 MINUTES OF THE FIRST YPBC AGM |
|
Yeovil Phoenix Bridge Club
AGM – 12.45pm 15th September 2022 Yeovil Golf Club
1. Apologies for Absence
Gilly Gibbons, Rachel Pantling
2. Nomination and appointment of YPBC Committee
Proposed by Jane Darby and seconded by Shirley Durrant:
The following Members of the interim Committee should be appointed to form the Committee of YPBC.
|
Bruce Critchley
|
Robin Bell
|
Bob Warrender
|
|
Bridget Thorn
|
David Steele
|
Tony Manickam
|
There being no further nominations the above named were duly elected.
3. Club Name
The name The Yeovil Phoenix Bridge Club was unanimously endorsed by a show of hands.
4. Chairman’s Report (Bruce Critchley (BC))
Our relocation to Yeovil Golf club was seen as a success and endorsed by all. BC reminded the meeting that space remained tight and that with the possible increase in numbers over the winter could lead to limitations on those numbers. Informing Bob Warrender (Sec) of an intention to play became ever more important. BC had already spoken to YGC about larger numbers and (unless there was a big golf society taking up space) they were prepared for some overflow into the bar area. Any table charges for that extra space would go to YGC.
All agreed that the ‘assisited play’ facility was a success, those participating emphasized their enjoyment of it and Ray Walder was thanked for his role in masterminding it.
5. Treasurers Report (Robin Bell (RB))
RB began by thanking Mary Gordon both for her years of acting as Treasurer and for making his inheritance of the role as easy and well organized as possible.
He then reported on the state of the Club’s finances.
Sufficient funds were identified from the old Yeovil Bridge Club Funds which enabled YPBC to start up and function initially without the need for table money.
Shortly after, Table Money was introduced at £2.50 per player. After 5 months of operating at the £2.50 per player funds were nearly back to where we were at the start minus the cost of a new Club computer.
The interim committee decided to take-up the Somerset County Bridge Association (SCBA) offer of initial funding of new Bridgemates for the Club. It is likely that YPBC will have to pay back 50% (£750) of the purchase price for these new Bridgemates in 2023.
RB also reported on the success of the Scratch Cards system for payment of Table Money. This system introduced, with the approval of the interim committee, is a card costing £20 which allows for 8 playing sessions at £2.50 per session and obviates the need for the collecting and holding of cash. (Players are allowed to elect to pay by cash if they so wished but the purchase of a £20 Scratch Card was encouraged) A player is asked to date one of the eight squares on the card at each playing session. When all eight squares are dated a new card can be purchased.
6. Membership Secretary’s Report (David Steele (DS))
A list of members is to be drawn up from the Membership Forms completed by all those who wished to join the club. Cost of joining will be £5 p.p.
By Jan 1st next year a Dance Card (similar to that used in other clubs) will be produced with the Name & Telephone number of the member. Once printed, the card will be distributed to members.
The membership form also contained a paragraph relating to the Data Protection Act which must be signed by all members.
7. Any other business
Bridget Thorn enquired (on behalf of those who lived on the other side of Yeovil) if it might be possible to start at 1.30 instead of 2.00, as the Yeovil rush hour was in full swing at 5.00pm. While sympathizing, a show of hands found there was insufficient support for this idea.
Stephanie Lawrence wondered what was the point of becoming a member if anyone could come and play at the same rate (£2.50). After some discussion the committee agreed to address this anomaly and report back.
The subject of other forms of competition becoming a part of play at YPBC, such as Teams or Simultaneous Pairs, was aired but BW stated it was probably too early in the life of the YPBC for this to be considered. In time though introducing one or other, or both, would be on our agenda.
There being no further business, the AGM closed at 01.20pm
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| 1. Minutes of July 2014 CM Meeting |
Yeovil Bridge Club
Minutes of Committee Meeting 24th July 2014
Present : Dave Steele (Chairman), Ray Bourke, Deb Lill, Tony Manickam, Rachel Pantling, Colin Powell, Mike Toft, Bob Warrender
Treasurer’s report: RB presented accounts which showed an increase in income largely due to increase in table money to £2.
