done.  The new signatories have provided proof of identity and all other committee members have been asked to fill out forms giving their personal details. We are also going to move on to internet banking.  This requires only one signature per transaction and is therefore contrary to the spirit of our current constitution but it is the best practical solution.

Secretary's report: Alan Biggs had recently offered to give advice to the committee on running a Bridge Club.  Each member of the committee has a copy of the EBU's guidance publication 'What makes a successful Bridge Club' and although at first glance it seems rather daunting, we are actually already compliant with the majority of their suggestions and will review our weaknesses.  Nevertheless we are very grateful to Alan for his interest and acknowledge that he has a great deal of experience, so Deb will liaise with him to identify opportunities for improvement.

Reporting: Alison has now taken on the job of sending weekly emails to the press. She will work with Neil to produce her first monthly report.

Partner-finding: Ann Bennett has dealt with this key role for some years, but we will ask the members if any of them would like to help with boosting attendances in this way.  Apart from enthusiasm for the role, it has to be someone who checks their email daily and is comfortable with the i.t. aspect of the role.

40th Anniversary: Alan and Hilary will consider the possibilities for an event that could take place in the autumn. This might be Bridge-related or purely social and it might include spouses if appropriate, but the 'sub-committee' would be mindful of the costs of any such celebration. They will speak to members to ascertain the level of interest and will investigate local venues, keeping Deb informed of progress.

AOB: the handicap pairs season begins on 4th September which provides an opportunity for less experienced players to score well in an evening session.  Deb will ask Chris Nichols to explain the system to the Wednesday players with a view to encouraging their participation.

DONM: we found that the slightly earlier start to the meeting was very beneficial, so the next meeting will be held at the same time (5.45pm) on Tuesday September 4th.

Meeting ended at 6.45pm.

Minutes of the committee meeting held on Tuesday 22nd May at 6pm in the Parkhouse

Present: Deb Delvalle (chair), Linda Ashworth,  Hilary Dorren, Maureen Fallows, Alan Merchant-White, Alison Osborne, Stephen Smith, Christine Theobald.

Apologies: none.

Minutes of previous meeting: acceptance proposed by Linda, seconded by Maureen.

Matters arising: there has not yet been any progress on changing the cheque signatories but now that Stephen has a signed copy of the minutes this can go ahead.

We thanked Deb for being such a capable and diplomatic 'acting' chair and although there was some discussion on other potential candidates, it was felt that this was not an urgent issue at present.  Deb is coping but would happily step aside if the Committee found and agreed on someone else to co-opt. The shortage of directors is of greater concern but we understand that Steve Clifton has said he is willing to direct (evenings) from time to time, and we are most grateful for his help.

Acting Chair's Report: Chris Nichols has said that he would like someone to share the website work with him and Deb will ask a couple of members who may be willing and able to assist.

Bude Town Council had asked if it would be possible for the Wednesday sessions to take place in the Conference room rather than Room 2/3 on a couple of days in the summer.  This should not be a problem  as the smaller room is adequate for the likely number of players and is also cheaper, so it was agreed that we would ask to book that room for  every Wednesday from June 13th  until the end of August.  We will revisit this decision if numbers warrant it as Room2/3 will probably still be available for us if necessary.  Proposed by Deb, seconded by Linda, and carried unanimously.

Treasurer's Report: no change since the last meeting.

Secretary's Report: We had received an 8 page contract from the EBU on the morning of the committee meeting which related to the relationship between our club and the EBU with regard to Data Protection. While not all committee members had read it in detail the covering letter told us that the contract is a legal requirement, so following some discussion it was agreed that Christine would sign on behalf of the club.

We have also received our annual EBU club information request form asking for details of the officials and club activities.  It was agreed that we would say that tuition is available, other questions did not need much discussion.

Beryl Mardon Memorial Cup:   This Cup was proposed to be donated by Chris Skipp (Beryl’s good friend and Bridge partner) and agreed to in principle by last year’s Committee, so he ordered the Cup with the engraving.  After further thought and discussion Chris has indicated that, rather than the cup being awarded for competitive play, he would like the cup to be awarded annually as a mark of appreciation to a Club member who has made a special contribution to the Club over the year, as currently the Club does not have such an award.  All members of the Club would make a nomination by written ballot to a ballot box during the week in which Beryl’s birthday falls (January 2^nd) and the cup would be presented at the ensuing AGM.  In this way the award would reflect the majority wishes of the whole Club, notwithstanding that not all members knew Beryl (which is now true of many of the Club’s cups).  After some discussion this was agreed in principle by a majority of the committee, with administrative details to be discussed as necessary in the coming months.

Cornwall Sims: The evening session on 19th June will be run as usual by Chris Nichols.  As this is an event in aid of the charity selected by the organising committee of the Cornwall EBU-affiliated Clubs (this year, thought to be the Air Ambulance) club members are invited to make additional donations.  Hilary will represent the committee and liaise with any members who want to organise additional fundraising for this event.

Weekly/monthly reporting: Alison will speak to Neil about taking over the emails to local newspapers.

A.O.B. We noted the sad loss of Jackie Russell.  A notice had appeared on the club website and cards sent to the family from both the club and some individual members.

D.O.N.M. The next committee meeting will be on Tuesday June 26th at the slightly earlier time of 5.45pm.

Meeting ended at 6.45pm.

• Bude Bridge Club

  Minutes of the committee meeting held on

  Tuesday 1st May 2018 at 6pm in the Parkhouse

  Present: Deb Delvalle, Linda Ashworth, Maureen Fallows, Alan Merchant-White,

  Alison Osborne, Stephen Smith, Christine Theobald.

  Apologies: Hilary Dorren.

  Minutes of last meeting (27th February): acceptance proposed by Linda, seconded by

  Deb.

  Matters arising: all covered elsewhere in the minutes.

  Acting Chair's report: Deb introduced the committee members to each other. She

  thanked them for standing and observed that there is a good mix of established and newer

  members on the committee. She said that while she did not choose to become (acting) chair

  she is willing to undertake the relevant duties until such time as someone else can be

  appointed, and she asked the committee to consider who might be co-opted on to the

  committee. She was thanked for taking on this additional responsibility.

  Some long-standing committee members did not seek election at the AGM and so it is

  important to be sure that all necessary duties are undertaken. The group had identified the

  following on-going tasks: website maintenance, regular sessions and tournaments (directing

  and scoring), newspaper reports, stationery, and refreshments. We should also have an ad

  hoc law & ethics sub-committee and possibly a data compliance officer. Neil has been

  responsible for the newspaper reports but he would prefer if someone else could take this

  on. Chris Nichols has asked what duties he should continue with and Deb will liaise with him

  on these matters. The committee were asked to let Deb know of any other jobs that need to

  be allocated.

  Secretary's report: Christine referred to the EBU guidance which told us to ask members

  to confirm that we can a) continue to print their contact details in the booklet and b) continue

  to send them emails. We have 77 members on the list and all but 2 of them have signed or

  confirmed in writing. The remaining 2 have agreed verbally. We need to ensure that ex-

  members are removed from databases and all details are correct. We need postal

  addresses for 6 members who have joined in recent months - Alan agreed to follow up on

  this.

  The EBU guidance notes indicate that emails sent to all club members should hide their

  identities ("bcc"), but this can be waived for the committee who may want to discuss matters

  between meetings. There is a copy of the guidance notes in a blue folder and this includes

  EBU joining forms for new members.

  Treasurer's report: Stephen said that there had not been much change in the financial

  situation since the last meeting, but it was now necessary to update the cheque signatories

  to reflect the composition of the new committee. There should be 3 signatories in total,

  currently Stephen and 2 ex-committee members, with each cheque to be signed by 2

  people. It was agreed that Maureen Fallows and Christine Theobald would become cheque
• signatories, replacing Jane Koldewey and Neil Trenaman. Proposed by Deb, seconded by

  Linda.

  Friday nights: The new system of booking a room for Friday nights if at least 12 people sign

  up has been successful in avoiding room cancellation charges. So far the sign-up rate has

  been variable, even with enthusiastic encouragement by committee and other members, but

  at least it is running more than half of the time. Stephen confirmed it costs about £35 for a

  Friday night session but there is no need for haste to review table money as there is

  sufficient accumulated Club funds to see if the new signup system produces reliable

  numbers over time. The prices for all sessions (Tuesdays £2.50 Wednesdays & Fridays

  £2.00) should remain unchanged for now, and we will revisit this in September.

  Club Calendar: This had been discussed at the previous committee meeting and had

  subsequently been amended following input from Chris Nichols. The handicap pairs have

  always taken place on the 1st Tuesday of each month to ensure continuity in partnerships

  but other events on the schedule mean that there can be only 5 handicap pairs evenings

  during the year rather than the usual 6 sessions. Christine will email the committee with the

  Calendar prior to printing the booklet.

  There will be a new cup in memory of Beryl Mardon which can be added to the Calendar

  soon. It has been suggested that this might be awarded for one session on a Wednesday

  on (or near ) her birthday, or alternatively as an annual award to a noteworthy person in the

  club. Deb and Alan will liaise with Chris Skipp to ascertain his wishes.

  Cornwall Sims: Deb asked if everything had been arranged and Christine confirmed that

  Chris Nichols has it in hand.

  AOB: Linda congratulated Deb on her handling of the meeting.

  Alan produced a box of pens for members' use donated by a local business.

  As 1st May was an EBU SIMS night it was necessary to end the meeting in good time, so

  various matters were carried forward to the next meeting to be held as soon as possible.

  Date of Next Meeting: suggested as 22nd May, subject to all committee members being

  available.

  The meeting ended at 6.45pm.

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB
Minutes for the 40th Annual General Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 10th April 2018 at 6.30pm

Present: Officers and Committee: Neil Trenaman (chairman), Stephen Smith (Treasurer), Christine Theobald (Secretary), Linda Ashworth, Deb Delvalle, Maureen Fallows, Chris Nichols. 
A further 25 members were also present.

1. Apologies received from:
Ann Bennett  (committee member), Gail Brumham, Fiona Hargreaves, Noreen Heslop, Mary Hicks, Mary Hopgood, Anne Luxton, Margaret Swayne.

2. Minutes of the last AGM April 2017 had been circulated by email. They were agreed and signed by the Chairman. Acceptance was proposed by Mike Brookes and seconded by Micheline Smith.

