HEMEL HEMPSTEAD BRIDGE CLUB

 Minutes of 63rd AGM held on Monday 6 June 2022

Attendance     23 members, plus 3 having given proxy votes to Committee member

Apologies for Absence   Derek and Lesley Peers, Pat Henry, Paul and Fiona Littlewood, Jack Wheeler, George and Tanja Summers, Angela Chatterton, John Wareham, Chris Eveleigh, Debbie West, Christine Leek, Jane Farndon, Anne Lynch. Doug Beard

Minutes of the last live meeting in 2019 were accepted as a true record.

Matters arising   None.

Chairman’s Report

The report was available on the website.  David Stimson ran through it.  He thanked all involved in helping run the club.

Treasurer’s Report

Derek Peers had provided a draft report, yet to be checked by the Auditor.  There was a loss on the year of £1027, partly as a result of £500 being donated to the Red Cross Ukraine appeal, and partly because charges for playing had been kept low and no membership fees charged. 

Future of the Club

During the last year we had played face to face for a 3 month period, with generally 4 or 5 tables.  We had then returned to online bridge when Covid picked up again, and recently numbers had increased a little, with some people playing who live too far away to come to live games.  David had surveyed members for their views on whether they would participate F2F or online, and the figures were more in favour of online.  The Committee recommended that we continue playing online using RealBridge.  There was disappointment from some members who would prefer to actually come out and meet each other but currently F2F was not a practical proposition.  It was suggested that efforts be made to occasionally provide one-off events so that members could gather together.  The Committee would consider this further.

Constitution – Change to Quorum

The quorum for a meeting in the current Constitution was 25 and had become difficult to achieve, so a reduction in this number was proposed.  Roger Edmonds suggested we reduce it to 12, and this was agreed by all present.

Preference for Number of Boards Played

With a suitable number of tables online, we had been playing a Howell movement with 2 board rounds and 20 boards, if 5 tables only 18.  Some people had asked for more boards, say 22 to 24.  A vote was taken and the preference of most was to play more than 20.

Election of Officers and Committee Members

The Chairman would like to have stood down, but currently no one was willing to replace him.  Derek and Lesley were not going to be available for a time and some readjustment of roles would be necessary.  Anne was standing to replace Derek as Treasurer.  The rest of the Committee were willing to stand again.   They were re-elected en bloc (proposer Jeff Green, seconder Meena Jeffries).  Membership was now:

Chairman:  David Stimson

Treasurer:   Anne Short

Secretary:    Margaret Ainsworth

Other appointments would be made at the next committee meeting.

Derek Peers, Lesley Peers, Naomi Gibbs, Roger Edmonds, Pat Henry

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 19.50 and trophies were awarded as listed on the website.