| Minutes of an Extraordinary General Meeting held on Tuesday 14th July 2009 at Newbury Conservative Club Present: President Mrs Lynn Kirby Chairman Mrs Ann McMahon Chief Director Mrs Madeline Lawson Secretary Mr Richard Bungey Committee Members Mr Chris Doyle, Mrs Liz Madeley, Mrs Val Moules,
Mrs Bridget Jones Members 35 Apologies: Pauline Burman Stephen Burman Kevin Carter Ruth Carter Jean Ferris John Holt Mike Gowlett Renee Kirk Maureen Munday Mairwen Joseph Tal Joseph Jan Malsingh Joanne Shepherd Bill Westmeath Jackie Woods Mrs Ann McMahon took the chair 1 Opening Remarks Ann McMahon opened the meeting by welcoming everyone especially those who had come for the meeting only and were not intending to stay on for the bridge afterwards. She explained that the meeting had been called to give the membership the opportunity to decide whether to remain affiliated to the EBU under the new terms of affiliation from April 2010. Two years previously, the EBU had proposed new ways to organise the membership and finances. After discussions at club and county levels (during which the Newbury Bridge Club membership had discussed the subject at a previous EGM), the new proposals, adjusted to reflect some of the views expressed in those discussions, were accepted at a special EBU General Meeting. The new arrangements would come into effect from April 2010. 2 EBU Terms of Affiliation from April 2010 The principal changes were that from April 2010: - All members of a bridge club affiliated to the EBU will automatically become members of the EBU and would not be required to pay an individual subscription - Charges for Master Points will be abolished - A small amount, known as Pay to Play (or P2P, will be paid to the EBU every time a person plays in a duplicate session at an affiliated Bridge Club - There will be no P2P charged for rubber bridge sessions and certain other specified events - Members of affiliated clubs will have the option to remain anonymous as far as the EBU is concerned The EBU had fixed the Pay to Play amount for the year commencing April 2010 as 29p per person per duplicate session. In addition, Newbury Bridge Club is affiliated to the Hants & Isle of Wight Bridge Association who have set the “county” rate at 4p to be added to the 29p set by the EBU. In total therefore, the P2P amount for Newbury Bridge Club would be 33p per person per duplicate session. The Newbury Bridge Club Committee were unanimous in wishing Newbury Bridge Club to remain affiliated to the EBU in April 2010. The EBU is the game’s national governing body and provides the infrastructure for the game ensuring that you can play in any affiliated club to the same rules. It trains teachers and directors and provides support in numerous ways. The committee would not intend to increase the table money in April 2010 to cover the cost of P2P as it is felt that the cost could be absorbed from the current table money. The administration of the P2P system would be straightforward for Newbury Bridge Club involving little or no additional effort for the club At present, EBU members receive a regular magazine and diary. Provided members of affiliated clubs play at least 12 P2P duplicate sessions per year, they will continue to receive these. The meeting was then thrown open for questions and discussion. 3 Discussion & Questions 3.1 It was understood that Thursday pm “No Fear” bridge sessions would not be affected by P2P 3.2 It was confirmed that the 33p P2P would be included within the current £2 table money 3.3 It was confirmed that the P2P charge included the costs of Master Points 3.4 It was projected that the net financial impact on the club of P2P would be of the order of £650 per annum once the current cost of master points was taken into account 3.5 If the P2P payment of 33p per player per duplicate session does not generate sufficient revenue for the EBU, they must declare this during 2010, and announce the rate to apply from April 2011. If Newbury Bridge Club decides that the P2P amount to apply from April 2011 (and in any future year) is unacceptable, then the club can give notice in December that it no longer wishes to affiliate from the following April. In other words, the club will know what it is committing itself to in advance, and can decide to disaffiliate. 3.6 It was confirmed that information about club members to be provided to the EBU would be: - First Name - Surname - House No/House Name/Flat No - Post Code - Gender To qualify for free membership, players under the age of 22 will need to provide date of birth 3.7 It was confirmed that any club member not wishing to provide their details to the EBU would be able to remain anonymous – they would be known to the EBU only by their Pseudonym. However, if members decided to be anonymous, they would not be eligible for the EBU individual benefits. 3.8 (This paragraph was not quoted at the meeting, but clarifies and confirms the response to a question asked at the meeting) Use of members personal information provided to the EBU is governed by the EBU privacy policy which is available at http://www.ebu.co.uk/publications/Official_Documents/EBU%20privacy%20policy.pdf and contains the following statement: “We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting unless you have informed us otherwise.” 3.9 It was confirmed that players could belong to more than one club. The EBU will designate one of these clubs as a primary club for communication and allegiance purposes. Members can specify the club themselves if they so wish. 3.10 Events excluded from the P2P charge would include: - All rubber bridge sessions - Teaching/supervised play sessions where 16 or fewer boards are played - One session per annum designated as a party/social event - Any other event for which the club applied for, and received prior authorisation from the EBU to be Pay-to-Play exempt. It was anticipated (although still to be confirmed by the EBU) that friendly inter-club matches would be exempt) 4 Voting on the Motion There being no further questions, the meeting moved on to voting on the following motion proposed by the committee: “That Newbury Bridge Club continue to affiliate to the EBU under the new terms of affiliation of the EBU which will apply from April 2010” The voting was as follows: For the motion: 38 votes Against the motion: 3 votes Abstentions 2 votes The motion was therefore declared to have been carried. There being no other business, the meeting closed |