Rugby Bridge Club Management Committee
Minutes of Meeting held at 12 Manor Road Kilsby
on 16th April 2014
Present:
Philip Shorey – Chairman
Anne Carrington – Membership Secretary
David Hicks - Secretary
Terry Bradbury
David Owen
Chris Malthouse
Janet Chappell
Apologies from, Wendy Pattinson and Peter Langley
- MCM minutes of 28.02.14;
The minutes were formally approved.
- Matters Arising not elsewhere on the Agenda
- Pairs League
The committee considered a prepared paper, which gave a summary of the tasks to be undertaken in the running of a Pairs League by the Club or as a County event.
At the commencement of the discussions the view was expressed that the Pairs League was a success and the Committee wished to see it continued. After discussion it was agreed a paper would be prepared for the AGM where the membership would be asked to consider and vote on whether any Pairs League at Rugby should be an organised Club or County event.
The discussion closed with Phil Shorey being warmly thanked for all the work that he had put in to make the current sessions of the Pairs League a success.
Action: David Hicks
- Meeting with Graham Lightfoot
It was reported that when Graham had met with the Vice Chair of the Committee and other Committee members he had been at pains to stress that what he wanted was the best for Rugby Bridge Club. In the meeting he had had referred to the past relationship the club had had with the EBU. On the club rejoining the EBU in 2012 he said he had asked to be co-opted on the Committee but his request had been declined although subsequently he was informed that whilst he could not run Rugby Bridge Club events but could run EBU events and arising from this had been his initiative to obtain a County Pairs event at Rugby with the aim of raising the status of the club and attracting players from other clubs to take part. Initially he said the taster and the first 5 rounds of the proposed Pairs League had gone well but difficulties between himself and the club had led to him standing aside and the club took over responsibility for taking his initiative forward. Despite this set back he said he was prepared to run a County Pairs League event at Rugby and had the support of the County to do so, but it would require the club supporting him with the provision of another Tournament Director, which would be seen as a development opportunity for the individual concerned.
- Search for New Premises
The Committee expressed their disappointment at the failure of the club in their bid for the Royal British Legion Club at Hillmorton. Chris Malthouse asked if if was known who the successful bidder was because it had been previously suggested that there may be the possibility of a sharing or lease arrangement. It was said that whist the club were not formally aware of who the successful bidder was and the Estate Agent was not prepared to tell them it had been suggested that it was the local church who wished to use it as a nursery and if so this was so the view was expressed that this was not compatible with the premises being shared by Rugby Bridge Club. It was said that the Estate Agent had intimated that should the sale fall through the club would be immediately advised.
David Hicks then drew the Committee’s attention to the work carried out by Freddie Foster to design and build a clubhouse on the site of St. Andrews Rugby Club, which had reached a very advanced stage before being turned down by the club.
Chris Malthouse informed the Committee that the reason for this decision at the time was the fact that membership was only around 75 and it was questionable with such a small membership that the club was strong enough to take on the responsibility for owning and running its own premises.
The view was expressed that with the increased membership, funds available for the purchase of premises, that the original proposal by Freddie should be revisited and as part of that process he should be invited to meet with the Committee. Phil Shorey and David Owen undertook to examine the original plans and to look into the possibility of the original scheme being resurrected
Discussion on this subject closed with David Hicks advising the Committee that he had left a letter with each of the Commercial Property Agents in Rugby outlining the clubs need in their search for new premises.
Action: Phil Shorey and David Owen.
- Saturday Moring Training Sessions
In opening the discussions Phil Shorey said he was concerned at the low level of support for the training sessions, which were running at a loss and questioned whether they should be continued.
Chris Malthouse in response said he was also concerned at the apparent lack of interest in members improving their skills in playing bridge and many seemed to be in a comfort zone and did not want to learn any more. He said he had tried a number of different approaches, such as splitting the sessions into learners and improvers but with little success and this was mirrored in the Wednesday evening sessions in the small numbers attending despite the fact that it had been moved to Clifton.
It was agreed that consideration would be given to using power point presentations to support the training and the membership would be approached to ascertain their views on what was required and what they would support.
Action: David Hicks and Chris Malthouse
- Player of the Month Award.
