GOSPORT BRIDGE CLUB
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 7th January 2013 at 19 Palmerston Way
The meeting opened at 1904 with the following committee members present;
Roz Reid Chairman
Edna Stratton Vice Chairman
Phil Runchman Secretary
Phil Downham Treasurer
Shirley Corner Committee member
Jean Ruskin Committee member
1. Apologies for absence.
There were no apologies but Roz had invited John Jones to attend the meeting to help discuss Bridgemates and Directors.
2. Minutes of the last committee meeting held on 22nd October 2012 and matters arising.
The minutes had previously been circulated but were summarised by the secretary and accepted as a true record of the meeting. There were the following matters arising not covered by subsequent agenda items.
a) Blue points. Following the death of Keith Palmer plans to run a Blue point event have been shelved. John Jones pointed out that those playing in EBU Sims Pairs may find themselves (if lucky!) acquiring blue points which they could if they wish convert to green points (one green point for three blue points).
b) Club Website. Roz gave the committee members the access code and password for amending the Club website. Although this was also available to selected club members such as John Jones we did not wish to make it available to all members.
c) Christmas Party. This had been a successful and enjoyable evening despite prohibition thanks to the efforts of the SBL and John Jones.
3. Directors and Bridgemates.
This item was brought forward on the agenda so that John could leave early. We are missing Keith Palmer who had always been willing to direct at short notice and had been the driving force for the introduction of Bridgemates. Phil Downham was now reasonably confident in setting up the Bridgemates. Correcting mistakes if an erroneous entry was made could be a problem but by judicious telephone calls to Bridgemate administrators he was learning how to do this. John Jones, Roz, Phil R and Mac Locock had some experience but needed more practice. It was agreed that Directing and running Bridgemates was too much for one person on the same night; also having too many people trying to help at the same time would be counterproductive. For the next Sims (8th January) Phil D will set up the Bridgemates teaching John Jones who would be Director. The next pairs evening (22nd January) would be a visitors evening and we would not use Bridgemates. After that those involved would try and work out a rota to give others experience and practice using Bridgemates.
Roz and Phil R have tried to book themselves on an EBU Club Directors course at the end of January. Jean Ruskin expressed an interest in going on a course and we had heard that Pauline Bishop might also be interested. If the Club sends two people on the same course we only have to pay for one. Phil and Roz will report back on their course.
Phil D is happy to hold the Bridgemates at present (he is also happy to remain a holder of the hall key); he has fitted all the equipment in a redundant family suitcase, which works well. At present the committee felt that Phil should keep all the equipment together except the 2nd large computer screen, which could be left at the hall. The committee also decided to set up a sub committee consisting of Roz, Phil D, John Jones and Jean Ruskin to look at the problems of directors, Bridgemates and websites and that they should ask Jim Sherman if he could help us with his IT expertise.
Action; - Mostly Roz and Phil D
4. Treasurer’s Report.
Phil D and John Jones were arranging for the latter to inspect the accounts shortly. Currently we have a balance creditor of about £1,500 some £50 more than at the time of the AGM. Our expenditure has gone down as the Methodist hall is significantly cheaper than the Catholic one but our income is also down as membership still seems to be falling. We now have an average of less than 11 pairs on duplicate nights. Reasons for this are not entirely clear. Most members like the new venue now that heating problems have been resolved, but some have complained at lack of adjacent parking, and that it is quite crowded especially on SBL nights. We have lost a couple of members due to clashes of personality and the Chairman continues to ask some of our stronger players to show consideration and courtesy to some of our weaker ones (without naming names).
Overall our financial position is satisfactory but we must continue to address the membership issue. Phil D did mention that someone (on an SBL) night had been drinking and had spilt some beer!! SBL are aware that this is unacceptable at the Methodist Hall.
We still need to change the signatories on the club bank account and Phil gave forms for this to Roz and Jean to complete.
Action:- Phil D, Roz and Jean to change bank signatories.
5. Competitions Update.
Newbury knocked out our Basingstoke Cup team in the first round but our HICKO Team beat Petersfield and play their second round against Swanmore on 8th January. No matches have yet been played in the Solent Trophy; we have a bye to the semi-finals to be played in February. Currently the Solent Trophy remains a Knock Out competition. In the NICKO Phil D’s team have won their first match, we do not know how our other team have done yet. We were to enter three teams for the NICKO but reduced this to two after Keith’s death. Entry fees were paid by Keith and the treasurer is arranging to pay these to his estate, i.e. Clare, at an appropriate moment. The EBU will credit us the cancelled entry fee. Following Keith’s death our selection committee for the Solent Trophy and NICKO is Roz, Phil D and John Jones.
Action: - Selection Committee to select Solent Trophy and NICKO teams.
6. Visitor’s Evening.
As previously agreed this will be on 22nd January with no table money although we shall send results to the EBU. Bridgemates will not be used. Roz asked if we should restrict methods to “simple systems” but the committee felt that established members should be able to use their usual methods. They would be asked to explain any unusual bid to our visitors and to be as friendly and courteous as possibly. This is another effort to increase membership, we expect a couple of pairs from Aileen Wilkinson’s classes and perhaps also for Pat Loader’s.
7. EBU Update.
a) P2P fees. By trawling through the EBU and County websites the secretary had found that the EBU element of P2P would increase by 1P from 33P to 34P while the County fee would be unchanged at 4P for 2013/14. Overall P2P would increase from 37P to 38P in line with inflation and the committee agreed that this was less than had been feared and acceptable.
b) We need to update our Club Committee Contacts Information with the EBU following Keith’s death. The committee agreed the following contacts:-
Chairman Roz Reid
Treasurer Phil Downham
Secretary Phil Runchman
Competition Contact Phil Downham
Scorer Roz Reid
Webmaster Roz Reid (? or Jim Sherman)
2nd Scorer Pat Loader
3rd Scorer Mac Locock
Club Affairs Roz Reid
Action:- Roz
8. AOB
a) Shirley pointed out that the GBC scorecards prepared by Keith were not suitable for SBL teams scoring as there were no columns for entering IMPs for and against. The EBU cards recently ordered from Fleming’s are fine and should be used on SBL nights; the GBC cards can be used for duplicate pairs.
b) Shirley also asked if we should consider changing the name of the club to reflect the fact that we no longer play in Gosport. She wondered if being called Gosport Bridge Club might put off new members if they thought they had to travel to Gosport. Gosport Bridge Club does have a proud history but we could retain the connection by becoming “Gosport and Stubbington Bridge Club” or something similar. This would have administrative complications such as changing the names of accounts with the bank, the EBU and the County. Committee members would give the matter some thought; any change would have to be agreed at an AGM or EGM.
c) Roz wondered if the duties of Chairman could be shared as at other clubs such as Titchfield which now had a “Revolving Chairman”. Although some members thought that the duties of Chairman were not that onerous in fact she often had several phonecalls or e-mails a day to deal with such matters as heating at the hall, could you find me a partner, dates of team matches, who can unlock the hall or take the tea and coffee etc etc etc. While she was happy to continue in her role at present perhaps the club could consider a replacement/substitute at some time in the future. There were no immediate volunteers from the committee members at present.
9. Date of next meeting.
As the routine running of the club seemed to be well under control it was felt that we only needed one other meeting before the AGM in August. This was provisionally arranged for Monday 24th June 2013.
The meeting closed at 2045
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