Expenditure was reduced due to the decision to discontinue the prizes for pairs on 1st Thursday and teams on any 5th Thursday. The £155 for stationery and cards was only likely to be an item every other year.
The closing balance of £4623 showed an increase of £8 over 2012-13.
RB recommended that no increase in subscriptions should be made for 2014-15.
Calendar 2014-15: MT reported few clashes with County dates and that percentage pairs would be on 3rd Thursday most months and teams on 4th Thursday.
It was agreed that we should take part in the three Simultaneous Pairs events which the Club supported last year.
Attendance: Poor attendance at regular pairs evenings attracted much comment.
Yeovil was unfairly perceived by many as being ‘unfriendly’.
The re-introduction of a ‘stand-by’ was suggested, but not thought to be fair on the few willing to be a ‘stand-by’.
The idea of an ‘individual competition’ was discussed, but the Club had little success with events of this type in the past.
It was agreed that an approach should be made to members without regular partners to ask if they were willing to have their names added to a list on home page of web-site of ‘players often in need of a partner’ with no obligation to accept an invitation to play with a partner with whom they may feel uncomfortable playing with.
The Chairman to make an appeal on web-site to members for more support for pairs evenings and to make a personal approach to members who represent Yeovil in County and National events with entry fee paid by the Club, but who rarely attend at regular pairs evenings.
County League: BW checked teams for County League and stated how important it was to play the matches on the designated date as teams failing to do so without very good reason will be penalised by loss of some or all of their VPs.
A list of members prepared to play for any of Yeovil’s teams in the County League is being produced by BW.
A team Captain should substitute an ‘infrequent player’ if regular team members are unavailable.
The meeting closed at 7.10 pm.
|
|
|
|
| 2. MINUTES OF 2014 AGM |
YEOVIL BRIDGE CLUB
Minutes of AGM at Johnson Park Thursday 5th September 2014
1.Chairman Dave Steele welcomed 26 members and received an apology for absence from Christine Spencer.
2.Acceptance of the minutes of 2013 AGM (tabled) was proposed by Tony Marshall, seconded by Laurie Gordon and passed unanimously, with no matters arising.
3.The Chairman reported another very successful year in County competitions by Club members, Yeovil teams taking 1st and 3rd places in Team of Eight and winning the Club Championship largely due to excellent performances by members with relatively low EBU ranks.
With Peter Duggan’s team winning promotion to the ‘A’ division of the County League, all four Yeovil teams will play in the ‘A’ division in 2014-15.
With such a wonderful record in competitions the Chairman commented on how disappointing it was that attendance on most Pairs evenings was so low, and he encouraged members (in AOB) to suggest how this could be addressed.
The Chairman thanked his Committee for all the work they do and John Durrant for directing Teams for many years, a role being taken on by Colin Simcox in future.
4.The Treasurer reported a surplus of £67 largely due to the increase in table money to £2, as attendance on club nights had decreased.
Acceptance of the accounts was proposed by Mary Gordon, seconded by Mike Toft and passed unanimously.
5.All officers and committee members were prepared to continue to serve and it was proposed by Tony Marshall, seconded by Pip Duncan and passed unanimously that they were re-elected ‘en bloc’.
6.AOB The unfriendliness of the Club and rudeness of some members was suggested as a reason for low attendance, but one new member stated that they had found members very welcoming.
The reintroduction of a stand-by was suggested and although the Committee had decided in their July meeting not to do so, they would re-consider it if the recently introduced system of posting names on the web-site of those available proved ineffective.
A link up with Normandy Club was not thought to be feasible and neither was the suggestion of seminars, this being unlikely to attract enough people or lead to better attendance. Seminars are organised at County level for anyone interested.
The Chairman put forward the idea of using the 5th Thursday in a month as a ‘simple system’ competition possibly drawing for partners.
Colin Powell announced the 2015 Swiss teams at East Coker on 22nd February.