3. Matters arising: none.

4. Chairman's Report
This year is the 40th Anniversary of Bude Bridge Club and it has been suggested that we have a social function to celebrate this later in the year, probably in the summer. The committee would welcome suggestions as to the format and possible venue. I am pleased to see that one of our founder members, Linda Ashworth is here tonight. The only other founder member still playing at the club is Mary Hopgood.
This year has seen the sad loss of one of our members, Beryl Mardon who was a Wednesday afternoon regular and it also sad that some of our long standing members are unable to attend through frailty.
I congratulate all our members who have represented Cornwall in the last 12 months. Alan Biggs and Rob Mabley who played regularly for the ‘A’ and ‘B’ Teams and Chris Nichols, Jane Koldewey and Steve Clifton who played for the ‘C’ Team that won the Western Counties League last season, against Somerset, Devon, Dorset, Hereford, Avon, Wiltshire and South Wales.
The Falcon Hotel will once again be the venue for the Cornwall Congress in September and this is an ideal opportunity for members to play more competitive bridge if they wish to do so.
I would like to pay tribute to your committee who have worked tirelessly this year and given a strategic steer to the club. Stephen, our very efficient Treasurer and Maureen who deputises in his absence as well as carrying out various other thankless tasks. Christine who stepped up last year and has been a very effective Secretary. Chris, who manages the club website, sends in the weekly results and monthly report to newspapers when I am on holiday and is always available to assist myself and other members of the committee on any matter. Ann, who runs our partner finding service and acts as a contact point for the club. Deb, who has made a tremendous effort to make Wednesday afternoons successful and last but not least, Linda, who we rely on for her experience and knowledge and takes care of everything that no one else does, including making sure there is always tea and coffee available.
Chris, Ann, and I have decided not to seek re-election this year and I am sure you would like to thank them all for their contribution, not only this year, but also throughout the time they have served on the committee. Chris has served the committee for over 30 years, including three spells as Chairman and has been a director for 32 years which is a massive contribution and it is typical of him that he is still prepared to direct and score, as well as managing the website on our behalf. Ann has been a calming influence on the committee and is still prepared to operate our partner finding service if the new committee wish it. I have been Chairman for 2 years and after several years on the committee have decided to take a break. I am still prepared to direct and score as required. I will also send in the weekly results and monthly report to the newspapers until such time as this task is taken on by someone else from the incoming committee.
A duplicate bridge club would not be able to function without directors and we are fortunate to have had five active directors at Bude during the last year. Chris and Steve, who normally direct on Tuesdays, Deb who now directs on Wednesday afternoons and Linda and myself who direct on Fridays. Steve has decided he no longer wishes to direct and score and I would like to thank him for his contribution. All the directors appreciate the help received by members who arrive early and help set up the tables and tidy up at the end of the session.
I would like to remind you all that apart from the results, our club website has a wealth of other information including a monthly bidding and play problem and news report. The results also feature weekly in the Post and Weekly News and North Devon Journal and a monthly report is included in the sports section of the Post and Weekly News. North Coast Wine have kindly donated 12 bottles of wine for the winners of the monthly heats of the handicap pairs and have agreed to sponsor us for another year provided their advert features in our membership booklet and we continue to give them a mention when reporting the results of the handicap pairs in the newspaper.
Despite the best efforts of the committee to improve attendances, numbers have been disappointing and it was necessary to cancel bridge on some Friday nights because we were unable to muster 3 tables. You all know the new system that has recently been introduced to encourage as many as possible to sign up by Wednesday of each week so that we can book the room for the following Friday. Fortunately there are always sufficient rooms available but it is hoped that attendances will soon improve so that bookings can be made further in advance. Wednesday afternoon bridge continues to attract an average of 5 tables. During the winter months Chris and myself have given some tuition on a subject, sometimes followed by prepared hands and then a shortened duplicate session. We have noticed that the standard of bidding and play has improved considerably during the last 6 months. Some of the Wednesday afternoon regulars have also attended some evening sessions and given a good account of themselves. I have also taught four absolute beginners under the EBU Fast Track Bridge programme so they have some idea how to bid and play, and I am pleased to say that they have now started to take part in the duplicate sessions on Wednesday afternoons.
The present committee all agree that all members of Bude Bridge Club have equal status in accordance with our Constitution and have done everything to encourage as many as possible to attend evening and afternoon sessions and play bridge in a convivial atmosphere at all times.
Every committee needs new blood and fresh ideas and I wish the new committee well. I am sure that any new initiatives to improve attendances would be welcomed. I know that afternoon bridge is not popular with a small minority of members. However, without it, where would beginners, lapsed duplicate players who wish to get back in to friendly competitive bridge and rubber bridge players who wish to try duplicate go? If there was no Wednesday afternoon bridge I suspect that several of the regulars would form their own club and not only would the finances of the club deteriorate but also some of the regulars who have started to coming to evening bridge may feel they are not welcome, decide to no longer attend and attendances would decline further. I would like to see more afternoon players make the step up to evening bridge. Just one or two more tables at evening sessions would enhance our overall enjoyment of this wonderful game of bridge. I want Bude Bridge Club to survive and thrive so that we can celebrate its 50th anniversary in ten years’ time.
Finally, thank you for attending and at the end of the meeting I hope you will all stay and play bridge. Neil Trenaman.

5. Secretary's Report
Christine thanked Jane for her assistance in handing over all the information needed for the role of Secretary.  She also thanked Neil for being a very considerate chairman, and Sarah for working quietly in the background.

6. Treasurer's Report
The accounts had been sent out by email. Stephen thanked Christine for reviewing the accounts, and also Maureen who has deputised for him when he is absent.  Table money has increased during the year due to more afternoon sessions than previously but costs have also gone up, and we have made a loss of £650. We still have £2800 in the bank and for the time being we can continue to absorb further losses, but would like to have the option to increase table money if necessary.  The meeting Agenda included the following proposal: 
The club is currently running at a substantial loss which is being met out of accumulated reserves. It is therefore proposed that the Committee is given discretion to increase table money by a maximum of 50p per session at any time in the next 12 months should the Committee consider it to be in the best interests of the Club to do so.
Alan Merchant-White proposed that this be agreed and Hilary Dorren seconded.  The proposal was then carried by a members' vote.

7. Adoption of the annual accounts and reports from the committee
Proposed by Maureen Fallows and seconded by Jane Koldewey.

8. Election of officers and committee members
Neil said there had been no nominations for Chairman and only one nomination for Vice Chairman, so Deb Delvalle was duly elected.  He said it gave him great pleasure to hand over to her to announce the other committee members and present the prizes. 
Deb took the chair, thanked Neil as retiring Chairman and confirmed the committee members.
The nominees were: Deb Delvalle (vice chair), Stephen Smith (treasurer), Christine Theobald (secretary). Committee members: Linda Ashworth, Hilary Dorren, Maureen Fallows, Alan Merchant-White and Alison Osborne.  All were accepted.

9. Presentation of Prizes 
John Ridding Club Championship Trophies       Jane Koldewey & Chris Nichols
Mary Francis Club Plate                                     David Clarke & Paul Creighton
Rodger Cup -Teams                                           Chris Nichols & Jane Koldewey, Neil & Sarah Trenaman
Collian Cup                                                         Alan Merchant-White & Ian Curtis
Handicap Pairs                    October - Jean & Mike Brookes
                                            November - Neil & Sarah Trenaman
                                            December - Alan Biggs & Paul Creighton
                                            January - Mary Hicks & James Sim
                                            February - Mary Hicks & James Sim
                                           March - Micheline and Stephen Smith
Stratton Cup (Handicap pairs)                           James Sim & Mary Hicks
Frank & Doris Clifton Trophy                              Alan Biggs & Rob Mabley
June Justice Trophy (Individual)                         Bob Bennett
Lesley Davis Mix & Match Trophy                      Linda Ashworth & Paul Creighton
John & Bill Prize for Grand Slams                      Mary Hopgood 
Christine Carey    Cup (Wednesday)                  Hilary Dorren & Gill Lowe

The AGM ended at 7pm

Bude Bridge Club

Minutes of the committee meeting held on Tuesday 27th February 2018 at 6pm in the Parkhouse

Present:  Neil Trenaman, Ann Bennett, Chris Nichols, Stephen Smith, Deb Delvalle, Linda Ashworth, Marueen Fallows, Christine Theobald

Apologies: None

Minutes of last meeting (Jan 16th): agreed.

Matters arising: all matters covered elsewhere in the minutes.

Chairman's Report: North Coast Wine have agreed to provide wine for both this year and next year's handicap pairs provided we continue to advertise NCW in our membership booklet.

Treasurer's Report: Stephen presented the current financial position and suggested possible scenarios for 2018-9. Our deficit for the year so far is £407, which will probably rise to about £600 by the time the accounts are finalised. At the present time we have about £2800 in the bank so no urgent action is needed, however we may need to cut costs and/or increase table money at some point in the coming year. 

The committee discussed the possibility of making savings by using a small room on Wednesdays in the summer, and we could cut costs by setting up the rooms ourselves. If we cancel a room booking we need to give 2 weeks notice otherwise we still have to pay at least some of the hire fee. During February we cancelled the remaining Friday bookings for this reason, but will try to resurrect Friday evenings from April onwards, or earlier if possible.  We need 3.5 tables to break even on a Friday.

AGM:  This will be our 40th AGM and we will consult the members to find a way of celebrating this later in the year. Neil is not continuing as Chairman but is willing to stay on the committee,   Ann however will be stepping down.  Neil will send out an email inviting members to make a positive contribution to the future of the club by volunteering to join the committee, and a nominations sheet will be put on the noticeboard.

Linda has agreed to collect and clean the trophies and Chris will arrange the engraving.

Membership renewals: We believe that about two thirds of those on the current members list have renewed already and will continue to chase up those who have not attended recently, but we will not include people who no longer play. 

Data Protection: The EBU has notified us that new Data Protection regulations are coming into effect in May.  The main implications of this are that we will need to get approval from each member to include their details in the annual booklet, and we will also need  permission to use their email addresses. 

Booklet: the annual booklet will be printed in the usual format but we plan to fill one of the blank pages with notes on 'Best Behaviour at Bridge'.

Calendar 2018-9: a draft listing of events was circulated. There does not seem to be much interest in the traditional 'Mix & Match' evenings and they will not take place, so the Lesley Davis cup will be awarded to the highest scoring Bude pair on the night of the Cornwall Charity Sims. Apart from that we are following our usual programme.

A.O.B.

The club will not be sending a team to the 'teams of 8' event on 25th March due to insufficient numbers of available players.

A trophy in memory of Beryl Mardon has been offered , and we accept with gratitude. Deb will pursue this with Chris Skipp.

Meeting closed at 6.45pm

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre

Tuesday 16th January 2018 at 6pm

1.  Present   Neil Trenaman, Chris Nichols, Stephen Smith, Deb Delvalle, Linda Ashworth, Maureen Fallows, Christine Theobald

2.  Apologies   Ann Bennett

3.  Minutes of last meeting (11th July 2017) Agreed

4.  Matters Arising  None

5.  Chairman's Report Neil said that after 2 years as Chairman he has decided not to put himself forward at the AGM for this role next year.  He is prepared to remain on the Committee if asked and continue as a Director, but he and Sarah will be away from Bude even more than in the past.  Although he appreciates the support he has had from the Committee, his role over the last year in particular has been both time consuming and challenging and he is keen to give Club members sufficient time to consider whether to put themselves forward for election. Stephen thanked Neil for what he had already done as Chairman and will continue to do until the AGM.

6.  Treasurer's Report   Stephen presented the current accounts.  He drew attention to the impact of lower attendances on funds, and noted that our bank balances have gone done by £500 since the last AGM.  We still have nearly £3k in the bank,  however it would seem prudent to take action now. We could save money by hiring a smaller room in the Parkhouse, but attendances on both Tuesdays and Wednesdays still warrant the use of our current space. An alternative would be to increase prices.

After some discussion the committee resolved to increase the Friday night price to £2.50, leaving Tuesday and Wednesday unchanged. This will take effect after the AGM. We will revisit the question of room hire later in the year.

7. 'One Club'   Following suggestions made by players on Wednesday afternoons, a Christmas dinner was arranged at the Golf Club and all members were invited.  Around 20 people attended but unfortunately this was seen by some as an event for 'afternoon' players only. To avoid any such misunderstandings in future, Chris proposed that Club social events should be organised by the committee rather than groups of members.  We will plan in advance for a Christmas 2018 social.

8. Tuition Neil's 4 learners are nearing the end of their course and are nearly ready to play in the Club. Neil would happily teach another 4 complete beginners. Deb commented that although there were several people who had learned on Wednesdays, it has been disappointing to see how few have continued to play.  There is however an on-going demand for 'improvers' tuition and so although this will stop in the summer months it will start again in October if required.

Chris has been impressed by the greatly improved standard of play he has observed on Wednesdays.

9.  North Coast Wine  It is not clear if this sponsorship will continue as the proprietor has not responded to a letter Neil sent before Christmas.  At present a bottle of wine is given each month for the handicap pairs event, but we will not purchase any wine for prizes if the donation is not forthcoming.

10.  A.O.B.

We will continue to ask people to sign up in advance for Friday evenings.

Annual members booklet.  Previously the printed list of names included several people who have not played for some time, but they were listed in the hope that they might return to the Club. Christine asked if this was still to be the case, and it was agreed that the list would show only current (and 'life') members.  Stephen has now started to collect the annual subscriptions.

Christine queried if the booklet is still needed.  The current edition has 8 pages, 2 are blank.  If the sponsor withdraws and non-members are not listed there will probably be 4 blank pages.  Nevertheless a majority of the committee felt that it should continue in its present form.

A member had asked if the 'host' system could be operated on a Tuesday evening but it was felt that this would not be possible due to an insufficient number of willing volunteers.

11.  The next Committee Meeting will be held on February 27th.  This will be followed by the June Justice Individual competition which did not take place in December as planned.

Bude Bridge Club

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre Tuesday 11th July 2017 at 6pm

1.    Present   Neil Trenaman, Ann Bennett, Chris Nichols, Linda Ashworth, Stephen Smith, Maureen Fallows, Deb Delvalle, Christine Theobald.

2.    Apologies  None

3.    Minutes of last meeting (9th May 2017)  Agreed

4.    Matters arising  The Cornwall Sims event generated a total of £120, £60 from table money and £60 from the raffle.  We thanked Maureen for running the raffle.  
Please note: since the meeting we have heard from the Sims organiser Chris Bickerdike who thanks everyone who contributed. A total of £737 (plus Gift Aid) was raised for the Cornwall Air Ambulance by the 6 clubs that participated.

5.    Chairman's report  None

6.    Treasurer's report We had £3451 in the bank at the beginning of our financial year.  Allowing for outstanding bills we now have £3359 which seems to indicate a loss of £92, however this is due to the recent purchase of new playing cards which is not a regular occurrence, so without this exceptional item we would be breaking even.

7.    Membership questionnaire:  About 40 members completed their questionnaires. Neil, Stephen, Deb and Christine had met the previous week to review and summarise the responses.

