Durham Bridge Club
Release 2.19p
0 0 0 0 0 0
Pages viewed in 2024
Membership Successes

2023 NEBA
Summer Pairs
Frank Bouweraerts
Irina Hendrickx

2022 NEBA
Swiss Pairs
John Dobson
Audrey Bainbridge

2021 NEBA
Gazette Cup
Joan Crompton
Irene Burns

2021 Runners-Up
NEBA CORWEN TROPHY
For Champion Pairs
Dorothy Pearson
Susan Penswick

2021 EBU
Easter Congress
9 High Tournament
Irina Hendrickx
James Foster

Club Tournament Winners

Club Champion
Evening 2022
Audrey Bainbridge

Club Champion
Afternoon 2022
Adrian Darnell

Durham City
Trophy 2022
Bill Dixon & Peter Sykes

Sykes Cup
2021
Nigel Martin
& Adrian Darnell

Cansino Cup
Pairs 2021
Margaret McCabe &
Iain Gordon

 

--- AGM 2019 Chair's Report

CHAIR'S  REPORT

I               Introduction and thanks

My thanks to everyone for having made the past year such a successful one and in particular for continuing to provide a friendly and welcoming atmosphere in which to play bridge.

I would especially like to thank all the Committee members, without whom the Club would simply not run. The Committee this year welcomed four new members: John Dobson who has done a great job with our website, Irene Hancock who is a representative of the increasingly popular Monday evening sessions, Christine Farnsworth who has taken the role of Social Secretary (this latter position has been separated from the Secretary’s many jobs) and Charlie Bucknell who has taken over the main responsibility with respect to the Monday classes.

All the Committee members have given the Club sterling support over the year, and I am personally grateful to each and every one. While we all share collective responsibility, the members each take on some primary roles.

Ann, as Secretary, does untold and unseen work in ensuring the Committee performs its functions properly and that the Club runs smoothly. She provides the Club, and me, with invaluable support.

Susan, as Treasurer, is most efficient in looking after the money and keeping the accounts in good order. Our healthy balances, and prudent investments in new equipment, are testimony to her efforts.

Jill is joint Vice Chair and organises the rota for Monday’s supervised play and sits on the Community Centre Management Committee (as does our previous Chair, Peter Sykes).

Dave is joint Vice Chair, frequently directs and scores on Tuesday afternoons and evenings and is always a willing Tuesday host.

Den organises the Tuesday afternoon sessions and scores.

John is our Tournament director and our main Tuesday evening scorer. He frequently directs on Tuesday evenings, and also directs the movements for our teams competitions.

Nigel is our Club Captain and oversees our 3 teams in the Inter Club league. I will not reproduce his report, but I would like to record my personal thanks to all those who have represented the Club over the year.

All committee members give their time and effort voluntarily to assist in the management of the club and each is owed a real debt of gratitude.

Thanks also go to Sandra Ruskin who audits our accounts.

I would also like to thank Niall Keaney who helps deliver the duplimated boards to and from Darlington.

Thanks should also be offered to Lisa who does such a great job on Inter Club match days and other events in serving refreshments.

II             Membership

Our membership continues at a high and healthy level. I reported last year that we were planning to maintain the supervised bridge sessions, but withdraw for the moment from delivering formal classes; I am delighted to be able to report that we have been able to maintain classes throughout the year due to the great work of Charlie (excepting those occasions when he has been representing England in the U26 team). As a result, Mondays are currently a combination of classes and supervised, hosted, play. The classes, as in previous years, have proved a great success and go some way to ensure the sustainability of the Club membership. A dozen new members have joined this year, many of whom have already graduated from classes to duplicate bridge.

Many of our regular Monday players play not only on Mondays, but also on Tuesday afternoons, and increasingly we see afternoon players joining us on Tuesday evenings. It is common to have 6 tables in supervised play on a Monday, 14 tables in the afternoon on a Tuesday and 8 tables in the evening. On any week there are often of the order of 120 players at our Club. The popularity of Tuesday evening bridge is, perhaps, a little less than last year by a table or two, but the numbers of those who regularly play at the other two sessions is more than compensation.

