Well, it’s been an interesting few years since the last AGM.  Who could have foreseen the events that took place but we are still here and with the club in a great place.  We did unfortunately loose my predecessor, John Mathews, who had a fantastic influence on the club over many years.  I know he is missed by many.

Inevitably John hasn’t been the only loss and Roy Mauger, Susan Dow, Wasi Ashan, John Latham, Berwyn Aston, Christine Cameron, Roger Kerswell and Julie Wreford are all no longer with us since the last AGM.  My apologies if I have missed any names.

On a brighter note the club probably came through the COVID crisis far better than most.  Over 150 players took part in online events and there were over 5,000 member sessions in club organised events.  Ironically about three times as many as we would otherwise have had.  We held many inter-club matches, which couldn’t have been done without the great help of John Stobo, and Internationals against clubs from countries such as Holland, Belgium, South Africa, America and even Australia.  A special note to, If memory serves me right, Lynn Prentice, John Duthie, Phil Minor, Linda Spiri, Jack Williams, Louise Peck and Gill Lambert who were there for our very first experimental Teams match on BBO.  It was a steep learning curve !

Thanks also to our, moral boosting, Cake Crew, led by Lynn Prentice, Hilary Nesbitt and Gill Lambert who organised cake deliveries to some of our more mature members during the lockdown.  They were supported by many bakers and transporters and it was a great touch to keep everyone linked into the club.

Following the return to Jersey Farm and face to face bridge I decided to also keep Thursday night as an online night on BBO.  The two events now exist well together and, between them, we are getting about a third more players taking part than we had pre COVID.  I firmly believe that this mixed model is the way for the future and will enable the club to thrive at a time where many are closing or trying to cope with numbers that are significantly down on two to three years ago.  I was also delighted that we were able to make a substantial donation to the EBU during the crisis to ensure that they got the same level of income from the club as they would have expected in normal times.  I know the EBU came very close to financial failure during lockdown and this, and measures by other clubs, certainly helped.

I would also like to thank Sandridge Parish Council.  During the lockdown they immediately ceased to charge the club rent for the hall and keep our space available, rent free, until we were ready to return.  Without them our finances would not be in the great shape that they are today.

I would like to thank Joan Walton and Jane Edrupt for their work on the Committee over the past few years and Roger Thornhill who stepped down after the last AGM.  You’ve been a great support.  The rest of the Committee: Gary Kendall, Gill Lambert, John Duthie and Jane Scaysbrook are happy to carry on in post if re-elected but we do need a new Secretary.  Hopefully by the time of presenting this report we will have a volunteer.

I hope the next year will be one where we continue to see numbers grow.  We have been on a growing, trend with both Monday and Thursday duplicate nights and Monday Teams is already averaging 13 tables which is excellent. To do this we need to remember the key thing is that we are all taking part to have fun.  Be nice to your opponents, be nice to the TD, it’s a tough job, and most of all be gentle with your partner (especially if you happen to be married to them) !

Steve