Release 2.19p
Address of this website

www.claygate.club

President — Mary Blundell

REMOVE: never
/cbc/eminence/

Your Committee

Chairman — Gavin Wilson 

Treasurer — Rowena Austin 📧 rowena@claygate.club

Secretary — Fay D'Abo

Membership — Pauline Harris 📧 pauline@claygate.club

Refreshments  Julie Minards 📧 juliem@claygate.club

Refreshments  Vicky Bevan 📧 vicky@claygate.club

REMOVE: never
/cbc/committee/
The Director team

The Director team comprises:

  • Rowena Austin
  • John Murtagh
  • Gavin Wilson
REMOVE: never
/cbc/directing/
The Scorer team

The Scoring Team comprises:

  • Gavin Wilson

Claygate now uses a wireless scoring system called BridgePal, which runs on smartphones and tablets.  Further information about BridgePal can be found here.

AGM 11th March 2019

President (in attendance)

  • Mrs June Buckland — (JB)

Committee

  • Gavin Wilson — Chairman (GW)
  • Kay Wilson — Secretary (KW)
  • Muriel Hodder — Treasurer (MH)
  • Pauline Harris — Accountant (PH)
  • Yvette Barton — Refreshments Officer (YB)

1. Apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Rowena Austin, Julie Minards, James and Vida Smith.

2. Minutes of the AGM held on 12th March 2018

Motion:
Proposer:
Seconder:
Votes For:
Against:
Abstentions:
That the minutes of last year's AGM, as distributed on the tables tonight and as displayed on the club's website, be approved.
Gavin Wilson
(not needed)
Passed unanimously
None
None

3. Matters Arising from the Minutes of the AGM held on 12th March 2018

There were no matters arising.

4. Chairman’s Report

The Chairman said:

"I will try to be brief. The first thing I must do is extend my thanks to everyone who helps to keep this club going. If you arrive at twenty past seven each Monday, you may not be aware of the army of volunteers who prepare this room and the kitchen for action. If you leave straight after the Christmas Party, you probably don't know about the members who stay behind to clear things up. You probably have some idea of the stress that the two scorers — Carol and Ruth — now undergo when yet another handset seems to have disconnected itself. And the job of directing hasn't become any easier since the bridge authorities tweaked most of the Laws back in 2017. To all of you, and to the rest of the committee, I am hugely indebted.

"From my viewpoint, the club had several successes in 2018. For one thing, Claygate survived another year. Furthermore, despite being very short of regular directors, we had a director supervising every session, which is not a claim that every club nearby can make. The Christmas Party was another success, for which I must again thank primarily Muriel and Yvette. We also did a little bit of recruiting, in the form of lending ourselves and the club's scoring equipment for a Sunday afternoon tournament at Claygate Tennis Club. This has resulted in at least two new members, and several others coming along here to join in on a Monday evening.

"No-one can claim that all is perfect. Our new scoring technology seems to attract more complaints than anything else. A number of pairs whom I had regarded as committed North-Souths have become mobile East-Wests. Typically four handsets need replacing each session. But I think we are gradually getting on top of the problem, as we accumulate experience, and I firmly believe it is worth persevering with them for another year. They offer, in my opinion, a much clearer display than Bridgemates, and they show you the optimum contract, if you're interested. The scorer's job used to be a tedious data entry task done which could take well over an hour after the session. Now the job has been transformed into a state of readiness during the session to be summoned to replace any failing handsets; after the session, it's a matter of recharging and applying babywipes to the handsets. I would ask you please to be helpful, as you have been, to the scoring team. I badly need them both to stay on, otherwise I will not be able to go on any more holidays.

"We are still short of volunteers. Some things are not being done. There are pages on the website that need updating. Trophies haven't been engraved for several years. We didn't run a Teams tournament last year, but no-one complained. We didn't participate in a Sims last year. Again no-one complained — well, not that I heard about. We haven't run the Lisa Hill or Christopher Blundell tournaments for the past couple of years. These are all things that could be re-activated ... if we had another volunteer or two, and provided we can track down those particular trophies.

