Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Claygate Bridge Club, 14th March 2022
President (in attendance)
Committee
- Gavin Wilson — Chairman (GW)
- Fay D'Abo — Secretary (FD)
- Rowena Austin — Treasurer (RA)
- Pauline Harris — Accountant (PH)
- Julie Minards (JM)
1. Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Yvette Barton, Vicky Bevan (VB), Chris Bruce, Mary Bushell, Rosemary Collin, Pam Harries, Muriel Hodder, Tish Mousell, Angela O'Donovan, Sue Rawlins, June Retter and Carol Wildig.
2. Minutes of the AGM held on 9th March 2020
| Motion: |
Proposer:
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Seconder:
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Votes For:
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Against:
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Abstentions:
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| That the minutes of the AGM of 2020, as distributed on the tables tonight and as displayed on the club's website, be approved. |
Gavin Wilson
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(not needed)
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Passed nem con
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None
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None
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3. Matters Arising from the Minutes of the AGM held on 9th March 2020
There were no matters arising.
4. Chairman’s Report
The Chairman said:
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"It has been an unusual time. No AGM was held last year, because the country was still in lockdown. The club suspended sessions on 16th March 2020 and did not restart until 25th October 2021. Some other clubs in Surrey, such as Chobham and Chipstead, have closed permanently. Claygate has stayed alive thanks to your continuing support, to all the members of committee, and to our two directors, Rowena and John.
"Despite the difficulties created by the pandemic, we went ahead with the Christmas Party on 13th December, for which I must again thank the committee, particularly Rowena for buying the food on a slimmed-down budget.
"None of our usual competitions ran over the past year, because the club has been active for less than five months. Assuming we do not have to suspend the club again, we will run a Victor Ludorum and a Club Championship this year, but you might want us to run other tournaments which the club used to run: such as a Team evening, or a Sims, or the Lisa Hill or Christopher Blundell tournaments for several of years. These are all things that could be re-activated ... if we had another volunteer or two. We could discuss these in Any Other Business at the end of this meeting.
"Like many clubs and societies in the area, Claygate struggles to get volunteers for posts on the committee. I don't believe we have had any nominations for the next committee. With some reluctance, I believe all six of us are prepared to stand to enable the Club to survive for another year, but I ask you all again to consider helping the Club by joining the Committee.
"I hope that the next twelve months will see the club returning to stability and financial security."
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| Motion: |
Proposer:
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Seconder:
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Votes For:
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Against:
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Abstentions:
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| To accept the Chairman's Report. |
Julie Kamieniecka
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Margaret Harber
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Passed nem con
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None
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None
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5. Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer said:
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"The accounts have been on the website for several weeks, and there are also copies here on many of the tables here tonight for you to peruse. As we did not hold an AGM last year, you will also see the 2020 accounts for the first time. These have been compiled largely by Pauline, and examined by John McKimmie."
"We should explain why the Club's cash balance has now dropped to around £2,000:
- "Firstly, although we held nine bridge sessions in 2021, we only charged table money for two of them to encourage members back to the Club. We did however incur incur expenses at normal levels.
- "Secondly, the cash balance in the 20201 accounts was reduced by the Hall hire charge of £700 for the period October to December 2021. In previous years this figure has been included in the following year's accounts, as that is when it is paid. However we feel it shows a truer cash balance position to include the figure in the year in which the charge was incurred."
"We feel that this balance of £2,000 is a sufficient reserve for any foreseeable future expense. Provided that a) the Council does not impose a significant increase in the price of hiring the hall from April onwards AND provided that b) we can achieve or exceed a break-even point of about nine tables a session, we should be able to keep table money to £2.50 per person."
"If you have any queries on the accounts that have not been explained on the website please do email them to either Pauline or Rowena."
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| Motion: |
Proposer:
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Seconder:
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Votes For:
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Against:
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Abstentions:
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| To accept the 2021 accounts. |
Nigel Barnes
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Pat McRobbie
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Passed nem con
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None
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None
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| Motion: |
Proposer:
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Seconder:
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Votes For:
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Against:
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Abstentions:
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| To appoint John McKimmie as Honorary Examiner for 2022. |
Robin McDonagh
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Bernard Harber
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Passed nem con
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None
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None
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6. Election by vote of New Committee
| Motion: |
Proposer:
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Seconder:
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Votes For:
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Against:
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Abstentions:
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| That the current committee of seven be re-elected in its entirety. |
Margaret Harber
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Jenny Hancox
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Passed nem con
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None
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None
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7. Proposed Changes to our Constitution
1. Reduce the number of Officers needed to make a committee meeting quorate
Twice in the past decade the Committee has been caught out by clause 7(c), when two of the three Officers tendered their resignations at the same time.
7(c) A quorum at meetings of the Committee shall be three members of the Committee, including at least two of the Officers.
This clause meant that, if only one Officer existed, the Committee would have been unable to hold a quorate meeting. Since clause 8(a) specifies that the affairs of the Club are managed by the Committee, this would have meant that the Committee was unable to take any action, including the action to appoint members to the committee or to restart playing bridge. In the recent past a non-member complained to the Chairman of the EBU that the Claygate Committee had not obeyed its own Constitution. The Club needs a Constitution which reflects the low number of members volunteering for a seat on the committee and which maximises our chances of not having to involve the EBU again in enabling the Club to restart itself.
So, to make our Constitution similar to, for example, the Wyvern's, our proposal is to change this clause to:
7(c) A quorum at meetings of the Committee shall be three members of the Committee, including at least one of the Officers.
| Motion: |
Proposer:
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Seconder:
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Votes For:
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Against:
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Abstentions:
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| To change clause 7(c) of the Constitution as above. |
Richard Arnatt
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Jenny Hancox
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Passed nem con
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None
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None
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2. Authorise the Club's practice of not charging table money for some functionaries
For many years, the Club has encouraged members to take on certain responsibilities—such as directing, scoring or hosting for the evening—by relieving them of the requirement to pay table money on the evening in question. However clause 12(b) does not reflect that reality:
12(b) Each member of the Club, and each guest and visitor, shall pay table money on each occasion when he or she plays at the Club, the basic amounts of which shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting of the Club.
The committee proposes the following amendment:
12(b) The Committee may determine that certain duties exempt the members performing them from paying table money at the session for which the duties were performed. Apart from those exemptions, each member of the Club, and each guest and visitor, shall pay table money on each occasion when he or she plays at the Club, the basic amounts of which shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting of the Club.
| Motion: |
Proposer:
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Seconder:
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Votes For:
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Against:
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Abstentions:
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| To change clause 12(b) of the Constitution as above. |
Bob Edmonds
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Nigel Barnes
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Passed nem con
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None
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None
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8. Any Other Business
There was none.
Other Attendees (in alphabetical order of surname)
Janet ADAMS — Frances ALLWORK — Richard ARNATT — Nigel BARNES — Anne BLACKWELL — Valerie BORNHOFT — Paula CARTER — Phil CHAN — Bob EDMONDS — Elizabeth GRAY — Jenny HANCOX — Bernard HARBER — Margaret HARBER — Sue JACKSON — Jacqui JOSEPH — Julie KAMIENIECKA — Jill LATTER — Robin MCDONAGH — John MCKIMMIE — Ursula OSCROFT — Pat MCROBBIE — Val NORTH — Daniel TREGEAR.
Fay D'Abo, 15th March 2022
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