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HELSTON BRIDGE CLUB
Minutes of AGM held at Hens Horn Court on 3rd October 2023
Present : 17
John Couser, Sandra & Chris Bickerdike, Carol Trezise, Janet Meredith, Heather Peers, Jackie Royds, Geoff Plowman, Chris Kempton, Liz Whittaker, Judith Williams, Marion & Brian Mitchell, Laurie Burley, Jose Eustace, Jenny Daniel and Marilyn Horobin
Item 1. Apologies : 8 Val Clifford, Jack Jeffrey, Pippa Walkley, Bob Royds, Richard Blyth, Linda Radford, Diane Johnston and Graham Kidson.
2 .The minutes of the last AGM in 2022 were read briefly by Chairman John Couser. Jackie Royds asked for clarification of online voting and it was confirmed that this related to the possibility of voting via a Zoom meeting which was not adopted last year. The minutes were accepted.
3.The Chairperson’s report was read out. The death of Rod Bell earlier in the year had been a great loss as he was a staunch supporter of the club. Numbers are low for both face to face and online and the club had struggled to get the numbers up.
4.Janet Meredith gave the Treasurer’s Report noting that she had taken over the position from 1st May. The accounts had been prepared by Geoff and audited by Colin. The decision was made last year to reduce surplus funds and this had been successfully achieved by not charging table money, not collecting membership fees and providing a Christmas meal free of charge. At the year end there was £2,432.70 in the bank compared with £5,820.48 at the start of the year. Since the year end a generous donation had also been made to Helston Town Band in memory of Rod. Currently there is approximately £1,700 in the bank but funds continue to fall as we are faced with fixed costs and low numbers. The accounts were adopted unanimously with the exception of one abstention.
5.The current committee stood for re-election and they were duly elected unanimously :
Chairman John Couser
Secretary Judith Williams
Treasurer Janet Meredith
6a. The agenda motion “For the purpose of voting at General Meetings of the Club, current members are defined as those who have played face to face or online more than three times since the last AGM and whose primary county is Cornwall” was put forward and accepted unanimously by the meeting with the exception of one abstention by proxy.
6b. The agenda motion “Because it is no longer viable face to face bridge shall cease from a date to be decided by the Committee” was put forward. The Chairman explaining that matters had been taken out of the Committee’s hands with the loss of the Hens Horn venue. The motion was discussed and it was agreed that once it has been identified that there are a significant number of players willing to commit to supporting an afternoon bridge event the Committee would look into any alternative venues put forward by members with a cut off date of 31st December, the Committee having previously spent considerable time trying to to find a suitable, affordable venue prior to moving to Hens Horn. The motion was accepted with 14 votes in favour, 4 against and 3 abstentions.
6c. The agenda motion “Because it is no longer viable Helston online bridge shall cease from a date to be decided by the Committee” was put forward. Members asked various questions about online running with the support of players from Grantham Bridge Club. It was confirmed that Grantham players are helping to ensure that the online event does not run at a loss. The motion was defeated with 8 votes in favour, 9 against and 5 abstentions.
7. Any other business
Laurie Burley asked about the possibility of a Christmas party and the Committee agreed to investigate a venue on the basis that it could not be fully subsidised as it was last year.
It was agreed to report back to members in January with an update on both face to face and online bridge.
There being no other business, the meeting closed at 6.55 p.m.
Judith Williams
Secretary
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