"We are now down to two regular directors and three scorers. I feel personally I am doing too much. It is not healthy to invest too much responsibility in so few people. No-one should become indispensable, because then they lose their sense of accountability. We need to develop replacements, and we need to document what we do, so that stand-ins can take over, if needs be.

"I will conclude by saying that all five members of the committee are prepared and happy to offer themselves for re-election tonight. But at least one has told me that she can only commit herself for one more year. So I would really encourage members to come forward over the next few weeks and months and offer to sit on the committee as a co-opted member or train to become a director or scorer.

"I thank you all for your support over the past twelve months."

Motion:
Proposer:
Seconder:
Votes For:
Against:
Abstentions:
To accept the Chairman's Report.
Nigel Barnes
Judy Reilly
Passed unanimously
None
Ken England

5. Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer said:

"The Income and Expenditure account has been posted on the website for several weeks and there are also some copies here for you to peruse. Brief notes have been posted on the website explaining the change in amounts received and spent in 2018 compared to 2017. The three main reasons are:

  • Firstly, that the table money receipts and hire of hall costs are lower in 2018 as a result of the closure of the hall for three weeks in August for refurbishment.
  • Secondly, expenditure for the electronic scoring system was much lower in 2018 as we only had to purchase one new laptop compared to the initial outlay in 2017.
  • Lastly, we usually pay for the Christmas party in January of the following year but in 2018 we paid for the 2017 party in January 2018 and we paid for the 2018 party in December 2018. So we have the cost of two parties showing in 2018. In future we will endeavour to record the Christmas party as fully expensed in the same month — and by implication, in the same accounting year — that the party was held.

In terms of cash in the bank, we started the year with £4,754 in the account and ended the year with £4,201. The committee believes this sufficient to deal with foreseeable possibilities, so it remains our intention to keep the table money at £2 per member. We expect to be able to do at least for the rest of this calendar year.

If you have any queries on the accounts that have not been explained on the website please do email them to either Pauline or me."

Questions from the Floor

Motion:
Proposer:
Seconder:
Votes For:
Against:
Abstentions:
To accept the 2018 accounts.
Sue Osborne
Frances Allwork
Passed unanimously
None
Ken England

Motion:
Proposer:
Seconder:
Votes For:
Against:
Abstentions:
To appoint John McKimmie as Honorary Auditor for 2019.
Nigel Barnes
Pat McRobbie
Passed unanimously
None
None

6. Presentation of the Trophies

Yvette Barton announced the winners, and the president, June Buckland, presented trophies as follows:

  • Club Championships: Nigel Barnes and Philip Chan
  • Victor Ludorum: Nigel Barnes

7. Election by vote of New Committee

Motion:
Proposer:
Seconder:
Votes For:
Against:
Abstentions:
That the current committee of five be re-elected in its entirety.
Mary Blundell
Grethe De Jager Tomten
Passed unanimously
None
None

8. Any Other Business

There was none.

Other Attendees (in alphabetical order of surname)

Elizabeth ADKINS — Frances ALLWORK — Kais BAHRANI — Nigel BARNES — Mary BLUNDELL — Valerie BORNHOFT — Mary BUSHELL — Betty BUENO — Rosemary COLLINDE JAGER TOMTEN — Bob EDMONDS — Ken ENGLAND — John FRENCH — Elizabeth GRAY — Bernard HARBER — Margaret HARBER — Pam HARRIES — Sue JACKSON — Janet KEFFORD — Jill LATTER — Joan LOW — Robin MCDONAGH — John MCKIMMIE — Kathryn MCKIMMIE — Pat MCROBBIE — Mike MULLIGAN — Pamela NORMINGTON — Val NORTH — Sue OSBORNE — Ursula OSCROFT — Sue RAWLINS — David ROTHERHAM — Jonathan SPRING — Thelma SCOTT — Ann SEXTON — Wah TAN — Lay Choo TAN — Jennifer WOOD.