The meeting closed at 7.10 p.m. after which past Chairman Tony Marshall presented prizes after a brief encouraging address.
|
|
|
|
| 3. Committee Meeting - Thursday 21st May 2015 |
|
Yeovil Bridge Club
Minutes of Committee Meeting 21st May 2015
Present : Dave Steele (Chairman), Ray Bourke, Colin Powell, Mike Toft, Bob Warrender
Club Nights :Discussions revolved around poor attendance and suggestions to improve this in the remaining sessions of the season.
The reintroduction of a ‘stand-by’ was not thought to be viable with the low numbers and likely to result in one less pair as often the 'stand-by' would be someone who has already paired up to play. The system with names on the web-site of those to contact if in need of a partner was having limited success, but Mike Toft had some requests to play.
As some had said they did not attend because of slow play / late finish, having a 7pm start was suggested and would be recommended to members at next week’s teams.
The following programme was approved for the rest or this season :
3rd Thursday June to August : Simple bidding system competition with regular / frequent partnerships being discouraged and committee members inviting infrequent attenders to play with them.
2nd Thursday in August : Individual, now easily organised with use of bridgemates (providing MT present !)
4th Thursday in August : Teams with draw for teammates, but only possible if suitable numbers present, otherwise pairs event.
There is some possibility of the SCBA not running Percentage Pairs in 2015-16; if this is the case Yeovil should run their own percentage pairs hoping to boost numbers.
County League : it appears likely that Yeovil will have four teams despite some team members leaving.
AOB : A donation of £100 to Air Ambulance to be made (as agreed with Minehead Bridge Club when giving us their old bridgemates). (RW to inform Minehead of this)
Mike Toft will produce an ‘idiot’s guide’ to use of our bridgemates as more of us need to be able to run an event using them.
All the Committee members present stated that they were prepared to stand for a further year, but Ray Bourke stated that he would not deal with ‘membership’ again. Dave Steele would do so if no other volunteer found.
The meeting closed at 6.55pm (no date for pre-AGM committee meeting agreed)
|
|
|
|
|
| 4. MINUTES OF THE 2015 AGM |
|
Yeovil Bridge Club
Minutes of the AGM at Johnson Park on Thursday 3rd September 20015
1. The Chairman, Dave Steele, welcomed 20 members, with special greetings to Tony Manickam.
Apologies: Rachel Pantling, Kate Balmford, Bob Warrender and Colin Powell.
2. Minutes of the 2014 AGM were agreed. Acceptance was proposed, seconded, and passed unanimously, with no matters arising.
3. The Chairman promised to be brief to allow ample time for discussion later. The past season had again seen success for the club in the Inter Club Championship. Shirley Durrant’s team had just missed (by 1VP) winning the A Division of the County League. There were other creditable achievements in the County events, for which congratulations to all concerned. Our Club is a respected force in the County, thanks to the efforts of our members.
There are some new County events this season for non-expert players, e.g. teams and pairs. Please see the Yellow Handbook.
Low attendance on Pairs nights is a continuing worry. We have tried several new ideas and would welcome comments and further suggestions.
Finally, my thanks to the Committee for all their work and especially to Mike Toft who has organised production of the Calendar, arranged Simultaneous Pairs, and grappled with the Bridgemates! Mike is leaving the area soon and will be much missed.
The Treasurer reported that the Club’s finances are in a healthy state despite table money receipts being about £100 down. On teams nights numbers had fallen from 8/9 to 6. There was a one-off outlay on Bridgemates.
4. All officers and Committee members were prepared to continue to serve, with the obvious exception of Mike Toft, for whom a replacement will be urgently sought. Their re-election was proposed, seconded, and passed nem con. Acceptance of the accounts was proposed by Laurie Girdon, seconded by Pip Duncan and passed unanimously.
A.O.B.
1. Carolyn Blake informed the meeting of a Bridgewebs program through which a partner can be found.
2. Shirley Durrant proposed the re-introduction of a Standby system. Many were in favour, including Steve Fletcher who praised the Taunton scheme.
