RIPON CITY BRIDGE CLUB

                           A.G.M. 24th. April 2018 MINUTES 

APOLOGIES:  Shirley Wagner, Gillian Malloy, Kathy Duffield, Mike Heyworth, Neil White, Brian & Jenny Graham, Frank Jones, Rosemary & Angus Livingstone, Audrey Ramsden, Robert & Jill Barraclough, May Hawkes, Barbara Robertson, John Martin, Ruth Barker. 

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS: John mentioned the club’s appreciation for all the hard work put in by Graham which he felt promoted the purchase of Bridgemate and Duplimate.
John went on to ask members to be more considerate of less confident players especially those new to the club.  John thanked members for their contributions in setting up and putting away equipment and clearing the kitchen.

2017 MINUTES: Acceptance of these were proposed by Jenny and seconded by Margaret.

TREASURER’S REPORT : Chris explained that the income deficit last year was mainly due to two Easter Friday holidays plus the loss incurred for Friday evenings.  The large expense was for the equipment purchased.  Chris requested that the charge per member for the Christmas party be increased to £15, agreement was proposed by Judith and seconded by Norma.  Mike Fieldhouse raised an objection to this increase being put to a vote saying it should be implemented by the committee only.  John explained that the vote was required under the new constitution.  There was to be no increase in table monies.  The decrease in financial loss for the Yorkshire League teams was due to a change in venue.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT: Graham felt that the new equipment benefitted the club to have a more professional atmosphere.

TEAM CAPTAIN’S REPORT: John mentioned that the A team had a successful season in the Yorkshire League  and remained in the middle of their league.  Andrew said the B team had enjoyed their first season and proudly won two matches.  Kay mentioned the Harrogate League and anyone interested in playing to contact her.

NEW CONSTITUTION: John mentioned two main changes to the old constitution.  Primarily, if the club winds up any monies remaining would be donated to bridge charities.  Secondly, alternate members of the committee resign every two years. Shirley had previously stated that an incident occurred at a club when the committee resigned ‘en masse’ which prompted her suggestion.  The new constitution was accepted proposed by Peter Laing and seconded by Sue Needham.

FRIDAY SESSION: Due to the continuing loss sustained by Friday evening sessions John proposed that the evening and afternoon teaching sessions be combined in Friday afternoon play as the teaching sessions would be discontinued later in the year.   Earlier Steve had put forward a suggestion for afternoon play geared to less confident players as he felt the Wednesday evening play was too stressful for them.  Tony suggested that the Friday afternoon sessions have more simple bridge but many members did not agree and Christine did not agree with eliminating systems.   Steve suggested play less boards, allow more time.  Steve also suggested new competitions for the learners which John informed we have a new competition in the near future.  There was much discussion on the subject with several members contributing, Maureen, Rachel, John, Jenny, Tony. It was agreed to keep the boards played to a minimum (21 ideal) and that members would host the session so members could turn up without a partner.  Friday afternoon was proposed by Maureen and seconded by Andrew with usual systems in play.

SIT OUT TABLE: Some members had complained that only East & West sat out  but Graham stated it only happened 5 times in 2017 and it meant one less table to be placed in the room.  John Digby felt members should be allowed to sit where they preferred.  No action was taken.

TROPHIES: CLUB PAIRS – Graham Boardman &  Mick Heyworth
                        JUBILEE TROPHY – Maureen Tebb & Tony Swiers
                        D K MAXWELL TROPHY – Graham Boardman & Mick Heyworth
                        ALDERSON TROPHY (men) – Alan Johnson
                        ALDERSON (women) – Deb de la Haye
                        MIKE RICH TROPHY – Fiona Taylor
                        DEREK BLAND SALVER – Maureen Tebb
                        MONOMAYA MITRA TROPHY – Christine Edwards & Susan Swiers
                        NORDALE PAIRS – Brian & Jenny Graham
                        CITY CUP – Not Played

NOMINATIONS: In line with the new constitution John Digby and Kay resigned and then we’re re-elected.  A new committee member Andrew Murday was proposed by John and seconded by Graham.

A.O.B. John advised the members that due to the new Data Protection Act they must all sign a new Membership Application Form. 

 John closed the meeting.