Wednesday afternoons: We agreed that these will continue in their present format through the summer.  Some club members feel that these afternoon sessions are eroding support for the evening sessions, but the committee do not see Wednesdays as a significant factor affecting evening attendances.  In previous years the Wednesday classes have stopped during the summer but those players have not transferred to evenings, usually due to their personal circumstances.

Members were asked if they wanted tuition.  A majority preferred Option "A",  a 15-20 minute lesson on a subject which will be put on the website in advance, followed by prepared hands.   Half of these hands will be relevant to the day's topic, and half random.  It is proposed that this will begin on 27th September and these tuition classes will take place twice a month, with the other sessions following their current format. 

A smaller number of members were interested in Option "B" which would involve more concentrated tuition for improvers.  We will find out if this can be done at a time and place to suit all parties.

Friday evenings:  In an effort to improve attendances we are going to run a 2 month trial of the "host" system beginning on August 4th.  Members could still use Ann’s partner finding service  but if still unsuccessful could just turn up. If there is an even number of players then they will partner each other but if there is an uneven number of players the host will go home. All committee members will take a turn as host and it was felt it would be better if there was a host pair. This does not affect existing partnerships who will play as usual, but it does allow for members to make a last-minute decision and might encourage visitors. Ann will draw up a rota of hosts which takes into account committee holidays, directors and the hosts' existing partnerships.

Friday afternoons:  If the host trial does not improve attendances we will ask if Friday evening regulars only if they wished it to continue as it has been suggested that duplicate sessions with Masterpoints could be held on Friday afternoons instead.  Several of the regular evening players would definitely not want to play during the day, but some of the Wednesday players have shown an interest in Friday afternoon sessions.

Other: It had been suggested that we should try matching new players with more experienced partners but there was no demand for this.

8.    Any other business:  We discussed local charities that could be supported.  There is currently a charity (Smugglers Challenge) organising a canoe event round the coast of Cornwall in aid of Cancer Research, and the Cornwall Blood Bikes scheme might also be of interest.

Membership - we are aware that some of the people on our list of members have not played for a considerable time.  A few of those are "life" members, others we hope might still return to the club and they had been sent questionnaires but had not responded. There have been 2 new members since the last committee meeting.
Date of next meeting: TBA

Bude Bridge Club
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre  Tuesday 9th May 2017 at 6pm

Present           Neil Trenaman, Linda Ashworth, Ann Bennett, Maureen Fallows, Deb Delvalle, Christine Theobald.

Apologies      Chris Nichols, Stephen Smith.

Minutes of last meeting (7th March)   Agreed.

Matters arising      The club did not field a Team of 8 in the March event.

Chairman's report    Welcome to Deb , our new committee member.  Also Christine, taking on the role of secretary

Treasurer's report   None

Vice Chairman   Ann agreed that if necessary she would be happy to chair meetings, but she has no wish to be seen as a future Club Chairman.

Secretary's duties     Maureen has taken over supply of biscuits. Linda is willing to deal with collecting and cleaning trophies prior to the next AGM provided she is told where they are.

Wednesday afternoons    The committee had received a letter from Alan Biggs suggesting that Wednesday afternoons should follow a proven formula of training on a specific subject followed by playing a series of prepared hands on that subject. He was prepared to help with tuition with support from a few others. Neil said he was prepared to assist from September onwards as were Chris, Bob and Stephen. 
We agreed that although the afternoon sessions have been successful, there are concerns about the dwindling numbers of players in the evening and the implication for those who prefer to play competitive bridge rather than social bridge. Deb said that whilst the standard was not as high on a Wednesday nevertheless it was still competitive. She had carried out a verbal survey of afternoon players and they would like sessions to continue during the summer. We agreed that Wednesday afternoons should continue during the summer. Neil will show Alan Merchant-White how to select the appropriate movement for the session and he will be assisted by Deb. Arrangements will be made for scoring.

The committee agreed that a more formal period of tuition would assist those who want to improve their game and there was support for it from some of the Wednesday afternoon players. We thank Alan and the others who have offered to help and feel we would like to accept provided there is sufficient support. Neil said he would compile a questionnaire, assisted by Chris and anyone else who wishes to be involved, to ascertain how many people would be prepared to attend regularly. The questionnaires to be returned by a date to be fixed in June and results discussed at the next meeting early July.

Friday Evenings   It has been suggested that attendances might improve if new players were given the chance to play with experienced members once a month.  Alternatively players without a partner could be invited to come and play with a "host" (Ann is willing to do this). These suggestions will be incorporated in the questionnaire.  It would also be useful to ascertain how many of the Friday evening players would consider playing on Friday afternoons as Deb's survey has indicated that a second afternoon session would be popular.

Supporting local charities   It had been pointed out that money has not been donated to Stratton Hospital for a number of years. In the past, proceeds from the Leslie Davis Mix and Match event at end of January were donated to Stratton Hospital. It was discussed whether we wished to reinstate this or other local charity and it was agreed that as we already support Children In Need and Cornwall Charity pairs which this year is for Cornwall Air Ambulance, that this was sufficient.

Cornwall Simultaneous Pairs    Chris Bickerdike had sent an email requesting that someone from Bude who is unable to play in the event duplicates the boards for the Club. He had also suggested that each club taking part donates £2 for each player and that we may wish to run a raffle to raise further money as well. This was discussed and Maureen kindly offered to organise the raffle, and there would be two bottles of wine for prizes.

Date of next meeting Probably in July, exact date TBC.

Meeting closed at 6.45pm
 

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes for the 39th Annual General Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 11th April 2017 at 6.30pm

1.  PRESENT  
Officers and Committee: Neil Trenaman (chairman), Steven Clifton (vice chairman), Stephen Smith (treasurer), Jane Koldewey (secretary), Linda Ashworth, Ann Bennett, Maureen Fallows. Chris Nichols (and Christine Theobald who sent her apologies)

Members: 25 members attended

2. APOLOGIES received from:
Christine Theobald, Mary Hicks, Penny and Terry Abbott, Fiona Hargreaves, Margaret Swayne, Deb Delvalle, Geoff Scutt

3. MINUTES OF THE LAST AGM MEETING  
Agreed, and signed by the Chairman.  Signing was proposed by Maureen Fallows, seconded by Michael Brookes.

4. MATTERS ARISING
none

5. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Although club membership has increased this year, evening bridge attendances have fallen for various reasons, despite the best efforts of the committee to encourage members to attend.
In contrast, Wednesday afternoon bridge has flourished, thanks largely to the efforts of Stephen and Bob, ably supported by Micheline and Ann. Some Wednesday regulars also attend evening sessions and it is hope that others will be encouraged to come during the coming year. When they do, it is hoped they are made to feel welcome and we all adhere to ‘Best Behaviour at Bridge’

This year has seen the sad loss of one of our founder members, Jean Hemmerle and it is also sad that some of our other long serving members are unable to attend through frailty.

The Falcon Hotel will be the venue for the Cornwall Congress in September this and this is an ideal opportunity for members to play more competitive bridge if they wish to do so.

Alan, Chris and Jane continue to represent Cornwall regularly in County matches and Steve has also partnered Chris when Jane not available and I congratulate them all on this achievement.

Bridge instruction has been available through the club. Bob, Stephen and Chris have taught at the table on Wednesday afternoons, Alan has recently given a series of lessons to Intermediates who wish to improve their bridge and I have taken absolute beginners who have now joined the club and already attended afternoon and evening sessions.

I would like to pay tribute to your committee who have worked tirelessly this year and have given a strategic steer to the club.  Stephen, our very efficient Treasurer and Maureen who deputises in his absence as well as carrying out various other thankless tasks. Chris, who manages the club website, sends in the weekly results and monthly report to newspapers when I am on holiday and is always available to assist myself and other members of the committee on any matter. Ann, who runs our partner finding service and Linda and Christine who carry out other important roles in the club organisation.

Jane and Steve have decided to not put themselves forward for re-election. Jane is a long standing committee member who has been a very efficient Secretary for several years. She has helped me considerably during the last year in my role as Chairman. Christine will be the new Secretary but it is typical of Jane to agree to continue secretarial duties as necessary until Christine has recovered sufficiently from her unpleasant illness. Thanks very much Jane.   (Sarah then presented a bouquet to Jane on behalf of the Club)

We will also miss Steve. He has also been on the committee for a number of years and has been Vice Chairman for the last year and together with Stephen, worked hard to put together a comprehensive advertising campaign to try and attract new members. Steve has also been very good at persuading some of our members to attend evening sessions when possibly they hadn’t intended doing so. He has kindly agreed to continue to direct and score regularly. Thanks very much Steve.

A duplicate bridge club would not be able to function without directors and we are fortunate to have six active directors at Bude. Chris and Steve, who normally direct on Tuesdays, Bob and Stephen who mainly look after Wednesday afternoons and Linda and myself who direct on Fridays. They also appreciate the help received by members who arrive early and help set up the tables and tidy up at the end of the session.

I would like to remind you all that apart from the results, our club website has a wealth of other information including a monthly bidding and play problem and news report. The results also feature weekly in the Post and Weekly News and North Devon Journal and a monthly report is included in the sports section of the Post and Weekly News.

The year ahead may determine whether it is viable to continue with two evening sessions of bridge a week. It is disappointing for those that make the effort to attend and there are only 3 tables. Although it can still be an enjoyable evening the results can often be distorted and I would ask you all to continue to support Tuesday and Friday evenings whenever possible if you wish to see them continue.

Finally, I would like to thank you all for attending and please all stay and play bridge.

5. SECRETARY’S REPORT  
Jane, who is resigning, thanked everyone for all the help she had received during her six years as secretary and twelve as committee member.

6. TREASURER’S REPORT
Stephen thanked Christine for auditing the accounts, and Maureen for standing in for him while he was away. He told us that although attendance has been down this year by about one and a half tables each week for Tuesday and Friday evenings, the success of the Wednesday afternoon sessions has meant that table money has increased this year.  Also table money was raised to £2.50 on Tuesday evenings in September.  From April to September we were making a small loss, returning some of our capital to our members.  We have had no major equipment purchases this year.

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB             
PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 28TH FEBRUARY 2017     
            
     INCOME 
                                                  2016/17                   2015/16 
                                                       £                           £ 
            
 Table money                              5,197.00                4,959.00 
 Subscriptions/Renewals               166.00                   110.00 
 Interest                                           12.62                     14.11 
 Donations                                    210.17                     34.50 
             
 Total Income                             5,585.79                5,117.61             
     EXPENDITURE 
                                                   2016/17                   2015/16 
                                                         £                         £ 
            
 Room rental                                3,341.71               2,992.83 
 EBU "Pay to Play"                        699.54                  768.78 
 Sim pairs                                       196.80                  266.40 
 EBU Affiliation fee                         35.00                    35.00 
 Club prizes                                      14.90                          -   
 Director's training                               -                              -   
 Printing                                               -                              -   
 Engraving                                       60.30                     93.70 
 Equipment purchases                          -                              -   
 Stationery                                     161.18                    239.38 
 Refreshments                                305.49                    340.35 
 Insurance                                        64.50                       70.63 
 Gratuity                                          25.00                       25.00 
 Donations to charities                   360.17                    100.00 
 Scorebridge software                      18.00                      18.00 
 New member advertising              423.48                          - 
 Website                                            40.00                      40.00 
 Other expenses                                23.06                      40.00 
            
 Total Expenditure                        5,769.13                5,030.07 
            
            
 Profit/(Loss) for the Year              -£183.34                   £87.54
                            
CASH BALANCES AS AT 28th FEBRUARY 2017                 
                                   Cash at Bank and in Hand 
                                                       28 Feb 2017              28 Feb 2016 
                                                                 £                              £ 
                
 Opening Balance                             3,634.58                3,547.04 
                
 Profit/Loss for the year                     -183.34                     87.54 
                
 Closing Balance                               3,451.24                3,634.58 
                
                
 Analysis of Closing Balance:                            £         
                
 Santander Deposit Account                          2,534.38         
                
 Current Account (see below)                           916.21         
                
 Petty Cash                                                           0.65          
                
 Total Cash at Bank and in Hand                  3,451.24         
                
                
 Bank Reconciliation:                                                            £         
                
 Balance per Bank Statement 20 February 2017                1,639.64         
 Add Uncleared deposit                                                         257.00         
 Less Unpreseted cheques                 
   208         -         169.94         
   209         -         327.92         
   210         -          26.94         
   211         -          70.00         
   212         -         342.91         
 Less Outstanding PTP Direct Debits                 
                                                          February         -               42.72         
                
 Current Account Balance as above                                       916.21         
                
                
These accounts are to the best of my knowledge a true and fair copy of the accounts for Bude Bridge Club as at 28th February 2017         
                
 Audited and found correct          C. Theobold

Honorary Treasurer                      S. A. Smith  
                
                              These accounts were adopted (proposed by Alan Pearce seconded by Linda Ashworth)

7. Election of Officers for 2016-2017
The following were proposed and accepted:

Chairman        Neil Trenaman
Treasurer        Stephen Smith
Secretary        Christine Theobald
Committee        Linda Ashworth, Ann Bennett, Deb Delvalle, Maureen Fallows, Chris Nichols, 

8. Calendar
This has been published for a few weeks, on the club notice board and by email.  There were no queries so it was not discussed.

