PLYMOUTH BRIDGE CLUB

1 Moor View Terrace, Mutley, Plymouth, PL4 7EB

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 

Monday 26^th March 2018

Attendance:  Steve Lacey (Chair), Eileen Clout (Auditor), Diane McGregor (Secretary),

Committee Members:  Richard Ayres, Jim Dunn, Sue Murkin, Pete Tunnicliffe.  

Trustees:  Ailie Henry, Andy Carpenter, Jenny Young and 31 Members.

Apologies:  Alison Blake, Beryl Edmonds, Charles Greenlees, Tony Griffiths, Malcolm Jones, Pat Joseph, Brenda Kaye, David Kaye, Roma Keough, Liza Lyndell, Christine Maunder, Jenny Northmore, Judy Ripley, Vickie Rose, Rachael Walter, Myrna Webb.

Minutes of AGM held on 20^th March 2017

The Minutes were approved -   Proposed by Joan Clarke, Seconded by Suzanne Cornish.

Minutes of the EGM held on Thursday 20^th April 2017

The Minutes were approved – Proposed by Suzanne Cornish, Seconded by Peter Tunnicliffe.

Chair’s Report

It has been a privilege to serve as Chair of the Club during the last year largely because of the support I have received from people in all sections of the club.

So firstly I need to say thank you to you all.  As you know, I believe very strongly that the club should be open and friendly with everyone welcomed and treated with respect – and I hope that is what you have all experienced this year.

Secondly I must thank all of you who contribute to the successful running of the club.  Plymouth Bridge Club is a real team effort and I want you to know that I really appreciate what you all do.

It is a long list:

Every weekend we have a team who come in and deal the cards for the following week and who most weeks master the idiosyncrasy of the Duplimator Machine –thank you.

During the week we have members who direct, score and host our bridge sessions.  This year we have introduced hosting to the Monday and Friday evening sessions as well as the afternoons – and, it is early days but there are signs this is helping to increase the numbers of evening players.  Thank you in particular to Andy and Ali who work so hard to sustain evening bridge at the club.  It goes without saying how crucial our directors and scorers are and we need to train more to share out the duties.  So thank you.  Also thank you to those who draw up the rotas – not always an easy task but essential.

On Tuesday afternoons we have an increasingly popular, less formal, bridge game which is suitable for newer players and those who find the four hours of a normal session too much.  Again thank you to those of you who organize that.  Karen and John Alder have taken the lead and I know there are others who help.  Also we should thank Barbara Campbell who set up the Tuesday session and whose health has meant her having to withdraw in recent months.

Encouraging new members and providing Bridge Lessons has been a function of the club for many years and I thank Gloria Lankshear who taught up until December last year and Bridgid and Ruth who still teach at the club on a Thursday evening.  Ruth does a lot behind the scenes to support in other ways too.  So thank you.  In the Autumn six members of the club were trained by the EBU as Bridge Tutors and they are now providing a programme of bridge lessons for beginners and improvers on Monday mornings.  Numbers of students are quite small and a challenge for the next year will be to build these numbers up.  Thank you to the teaching team – Charles, Judy, Martin, Richard and Alastair.

Then there are the numerous jobs that people do  - collecting and bagging the table money - making tea and coffee and tidying up the kitchen when Claire or Steph are not on duty - painting landing radiators – organizing the Christmas party - clearing the attic and preparing the kitchen for its makeover – and much more.  You know who you are - thank you – it is appreciated.

Thank you to our staff – Claire and Steph.  We wish Claire a speedy recovery from her broken toe and thank Steph for helping out while Claire gets better.  Thank you also to Sue Murkin who is cleaning at the weekend while Claire is off work.

Finally, thank you to the members of the Committee, who all played important roles in leading the club this year.  A major project – on-going – has been the maintenance and upgrading of the building.  As you know we are one of the few Bridge Clubs to own our clubhouse and this is both a benefit and a responsibility.  Achievements this year have been the remodelling of the kitchen and the redecoration of the hall stairs and landing – and I hope you agree with me this has significantly improved the club. Thank you to Charles and Ailie who have shouldered much of the burden of project managing this work.  You will be aware that unfortunately we have discovered that there is damp getting into the building through the roof and we are in the process of getting that rectified before being able to refresh the floor coverings in the hall stairs and landing.  A challenge for the new committee.

Thank you to our retiring committee members, Anne Worthington, Jim Dunn and John Lankshear – you will be missed – and replaced with equally keen new committee members.  Thank you to our Secretary Diane, Charles our Treasurer and Pete who has done a great job on managing our website. Also a thank you to Sue Murkin who organized and keeps an eye on our First Aid equipment.  Alan Simpson – while not on the committee  - took on the role of Membership Secretary and is doing work on duties relating to data protection and our interface with Pianola – thank you.

Thank you to Richard and our competitions sub-committee who have worked at developing this key aspect of our club. Last year you will remember the weekend play days and during the year there has been the re-organisation of the cup competitions and the up-dating of the honours boards - also our participation in Simultaneous Pairs.  In January the club entered two teams in the Garden Cities Team Competition in Exeter – which is the first time the club has been represented for some years.  I would like to see us being more active in competitions and to encourage our members who are capable of playing at the higher levels of the game.  A successful club should be able to operate at all levels. A key challenge for the new committee will be getting that balance right.

I will let Eileen – who has audited our accounts –answer any questions you may have – but the key to our viability will be our ability to maintain and ideally grow our membership.  The committee have decided to make no change to either the subscription or the table money this year but will keep this under review for future years.

Lastly I would like to remember and acknowledge four long serving members. Norah Culliford – a life member – who has moved up to the Midlands to be close to her family – and Geoff Langdon, Brian Blades and Pam Hiscocks who sadly passed away this year.

So thank you again. Remember your committee are here to serve you – and we are willing and open to receive feedback and suggestions from you all.

Treasurer’s Report

The Club is financially in a pretty healthy position, with a bank balance of approximately £10,000 less than this time last year.  Catering continues at a loss.  Alan Simpson asked why the Chess Club room rental was separate from the other rental incomes.  Eileen explained this was just an historic accounting anomaly.  The accounts were accepted, proposed by Ailie Henry and seconded by Andy Carpenter.

Election of Officers and Committee Members

The following members were nominated and were unanimously elected to the Committee:

Presentation of Cups

Richard was delighted to ask Steve Lacey to present the cups.

Robert Shiner Salver                       Suzanne Cornish and Allan Simpson

Joan Till Cup                                     Margaret Wootton and Ann Preston        

Joan Hefferman Cup                       Suzanne Cornish and Allan Simpson

Summer Cup                                     Geoff Langdon

Tudor Summer Cup                         Michael Easterbrook

Winter Cup                                        Andy Carpenter 

Tudor Winter Cup                            Michael Easterbrook

David Wing Cup                               Christine Maunder and Andy Carpenter    

Pellow Cup                                        Pete Tunnicliffe and Michael Easterbrook

Scholefield Cup                                Sheila Trevarthen and Jim Dunn                 

There being no other business, the Chairman thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 6.35 p.m.                      

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