Leverstock Green 'A' comprising Alan Woof & Oliver Tiemann, Simon Cook & Bob Howard finished first with +60 IMPs, ahead of Leverstock Green 'B' comprising Alla & Peter Connor, Mo Purdie & Stuart Tarrant in second position with +19 IMPs.  Nine other teams from Hertfordshire clubs participated.  What an excellent result!

As a result of the table money and the Christmas tombola we were able to make a donation of £315, one of the largest local bridge club donations. Nationally the SIMS raised £71,347.32 for Children in Need in 2015 which increases the total bridge donation over the years to a staggering £811,000. We will again be entering the Wednesday SIMS for Children in Need in November 2016.

Dear members

I’m pleased to be able to advise everyone that we have today confirmed our bookings for new premises for the club’s two weekly sessions, as follows:

• From 4^th August 2015, Tuesday morning bridge will be at the Leverstock Green Village Hall starting at 9:30am as usual; the address is:

  Leverstock Green Village Hall
  Village Centre
  Leverstock Green
  Hemel Hempstead
  Herts
  HP3 8QG

• From 5^th August 2015, Wednesday evening bridge will be at the Adeyfield Community Centre starting at 7:30pm; the address is:

  Adeyfield Community Centre

  The Queens Square

  Hemel Hempstead

  Hertfordshire

  HP2 4EW

   

  I firmly believe that once we have got over the inevitable teething troubles and settled in properly, both venues will prove to be excellent locations in which we can continue to enjoy our bridge.

   

   

   

   

   

  Geoff Lacey

  Chairman

   

LG Bridge Club - Statement re number of SIMs                             3^rd Sep 2015

Members will be aware I recently conducted a survey regarding the number of SIMs events we play each year.  I asked separately for Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and made allowances for ‘non-voting regular players’, to whom I attributed a vote in favour of the status quo (6 SIMs on each of Tuesdays and Wednesdays).

In percentage terms, the results were:

Tuesdays

            Fewer SIMs     29%

            Status quo       57%

            More SIMs      14%

In response to the vote we will stage 5 SIM events on Tuesdays in the next club year, a reduction of one event.

Wednesdays

            Fewer SIMs     21%

            Status quo       69%

            More SIMs      10%

In response to the vote we are keeping to 6 SIM events on Wednesdays in the next club year.

Many thanks to all those members who participated in the vote.

My contact details are 01727 569286; geofflacey78@gmail.com.  Anyone is welcome to let me know what they think of the above, or come and tell me face to face if you prefer.

Geoff Lacey

Chairman

I want to bring members up to date with an issue that has arisen regarding the club’s continuing usage of Our Lady’s church hall for our twice-weekly bridge sessions.  The committee is dealing with this and has taken some steps in anticipation of the imminent decisions we will have to take, as described below.  No decisions have been taken yet.

Our Lady church hall

Going back over several years, the committee has from time to time had cause to complain about various aspects of the church hall.  General cleanliness, the heating and the state of the toilets have all been the subject of past complaints.  Some improvements have been made, but just lately there have been more issues with kitchen equipment and electric sockets.

In recognition of this, we have managed to hold our monthly rental down to £425 for three years.  However, a few weeks ago the church issued a request that we pay an increase of 33% on that rental with immediate effect, despite the fact that historically, changes to rental have always occurred in January of any year.

We dismissed this request as being extreme, and offered to increase our monthly payment to £440.  The church declined that offer and responded with a second proposal of £525 per month, which they say is their ‘minimum acceptable’ figure.  This represents a 23.5% increase on our current payment.

Action taken by the committee

In the light of this aggressive behaviour by the church – with no guarantee of any new rental figure being held for more than twelve months – the committee has researched other possible venues in the area.

We have found only one venue in the area with a large enough hall to accommodate us on a Wednesday evening: Adeyfield Community Centre on Queens Square, which is on the other side of the A414 about half a mile away as the crow flies.  There is a free car park right outside, and unrestricted parking is also available on Longlands, from which there is easy level access to the Centre.  A booking for Wednesday evenings could be made, starting from about three months hence.  We may have to shift our start time to 7:45pm owing to the previous booking in the hall finishing at 7:30pm, but we are in discussion with the manager to see if that previous booking could start and end fifteen minutes earlier, so we could maintain our 7:30pm start time.

This hall is large and well-maintained, with plenty of storage space and a good kitchen.  As a bonus to directors there is a microphone, and as a bonus to scorers there is an internet connection.  A caretaker will be on-site until the end of our sessions.  The proposed charge to us for both sessions is £350 per month (fixed for two years with an annual increase limited to 2% thereafter), which compared to our current charge of £425 is a reduction of 17.6%.

It is not certain that Adeyfield would have immediate availability on Tuesday mornings, this is still under discussion with the manager of the hall.  In the event that Tuesday mornings cannot be booked at Adeyfield (at least initially) we have identified a second venue – the Leverstock Green Village Hall - with a hall large enough for the smaller Tuesday morning session.  Whilst it would not be ideal to have our two sessions at different locations, it would be feasible, with the hiring charges at the Village Hall being £12.50 per hour.  Again, the hall is of good quality, there is storage and a good kitchen.  A possible change of our morning session from Tuesday to Thursday is not being pursued following a negative response to informal enquiries of some regular Tuesday players.

As always, the committee will seek to act in the best interest of the majority of members.  We all have a natural resistance to change, and the committee’s initial reaction to the church’s request to increase the rental was to see if we could reach an agreement with the church.  However, this has not been possible to date, and I think it is unlikely we could agree on a revised figure acceptable to both parties.

Bearing in mind the persistent issues we have had at the church hall, and seeing personally the high quality of alternative accommodation available at a significantly lower rental, I do feel that re-locating the club is an attractive option.

No decisions have yet been taken and the committee would welcome comments from members, but we need to bring this matter to a conclusion within the next couple of weeks.  Please feel free to contact me, or any member of the committee.

Geoff Lacey

Chairman