Keyworth Bridge Club. Chairman’s address to the club AGM, Wednesday September 29th 2021
When elected chairman two years ago little did I suspect that it would be two years before I chaired an AGM and that for nearly twenty months the club would cease to meet face to face.
The fact we are here today with a renewed membership well on the way to 100 members and face to face Bridge resumed is a testament to both the appetite for the social interaction and intellectual stimulation that Bridge brings to our lives and the dedication and enthusiasm of your committee.
I have been helped and sustained by an enthusiastic and supportive committee – David Adams, Doreen Connor, Martin Day, Jenny Percival and Kirk Staniforth and others in the club. I wish to single out; David Adams who has been an untiring secretary and whose efforts have held the club together and got us here today, Doreen Connor has taken over the treasurer’s post with enthusiasm, innovation and always a big smile, Brian Pilbin who is the mastermind behind our digital presence and without his seemingly 24/7 availability we would have no website, no email alerts to members and much behind the scenes wizardry. Mervyn Jones after pioneering BBO for the club has been a huge help in our transition to RealBridge and the pleasure it has brought to many members, Mike Nailard has ably supported those of us running RB sessions..
Truth be known the club cannot exist without your help and support as club members who turn up and help with the setting up, clearing away, and running of Bridge drives. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to prepare for a Bridge drive that falls outside the committee’s remit and I would welcome offers of help with directing, scoring, scheduling, opening up of venues, cash monitor, operating the dealing machine and much more. Please approach me if you can help.
The success of RealBridge has been the story of the past year; with its highly realistic replication of the Bridge table and the ability for players to see and talk with partner and opposition it has been a life line for many isolated at home and missing Bridge. From a hesitant start in February this year we have held nearly 100 RealBridge sessions averaging 6 1/2 tables on Monday afternoons, 4 tables on Tuesday evenings and 5 tables on Friday afternoons. Our on-line presence has attracted regular players from Newark, Mansfield and Derby and further afield in Northumberland, Lancashire, Kent as well as keeping us in touch with John and Val Watson.
In normal times I should be able to lay out our plans for the coming year with some certainty, not this year though where it feels as though we are building the club up from scratch. Your committee will be looking to build up a regular programme of Bridge drives, reinstate our competitions, hold social events and start planning for the club’s fiftieth anniversary in 2023. We have got off to a positive start with the reintroduction of the Wednesday afternoon drive at Keyworth and we can all look forward to Monday afternoon drives here in the Village Hall starting on October 25th. Thursday evening drives had been on our danger list for several years before the pandemic and I think it unlikely they will return. However with afternoon drives re-established we will be turning our attention to Tuesday evening Bridge – either keeping up Real Bridge or reverting to face to face. Friday afternoon Real Bridge has become established and popular and as long as we can resource it we will continue.
As you will be aware we did not charge a membership fee last year and have again not asked for any payment as members renewed their membership for the current year. We did however bring daytime table fees into line with our evening fees of £2.50 and have taken a pragmatic view on not charging visitors a surcharge. In the new year, when things have hopefully settled down, we will review these decisions. Our finances are very healthy as the Treasurer will outline but we do expect hire charges at venues to increase, a reintroduction of refreshments will bring extra costs and a contingency fund is prudent.
The roll of honour is sparce this year as no competitions have been held but we cannot let John Watson’s hoard of well over 700 master points from Real Bridge sessions go unrecognized and we feel he deserves the 2020/21 Master Point Trophy.
On a less positive note we have been unable to raise either an A or B team for the league this year; in all probability the valued beginner and improver lessons run by Chris and Dorothy Close have come to an end and our involvement in the very successful South Notts training initiative is on hold like much else. Bringing on new Bridge players and introducing them to our club duplicate is still however very much a priority.
I would again like to thank all the members of the committee for their support and dedication to the club during a trying year, acknowledge two long standing members of the committee who have retired during the year or are doing so at this AGM – Martin Mellor and Julie Spillane, and welcome our new committee members.
Finally I would like to record the club’s sadness at the death of Joan Burgess last month. Joan was a long standing member of the club, chairman from 1984-1991 and winner with her husband David of many of our trophies.
I propose this report be accepted and look for a seconder.
I am happy to answer any questions.
Jeremy Webb
September 2021
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