Minutes of the AGM held at Badsey on Tuesday 29^th October 2024

1. Apologies for Absence: Kathryn Morris, Yvonne McKeon, Phil Thomas, Tom Harris, Veronica & Chris Enticknap

2. Minutes of the AGM held on 25^th October 2023. These were accepted by everyone and John then signed them.

3. There were no Matters Arising.

4. Treasurer’s Report. Mark had produced an accounts report for 2024, and everyone had seen a copy. Mark told us that due to NatWest not being helpful we had changed to HSBC. James queried the figures under Parties and Mark explained all this. Everything else was accepted (see attached copy) and this was proposed by James Love and seconded by Wendy Marchant.

5. Chairman’s Report. John welcomed and thanked everyone for coming and for the support given over this last year. Welcomed back some members that we had not seen for a while. He also thanked all the Members as without them we would have no club. He also thanked Mark who directed most weeks, for making it all run so well. Plus thanks went to Ronnie for directing when Mark was unavailable. He also sad how sad it was that Maggie was no longer a member. But her Dementia was advancing and she could no longer come on a Tuesday. She had been a Chairman on the club and did a lot for us. Also he asked us all the bear a thought to Trudi and Andrew who were not coming at present due to Trudi’s illness. She is having a tough time at the moment. They hope to be back when she is well enough. He also told us that Badsey Club were having a new roof on part of the building which would be good for us as we were often having to avoid large puddles and wet floors. He also thanked Sue, the manager, for always helping us.

Tony, one of our new members said how good the Web Site was, but found understanding the scoring system difficult. He requested that this could be explained. Both John and Mark agreed that this could be explained at a future date.

6. All the committee, except Maggie, are remaining. June Beazley & Mike Shepherd have agreed to join the committee. Ronnie proposed and Kathryn seconded their nominations. We thank them both. All members agreed to this.

7. Annual subs £10, and Table Money £3 would remain as before for the coming year. It was also decided that visitors would pay the £3. £5 of our £10 goes to Badsey Club to cover insurance, etc.

8. Any Other Business:

a) Christmas Arrangements: We would serve mince pies and provide a drink from the bar on Tues 17^th Dec. There would be NO Bridge on Tues 24^th & 31^st December. Back to normal on 7^th January 2025.

b) We hope to hold our Annual Party next year provisionally on 8^th April. This will be confirmed at a later date.

c) Competitions: Mark mentioned that we used to enter competitions around the different clubs and also we held some internal ones. If anyone is interested please talk to Ronnie/Mark.

We also used to have a Handicap internal comp., this could be held again. More discussion on this at a later date. SIM Pairs was another comp. This could also be discussed in the future.

d) Club Computer. It was mentioned at our last committee meeting that the Club computer was getting old but Mark explained that it was ok for now. Mark had updated the hand-held computers.

e) Director Training. If anyone was interested in becoming one then there were various courses & held and there could be some help with the fees.

Jen Kissel then thanked all the committee for all the work they did over the year. Applause.

There were 19 members at the AGM

Minutes of the AGM held at Badsey on Tuesday 31^st October 2023

1. Apologies for Absence: Dee Whitehead, Phil Thomas, Gill Mitchell, Yvonne McKeon

2. John welcomed and thanked everyone for coming and for the support given over this last year.

3. Minutes of the AGM held on 25^th October 2022: These were accepted by everyone and John then signed them.

4. Matters arising: There were none.

5. Treasurer’s Report. Everyone was given a Statement of Accounts for period 1^st October 2022 to 30^th September 2023. Lance explained these, noting that there was a big difference in Receipts. This was because the committee had decided not to charge Table Money and only charge £1 for Annual Subs. He stated that with the re-introduction of full subs and table money things would sort themselves out by next year. We still had £5,375.56 in the bank. No questions were forthcoming. Kathryn proposed the acceptance of these and was seconded by Arthur Gray.

At this stage James Love asked the question about reducing our rent to Badsey Club. John explained that this was not possible.

6. Chairman’s Report: John again thanked everyone for supporting the club during a difficult year and welcomed a number of new members. It had been decided that Annual Subs of £10 and Table Money of £3 per week would start again next week, 7^th November 2023. Table Money would be collected by either Wendy or Kathryn each week and given to our new treasurer once a month. Annual subs would be collected also, and given to the treasurer as and when they were paid. Each members would be given a Membership Card with a number on (1, 2, etc.). They would need to sign this card.

John then told the meeting that Lance, our treasurer for last 24 years, had decided to resign. He was given a small gift with our Many Thanks. Mark Stretch has agreed to become the new treasurer. This was Proposed and accepted by Ronnie and Wendy

7. Apart from Lance, all the Committee had agreed to stay on. John mentioned that anyone with an interest in being on the committee was most welcome and to get in touch with Wendy (Secretary).

8. Any Other Business:

Christmas Arrangements: Closed on Tuesday 26^th December (Boxing Day)

Back on Tuesday 2^nd January 2024

Mince Pies and a drink from the Bar on Tuesday 19^th December

Annual Party will be held in the spring. Some time in April. Cost of this is to be discussed in Committee at a later date.

The committee agreed to purchase some Inserts for the Bidding Boxes and new Boards. This has now been done and inserts replaced in some of the boxes.

Jen Kissel then thanked all the Committee for their work during this last, difficult year.

The meeting closed. (21 people attended)

Apologies: Bob Brown, Jean Bean, Mike Webb, Dee Whitehead

This meeting was to vote on the changes to The Constitution, made by the committee.  All paid up members had been sent a copy.

There were 12 members in attendance and ALL voted to accept the changes

Bob Brown and Jean Bean gave their votes by Proxy to John Cotton.  He was to vote with the majority.

