LODDON VALE BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of the 36th Annual General Meeting, held at

Radstock Lane Community Centre, on 21st April 2016 at 7.15pm.

1. Apologies for Absence

Stuart Townsend, Jo & Roger Wareham, John Crook, Elaine Lloyd, Angela Andrew.

2. Minutes of the last AGM

The minutes, having previously been published on the web, were proposed by Trish Lee and seconded by Mary Watson as a true record of the 2015 AGM.

3. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

4. Chairman’s Report

Norma Allen reported the membership is up marginally on last year with prospective new members looking to join.

Sadly Hilary Bale died last September and those who knew her well, remember her as a caring lady full of warmth and friendliness, who joined in all the club's activities with enthusiasm.

Congratulations to Reg and Mary (Watson) who married in June 2015 and on seeing them so happy together. They both work extremely hard for the club although Mary mentioned she hadn't got a proper job on the committee which made Norma smile, as Mary organises all the Christmas parties and theatre trips to Sonning Mill. Those who haven't tried one are missing out on wonderful evenings.

The club now has a second-hand dealing machine which is housed at the home of Chris Hopkins and who is responsible for all the dealt boards. We are very grateful to her for taking on this role.

The 2015 weekend was at Worthing. Congratulations to Jim Roy who was the Victor Ludorum winner and a huge thank you to Trish Lee for organising the event, particularly as she was not at the time, enjoying the best of health.

Our thanks go to Paul Scrivener and Mick Green who captained the two teams in the Chiltern and Berks & Bucks leagues respectively and to all team players.

Congratulations to Gordon Maxwell who having completed the course, now joins our directors. An enormous thank you is given to all the directors. Club members should appreciate them as their evening's bridge is so often seriously disrupted when they have to break concentration to sort out problems arising at other tables. Members are requested to treat them with the huge respect they deserve, for without them, the evening would fall apart.

To the scorers Jim Roy, Chris Shambrook and Barry Read, a huge thank you.

Our host system has worked well this year with a great variety of players volunteering. It is good to see on some evenings, 5 or 6 players arriving to play bridge confident they will get a game. One lady coming to make enquiries, was able to stay and play with the result we picked up a new member.

Further thanks to all the unsung heroes who arrive early to put out the tables and chairs and remain behind afterwards to put things back into our difficult cupboard.

Lastly to my committee, a huge thanks for all your help. You are a joy to be with and have made the job of chairman relatively easy.

5. Treasurer’s Report

Kay presented the Accounts for the year, now with the additional bank account earmarked for weekend monies. The deficit shown was principally the result of expenditure for the Bidding Machine itself and the new boards and stationery which were also needed. Acceptance of the Accounts was proposed by John Bale and seconded by Jim Roy.

The Earley Community Association Membership fees are certainly rising next year. With other costs also likely to rise Kay recommended an increase in Member's Annual Subscriptions to £15, the previous figure of £10 being in operation for many years. This would enable table-money to remain at its current level and obviate the need to review the level of the annual subscription again next year. A motion to this effect was carried unanimously.

Kay thanked Jim Roy and Simon Porter for their help in finalising the Accounts, particularly the latter for auditing the Accounts on behalf of the Club.

As last year Kay asked members to ensure the requisite form is completed when they pay their subscriptions to enable her to accurately record the current membership situation. An effort to have table money immediately ready for collection prior to play would also be appreciated.

6. Election of Officers for 2016/17

All the present Committee members (ten in all; the maximum number permitted) are willing to continue in their current roles for another year. There were no other applications for membership.

7. Prospective New Members Applications

Elizabeth Unsworth and Brenda Bateman were confirmed as new members.

8. Teams

Paul Scrivener reported that after the relative success of last season, this year was more disappointing for both our teams.

The "A" team in the Berks & Bucks League finished in the end second to bottom and will be relegated to the Second Division for the next season. They will hope to regain their place in the top division next year which hopefully will be less turbulent under the captaincy of Anthony Collins.

Our Chiltern League team came sixth out of eight and had a difficult run of matches in the middle of the season, but got back on track for the last two matches. Reading "A" will welcome our win against Newbury "B" and we beat Wallingford 9:3 on our last match on Monday.

Reg Watson, Mick Green and Paul Scrivener wish to thank all of those who played in the teams this season, particularly our partners and those who travelled significant distances to away matches.

9. Any other Business

None. The meeting finished at 7.30pm