CLUB CALENDAR 2017 - 2018
All Tuesdays:
2017
April 11th                           Annual General Meeting
May 9th                              EBU Spring Simultaneous Pairs
June 20th                            Cornwall Charity Simultaneous Pairs    
July/August                         No competitions
September 4th                     North Coast Wine Handicap Pairs 1
September 22nd- 24th        Cornwall Congress at Bude
October 3rd                         EBU Autumn Simultaneous Pairs
October 10th                       North Coast Wine Handicap Pairs 2
October 17th                       Frank and Doris Clifton Trophy and Collian Bowl
November 7th                     North Coast Wine Handicap Pairs 3
November 14th                   Children in Need Simultaneous Pairs 
November 28th                   Mix and Match Teams
December 5th                      North Coast Wine Handicap Pairs 4
December 19th                    June Justice Individual Trophy and Christmas Party.   Last bridge before break
                                    2018
January 2nd                         Bridge resumes. North Coast Wine Handicap Pairs 5
January 9th                          EBU Winter Simultaneous Pairs    
January 16th                        Teams of Four Championship
January 30th                        Leslie Davis Mix and Match
February 6th                        North Coast Wines Handicap Pairs 6
February 13th                      Club Championship Qualifying
March 6th                            North Coast Wine Handicap Pairs 5
March 13th                          John Ridding Club Championship and Club Plate
April 10th                            Annual General Meeting

9.  Presentation of Trophies for 2016 - 2017
Leslie Davis Trophy (Mix and Match):              Maureen Fallows and Bob Bennett
Collian Cup:                                                        Christine Theobald and Mike Newman
Christine Carey Cup (Wednesdays):                   Alan Merchant-White and Ian Curtis
Doris and Frank Clifton Trophy:                         Rob Mabley and Alan Biggs
Stratton Cup  (Handicap Pairs):                          Micheline and Stephen Smith
John and Bill Prize for the most Grand Slams bid and made during the year:             Linda Ashworth
June Justice Trophy (Individual):                        Fiona Hargreaves
Championship Plate:(Mary Francis cup)             Jean and Michael Brookes
Rodger Cup (Teams):                                           Micheline and Stephen Smith, Ann and Bob Bennett
John Ridding Trophies for the Club Championship:   Steven Clifton and Alan Biggs

10. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Alan Merchant-White requested that the Wednesday afternoon bridge sessions be continued throughout the summer.  He told us that many of our members wish for this, and several are unable to attend evening sessions so would be unable to play at all through the summer.  Neil said that the committee will discuss this in the very near future.

The meeting closed at 6.50pm
 

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of  the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre
on Tuesday 7th March 2017 at 6.00pm

1.    PRESENT:  Neil Trenaman, Steven Clifton, Stephen Smith, Jane Koldewey, Ann Bennett, Linda Ashworth, Maureen Fallows, Chris Nichols, Christine Theobald

2.    APOLOGIES none

3.    MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING (22nd November) agreed and signed

4.    Draft Accounts for the Year Ending 28th February 2017 
We have a total of £3,450 in the bank.  There has been a loss of £183 this year.  We have spent £423 on advertising, without this the profit would have been £240.  We have given to three charities this year.

5.    Programme 2017/18, including EBU Sims and Club Championship and Teams. See below

6.    AGM  It was suggested that we award a trophy to the member with the highest attendance not to win a prize.  Agreed.  Christine has kindly offered to put herself up for election as secretary.

7.    Brief update from Stephen and Steve re. advertising and results  The advertisements have introduced a few new people to the club, but more have come through word of mouth. The parish magazine entries continue to run.

8.     Wednesdays April onwards We will continue until May as agreed.  Stephen will not be able to direct and teach after Easter, but the Trenamans, Ann and sometimes Chris will help Bob.

Steven expressed his disappointment that more people from the very successful Wednesdays have not progressed to the club evenings.  Ann said that many do not like going out in the evenings and enjoy playing in the relaxed atmosphere.  We hope that a few will do so, however.

Neil said that he is happy to teach any beginners who wish to learn now that he and Sarah are back in Bude, providing there are at least three of them.

9.    Club Teams of Eight Sunday March 26th  If enough people wish to play we will field a team
10.     Week St Mary biscuits  We were hoping to be able to support the new community shop in Week St Mary by buying our biscuits from them.  However the lowest prices they are able to charge are too high so sadly we cannot afford to do this.

Bude Bridge Club
Proposed Programme 2017/2018
All Tuesdays:
2017
April 11th  Annual General Meeting
May 9th  EBU Spring Simultaneous Pairs
June 20th Cornwall Charity Simultaneous Pairs    
July/August    No competitions
September 4th North Coast Wine Handicap Pairs 1
September 22nd- 24th Cornwall  Congress at Bude
October 3rd    EBU Autumn Simultaneous Pairs
October 10th  North Coast Wine Handicap Pairs 2
October 17th   Frank and Doris Clifton Trophy and Collian Bowl
November 7th North Coast Wine Handicap Pairs 3
November 14th   Children in Need Simultaneous Pairs (ecats to confirm)
November 28th  Mix and Match Teams
December 5th  North Coast Wine Handicap Pairs 4
December 19th June Justice Individual Trophy and Christmas Party.   Last bridge before break
                                    2018
January 2nd    Bridge resumes. North Coast Wine Handicap Pairs 5
January 9th   EBU Winter Simultaneous Pairs    
January 16th   Teams of Four Championship
January 30th   Stratton Hospital/Leslie Davis Mix and Match
February 6th   North Coast Wines Handicap Pairs 6
February 13th  Club Championship Qualifying
March 6th   North Coast Wine Handicap Pairs 5
March 13th John Ridding Club Championship and Club Plate
April 10th  Annual General Meeting

The meeting closed at 6.45
The next meeting will be the AGM

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB
Minutes of  the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 22nd November 2016 at 6.00pm

1.    PRESENT:  Neil Trenaman, Steven Clifton, Stephen Smith, Jane Koldewey, Ann Bennett, Linda Ashworth, Maureen Fallows, Chris Nichols, Christine Theobald, Bob Bennett (co-opted)  

2.    The purpose of the meeting was to discuss 

a.    The cancellation of Friday evening bridge and possible alternatives
b.    Whether to enter Sim pairs events 2017
c.    Lessons for beginners

Chris said that Wednesday players are beginning to come on Fridays. 
It is the thought of 2 days in a row, and the pressure of competitive bridge, that seems to put people off coming on a Tuesday. Also, Fridays are perceived to be more relaxed and informal, less intense, than Tuesdays for the novice players.
Steve felt that if Fridays were cancelled the Wednesday people who have attended, or plan to attend. Fridays would not come on Tuesdays.
Stephen said that we should wait, we have several advertisements running which all include Fridays.
We decided that we would leave Wednesdays as they are because they are so popular.  Attendees enjoy the friendly informality, and several just do not want to come out in the evenings, especially in the winter. They also enjoy the slower pace and fewer boards. At present the plan is to continue them until May.
Stephen said that we are planning a taster day on Thursday afternoon March 9th at 2pm.  He will allocate jobs to volunteer helpers.  We will approach the WI and U3A with publicity.
It was decided to continue as we are for the time being, and meet again on March 7th to discuss again.
It was decided that the main Christmas Party would be on the Wednesday, with mince pies on offer on Tuesday evening.
It was decided that we should enter the sims pairs events in 2017
It was noted that beginners have the option of paying c£100 for an intensive 10 week course with Mike Gregory, the qualified instructor who visited  us a few months ago.

The meeting closed at 7.45
Date of next meeting 7th March 2017
 

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB
Minutes of  the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre
on Tuesday 14th June 2016 at 6.00pm

1.    PRESENT:  Neil Trenaman, Steven Clifton, Stephen Smith, Jane Koldewey, Ann Bennett, Linda Ashworth, Maureen Fallows

APOLOGIES:  Chris Nichols, Christine Theobald.   

2.    MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING  (17th May) agreed and signed.

3.    MATTERS ARISING: We decided on the format for the raffle at the charity event next week.  Maureen will buy raffle tickets and sell them.  The prizes will be the four bottles of wine we have in the cupboard.  Jane will email the membership, and we will announce it on Tuesday and Friday.

Ann will ask Trelawney tea rooms if they would have us again, proir to asking the membership if they would like to repeat last year's event there.

Director's rota:  Steven will take on some of Linda's Tuesdays.

Alan Biggs' tutorials:  He has seven people who wish to attend. Alan will contact them to arrange details and dates.

4.    CHAIR’S REPORT: Neil told us that he and Sarah will be living in their house in Exeter between completing the sale of their bungalow and their new build home being ready.  He plans to come to the club once a week during that time, but might not be able to fulfill all his directing commitments.  Linda offered to step in if necessary.

5.    SECRETARY’S REPORT: none.

6.    TREASURER’S REPORT: none

7.    Recruitment and optimising attendance:

We discussed optimising attendance. Ann explained what she is doing to find partners.  We agreed that there was no more that could be done. We have 47 people who play on Tuesdays.  
Steven has been asking people on Tuesdays if they would like to play on the Friday, and sometimes finding partners for them.  This has been working well.  Steven feels that if there are less than three tables on a Friday it is not worth running Fridays.  We agreed we would watch table numbers and review whether we should cancel Fridays in the future.
An optional initial half hour of instruction before play on Wednesdays was suggested. We will ask attendees.

Recruitment:  Steven stressed the necessity of this as our numbers are decreasing as people move away or retire from playing. It was agreed that Steven will meet with Mike Gregory (who has produced 64 club players since he started teaching at his Devon School of Bridge) to discuss Mike's methods of recruiting and keeping players.  There is a dedicated member of staff at the EBU who can advise us.  We decided that we should approach schools to offer instruction.  The EBU does not have a letter format to use, they say it is better to personalise it for local use.

It was suggested that we advertise more.

We have a new partner-finding web page on our website. (Membership page). The committee members who have used it did not find it completely straightforward, although Chris, Neil and Steven had no problems  Neil will ask Chris to circulate instructions for use.  We praised it, but voiced concerns that some of our members are not confident using IT.

Date of the next meeting:  To be decided.

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB
Minutes of  the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre
on Tuesday 17th May 2016 at 6.00pm

1.    PRESENT:  Neil Trenaman, Steven Clifton, Stephen Smith, Jane Koldewey, Linda Ashworth, Maureen Fallows, Chris Nichols, Christine Theobald.   

APOLOGIES: Ann Bennett

2.    MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING  (2nd February) agreed and signed.

3.    MATTERS ARISING: none

4.    CHAIR’S REPORT: Neil said that he was looking forward to the challenge of being chairman.  The committee thanked him.

5.    SECRETARY’S REPORT: The silver bottle label for the John and Bill Grand Slam prize has been found.  Jane will present it to Alan Biggs when he next attends the club.

6.    TREASURER’S REPORT: We have made £16.00 profit since the last report. (AGM)
Following the change of Chairman, it was agreed that Neil Trenaman should be added to the bank mandate in the place of Chris Nichols.

7.    Results of Survey:           34 members responded.
Most members wanted to continue with Friday evening bridge but 7 members would prefer to substitute it with an afternoon session in the Autumn/Winter. However 5 of these were Wednesday afternoon players who do not attend Friday evenings anyway. 

There was strong support for afternoon sessions to recommence in September and the vast majority preferred Wednesdays. 

The membership supported play on both Wednesday afternoons and Friday evenings.

38 different persons have attended Friday evenings in 2016 so far but out of those only 19 are regulars which means that it only needs a few regulars to be on holiday, be ill or have other commitments for it to drop below 4 Tables which is what has happened. 

(Brian Relton told Chris that at Newquay they are often down to two and a half tables, playing once a week.  So Bude is not alone in having declining numbers of players.)

There are committee members prepared to run Wednesday afternoons.  Bob offered to be available from Sept. to June.  Bob and Stephen will lead Wednesdays.

Several members would welcome instruction.  Alan Biggs has offered lessons for improvers, so far 5 members have shown interest.  Neil will contact Alan to accept his offer, and ask for details.