3. Location.
a) Pip mentioned Milford Community Centre.
b) Co-location with Normandy?
c) Looking to the future, the possible renovation of Westland’s Sports
and Social Club might be able to provide a room.
d) Noise, especially from the darts players, is a big discouragement for
some.
4. Events in August:- both Make-up Teams and the Individual event had
had support, but the number of boards played in the latter needs to be
addressed.
5. Carolyn wondered if we should make the AGM more of a social event as
Sherborne do?
6. Tony Marshall encouraged members to promote the Club and, if
negative opinions are expressed, to counter them.
The Chairman thanked all for their contributions, and stated that the Committee would meet soon to discuss all the above suggestions
The meeting closed at 7pm, after which Mary Gordon presented prizes.
|
|
|
|
|
| 5. Committee Minutes August 2016 |
|
Minutes of Committee Meeting 4th August 2016
Present : Dave Steele (Chairman), Ray Bourke, Tony Manickam, Rachel Pantling, Bob Warrender
(Also Ray Walder)
Ray Walder : Ray put forward ideas of offering beginners and improvers bridge lessons and requested approval by Yeovil Bridge Club to use Johnson Park and help from the club in advertising lessons.
Committee members unanimously agreed that the club support the project and would investigate if JP membership would be essential for those attending.
Premises : DS reported that The Red House would accommodate Yeovil Bridge Club, but problems or storage of equipment made it unattractive.
The old Westlands Sports Club venue is not available until February 2017 and likely to be expensive.
RW thought the idea of sharing premises with Sherborne was not likely as The Terrace was expensive.
Finance : RB reported a surprising surplus of £185 for 2015-16 due to there being no capital outlay, no entry to pay for SCBA Club Championship and no Christmas party which has been run at a loss in previous years.
Programme/Dance Card : DS asked what should go on the dance card and where it had been printed. A decision on whether to meet every Thursday or only 2nd and 4th Thursdays is to be put to the AGM before Programme could be completed.
We should run a heat of Michael Coda Sim Pairs even if not on 2nd Thursday and we wished to continue to offer the two Sim Pairs events that we did this year.
Committee : Colin Powell is resigning and a replacement for Mike Toft was never found.
DS to approach Shirley Durrant to join the committee.
SCBA Club Championship : Reintroduced for 2016-17, but restricted to those below National Master.
RW to list and contact any remaining Yeovil members who qualify and invite them to enter as a pair or team or both.
Scoring : With 3 scoring systems now on our computer, it was suggested that we should start using the EBU system which is free and not renew our Scorebridge licence due in the Autumn.
AOB A short discussion regarding the falling numbers attending Club evenings ensued. It was felt that playing 2 and a half tables or 3 tables on a Pairs evening because of lack of numbers was not very satisfactory but there was no obvious answer to improving numbers. TM suggested the County had not improved mattes by the new format of the % Pairs and by increasing the fee to £4 per player. Percentage Pairs was one of our most productive nights in the past. Again, it was agreed that this will have to be discusse at the AGM and Members made aware that the Club may have to close if numbers did not increase..
|
|
|
|
|
| 6. Committee Minutes 15 Sep 2016 |
|
Yeovil Bridge Club
Minutes of Committee Meeting 15th September 2016
Present : Dave Steele (Chairman), Ray Bourke, Shirley Durrant, Tony Manickam, Rachel Pantling, Bob Warrender
DS stated that attendance, particularly for pairs, remained a concern and asked for any new ideas to boost attendance, as initiatives tried up to now had met with limited success.
The teaching programme was being advertised with posters and ‘fliers’ in a number of locations.
DS had tried to contact Mike Toft to find out who printed our ‘dance card’. RP is to ask printers she knows in Stoke-sub-Hamdon if they are able to print the ‘dance card’ at a reasonable price.
TM reported that we have a new scoring system using tablets on trial for a month and asked for patience by directors when the movement is being set up.
The system cannot be used for teams scoring at the moment.
The new system was used in the pairs session following the meeting and appeared very successful.
RW and TM have since re-trialled the system largely to familiarise RW with setting up a session.