It is always most gratifying to welcome new and younger members. Our warm relationship with the University Club continues to reap mutual benefits.

III            Major Investments

Having invested in 15 new tables last year, and a set of Bridgemates, we have made no significant investment this year. Having said that, the tables are already showing signs of wear and tear and will need further replacement soon. It is pleasing to be able to report that the teething problem with the scoring software has been addressed through increased familiarity with the system.

While not a major spend in the scheme of things, we introduced duplimated boards for the Monday sessions (and the hand records are increasingly used by many as a learning tool) and we also extended the setting up (and taking down) of the room to all three sessions. This has increased our outgoings but the benefit, having obviated the need of a member to set up the tables and chairs, is more than worth it.

IV            Financial Matters

Over the last decade the Club has successfully managed and absorbed annual rent increases (and increases in other costs) without increasing the table money. This has been achieved, largely, through the additional revenue accruing from the increasingly popular Monday night and Tuesday afternoon numbers. But Tuesday afternoon is now at capacity, and we cannot rely on Monday numbers to increase year on year. In the period we have also made major investments (notably in furniture and the scoring system) and further investment will become necessary.

The table money was first set at £2.50 in 2008, was raised to £3.00 in 2011, but reduced back to £2.50 in 2014. In order to maintain our financial security it is now proposed that the table money be raised to £3.00. This is not out-of-line in comparison to other clubs in the region.

            V         Slow Play

The pace of play continues to be an issue and the changes introduced last year have had some obvious positive outcomes. It is worth repeating our local ‘Rules’, adopted at last year’s AGM:

If the Director has called the move and the lead to first trick has not been faced then that Board shall not be played by those pairs, and the Director shall award a score (adjusted as deemed appropriate)

                   and:

play will begin at the various sessions of the Club at times as advertised; play begins at the designated time and all players are therefore required to be sat at their table at least 10 minutes prior to the start of play; players arriving within 10 minutes of the start of play are not guaranteed to be able to play; the Director will use their discretion in such cases.

VI            The Community Centre

The Trustees have secured a grant to make alterations to the main kitchen by the entrance. At the time of writing work is progressing and the Club will report the impact of the changes at some future date.

VII          Awards and Other matters

  1. congratulations to members Charlie Bucknell , Edmund Lea, Dominic Price and Euan Sarson who, representing Durham University, won this year’s Portland Bowl; additionally, these same members have represented England U26 during the 2018/19 season;
  2. congratulations to the first winners of the Cansino Trophy, awarded at the Christmas party, were Margaret McCabe and Iain Gordon;
  3. a small change has been made to the Cansino rules: if in any given week of a Heat, a pair plays in both the afternoon and the evening sessions, then only the evening score will count towards the trophy. The donors of the trophy have been fully consulted and approve this change;
  4.  the Club hosted the NEBA Swiss Pairs Competition in September 2018; Ann was the driving force behind what was a most successful event (pairs had to be turned away as we didn’t have capacity for all who wanted to play). Not surprisingly, this event will be repeated in 2019;
  5. the Chair’s invitation teams’ event, prior to the start of the Inter club season, again proved popular;
  6. the table money at the AGM bridge sessions will, as usual, be donated to the Alzheimer’s society;
  7. the Christmas parties have continued to be a popular event for our members, and this year we held three, one on Monday evening and two for the Tuesday players;
  8. EBU and Bridge England simultaneous pairs evenings have proved popular as usual, and many Club pairs have performed very well nationally, with several in the top 50;
  9. our chosen charity this year was the Durham Food Bank. Through table money and raffles, members contributed nearly £650; the Club’s generosity this year was almost 25% up on last year’s figure, reflecting both individuals’ giving and the enlarged active membership;
  10. teams’ events in the evening sessions prior to Inter Club matches, and qualifying events for NEBA finals, have all continued successfully;
  11. weekly Bridge Club Notes continue to appear in the Durham Times, and appear to be well read. The notes include all 3 weekly sessions;

Finally, my thanks to all our members who make this Club what it is and thank you all for your support to me as the Chair. Thank you. Adrian, April 15 2019.