8.    Directors' rota.  Chris suggested that Neil and Steven should direct some Tuesdays, to further their experience with competitions, etc.  He also suggested that Bob and Stephen could attend the last two sessions of a director's course at present underway.  Linda said that she was happy to continue.

9.    Trelawney Tea Rooms - do we want to repeat this event this year?  The feedback was that the venue and food were good. Christine did report that one member who attended Trelawney criticised the food but all the committee members who had attended, disagreed and thought the food was excellent. 

The problems were parking and late cancellations from members. 

Linda suggested the possibility of going back to Trencreek but this was not supported. We should email members and ask whether they would like to go back to Trelawney this year.  

10.    Cornwall Simultaneous pairs for ‘Precious Lives’ Charity.  It was suggested we charge £2 table money and hold a raffle. We have some spare bottles of wine for prizes.  We could ask for donations.  Jane will chase up the fliers and take some  to the Barnstaple clubs.

 We decided that we would not charge extra table money for the Precious Lives night - just a raffle and donations with the club picking up the £2 a head donation.

11.    Specific roles for Committee members and whether designated Deputy required:  We decided that the current system works well enough.

12.    Recruiting new members.  These usually come to us via the website.  There are three interested beginners, Neil is already instructing two of them.
Steven felt that we should advertise more, too many people were unaware of Bude Bridge Club.  He suggested a Facebook page and fliers.  We produced fliers and distributed them extensively a couple of years ago but they had no obvious effect.  Chris said that he would put up a Facebook page.
We also thought that we should approach schools to see if they are interested in starting bridge.

We feel that more aggressive partner-finding is needed.  There are quite a few people who don't ask Ann, but wait to be invited by someone to play.  There are others who don't wish for a general email because they wish to control who they play with.  Steven suggested Jane sends out an email on Wednesdays asking if there is anyone available to play on Friday who has yet to find a partner. (Note: Ann was not present, and as she is the designated partner finder this needs to be discussed with her.)

13.    Any other business: none

Date of the next meeting:  Tues. 14th June 2016

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of  the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre
on Tuesday 2nd February 2016 at 6.00pm

1.    PRESENT:  Chris Nichols, Stephen Smith, Linda Ashworth, Ann Bennet, Steven Clifton, Maureen Fallows, Christine Theobald.   

APOLOGIES: Neil Trenaman, Jane Koldewey

2.    MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING  agreed and signed.

3.    MATTERS ARISING: none

4.    CHAIR’S REPORT:  none

5.    SECRETARY’S REPORT: none

6.    TREASURER’S REPORT:  All still fine. Wednesday afternoons are showing a profit of £300.

7.    Roles during Committee Absences:
Neil’s roles – Chris (until Feb 25th)
Ann’s role – Steven (until April 20th)
Stephen’s roles – chequebook Chris (Council and biscuits), Table money Maureen

8.    AGM: Committee for 2016 -2017
Our Chair Chris is resigning.

Willing to stand:

Chair – Neil
Vice - Steven
Secretary – Jane
Treasurer – Stephen
Partners – Ann
Social – Christine
Stationery – Maureen
General – Linda

9. Programme 2016/17:
Individual at Xmas party – celebratory
Mix and match   November 29th
Mixed Teams
County Pairs   June 21st or 28th
Wednesday Trophy in March

10. Recruitment: 
We should try to get Wednesday members to Club Plate
A Wednesday member on the Committee?
Move one of the evening sessions to an afternoon?

11. Any Other Business:
It was decided to buy 12 Club mugs and let members know.

Date of the next meeting:  AGM Tues. 12th April 2016

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of  the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre
on Tuesday 8th December 2015 at 6.00pm

1.    PRESENT:  Chris Nichols, Neil Trenaman, Stephen Smith, Jane Koldewey, Linda Ashworth, Ann Bennet, Maureen Fallows, Christine Theobald.   
APOLOGIES: Steven Clifton

2.    MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING (7th July)  agreed and signed.

3.    MATTERS ARISING: Christine said that the teatowels were always present and that they were a bit cleaner now.

4.    CHAIR’S REPORT:  We were very sad to hear of the untimely death of Sandra Hayden.  Chris and Christine attended her funeral, also Mike Quartermain.

5.    SECRETARY’S REPORT: none

6.    TREASURER’S REPORT:  From the start of the financial year in April until end of November the club lost £157.00.  However the raised table money did not begin until Sept. 1st.  The Wednesday afternoons have brought in good revenue.
The total of our funds is £3,390.00.
Stephen replied to a question: the total annual rental we pay to the Parkhouse is £2,800.00.
Maureen will act as treasurer while the Smiths are away in the New Year.

7.    Attendance in the New Year (Chris): Evening bridge sessions will have lower attendance as three of our core pairs will be away for extended periods of travel.  Ann (partner liaison) feels that everything possible is already being done to find partners and boost attendance.  Ann asked if someone else could run the partner-finding service while she is away in Feb., March and April.  It was suggested we ask Steven Clifton.

8.    Christmas Party (Chris):  Neil has kindly offered to run this as Chris is unable to be there.  Jane will also be away, so Christine (1 doz) and Maureen (2 doz) have offered to organise mince pies. Stephen will bring a large bottle of coke and Ann some ginger beer or lemonade.  
We decided to buy 12 bottles of wine from North Coast Wines to support them, thanking them for their sponsorship of our club.  Jane suggested that if we have too much left over we could sell the bottles to members at cost.

Stephen suggested we prepare a notice for display at North Coast Wines advertising their sponsorship of our club.  This would be of mutual benefit, and we could supply some fliers containing our details in case anyone is interested.

9.    Bridgemates (Steven): Steven has told us that some members have requested we use them. Chris told us that we no longer keep the county bridgemates.  We would have to buy a set if we wish to use the system.  We did not feel the need for such an expense, and Chris told us that our scorers are happy in their work!  We also wondered whether, if we wait, they may improve and/or become cheaper in the future.

10.     Update on Wednesday afternoons (Neil):  Neil told us that these have been very sucessful. Apart from one 'blip' with only two tables playing, they have been well-attended and have averaged 5 tables.  We will continue them from 6th Jan to 23rd March.
Neil thanked Ann and Bob, Sarah (Trenaman) and Stephen and Micheline for their great contribution.  In the New Year there will three weeks during which all the usual organisers will be away.  Chris has offered to run the sessions during this period.
Wed. afternoons have attracted 7 newcomers, 6 of which play regularly and 4 have joined the club.

11.    Former members - Peggy and Jean  (Chris):  Both Peggy Cann and Jean Hemmerle have retired from playing bridge this year.  They have both been members and regular players almost since the start of our club over thirty years ago. Stephen suggested that we make them 'patrons' and send them news bulletins and committee minutes.  Christine told us they both requested no fuss over their departure. It was suggested we send them a Christmas card every year.  We decided the Christmas card would be more welcome.  Jane will do this.

12.    Any other business:  Stephen was concerned that the AGM comes up very quickly after his return from their trip.  It will suit him, and others of us, to defer the AGM a week, and hold it on 12th April 2016.
Jane will inform the membership after Christmas.

The meeting closed at 6.45
Date of the next meeting: Tues. 2nd February 2016

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 7th July 2015 at 6.00pm

 1. PRESENT: Chris Nichols, Neil Trenaman, Stephen Smith, Jane Koldewey, Linda Ashworth, Ann Bennett, Steven Clifton, Maureen Fallows, Christine Theobald. APOLOGIES: none

 2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING (17th February) agreed and signed. 3. MATTERS ARISING: none

4. CHAIR’S REPORT: We were very sad to hear of the death of Marian Grimshaw. She played at our club for many years.

 5. SECRETARY’S REPORT: none

 6. TREASURER’S REPORT: We have £60 less than at our last meeting four months ago, plus about £90 outstanding for groceries. This is what we expected. Attendance is down about one table per evening from last year. If we follow our suggestion of raising Tuesday's table money to £2.50 in September (approved at the AGM) we could be £230 in profit after 4 mths.

It was agreed to go ahead with this.

Christine noted that we pay £5 per evening for kitchen use. There is often no hot water and the tea towels are dirty. It was pointed out that this kitchen is so far from the boiler that, although there is hot water, it takes too long to arrive. Linda said she would mention tea towels to the caretaker. We felt that we should not pay the full £5 when we have to share the kitchen.

Total in the bank is £3,487.00.

7. Feedback from June Justice individual: This seems to be less and less popular. The suggestion was made that we have a fun individual at the Christmas Party and abandon the competition in its present form. Agreed.

 Linda suggested that the named competitions should return to being held mostly in the winter.

 8. Members whose health problems are affecting their play or conduct. We feel that in general there is little we can do in a general way, apart from removing them from our email circulars for finding partners.

 9. Missing trophies: The glass bowl from the June Justice Trophy has mysteriously vanished from the club cupboard. We have the base with the engravings. Maureen very kindly offered to present a similar bowl to the club, she had won it at a golf tournament and is happy to do this. We thanked her very much.

The silver bottle label that is presented with the bottle of whisky for the Bill and John grand slam prize is missing. The 2014 winner has no recollection of it and cannot find it. Stephen will check the club records to see if its purchase is recorded, if so Jane can find out if it is worth claiming on our insurance policy for these items.

10. Update on Wednesday afternoons: These will run 30th September - 9th December. If successful they will resume Jan. - March. They will be run as no fear playing sessions of 14 - 18 boards by Stephen and Micheline, Neil and Sarah and Ann and Bob. There will be a host so people without partners can attend. They will not be suitable for absolute beginners. Hopefully players will gain enough confidence to attend our evening sessions.

11. Winter lessons: The strong response to an advertisement placed in the Kilkhampton local paper by a bridge player suggests that there are people who would like to learn the game. The Trenamans and Bennetts are prepared to run beginners' classes. Neil will speak to the advertiser, and perhaps we should advertise in the local press.

12. A social event: Ann has spoken with the Trelawney Tea Rooms, they will host us for an evening meal and bridge for £13 a head (20 - 32 people), any day of the week. We must avoid the Cornwall congress with our date.

The meeting closed at 6.54 Date of the next meeting to be decided.

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 18th September at 6.00pm

1.  PRESENT 

Chris Nichols, Mary Hicks, Linda Ashworth, Kathleen Bence, Neil Trenaman, Alan Biggs, Jane Koldewey

2. APOLOGIES

none

3. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING 

Agreed and signed, proposed by Kathleen, seconded by Neil.

4. MATTERS ARISING

none

5. ACTING CHAIR’S REPORT

Chris spoke of our shock and sadness at John Ridding's sudden passing, and of how much we will miss him.  17 club members attended John's funeral, more came to the wake at the Parkhouse Centre.  The club sent a bridge-themed floral tribute.  This cost £100 and it was agreed that the club should pay.

5. SECRETARY’S REPORT 

none

6. TREASURER’S REPORT

Alliance and Leicester                       Current A/c                     £1,156.98

                                                Petty cash                     £5.01                                       

Standard Life                             Savings            A/c                      closed

                                                Deposit A/c                   £3,000.07

                                                            TOTAL              £4,162.06

 7. Committee roles and 10. Delegation of functions

Chris Nichols agreed to be Acting Chair until next year's AGM. It was agreed that Neil Trenaman should become the Acting Vice Chair. This was proposed by Linda and seconded by Jane.

Kathleen Bence is prepared to actively find partners for players, keeping an eye on welfare at the same time.

The directors' rota will be arranged between our four directors, Chris, Linda, Neil and Steven Clifton.

Jane will join the Law and Ethics Committee.

Maureen Fallows will be asked to take on the role of stationery secretary

Stephen Smith has offered help.  Alan said we should accept his offer with enthusiasm!  Asking Stephen to help with organisation of Wednesday afternoon classes was discussed.

The keyholders are Mary, Neil, Linda, Chris and Jenny Tregarthen.  Maureen will need a key.

 8.  Tribute to John

It was decided to rename the Club Championships the John Ridding Club Championships. (Afternote: when this was announced to the club members there was applause.)

Barnstaple Bridge Club wish to start a Bude-Barnstaple team competition in memory of John. We will discuss this further with them.

 9. Wednesday sessions

The Parkhouse Centre is booked from the beginning of October for the sessions to begin.  We will ask attendees what they wish to gain from these, and after the second week make a plan based on their wishes.  The sessions will be 'led' by willing volunteers on a rota, preferably experienced members with a sound knowledge of Acol.

Chris and Alan offered to hold weekly evening training sessions in their homes, starting at the end of October (Chris's on Wednesdays, Alan's on Mondays)  The training will be for four players at a time who have desire to learn more about an aspect of bridge.

Chris has arranged to attend a course to become a qualified EBU teacher.

10.  Delegation of functions.  See 7

11. Possible co-option

It was proposed by Alan and seconded by Mary that we co-opt Steven Clifton onto the committee if he is willing to serve.