The Committee referred to the previous paper outlining the rules of the competition and it was confirmed that the Player of the Month Award would be competed for at the weekly bridge sessions held on Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays and the bi-monthly Pairs event at Troughers and the original document prepared when the initiative was first launched would be revised to reflect this.
Action: Chris Malthouse and David Hicks.
- Appointment of Senior Director.
The Committee were informed that Peter Iredale the Club’s Senior Director had indicated that he intended to step down from this role when he attained 80 years of age in June.
It was agreed that all the current qualified Tournament Directors would be approached to ascertain their willingness to take on the role.
Action: David Hicks
- Annual Dinner
There was discussion about possible venues for the annual dinner with emphasis on it being a hot meal, preferably a carvery to be followed by a quiz and raffle.
David Owen undertook to approach Newbold Rugger Club to ascertain if they could accommodate the club for the intended dinner in May/June time.
Action: David Owen
5
- Date of AGM
It was confirmed that the date of the AGM would be the 10th June 2014 and David Hicks would prepare all the necessary documentation, which would include an end of year financial statement for 2013/14.
Action: David Hicks and Phil Shorey.
- Awards & Trophies
It was again confirmed that apart from the Pairs Leagues there would be no cash prizes for winners of competitions and all would be played for trophies only
.
So far as the Pairs League was concerned if, if it was agreed that if was to be run as a club event, then the cash prizes would be £12.50 each to the pairs winning the three leagues with £5 to each of the runners up.
- Committee Membership
There were indications that all the current Committee Members would be standing for re-election to the Committee for 2014/15 but if re-elected Peter Langley had indicated that he would not be standing for the year 2015/16.
David Hicks also indicated that if he was re-elected for 2014/15/16 he would be standing down from the AGM 2016.
- RBC Sponsored Teams.
The Committee discussed the sponsorship of Rugby Bridge Teams in the Coventry League and expressed a view that they should all clearly indicate in their title that they were a Rugby Bridge team, representing the club and not simply groups of friends getting together to enter a team and that wherever possible they should all be members of the club.
- Townsend Memorial Hall.
David Owen reported on his attendance on behalf of the club at the AGM of the Clifton Townsend Memorial Hall Committee.
He said the Committee had plans to carry out significant elements of work within the hall with emphasis on the front entry area and toilets but there were some issues within the hall with regard to asbestos, which was inhibiting the tender process.
David was thanked for his report.
- Membership Update
Anne Carrington provided a list of those members who it was known had resigned from the club together with details of those who had not paid their annual subscription.
The Committee were confidently able to identify a number of those who had not rejoined as being likely to do so and it could simply be a matter reminding them of the need to do so.
Anne also informed the Committee that she had drawn up a revised membership application form which was more informative.
14. A.O.B.
- Julia Mills Trophy
Chris Malthouse reported on the success of the Julia Mills Trophy where over £570 had been raised for charity and it was agreed that the club would fund the purchase of EBU Master Points to ensure that all the monies raised went to charity. He also made the point that many of the pairs playing in the competition were from other clubs and the club members should be encouraged to take part in other club events.
There was also mention made of the excellence of the food provided for which a warm vote of thanks was extended to all of those involved and to Chris for organising the event.
- Novice Competition
It was suggested that consideration should be given to having a ‘novice’ competition within the club with eligibility being determined by NGS level.
It was agreed that the suggestion had merit and would be pursued.
Action: Chris Malthouse
- Match against Lutterworth
Anne Carrington reminded the Committee that the match against Lutterworth on the 23rd June was at home.
After discussion it was agreed that only light refreshments, tea, coffee, biscuits and possibly cakes would be offered to those participating.
Action: Anne Carrington
- Session Fees
Phil Shorey suggested to the Committee that consideration should be given to increasing the session fees from £2.50 to £3 per session, with visitors paying £4. In making the suggestion he said there were increasing demands on the finances of the club and in comparison to other clubs in the area the annual subscription and session fees would still be less if the increase was approved.
It was noted that the proposed increase required had to be subject to approval at the AGM.
Action: Phil Shorey and David Hicks
17. Date of Next Meeting
It was agreed that the date of the next meeting would be the 12th May 2014 and would again be held at 12, Manor Road Kilsby commencing at 1900 hours.
|