Kathryn Morris Proposed this and James Love seconded.

The meeting closed.

1. Apologies for Absence.  Dee Whitehead, Mike Webb
2. Minutes of last AGM held on Thursday, 26^th October 2021. These were presented to the Members and were accepted as a true representation of the meeting. Members voted acceptance. John then signed the minutes.
3. Matters arising from the minutes. None.
4. Treasurer’s Report. Lance talked us through the Statement of Account for period 1^st Oct 2021 to 30^th Sept 2022. James Love proposed to accept these and this was seconded by Arthur Gray. The meeting all agreed to accept.
5. Chairman’s Report. John thanked the “Faithful few” who had supported the club at a difficult time. The turnout tonight had cheered him up a bit and he hoped that Evesham Bridge Club could continue. A few months ago Wendy sent out an email to all members plus to some who no longer played with us, asking if they would like to play on a Monday afternoon.  James Love had agreed to run this session. However the replies (only 6) did not warrant running this session. We did not consult Badsey as we felt this was a No Go.  John also thanked Sue, Manager at Badsey, for all her support during the year.  He also thanked Mark & Ronnie for directing the Tuesday sessions and keeping us all in order.  He said that as a Club were very, very fortunate in having good financial back-up.  However having only 2 tables for a few weeks is pathetic.  We would like people to let either Wendy or myself know if they know that they will not be attending.  A phone call would be best.  This way we can decide of the best way forward.  Bob Brown bought up the Monday afternoon bridge session and we did point out that this had been mentioned and was a No Go.  He went on to say that there was a U3A group meeting on a Friday.  We tried to explain that they were nothing to do with EBC and if our members wanted to attend that group or if any of them wanted to come to us on Tuesday, it would be ok. Some discussions took place and John requested that we leave this.
6. The Committee. All of them have agreed to stay on for another year.  All members were in favour of this. 
7. Any Other Business. Arthur Gray made the point that if we continued to just having 2 tables then it would not be viable and the club would have to close. He proposed that for the next year no Subscriptions would be collected.  Also Table Money would not be paid.  He said that as the club had sufficient funds to do this for next year. Proposed by Arthur Gray, seconded by Kathryn. The meeting agreed.  Lance pointed out that some of the expenses (e.g. payments to Badsey club) would then have to come out of our funds. Some discussions took place and as was pointed out again.  If we continued as we are EBC would close by Christmas. Wendy pointed out that, a few weeks ago she did send an email to all our paid up members asking if they were going to re-join our club, for 2022-2023.  Only a few replied however but with the support at our AGM we do hold out some hope.  Brenda asked the question, who do we give a membership card and when.  This would have to be talked about in committee. Bob Brown then asked if our club had a Constitution and was told “Yes”  He requested to see a copy. Brenda then said that all members should have a copy. This would be discussed at the next committee meeting.  Bob then asked if we had considered play online bridge. It was pointed out that EBC was a Face to Face Bridge Club. Lots of chat and as everyone was talking at once I could not understand it all.
8. Wendy then mentioned that there would be mince pies and a drink from the Bar on Tuesday 20^th Dec.There would be NO bridge on 27^th as this was Christmas Week back 3^rd Jan. 2023.
9. It was then asked how we would pay the EBU P2P, if we were not paying table money.  This would come out of Club Funds.

The meeting closed.  (21people attended)

Minutes of the AGM held at Badsey on Tuesday 26^th October 2021

 1.  Apologies for Absence.  Roger & Elaine Cooke, Dee Whitehead, Les Hancock, Maggie Ellis

2.  Minutes of last AGM held on Thursday, 24^th October 2019. These were presented to the Members and were accepted as a true representation of the meeting. Members voted acceptance.  John then signed the minutes.

3.  Matters arising from the minutes. None.

4.  Treasurer’s Report. Due to COVID the club closed on 16^th March 2019 but the rent was a bit higher than expected due to the fact that we carried on paying Badsey club for a few months as a goodwill gesture.  The cost under Equipment/stationery was due to continuance of paying the Insurance and also a payment for repairs to Wendy’s internet which had problems.

Mark Stretch proposed to accept this and James Love seconded it.

5.  Chairman’s Report.     John explained that committee had met on 13^th October where various items were discussed. He thanked Wendy for all she has done throughout the Lockdown keeping everyone informed of the situation.  At present we are paying £200 per calendar month for use of the large Function room on a Tuesday evening.  At present that is the only Bridge session we are holding for the foreseeable future.  It was therefore decided that Table Money would have to rise to £3 each a night to cover costs.  Subs would stay at £10 per year and Lance would be pleased to accept payment now.

As from 16^th November we would be using the Bridgemate computer.  Mark was looking after all the equipment and he and Ronnie would supervise the use of the Bridgemate table computers, do the scoring and make sure that it all went off electronically to the EBU.  It had been decided that we would stay affiliated to the EBU. He also thanked Kathryn for Directing the Tuesday sessions. The meeting were asked to accept all of this. This they did.

6.  The Committee.  All of them have agreed to stay on for another year.  All members were in favour of this. 

8.  Any Other Business. George Bett asked if it would be possible to find out who, of the Monday afternoon players, would be keen to play.  John explained that there was no-one able to supervise the afternoon and asked George if he would do so.

George said that he was not qualified to do so.  We had not had anyone offer to do this.  It was mentioned that the U3A was thinking about re-starting F2F Bridge on a Friday afternoon and we hoped that any of our Monday players would be welcome.

The meeting closed.

(At this point James Love came up to John and said he would be prepared to run the Monday session.  However there were complications with this and John said he would have to discuss it with Badsey Club.  So there was no decision on this at the time.)

18 Members attended