RW has learnt that Colin Simcox is to direct teams on 22nd September and is aware that our system cannot cope with team scoring.
The names of some members who might play if they had a partner were discussed with some of these needing to play if representing Yeovil in the County League.
RW had some replies from members willing to represent the club in the re-instated Somerset Club Championship (now restricted to those below National Master).
It was agreed that at next year’s AGM a committee member should act as a ‘stand-by’ so that anyone attending the AGM on their own would have a game.
SD was strongly in favour of re-instating our Christmas Party and thought it might encourage members to attend.
RP said she had to push members to buy tickets and RB commented that the more people attending the greater the financial loss to the club !
DS to gauge member’s interest.
The meeting closed at 6.45 pm.
|
|
|
|
|
| 7. MINUTES OF THE 2016 AGM |
|
Yeovil Bridge Club
Minutes of AGM at Johnson Park on Thursday 1st September 2016
The Chairman welcomed the 21 members present
Apologies : Ann Allsopp, Rachael Brown, Brian Corbett, Cyndi Harris, Rachel Pantling, Glenda Shave, Stewart Upton
Acceptance of the 2015 AGM minutes (tabled) was proposed by Mary Gordon and seconded by John Durrant, with no matters arising.
The Chairman reported another difficult year for the Club, with very poor attendance at Pairs evenings and a reduction in number of Teams playing regularly. Colin Simcox’s team unluckily missed out on winning the County League by losing their last match by too large a margin.
An attempt to find more attractive premises is ongoing as is an effort to attract more members. An initiative which we hope will be successful is the introduction of lessons by Ray Walder and John and Shirley Durrant and these are to be widely advertised with posters and ‘flyers’.
In thanking his committee for their work during the season, the Chairman also stated how discouraging it was to the committee to find the Club declining despite many initiatives being tried.
The Treasurer presented accounts (tabled) reporting that despite low attendances the Club made a surplus of £183 this being largely explained by the cancellation of the Christmas Party which had been subsidised in previous years.
Colin Powell did not wish to be re-elected to the committee, but Dave Steele proposed that Shirley Durrant join the committee, seconded by Laurie Gordon.
Officers and other committee members were willing to stand and their re-election proposed by Ray Walder and seconded by Pip Duncan.
AOB
Shirley Durrant asked if we could buy better bridgemates and Tony Manickam said he was investigating an alternative system, as our present system no longer functions and would involve considerable expence.
Charles Gant asked if hand records could be put on the web-site, but this would need us to aquire a duplimating machine at considerable expense or pay for duplimated boards. The possibility of sharing duplimating facilities with Sherborne was raised.
Mary Gordon suggested we might use different venues, changing each week, but it was thought that this would throw up too many problems.
Shirley Durrant proposed that we revert to playing every Thursday and it was agreed by all that this was desirable. Bob Warrender has advised JP that we now want the hall every Thursday.
The meeting closed at 7.05 pm, after which Shirley Durrant presented the trophies
|
|
|
|
|
| 8. Committee Minutes 27 July 2017 |
|
YEOVIL BRIDGE CLUB
Minutes of Committee Meeting 27th July 2017
Present : Dave Steele (Chairman)(DS), Shirley Durrant (SD), Tony Manickam (TM), Rachel Pantling (RP), Bob Warrender (BW)
Apologies for absence : Ray Bourke (RB), Ray Walder (RW)
Treasurer : DS reported on behalf of RB that table money was slightly up on last year and that Thursday lessons produced a small source of income.
Members please note: JP subscription to be increased by £1 to £11 or £7-50 for those aged 60+.
YBC subscription to stay unchanged (i.e. no charge) and no increase in table money.
Party : numbers attending made it doubtful if worth having a party and to cancel if insufficient tickets sold by a certain date.
Possibility of holding a party in Jan or Feb suggested.
Member’s opinions to be sought at AGM.
AGM : DS taken over responsibility for trophies. RP to present trophies at AGM.
SD to act as stand-by partner at AGM. This is to encourage members to attend if without a partner.