Ripon City Bridge Club

AGM Minutes  24 April 2019

Apologies

Jenny Gleeson, John Martin, Kay Thorpe, Ruth Barker, Elizabeth Marx, Sue Needham,Neil White

Shirley Wagner, Peter Laing, Robert and Jill Barraclough Norma Swiers and Judith Hollingworth

President’s Address

John began by thanking Steve, Jenny and Graham for the success of the Friday afternoon teaching sessions, which has attracted many new members to the club.

He then said that he was delighted with the success of the Christmas Party which appeared to be enjoyed by all in a convivial atmosphere.

This year the dealing machine was purchased , this enables members to look at their hands on the website after a match and replay the hands if they wish.

With this in mind John thanked Christine and Christopher for taking over the task of dealing the hands from Graham, during his period of ill health, although Graham said he could still assist with this job.

We have now moved upstairs in Community House to a larger and more airy room.  The only drawback is that the kitchen is not accessible to us during Friday afternoon.  But in practice this has caused almost no problems.

The move will enable both the Sunday A and B team matches to take place simultaneously . Changes to fees  are that for all team players they now will pay £5 per match whether home or away.

Drivers will be able to charge upto £5 per passenger (not including driver)when driving to away matches occurring beyond Harrogate. John added that we need more volunteers for both teams for this coming winter 2019/20.

There had been a number of queries regarding a rover movement which has arrow switches during the course of play.  Some members consider it unfair and biased.  However John and Graham can find no evidence of bias in the results and it is a movement recommended by the EBU.  Alternatively we could draw for table numbers as in Sim Pairs.

John asked if all members where possible, could assist  ingeneral preparation of the room beforehand or general tidying up after a session. E>G> if there is a sitout pair close to the end of the evening if they would tidy the refreshment table  etc.

John then announced the following resignations from the committee:

Graham after quite a long absence, but having run the club almost singlehanded for many years was now retiring from the committee but wishes to remain an active member of the club.

He was presented with a bottle of whisky and we thanked him warmly.

Jenny, too, has now resigned and many years of service to the club but wishes to stay involved the club’s affairs.  She received a bouquet of flowers, which were delivered to her as she was absent.

Christine has taken over all the pc work from Graham was warmly thanked for taking over at such short notice and was also presented with a bouquet

2018 Minutes

The word “excepted” was queried but was accepted as a typing error.

Acceptance of the Minutes 2018  was proposed by Graham and seconded by Christine.

Treasurer’s Report

The accounts were explained by Christopher.  After discussion in Committee it had been decided that there would be no increase in either annual subs or table money.

The move to Friday afternoon has resulted in an average of 61/4 tables up from 21/2 on Friday evenings

Furthermore the increase from £10 to £15 paid by members for the party meant that the club broke even this year for the first time for many years.

We have spent £4,400 in the last year on new equipment and it was felt we should have enough funds in the kitty to be in a position to replace in about 5 years or so.

We have some assets but it was felt that these should be spent for the benefit of the club members.

Director’s Report

Nothing to report

Team Captain’s Report

Andrew. Captain of the B team was delighted to say that the B team has moved up a league and that 16 people had played in various matches over the winter. He thanked them all very much.

John said that the A team had been demoted.

Sorting Cards at the End of Each Hand

John led a discussion on this topic but there was very little support and also the point was made that it was discouraged by the EBU and after a show of hands it was decided it was decided that this would not be adopted.

Trophies

The Trophies were presented but they will no longer be inscribed with the winners’ names.

Nominations

In the Constitution that was accepted in 2018 it was agreed that the committee members had to resign after 2 years servicebut could restand.

This year Christopher and John resigned but were re-elected for a final 2 years.

Graham’s job will be shared by other members of the committee.  Christine was elected onto the committee in view of all that she already does for the club.

Graham proposed Steve as a committee member. Steve asked that his portfolio was to be outreach and social bridge, this was accepted.

AOB

Tony Swiers then thanked John for all his handwork this year. In particular for teaching beginners both in the club and in his own home. It was noted that Tony is also engaged in this activity.

This lively meeting ended at 7pm and play commenced.

GSM

2May 2019

Please click on link below

AGM 26 april 2017 Minutes.pdf