Minutes of the extra ECBA Committee Meeting held on Wednesday 21^st May 2014 at Audrey Hartley’s home.

Present: Ted Cockle, Alaric Cundy, Linda Fleet, Bob Hair, Audrey Hartley, Tony Philpott, Graham Randle, Keith Thompson & Dennis Valtisiaris.

Apologies from: Nigel Bardsley, Margaret Curtis, Bernie Hunt & Sandy Riach.

1. Accepting John’s resignation: Tony Philpott took the Chair and welcomed those present.  He said he had spoken to John and Audrey had spoken with John’s wife and it was clear that John would not reconsider his decision.  During his 4 years as Chairman John had worked hard to promote bridge throughout Essex at all levels of the game.  He had seen the County through the turbulent times of P2P and visited affiliated and non-affiliated clubs in his efforts to get all clubs involved.

2. Representation on the EBU’s Eastern Counties Regional Committee: It was agreed that John with Dennis would continue to represent Essex at this committee.  In addition it was recorded that he was also one of the Eastern Counties regional Committee’s representative on the National Committee.

3. Burnham on Crouch: Audrey announced that she had learnt that morning of the re-affiliation to the EBU of Burnham on Crouch.  John deserves much credit for this as he has worked hard to persuade unaffiliated clubs to re-affiliate; he has encouraged their members to join any competitions for which they are eligible and he has included a list of non-affiliated clubs on our website.

5. New Chairman: A number of names were discussed and Audrey presented an application for the post which she had received.  It was decided that before coming to a conclusion the Committee should advertise on the website that they were looking for a new Chairman and invite anyone interested to contact Audrey.  It was agreed that a time limit of June 11^th should be set.  The wording for the advert should be:

It is with regret the ECBA Committee have accepted the resignation of their Chairman, John Williams.  John has made a huge contribution to the development and promotion of bridge in Essex over the last four years.  The Committee are looking for volunteers who would be willing to be considered to take on the role of Chairman of the ECBA. If you are interested please contact Audrey Hartley, Hon. Secretary of the ECBA by email at ja.hartley@btinternet.com or by letter to 168 Broomfield Road, Chelmsford, CM1 4HF.

During the discussion Graham Randle was invited to be a co-opted member of the Committee and he accepted.

6. AOB:  There was no other business.

The meeting closed at 4.30 pm and Audrey was thanked for her hospitality.