Bridgetabs : RW reported success in use of bridgetabs for teams as well as pairs .(although subsequently a network problem could not be sorted and the Prize Teams was scored manually.(TM is trying to resolve the problem)
TM suggested we should purchase a few spare tablets, as some seemed to be unreliable.
Duplimating : DS to investigate using Sherborne’s duplimating facilities. The opinion of members to be sought at AGM on whether they would like duplimated boards for pairs events as well as the teams. (costs permitting)
Lessons : Although numbers attending were disappointing lessons had continued throughout the year. Progress is not as fast as expected but RW is happy to continue.
Dance card : DS to consult with TM to produce 2017-18 ‘dance card’ and RP to arrange printing by Stableprint.
Committee : All officers and committee were happy to stand for re-election.
The meeting closed at 6.45 pm.
|
|
|
|
|
| 9. Committee Minutes October 2018 |
Yeovil Bridge Club
Minutes of Committee Meeting 3rd October 2018 at 10.30 a.m.
Present : Dave Steele (Chairman), Shirley Durrant, Mary Gordon, Bob Warrender
Apologies : Tony Manickam, Rachel Pantling
Donation : All agreed that a donation of £100 split equally between the two nominated charities was appropriate.
DS would send Marion Bourke a card expressing the great loss and sorrow felt by all members.
Duplimating : SD had approached Barry Blight who was looking into the possibility of Sherborne duplimating boards for us.
Alan Atkinson charges 12p per board for duplimating and it is hoped that Sherborne charges would be comparable.
MG thought we should consider retaining Alan’s services, but the relative ease of getting boards to and from Sherborne resulted in the Committee agreeing to using Sherborne duplimating every week if a suitable agreement could be reached.
In the event of dispensing with Alan’s services it was agreed we should give him plenty of notice and a small gift as a thank-you and aim to start using Sherborne from 1st January.
The initial costs of changing would involve £76-80 for two sets of 32 packs of cards and £124 for two sets of boards.
If we purchased our own duplimating machine an extra £3000 + would be needed.
New members/visitors : Caroline Macpherson had made a request that Yeovil members should partner two ‘fast track’ players on the 3rd Thursdays. John and Shirley Durrant have volunteered to do so this month. Most members have regular partners each Thursday, but DS stated that he and Ray Walder could partner these players if they could attend on the 2nd Thursday in November as an alternative or extra to the 3rd Thursday.
AOB
Partner Service/new players: Suggestions were made for advertising the club in Yeovil Library and in Conduit magazine to attract new members.
DS agreed to email members to inform them that they could in future email him if looking for a partner and he would circulate the request to members (system used successfully by Langport).
Inter-club Comps : DS to email all members inviting them to let RW know if they wish to represent the club in inter-club pairs and/or teams. RW to arrange pairings if needed.
Scorer: there is a need for another scorer and DS agreed to train for this with RW providing him with details of how to set up the system and send results.
Party: all agreed that we should hold a party on 13th December (as on dance card) and hoped that RP would again organise it.
Treasurer: a bank mandate was completed removing Ray Bourke as signatory and confirming Mary Gordon as Treasurer.
The ‘fruitful’ meeting closed at 11.45 a.m.
|
|
|
|
|
| 10. Committee Minutes March 2019 |
|
Yeovil Bridge Club
Notes on meeting 12th March 2019 at 10.00 a.m.
Present: Dave Steele, Shirley Durrant, Mary Gordon, Tony Manickam, Bob Warrender
TREASURER : MG expressed concerns over missing ‘working papers’ for last year’s accounts.
DS to contact Marion Bourke to discover if she has them, otherwise we will have to accept that they are not available.
MG asked that members produce ‘proof of purchase’ when claiming expenses for purchases e.g. biscuits, wine etc and for competition entries made on behalf of the club.
TABLETS : Some complaints were expressed about the functioning of our tablets.
TM suggested that new ones would probably cost about £40 each and would look into details.
RW to change tablet 5 which was reported to be causing some problems.
SD would like the lead to be shown on tablets, but RW pointed out that this was sometimes guessed and took up extra time at the table.