12. Constitution

 Chris and Neil will prepare a draft for the committee to approve.

13. AOB

It was decided that only the club members who primary club is Bude will be eligible for subsidised sims entry fees.  This means that it will not be necessary to calculate whether they have played at Bude more than 7 times in the previous year  (see minutes of last meeting).

The meeting closed at 6.48pm

The date of the next meeting is Tuesday 9th October at 6pm

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes for the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 23rd September 2014 at 6.00pm

Present: Chris Nichols, Neil Trenaman, Stephen Smith, Jane Koldewey, Linda Ashworth, Steven Clifton, Maureen Fallows, Christine Theobald

1. APOLOGIES

Ann Bennett

2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Approved and signed

3. MATTERS ARISING

We asked Stephen if the publicity leaflets had had any reaction. He said there had been none. We hope that, now more people know we exist, they may one day bear some fruit.

4. CHAIR’S REPORT

Chris told us that the club has bought a HandyDup machine, so that we can produce our own duplimated boards. It is not up and running yet. This purchase had been agreed by the committee.

5. SECRETARY’S REPORT

none

6. TREASURER’S REPORT

We have £3,968 in the bank, £548 less than at the last meeting. This is mostly because of the HandyDup purchase (£320 including extra cards and VAT), and a large stationery order.

The donation (of £44.00) to Stratton Hospital has not yet been made.

Stephen produced a spreadsheet of club attendance comparing March -August 2014 with the same period in 2013. It shows we have approximately one fewer table per bridge night in 2014. This was discussed. Two members have moved away, this has meant their regular partners have come less often. There have been illnesses and cruises, and no new members in the period this year.

We need at least 3 tables on Fridays and four on Tuesdays to break even regarding room hire. Neil pointed out that when hire of kitchen, VAT and EBU contributions were factored in, the break even figures are more like 6 tables on tuesdays and 4 on fridays.

We may have to raise table money to £2.50 next year. This is in line with other clubs.

7. Next Year's Calendar

Last year Chris sent out a questionnaire about competitions. Reaction to competitions does not seem to have followed the results of this, however.

Chris suggested that we start afresh and decide on our competitions from scratch.

We decided we should keep the Club Championship and Plate. We discussed having more qualifiers for the championship. We would like to keep the Clifton Cup competition.

The handicap pairs runs for 6 months. This could be changed to the best 3 results from a series of 4.

Sadly teams do not seem to be popular in our club. Pivot teams had to be cancelled due to lack of support. Several people voiced a reluctance to move around so much. (Jane)

Competitions for the Kings Arms and Christine Carey cups could go. The Collian Bowl is popular as it gives the less experienced players a chance to win a trophy.

We could have the individual at Christmas - for the June Justice cup.

Only one Mix and Match per year was suggested - this could be for Stratton Hopital with the Leslie Davies trophy awarded.

We could have a competition on Fridays.

These suggestions will be put to the members.

8. Wine

A wine merchant has offered, through Alan Merchant-White, to supply us with very good quality wine at a reduced rate for our prizes and for our Christmas party. (£6.00 per bottle)

We have agreed to buy the first batch. Neil suggested that he asks the wine merchant if he would be prepared to subsidise us more in return for publicity, he could be mentioned in our monthly reports to the local paper, a pairs competition could be named after him. We thought this an excellent idea.

9. Update on Improvers lessons from Neil.

The lessons started at participants' houses on 1st September.There have been 3 so far. The first was based on opening bids, responses and rebids. The second was competitive auctions and overcalls. The third was doubles. The lessons are followed by prepared hands.

They have gone very well, attendees are showing improvement in bidding and play. Both pairs have purchased EBU books. Two new pairs are joining in October. No lessons in Nov. and Dec. due to holidays. Maybe more in Jan. and Feb. Attendees are already club members and attend club nights occasionally.
Neil is confident that they will attend club nights more regularly in the near future.

Chris's lessons will start soon.

Our thanks to Neil and Chris for doing this.

10 ANY OTHER BUSINESS

none

The meeting closed at 6.50

The next meeting will be at the end of November

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes for the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 22nd April 2014 at 6.00pm

Present: Chris Nichols, Neil Trenaman, Stephen Smith, Jane Koldewey, Linda Ashworth, Ann Bennett, Steven Clifton, Maureen Fallows, Christine Theobald

1.    APOLOGIES 
    none
2.    MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING (4th March)
    Approved and signed
3.    MATTERS ARISING 
    none
4.    CHAIR’S REPORT 
    none
5.    SECRETARY’S REPORT 
    none
6.    TREASURER’S REPORT

    We have had three annual expenses recently:
    Engraving of trophies        £134.00
    EBU annual subscription    £34.00
    Booklets            £59.00
    The cost of renting the Parkhouse Centre has gone up again this year, Stephen assumes this is an annual rise
    We have £4,582.00 in the bank.
7.    Publicity

Stephen S. has produced an excellent piece that it is suggested goes in all local Parish magazines.
Linda wished to change the adjective competitive as she thought it made the play sound too intense - Stephen agreed to make the change.
He will ask members who live in local parishes to add their contact details and put it on a notice board or in the parish magazine.  Steven C. said that he can distribute the notices to nearby parishes with no resident bridge club members.  Linda suggested we post notices in prominent town sites and golf clubs - also the Holsworthy Library was suggested.

8. Times and Movements 
On the agenda:
 "We need to keep the session times under review. No point starting early unless we are also going to finish by 10.15 at the latest on Tuesdays. A reminder to Directors that there is a list of suggested movements in the Directors' Box, ensuring a minimum of 24 boards and a maximum of 28 boards are played.
In the spirit of the resolution, we should leave out the final round if we feel we are going to finish past 10.15 p.m. The only exception to this may be on a Friday if we get exactly 5 or 6 tables and we try to fit in 30 boards in a Mitchell."
Steven C. requested that directors should not put too much pressure on the players by repeatedly hurrying them. It's better to speak to slow players individually.  He also said that if we were not finished until 10.20 sometimes no-one would mind, it was the 10.45 finish that happened sometimes in the past that members found too late.  The directors agreed not to move the players when there are more than two tables still playing. 
This was supported by Neil and it was agreed by all.

9. Allocation of roles
The 4 Officers have fairly defined and full roles.
Maureen does a great job with the stationery, Linda with refreshments etc. Steven directs.
Christine has kindly agreed to be the Social Secretary (cards, flowers etc)
Ann has kindly agreed to be our Partner Finder
Chris agreed to send our results to the press when Neil is away.

11. Suggestions to update calendar 
Are there redundant competitions and any ideas for new ones? Friday Singles for example?
We will think about this during the year, the calendar is printed for 2014-15.
Steven C. suggested that more competitions might NOT be on the first Tuesday of the month, to allow for more diversity in pairings.
Chris, Stephen and Neil need to discuss whether Wednesday afternoons are to continue.  They will meet for this.

12. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Chris  welcomed our new committee memebers, Christine and Ann, and thanked them for agreeing to join us.
The caretaker has not been given his Christmas Box, normally £25.00.  Stephen will see to this.

The meeting closed at 6.30
The next meeting will probably be in July to discuss the Wednesday afternoon group.

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 4th March 2014 at 6.00pm

Present: Chris Nichols, Neil Trenaman, Stephen Smith, Jane Koldewey, Linda Ashworth, Maureen Fallows, Steven Clifton.

1. APOLOGIES

Kathleen Bence

2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING (26th November)

Approved and signed

3. MATTERS ARISING

none

4. CHAIR’S REPORT

none

5. SECRETARY’S REPORT

none

6. TREASURER’S REPORT

Stephen told us that this year we have made a profit of c. £440.00, although there has been a slight drop in overall attendance. 63 members have paid their subscriptions for the coming year. Going through those who have not renewed, we could see that at least some will renew, apart from one who has left the area.

We found that although we are not losing members, we do not have many coming new to the club.

7. AGM:

a. Any proposals for voting on?

No

b. Any suggestions for change in subs?

Stephen said there was no need to raise subs.

c. Any nominations for life membership?

Chris Nichols was proposed by Neil and seconded by Linda. He has been a member of the club for approximately 30 years, has served on the committee for 25 including two spells as Chair. He works extremely hard for the club, this includes directing, teaching, running competitions. This proposal must go on the notice board for the members' attention.

d. Any subjects we want members' views on?

None were suggested

e. Timings of notices

Voting sheets (for officers and committee) to go on the notice board next week - also a list where members can propose topics for debate.

Before the meeting, Jane will email all members with a copy of last year's AGM minutes, and this year's accounts. She will print some hardcopies to be handed out on the day for those without email.

f. Date for emergency committee meeting if needed

1st April

g. Arrangements for trophy engraving.

We need to get the rest of the trophies in next week. Jane will chase the missing ones. Chris will take them for engraving.

h. Arrangements for collecting apologies, etc.

A list for apologies will go up next week. Jane will ask someone to collect the names of attendees on the day.

i. Membership lists - continue with booklets?

The booklets seem popular and useful. Linda will get a quote from a printer who she thinks may be cheaper than Martins.

8. Engraving of club trophies (Steve C.)

Steve C. asked that both the John Ridding Club Championship trophies should be engraved, rather than just one. This was voted on and agreed. He also requested that his name should be corrected as the engravers had omitted a letter.

9. Vacancy for Vice-Chairman from April. (Neil)

Neil would like to have fewer commitments this coming year and would prefer to step down.

10. Additional committee member. (Neil)

Several names were suggested. They will be approached to ascertain how they feel about serving on the committee.

11. New Press Officer

Neil said that he was able to continue with the monthly press reports, but was no longer able to send the weekly results in. He said he had someone in mind to ask to do it, Jane said she would fill the gap if necessary.

12. Attendance on Friday nights. (Neil)

Neil commented on the drop in attendance on Fridays, and gave us a detailed breakdown. (see appendix)

Linda suggested that we do not wish to cancel Fridays, it is a gentler friendly evening suitable for encouraging improvers. All agreed.

It was suggested that we ask on Tuesdays who is likely to attend on Fridays, to try to ensure enough come for a worthwhile evening.

Stephen S. said that we only need 3 tables to break even on costs so this was not a problem.

Steven C. suggested we ask around to try to discover why more attend Tuesdays than Thursdays

13. Possible Wednesday afternoon pairs competition on 19th March (Stephen S.)

This was agreed. We have a spare trophy to award which could be used.

14. ANY OTHER BUSINESS.

There is a novice pairs event to be held in Falmouth. Chris agreed to inform the members.

The meeting ended at 6.50pm.

A meeting was provisionally planned for Tuesday 1st April, a week before the AGM, to be held if there are any members' proposals to be discussed.

Appendix.

Friday evening attendances 01/03/2013 - 28/02/2014 by Neil Trenaman

The average was between 4 and 5 tables with highest being 6.5 tables and lowest 3 tables. On 14th Feb there were only 2 tables and teams were played, on 3rd Jan only 5 members came so no session was played.

It is not a financial problem for the club, but if there are less than 4 tables it is less enjoyable.

With 3.5 tables everyone has to sit out for 4 boards, not ideal in winter.

With 3 tables - the top score on a board is 4 and bottom is 0, scores get distorted because you can be joint 2nd on a board and only score 1 i.e. 25%.

On 7 occasions there were 3.5 tables (22nd March, 16th Aug., 11th and 18th Oct., 15th and 22nd Nov. and 7th Feb.)

On 3 occasions there were 3 tables (13th Sept., 20th Dec. and 21st Feb.)

With the possible exception of a longer Christmas break I feel we should continue with Friday evenings, but should look at ways of boosting attendances. In winter the director should have an idea of how many are coming so that the evening can be cancelled if unviable.

There needs to be a system in place for cancelling. Obviously email but perhaps also phone?

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 26th November 2013 at 6.00pm 

Present:

 Chris Nichols, Neil Trenaman, Stephen Smith, Kathleen Bence, Maureen Fallows, Steven Clifton

1. APOLOGIES

Jane Koldewey, Linda Ashworth

2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Agreed and signed

3. MATTERS ARISING

Stratton Hospital cheque received and letter of thanks received

4. CHAIR’S REPORT

None

5. SECRETARY’S REPORT

None

6. TREASURER’S REPORT

Stephen told us that our total funds are £4,781.00, this is £526.00 higher than at the AGM. There are no bills outstanding, and it includes a paid stationery bill for Maureen’s order.

We raised £107.00 for Children in Need - £2 table money per person, an additional £1 donation per person plus a personal donation from a member.

7. Bridgemates

The County Bridgemates are on loan to the club, insured by CCBA. County will use them for their competitions and we shall use them at the Directors’ discretion.

8. Friday Night Attendance

Consideration was given to the falling attendance on a Friday evening. Kathleen to ask on a Tuesday if members were coming on a Friday and link those without a partner.

