WOODBOROUGH BRIDGE CLUB

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting 27 June 2019

1. Present:   The names of the 38 attendees appear at the foot of these minutes.

2. Apologies:  Eva Hardwick

3. Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 5 July 2018:  The minutes had been circulated previously and placed on the website They were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

4. Matters Arising:  There were no matters arising.

5. Chair’s Report: Ray sent his report to the secretary prior to the meeting and it appears here.

“Welcome all to our AGM. You have all had a copy of the agenda so you know what to expect.

This short report is my review on what has been my second year as chairman of your club.

We have had another good year as a club. We are financially sound and the membership levels have been maintained.  We have probably lost 12 or so members, most from illness, old age, or moving away but have gained a similar number. Table numbers seem to be slightly reduced from last year but are still healthy compared to most clubs other than the Nottingham club, which operates on a different scale with its own premises.

We ran three teams in the Notts league again this year, which no other club in the county can do,  Notts again excepted. Unfortunately the A team was relegated  after a county committee decided against us on a cancellation incident .Several of us thought the decision was unjust but life is too short for appeals to the EBU so we accepted it and moved on. We now have two teams in div 2 since the B team were promoted; leaving our successful C team half way up div 3. My thanks to the captains and to Julia, the fixture secretary.  Regardless of results, the main thing is that lots of members took part and enjoyed themselves and we hope some new members will make themselves available next season.

Your committee had a comparatively easy year compared to the major documentation exercise of the previous year. We don’t seem to have done anything new but we did try to make sure what did happen, happened efficiently.  The most persistent problem concerned slow play, a bugbear in most clubs, with members holding a variety of views. Personally I had wondered if the complaints came from a minority of members but a vote a few weeks ago showed a clear majority in favour of playing more quickly. Most complaints follow evenings which necessitated two board rounds and where there was a sit-out. This is an inevitably slow movement which can leave half the room playing only 21 boards.

Our directors are aware of the problem but, as player /directors, they find it difficult to decide when to cancel a board and if to penalise a pair for slow play. It easily leads to wrong decisions and somebody being upset, which we really do not want in our club. Fortunately the new electronic timer that Keith has provided seems to have taken this decision away from directors and it will now be a regular feature of our club night.

Other than all, that we managed to run another very successful charity event with a substantial sum going to air ambulance. We also restarted a teaching programme with Lloyd and myself running six 2 hr sessions at intermediate level which seemed to be appreciated. Our plan is to start these again in the autumn.

There is another area where the club has contributed to bridge. Four of our members now sit on the Notts Co. committee, and in Keith we have the county’s top tournament director. The very successful café bridge events are also largely run by club members and they raise significant sums for charity, as well as giving lots of people a good day out. All this is very good for the image and reputation of the club and our sport.

You will shortly elect a new committee and my appeal for new members has had some success. Paul Morris and new member Helen Smith have agreed to stand and we hope you will elect them.  Unfortunately we lose our minutes secretary, Andrew Spence and his trusty Sinclair Spectrum. He will be missed.”

Ray and Lloyd were thanked for their teaching sessions which had been very well received.

6. Treasurer’s Report:  Phil Dale was pleased to report a net profit for the 9 months to March 31st 2019 of £617.97. We also donated some £1,400 to Charity during the period. The Club is in a very healthy situation  at present. The Committee has decided to ring fence a sum of £2,200 to cover the eventual replacement of the Bridgemates, but this still leaves more than £2,100 for any future expenses such as the replacement of the dealing machine. There has been no major capital expenditure during the period. The year-end has been brought forward to tie in with the EBU year end. The Club year for subscriptions will still be 1st July to 30th June.

The Committee propose leaving the subscriptions at £5 and the table fee at £2 for members and £3 for guests, including refreshments.

Phil thanked John Edwards for his help and guidance in approving the accounts which appear at the foot of the minutes.

It was pointed out that table fees had gone down slightly. Phil explained that this was due to the number of tables at play. Overall membership had increased.

7. AOB

Slow play still seems to be an issue, but it is not always easy for the director to see why. Keith’s electronic timer seems to be working. All players at each table have a duty to keep an eye on the timer and not start a new hand when the timer goes red. Player south is probably least likely to see the timer and Keith will try to get the thing to beep when it goes red. General discussion ensued.

Only one player from each pair should be in the kitchen at any one time - this avoids congestion and can save time.

8. Election of Committee:  The following members were standing again and were duly elected: Ray Furlonger, Phil Dale, Jane Hall, Steve Fordham, Keith Spencer, Julia Furlonger, Tony Trevethick.

Paul Morris and Helen Smith were elected as new Committee members.

The en bloc vote was unanimous.

Ray as Chair and Phil as treasurer were also elected unanimously.

The meeting closed at 6.50p.m.