MEMBERSHIP & ATTENDANCE : MG suggested we should be more welcoming when visitors appeared mentioning the occasion when Martin Holcombe played.
The loss or rare attendance of some members is still a concern and neither ‘Fast Track Bridge’ nor Ray W’s class was producing new members.
SD asked how many still attended Ray’s class and whether they were worth continuing with.
AFTERNOON BRIDGE : The possibility of changing our pairs evenings to Thursday afternoon was raised and generally thought to be a good idea if members approved.
John Jenkins had successfully run Wednesday afternoon sessions many years ago.
DS to email members to sound out opinions.
CUPS & PRIZES : RW suggested that we might dispense with cash prizes for our competitions in line with SCBA policy now. No decision was made, but most agreed that the cash was fairly meaningless, tended to be won by the same members and for teams the number of players involved in any one team was frequently 6,7 or 8 with some playing for two or three different teams.
DS commented on the poor state of some of our cups and the possibility of replacing them.
Two cups located in the cupboard at JP were the old rubber league cups one of which was badly dented and the other badly tarnished.
The meeting closed at 11.15am.
|
|
|
|
|
 11. Committee Minutes 7th Nov 2019 |
|
YEOVIL BRIDGE CLUB
Notes on meeting 7th November 2019 at 10 am
Present : Dave Steele (DS), Shirley Durrant (SD), Mary Gordon (MG), Bob Warrender (BW)
Treasurer : MG gave early notice that the club would need to appoint a new treasurer for 2020-21. No obvious candidates were named, but it was suggested that Jane Mearing would be a good addition to the committee. Currently, the Club have 33 paid up members.
Tablets : the replacement cost of tablets is approx £56 each and as we are licenced to use eight the cost of replacing all would be approx £450.
BW thought replacements were unnecessary, as recent problems were due to renewal of the licence to use them rather than their operation.
He thought the licencing fee of almost £100 was excessive when tablets are only used 40-45 times a season.
The cost of buying bridgemates and any annual fees involved should be investigated before a decision is made.
Party : as our designated party night of 12th Dec has had to be cancelled and DS had little positive response to an email to see if members were interested in 19th Dec as the alternative, it was suggested that we sound out opinion to hold a ‘social bridge’ evening on the 5th Thursday in January.
Cups : replacement of some of cups advisable.
The award of cups tends to produce the same winners each year largely due to individuals who attend most regularly gaining most EBU points and only the few pairs who partner each other most weeks able to win the pairs cup.
Should we rethink the ‘rules’?
AOB : a question was asked about Ray W’s classes and as far as was known he had three students.
George Faris may have problems with holding cards and aging players may also have problems before long so it was suggested that we might purchase a few card holders.
The meeting petered out at about 11am !
|
|
|
|
|
| 12. MINUTES OF THE 2019 AGM |
MINUTES OF THE 2019 AGM
|
Minutes of AGM at Johnson Park on Thursday 5th September 2019
The Chairman welcomed 16 members.
Apologies : Brian Corbett, Sheena Lanham
Acceptance of the 2018 AGM minutes was proposed by Shirley Durrant and seconded by Laurie Gordon.
Matters arising: Shirley Durrant questioned whether we had been emailing members when someone wanted a partner, the answer being that the facility was available but rarely used.
The use of duplimated boards met with approval and the Chairman thanked Shirley and John Durrant for their work in getting boards to and from Sherborne.
It was confirmed that Alan Atkinson had been rewarded for producing boards in previous years. (He still produced boards for Sims Charity Pairs for us free of charge.)
The Chairman reported that attendance for pairs events remained poor, but that our fourth Thursday teams was well supported with seven tables most months.
This led to the suggestion that we should run ‘teams’ more than once a month as John Durrant suggested members probably found teams more relaxing and enjoyable than pairs.
The most popular format for a second teams event per month (proposed by Bruce Critchley and seconded by John Durrant) was for members to attend as pairs with their team mates to be determined by drawing lots. However if an odd number of pairs turned up we would have to revert to ‘pairs’.