It was suggested that afternoon sessions be considered, initially one Wednesday afternoon per month as a full club session after Christmas.

9. Wednesday afternoons and other training groups

Chris, Neil and Stephen have led sessions on a Wednesday afternoon, although attendance has been below average. We hope that some of the members will now attend on a Friday evening.

10. Christmas Fun Evening.

Chris would direct a fun evening. Stephen offered to buy the drinks and to borrow glasses for the evening.

Jane to be asked to consider what food will be needed – just mince pies or nibbles as well?

11. Coffee Break

Jane had suggested we try free biscuits with the tea/coffee. All agreed. Jane had also offered to trial this for a month. Again, all thanked Jane and suggested starting in the New Year.

Kathleen was concerned with the state of the cups and washing bowl. Kathleen to purchase new bowl and cupboard to be re-organised to hold our own stock of 40 mugs.

12. ANY OTHER BUSINESS.

a) Kathleen raised again the issue of fair seating for Sims Pairs events.

The committee resolved that, in future, all Competitions will be seated by random lottery. Steven will prepare East/West and North/South cards for 9 tables, to first be used for the Clifton Cup on December 10th.

b) Steven had an incident last week where a member constantly argued with a decision made by the Director. This behaviour was considered completely intolerable by the committee.

The Chair agreed to address the whole club on the matter with the Laws giving powers to the Director to exclude the member for the rest of the session (i.e. send them home).

c) Kathleen pointed out that she doesn’t have a key to the cupboard. More keys to be cut.

Next meeting Early February, to be agreed with Jane and Linda

Meeting closed at 6.45pm

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 3rd September 2013 at 6.00pm

Present: Chris Nichols, Neil Trenaman, Stephen Smith, Jane Koldewey, Linda Ashworth, Kathleen Bence, Maureen Fallows, Steven Clifton

1.         APOLOGIES           none

2.         MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING   Agreed and signed

3.         MATTERS ARISING

Linda asked Jane to put the date of the last meeting on agendas, so that we can look up and check the minutes more easily.   .

4.         CHAIR’S REPORT             None

5.         SECRETARY’S REPORT        None

6.         TREASURER’S REPORT

Stephen told us that our total funds are £4,528.00, this is £456.00 higher than at the AGM.  There are no bills outstanding, and itincludes a paid stationery bill for Maureen’s order

We raised £56.00 for the Stratton Hospital.  Linda suggested that we try to have a photo of us presenting the cheque to a hospital representative put in the local press, but it was decided the sum was not large enough to merit this. Stephen will add up how much we have donated to the hospital over the last ten years – this may be worth a mention.  It was decided not to increase the sum from club funds.  Jane will send them the cheque.

7.         Update on directors’ courses

Cornwall will hold a course between now and the end of the year – it will lead to qualifications.  Linda wishes to take a refresher course, and Neil plans to take stages 3 and 4.

8.         Wednesday afternoons and other training groups

Chris and Neil have held an initial meeting and are prepared to run the Wednesday group between them. It will mainly be designed for improvers and rubber bridge players with the main objective being to encourage those who don’t already attend the Club to do so.We can start on 9th.October and each session will begin with a brief lesson on bidding or play with maybe a prepared hand to demonstrate the points being made, followed by a normal duplicate session. Chris will concentrate on bidding and Neil on playing tips. Stephen Smith has kindly agreed to oversee the session on 13th.November when neither Chris nor Neil are available.

We only need two and a half tables to 'beak even' financially and we are confident we will have much more than that.         

Neil will include information about Wednesday afternoon sessions in the September monthly report to the newspaper.

Stephen has now booked the room for the first 10 sessions from 9th October to 11th December.

Weare not planning to hold classes for absolute beginners.  We decided that if any apply, they can receive one-to-one instruction from somebody suitable during the Wednesday afternoon sessions.  We do not want to turn anyone away.  There will be a message put on the website concerning this.

It was suggested that we devote some Friday evenings to novice players, when some of our more experienced players will partner them.  This was thought to be a good idea.

9.         Survey results.

Chris conducted an online survey about members’ wishes. 25 members responded. (33% of our members)

Our members are happy with the movements as they are on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Only one member wanted a series of team competitions, so the single event will remain.

One competition a year for individuals, and two Mix and Matches, as we have now, was the most popular option.

Swiss pairs: only 2 wanted to repeat them

Pivot teams: popular, only 2 did not want to repeat them.

90% approved of our moving some competitions to the summer period, as we have done this year.

EBU competitions: 85% of members preferred 3 boards per table. This will mean an arrow switch for three rounds.

The committee thanked Chris for doing this.    

10.       ANY OTHER BUSINESS.

Kathleen said that we still have no notice on the outside board at the Parkhouse Centre, where passers by can see our details.  Linda said that she will arrange for it to be put up.

Next meeting Tuesday 19^th November

Meeting closed at 6.45pm

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 21st May 2013 at 6.00pm

Present: Chris Nichols, Neil Trenaman, Stephen Smith, Jane Koldewey, Linda Ashworth, Kathleen Bence, Maureen Fallows

1. APOLOGIES

Steven Clifton

2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Agreed and signed

3. MATTERS ARISING

None .

4. CHAIR’S REPORT

Chris told us that the county is to hold another directors' course, probably in Bude. Chris is to be one of the tutors. Linda said that she would enjoy using it as a refresher course.

5. SECRETARY’S REPORT

None

6. TREASURER’S REPORT

The total amount we have in our accounts is £4,633.00

The cost of hiring rooms in the Parkhouse Centre has been raised. This raise is 3.6% which is in line with inflation. Stephen questioned whether this can be done without warning or consultation. We thought that their heating costs must be high as the rooms are always warm enough

7. To welcome new committee members

We are delighted to welcome Stephen Smith as our new treasurer and committee member, and Maureen Fallows as our new committee member.

8. To discuss future training groups

The Wednesday afternoon groups will start again in the autumn. Neil said that he is still sorry that more of the people who attend do not go on to play at the club. He will ask them what might encourage them to do this. The possibility of having a straightforward 15 minute tutorial at the start of the Wednesday afternoon sessions was discussed. Neil said that attendees have said that they preferred to play. We will raise the suggestion of a short, simple point being made at the start of each week.

Kathleen introduced, and we discussed, the possibility of supporting other local bridge groups. We could offer them some informal tuition should they so wish. The possibility of one Friday a month being put aside to encourage newcomers, possibly partnering more experienced members, was discussed, and thought to be a good idea. Chris said that he would be prepared to give tuition on Wednesday evenings if it was wanted.

9. To discuss the filling-in of travellers

Directors will continue to ask members to fill in all columns, including the lead.

10. ANY OTHER BUSINESS. 

None

Next meeting Tuesday 3rd September

Meeting closed at 6.47pm

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes for the 34th Annual General Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 2nd April 2013 at 6.30pm

1.  PRESENT 
Officers and Committee: Chris Nichols, Mary Hicks,  Neil Trenaman, Jane Koldewey, Linda Ashworth, Kathleen Bence,  Alan Biggs, Steven Clifton
Members: 38 members attended

2. APOLOGIES
Charles Clifton, John and Julia Hilder, Sandra Hayden, Peggy Cann, Annie Quartermain

3. MINUTES OF THE LAST AGM MEETING 
Agreed, and signed by the Chairman.  This was proposed by Micheline Smith, seconded by Mike Newman

4. MATTERS ARISING
none

5. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
This year has been dominated by the sad passing of our much-loved and respected Chairman, John Ridding. We are delighted that his sister, Julie is able to join us this evening to present the trophies that she has so generously donated.
John will always be remembered for his warmth of personality, his generosity of spirit, his helping hand and his selfless attitude, always putting others and the club first. He will always be greatly missed.

We also think of other respected members who have passed away this year - Dick Godden, always the gentleman, and gentle Pat Clarke, winner of several trophies over the years.

This year has seen the steady growth of Bude Bridge Club with an average of nearly an extra table each Tuesday. This has partly been due to the efficient ‘partner’ service run by Kathleen. Thanks, Kathleen! We have also welcomed new members and visitors, often as a result of Neil’s excellent reports in the local paper.
The standard of play is improving, thanks partly to the lessons given by Alan and Chris with help from Neil and because some of our more experienced players are happy to play with improvers. The Wednesday improvers session continues to flourish under the guidance of Neil and Mary.
I would like to pay tribute to your committee who have given a strategic steer to the club. To Jane, our long-suffering and efficient secretary, to Neil our Vice-Chairman, and to committee members Kathleen, Linda, Alan and Steven. We pay particular tribute tonight to Mary who is standing down as Treasurer. She has been an extremely efficient manager of our accounts and has battled with banks to get the best deals for the club. Linda presented Mary with a bouquet of flowers as a thank you gift form the club.
A special mention must be made here of Maureen who has taken on the arduous job of Stationery Officer.

We are also grateful to all those members who turn up early to set up, to those who help supply refreshments, and to that gallant band who stay behind to ensure everything is packed away at the end of the evening.
The club could not function without our team of experienced and calm Directors. Please show your appreciation to Linda, Neil, Steven and Chris.

We are fortunate in having members who bring their experience from playing in County and wider events. Alan and Ian have represented the County B team, turning round its fortunes and at present lying in the lead in the Western Counties’ League with one match to go. Jane and Chris have represented the County C Team.
Alan and Ian have played in many competitions this year, coming runners-up in the Falmouth Congress Pairs against a field containing national team members. They also came 6th in the Portcall Pairs.
Ian and Chris qualified for the National Pairs regional finals in Bristol.

In the club, I suspect it will be some time before we see another 80% on a Tuesday night!

The club web-site continues to develop and is well-visited – nearly 1,000 ‘visitors’ every week.

Finally, a huge thank you to ALL the club members who have played with grace, humour, dignity and some competitive edge to make Bude Bridge what it is. If any member ever has any comment or problem – well, that is what the committee is for, so please don't ever hold back on speaking to one of us about it.

5. SECRETARY’S REPORT 

The booklets for the coming year will be printed after this meeting.   Sandra Hayden asked me to convey thanks from the beginners for all the help and support that they have received over the last year.

6. TREASURER’S REPORT
Mary explained that the accounts are similar in amounts to last year.  On paper it seems as though last year's were better, but this is because the gross takings for the training courses were included in last year's accounts, whereas the expenses for them were paid during this year's.  She said that at present the club is showing a small profit, and as we are not a business, and the club's finances are run only for the good of the membership, this is fine and we will not need to raise table money in the foreseeable future.

OPENING BALANCES:
Money at Bank      £4,317.93
Profit/loss Account                  -£246.65

Total       £4,071.28
CLOSING BALANCES:
Alliance and Leicester Deposit Account        £3,001.18

Current Account       £1,682.37
Uncleared deposit            £153.00
       total  £1,835.37

Less unpresented cheques
  no. 33      £76.00
  no. 34    £198.97
  no. 35    £260.48
Less unpresented  P2P D.D.   £113.96
        £54.55
        £74.44
       £778.40  £778.40
        £1,056.97 
Add petty cash balance          £13.13 £1,070.10
 
     TOTAL     £4,071.28   

This was accepted. 

There was a vote of thanks to Christine Theobald for her efficient auditing of the accounts.

7. Election of Officers for 2013-2014
The officers were re-elected (unopposed) as follows:
Chair   Chris Nichols
Vice-Chairman Neil Trenaman
Treasurer  Stephen Smith
Secretary  Jane Koldewey
Committee Linda Ashworth, Steven Clifton, Kathleen Bence, Maureen Fallows

8. The new Constitution for the Club
Chris explained that the first part of the constitution was drawn up by himself and Neil, and benignly outlines the way our club should be run.  The second part are rules of the EBU which they ask to be included.
This was accepted by the membership, proposed by Alan Merchant-White, seconded by Roger Alway

9. Proposal of new Life Members
The following were proposed as Life Members:
Linda Ashworth
Brian and Elaine Relton
David and Wendy Voller

Chris gave a brief description of the work each had done for the club and they were all accepted by the members.  Linda was presented with a certificate of life membership.

