Bishop Auckland Bridge Club - Acting Chairperson's Report 2016

I accepted the role of Acting Chairperson at the first committee meeting after G Young stood down. I knew I would be fortunate enough to have a loyal and hard working committee to assist me in that role.

We have had another steady year, nothing spectacular but about 50 members continue to come and enjoy their game most Thursday evenings. Membership has remained fairly constant and it is good to see new faces arriving. It is regrettable, but as Bridge is an ideal pastime for older people, some of our regular members are no longer with us.

We have had generally good cooperation from the Golf Club despite the catering and bar staff not being employed by the Club and suffering a change in the middle of the year. The evening staff do their best to help us enjoy our bridge.

I cannot thank John Dobson enough for his work on our Club Website which is a window to the club. Our programmes for social events, our weekly results, Match Point awards and the scoring system used at League Bridge matches are all quite excellent - so thank you John for all you. Thanks to all who have served on the Committee who have made my job easy .

The last few years have seen lots of changes at the top of the EBU and many of their proposals are aimed at improving Bridge at all levels. In particular, universal membership which came in enables everyone who plays to see the benefits of being a member of a national and international organisation. The NGS grading system gives an incentive to members to see how they are progressing.

Finally I must thank all of you for being pleasant and helpful  members of Bishop Auckland Bridge Club.  Thank you all for your support and very best wishes for the future.

Louise Badcock