Rachel Pantling suggested that at our teams night on 26th September we should publicise this and encourage participation with the aim of trying it out on the 5th Thursday in October.
The Treasurer presented audited accounts which showed a small deficit largely due to the need to buy more boards for duplimating and weekly payment to Sherborne for producing the boards and hand copies; also a one off donation of £100 to charity in recognition of Ray Bourke’s contribution to the Club over many years.
In line with County policy it was proposed by Dave Steele and seconded by John Durrant that we should dispense with cash prizes for our annual competitions.
Election of Officers : Rachel Pantling resigned from the committee and was thanked by the Chairman for her work in organising parties and providing biscuits every Thursday.
There were no volunteers or proposals for a replacement committee member.
Other officers and committee members were willing to stand were re-elected en-bloc as proposed by Bruce Critchley and seconded by Laurie Gordon.
AOB : Some trophies are in a poor state and need replacing or regenerating.
12th December was thought to be a better date than 19th for our Christmas Party.
The meeting closed at 7.10 pm, after which Rachel Pantling presented the trophies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 14. MINUTES OF THE 2021 AGM |
|
Minutes of AGM at Johnson Park on Thursday 4th November 2021
Chairman Dave Steele welcomed 13 members and apologies were received from Kate Balmford, Hanni Davidson, Brian Hollister, Sheena Lanham, Jane Mearing, Tony Russ & Bridget Thorn.
Minutes of 2019 AGM had been emailed to members and accepted with no matters arising.
The Chairman commented that there had been no bridge on which to report. He was pleased that we had lost no members from COVID, but very sorry about Tony Marshal’s poor health.
The meeting accepted that with only 12 members being prepared to attend at least twice a month YBC could not continue at Johnson Park.
Any merger with Sherborne was not acceptable to Sherborne and would have created problems of affiliation with clubs in different counties.
Bruce Critchley reported on a meeting with Chris Catchpole and Tony Russ to investigate a possible merger of YBC & Normandy, but this did not appear attractive. However Tony Russ was very anxious that Yeovil should have a bridge club affiliated to EBU.
Yeovil Golf Club had been suggested as new premises with the advantage of a probable influx of many of the YGC bridge playing members to boost our attendances.
Bruce & Hanni Davidson had inspected the room available for bridge at YGC and found this and other facilities very attractive. A hire charge of £15 per hour seems daunting, but we can probably negotiate a reduction, particularly if about half of those playing are YGC members.
As many who played bridge in the YGC sessions are very inexperienced YBC would need to cater for the less confident players and not appear too competitive particularly in the early days of our ‘new club’. To this end it is thought it wise to use paper travellers and deal boards by hand at first. (Still practiced by Bradford Abbas some of whose members we hope to attract).
It could mutually benefit YBC and Normandy if we could involve Chris Catchpole in teaching our less experienced members, if he reciprocated by encouraging his more experienced players to join us.
As YGC closes at 5.30 pm in winter months YGC would need to run their sessions in an afternoon (or morning). Thursday afternoon most likely, to avoid clashes with Sherborne.
The meeting agreed that BC should continue to negotiate with YGC for a start in 2022.
The Treasurer presented audited accounts covering Sept 2019 to August 2021. Appreciation was shown for Mary’s excellent accounting and John Durrant for the auditing.
The full annual ‘fuel donation’ of £400 to JP was agreed.
In the early days of a new club with many inexperienced players it was considered advisable to dispense with trophies for competitions, tablets and duplimated boards.
YBC web site was currently not in use and there was little point in restarting its use until a new club was operating and could be used to post results. YGC have a web site and we could probably make use of it.
A decision whether to replace tablets with bridgemates needs to be made later, and relative costs investigated.
Officers : Dave Steele and Mary Gordon wished to resign their posts, but would continue until a new club was running. Bruce Critchley and Mark Harrison had agreed to take their positions.
AOB : Mary Gordon stated that we now needed the convenience of on-line banking.
The meeting closed at 8.20 pm.
|
|
|
|
|
|