10.  Presentation of Trophies
Leslie Davis Trophy (Mix and Match):   Sheila Teale and Linda Ashworth
King's Arms Cup:     Alan Biggs and Ian Edwards
Collian Cup:    Jean and Michael Brookes
Christine Carey Cup:    Linda Ashworth and Alan Merchant-White
Doris and Frank Clifton Trophy:    Jane Koldewey and Chris Nichols
Stratton Cup  (Handicap Pairs):   Roger Alway and Alan Merchant-White
John and Bill Prize for the most Grand Slams bid and made during the year:
    Third, with 12 points, are Brian Morgan and Brian Rogers
    Second, with 16 points, is Paul Laming
    The winner, with 5 grand slams and 23 points, is Chris Nichols
June Justice Trophy (Individual):   James Sim
Championship Plate:(Mary Francis cup)  Brian Morgan and Brian Rogers
Rodger Cup (Teams):  Brian Morgan and Brian Rogers, Jacqueline Russell and James Sim
John Ridding Trophies for the Club Championship:   Presented by Julie Grice (John Ridding's sister) Steven and Charles Clifton

11. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
none

The meeting closed at 7.00pm

 BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 19th March 2013 at 6.00pm

Present: Chris Nichols, Mary Hicks, Jane Koldewey, Alan Biggs, Linda Ashworth, Kathleen Bence

1. APOLOGIES
 Steven Clifton, Neil Trenaman

2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
 Agreed and signed

3. MATTERS ARISING
 Jane reported that Julie Grice, John Ridding's sister, is happy to attend our AGM in order to present the trophies she has given to the club in John's memory.

4. ACTING CHAIR’S REPORT
 Chris gave us the sad news of Pat Clark's death.  Pat was a founder member of Bude Bridge Club and a strong player for very many years.
 Alan and Ian came second in the Cornwall Congress Championship Pairs.
 David Clarke and Linda, with Brian and Elaine Relton, were 4th in the teams event there.

5. SECRETARY’S REPORT
 none

6. TREASURER’S REPORT
 The accounts are audited (end of Feb.)and ready for the AGM.  Mary explained that there is an anomaly which makes it seem as though the club's income was greater last  year than this year.  It was caused by the gross income for tuition being paid in before the end of the last financial year, while all the costs were met at the beginning of this  year. In reality our income was similar for each of the last two years, and we are just breaking even.

 Jane will email all members with the annual accounts.  She will include the AGM agenda and include committee nominations for Life Members.

7. To thank departing committee members
 We thanked Mary very much for the enormous amount of work she has put in over the last five years while she has been treasurer.
 Alan is also retiring, we are very sorry and thanked him for all that he has done over the last year.
 
8. AGM.
 ** Check nominations.
 There are two new nominated committee members, one to be the new treasurer.

 ** Feedback from members on constitution?
 One member was quite upset by the new constitution.  She felt that the second part was full of threats and discipline.  Chris explained to us (as he had done to her) that  the first part is our club's constitution, while the second, which she objected to, is a distillation of EBU laws which have to be included.

 ** Consider Competitions 2013/14
 Last Tuesday when we had a Howell movement there were a couple of grumbles, members did not enjoy moving after two boards and found it cumbersome to find out to  where they should move.  It was suggested that normally we will have Mitchell movements on Tuesday club nights and restrict Howell movements to Fridays, national and  special competitions where we would like to have one pair as winners.
 Kathleen and Mary said that the Mitchell movements result in weaker pairs sometimes gaining some master points which they found very encouraging.  Alan said that with  the Howell movement the best players tend to rise to the top which is important and gives the less experienced players a target.
 
 We wll allow only simple bidding for individual competitions, for Mix and Match it is free choice.

 We will introduce Pivot Teams in the coming year.  The teams could be Mix and Match so members can arrive as a pair.

 Alan suggested we hold a Swiss Pairs, he will score for us.
  
 ** Look at any proposals for discussion that may have been brought forward.
 None have been offered.

9. ANY OTHER BUSINESS.  To discuss slow play.
 Mary said that it can be a problem when a pair has to wait for their next table to be free and then feel short of time and hassled.  Linda said that directors should be quicker  to take an average if one table has not started to play a hand when others have finished, and this was agreed.  If they wish, players can play the hand in the break.
 Alan said it is very important not to hurry players, new players in particular can be slow and can be driven away if they often feel they are being rushed. 
 This was also agreed.

      Next meeting AGM 2nd April
      Meeting closed at 6.47pm

 Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 5th February 2013 at 6.00pm

1.  PRESENT 

Chris Nichols, Neil Trenaman, Mary Hicks, Jane Koldewey, Linda Ashworth, Kathleen Bence, Alan Biggs, Steven Clifton

2. APOLOGIES

none

3. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING 

Agreed and signed.

4. MATTERS ARISING

none

5. ACTING CHAIR’S REPORT

We were all very sad to hear of the death of Dick Godden, a valued member of our club for very many years.

5. SECRETARY’S REPORT 

none

6. TREASURER’S REPORT

Santander /A & L                      Current A/c                   £1,221.47

                                                Petty cash                     £13.13                                     

Santander /A & L                      Deposit A/c                   £3,000.07

                                                            TOTAL              £4,234.67

Mary told us that the club is making a tiny profit at the moment, so we agreed that there was no need to raise subscriptions or table money..

7.   The John Ridding Trophy. Two valuable matched rose bowls have been ordered by John's sister Julie, for the winners of our Club Championships

We agreed that we should invite Julie Grice to present the trophies at our AGM.

8.   Seating for EBU SIMs. Ian is to present a proposal to the AGM.

It was agreed that a full or three quarters Howell movement, where pairs change direction during the evening, is the fairest way to manage competition evenings.

9.   Committee 2013/2014.

            Mary is standing down as Treasurer. Stephen Smith is willing to take over.  We are very grateful to Mary for all her hard work over the last four years.

            Should we have a 'Social' secretary, to organise cards for members who are ill or in hospital, or to write letters of commiseration?  We did not decide a definite answer.  Kathleen will consider taking it on.

Alan and Steven encouraged Kathleen (our partner-finding officer) to have a clipboard and circulate the players on each club evening to see who is playing next evening and who would like a partner found for them.  Alan said that this works extremely well in Wadebridge and Steven said it was successful at his previous club.  Steven said that after they adopted this method they had improved attendance on club nights.

            Maureen Fallows has agreed to be Stationery secretary.

10.   Programme 2013/2014, including rules for competitions.

The committee was happy with the draft calendar.

Alan is prepared to organise a Swiss Pairs evening for us.  He  will research how best to do this..

The last Swiss Pairs we held was organised in such a way that everyone who wished to play was able so to do.  Although this movement met every EBU criterion it meant  that Masterpoints could not be awarded. Alan would prefer a movement that restricts the entry to multiples of 4 tables so that MPs can be awarded.

It is possible to have fewer than 6 evenings of handicap pairs should the need arise.  Steven said that we have an extemely high number of competion evenings as opposed to ordinary club evenings.  Alan said he would like to see even more competitions.

11.   Constitution. To be presented for adoption at the AGM.

The committee was happy with the draft constitution. There was one change proposed and accepted - the date for re-registering for membership shall be February 28th at the latest. The draft constitution is on the club website so members can read it and comment.  Jane will print some hardcopies for our non-email members.

12.   AGM- organisation.

Jane will send out an email to all members next month to explain that they need to give a minimum of two weeks' notice if there is a proposal or subject that they wish to raise at the AGM.  She will also prepare a list well in advance so that members can propose officers and committee members.  She will also print hardcopy notices of these points for the non- email members.

13.        ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Alan said that he was not happy with members who rarely or never play at our club continuing to be members.  The point that these members do not receive subsidised entry fees for EBU events was made - this is only for members for whom Bude is their primary club. Alan would rather not see news of members who never/rarely play at our club published on the website.  He said many of our members have no idea who these people are.

It was agreed that only the achievements of members for whom Bude is their primary club should be published on the club website. 

Alan proposed that members should play at the club at least 10 times a year if they wish to be accepted for membership.   A show of hands was taken.  The committee voted  5 - 3.against making this change.

The meeting closed at 6.48pm

The date of the next meeting is 19th March 2013

BUDE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at the Parkhouse Centre on Tuesday 9th October at 6.00pm

1.  PRESENT 

Neil Trenaman, Mary Hicks, Kathleen Bence, Alan Biggs, Jane Koldewey

2. APOLOGIES

Chris Nichols, Steven Clifton, Linda Ashworth.

3. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING 

Agreed, proposed by Mary, seconded by Kathleen, and signed.

4. MATTERS ARISING

none

5. ACTING VICE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Neil said:  "I submit a weekly newspaper report in narrative form to the Bude and Stratton Post and copy it to the North Devon Journal Sports Desk. The North Devon Journal have always edited it and published results only because of space restraints, but until recently Bude and Stratton Post have nearly always published exactly what I submitted to them. In the last few weeks they have also only just published the results only so I contacted the Sports Editor to find out why. The editor said he had introduced the results format to allow more space to be offered across the two pages for newsworthy items. I agreed to continue to send in weekly results and about once a month send a report containing newsworthy items such as outstanding achievments at national or county level as well as local trophy and handicap pairs winners together with photographs as appropriate. In order to do that I need to be kept informed of members representing Cornwall etc. and Jane suggested Alan kept me informed, which he agreed to do.

I have had Scorebridge on a free temporary trial to get used to it, but have almost used up the number of times I am allowed. Chris was hoping that John’s licence could be transferred to me without cost.  That is not possible so he has arranged to purchase a new licence for me, at a cost of £20."  This was approved by the committee.

5. SECRETARY’S REPORT 

£75.00 of extra donations to the RNLI in memory of John Ridding, received during the last two Tuesday evenings, have been sent to the Funeral Directors

6. TREASURER’S REPORT

Alliance and Leicester                       Current A/c                   £1,071.59

                                                Petty cash                 £5.01                                       

Standard Life                             Deposit A/c                   £3,000.07

                                                            TOTAL              £4,076.67

7.         Format and needs for Wednesday afternoons

Neil said: "Disappointing attendance  but the first afternoon session went very well and we are grateful to Alan Biggs for attending for the first half of the session and giving helpful advice on bidding and play. We played a friendly Mitchell  movement because the club do not have any suitable Howell movements for 3,4,5 or 6 tables when playing fewer boards than a normal club night.(i.e.14 to 18). I believe there are such movement cards available from the EBU Education Dept. They can’t be that expensive and would ask that the committee approve a purchase for future use."  The committee approved this.   (Afternote, Chris had obtained some movements so this expense will not be necessary)

"I am sure that the numbers attending will improve considerably, starting from tomorrow as Mary and myself have received apologies from persons who couldn’t make it last week. I am happy to supervise tomorrows session and not play if necessary but when it comes to item 7 will be asking for volunteers for the following week onwards."

Alan explained that he feels very strongly that Wed. attendees should have some formal coaching if they are going to improve at all.  A progressive series of lectures, each lasting about an hour, followed by prepared hands which illustrate points made, and accompanied by information sheets to take home, would be the ideal format.  He feels that playing a social game, even with an experienced player on hand to offer advice, will do nothing to improve their play.  Jane said that playing, with advice on hand, does, in her opinion, have some merit, but would not be nearly as instructive as the lecture format Alan suggested.  Neil felt that the combination of Wednesday afternoon sessions and the opportunity for improvers to attend Alan and Chris' evening sessions from early November onwards was the ideal way forward.

Mary and Neil are going to canvass the attendees tomorrow.  They will  be asked what they want from Wednesday afternoons, and whether they are prepared to bear the cost of an instructor. (Afternote:  This was postponed for a week as there was not a representative section of attendees present.)

We did not prepare a rota as the above has not been decided upon.  Brian Morgan has offered to oversee a series of three Wednesdays, with instruction.

8.         Any interest in, and ideas for, Monday/Wednesday evening sessions.

Last Wednesday this idea received a very positive response.  Jane, with advice from Alan and Chris, will compose a block email and flier to advertise them to the members.  It was suggested that some ideas for topics would be included.

9.            Bude/Barnstaple Teams.

It has been decided to leave this idea at least for the time being.  Barnstaple can only manage January which is a busy month for us.  Arranging the teams would have been very complex and not all the Bude committee were in favour.

10.        Ideas for the John Ridding cup.

John's sister Julie Grice has told us that her family will present a cup to the club for the Club Championships in John's memory.  John had asked her to do this. They plan to spend at least £250.  We have used the Mary Francis Cup for the Club Championships in the past, and Chris has had it engraved with "John Ridding Club Championships".  So we will have two cups for one competition.  Jane suggested that each member of the winning pair be presented with a cup.  The committee did not approve this and suggested we look into having the new engraving removed.

11.            Constitution (if draft is prepared).

Neil told us that the draft is not yet prepared but that he and Chris are meeting to do so next Monday.

12.        Web-site - any ideas to improve? No urgency, but ideas welcome.

Jane said that it would be good to have a copy of the full calendar somewhere on the website where it is easy to find.  Alan said that the commentary for  'hand of the week'  should use correct standard ACOL bidding so that it is instructive for beginners and improvers.  He also suggested we ask Rob Mabley to do it, this was not seconded.

13.        ANY OTHER BUSINESS

none

The meeting closed at 6.48pm

The date of the next meeting has not yet been decided