Minutes of the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING held at The Tudor Building, Mellor Road, Cheadle Hulme, on November 11^th 2010 at 7.30pm.

D Barton, J Barton, L Bloohn, P Buxton, J Currie, R Franks, G Griffiths, H Hulmes, A Jones, J Jones, B Kidwell, B Lewis, A Smalley, N Southern, S Taylor and S Wilshere.

APOLOGIES for absence were received from

G Barlow, P Booth, J Dean, D Daji, C Harper, R Jones, M Laing, P Lang, L Mollan and K Sandler.

The minutes were accepted as an accurate record. Alan Jones reported on the following matters.

He said that he has been amazed at just how successfully this had been introduced in April, mainly due to the tireless efforts of Christine Barton to whom thanks should be extended.

The cost of this had been much reduced from over £500 to approx £200. The party is good fun and AJ urged members to take part.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT (ALAN JONES)

AJ began his report by informing the meeting that he did not wish to stand again as Chairman. He then went on to explain that committee work is about making decisions that affect the running of a club. Should the stolen ionizer, the carpets or the tables and chairs be replaced? Something that occupied a lot of tine last year was how to accommodate the music group, who rented the premises on Saturdays – how and where to store their equipment and how to minimise the inconvenience. All the problems became irrelevant because, first of all they reduced their presence (from 6 to 4 hours) and then they terminated their arrangement (as from March 29th 2010). This was good news for the committee but bad news for the club as it meant a significant financial loss. It will necessitate a rise in table fee and the membership fee this year or next.

The club still has very large reserves. The members could take the opportunity to reduce the bank balance further. During his three years as chair, the balance had gone down, from c.£59,000 to c.£51,000 because of the very cheap rates at which the club has been run. This is an issue that has concerned him. The club accumulated a large balance in the past to buy their own premises but that opportunity has passed. Twenty years ago, £50,000 would have made a good contribution to a property purchase, but not now. Neither are properties with parking easy to find. Should the club be trying to build this sum of £51,000 up again or should it give up such ambitions? The committee has tried to get a good % interest on the money but that is not possible at present.

Friday Bridge

still remains a concern. It teeters on the border of being unviable. Harold Hulmes on his own initiative has tried to encourage people to come along and his efforts have been at least partially successful.

AJ told the meeting that he wished to thank each and every one of the committee for the work they had put in while he had been Chairman.

Pat Buxton: besides the minutes she has been responsible for all the correspondence and the bridge stationary as well as the excellent new bidding box refills that were purchased this year.

David Barton: for the very smooth running of Monday duplicates and the club competitions, and also the preparation of the calendar – not forgetting the hidden guiding hand of Chris Barton behind the scenes.

Barbara Kidwell: who is not only responsible for the money but also with Stella Taylor makes sure that the club doesn’t run out of everyday necessities - soap, dishwasher powder, paper towels and so on. They also liaise with and pay the cleaners who come every week.

Jean Roberts: who was membership secretary until November 2009 and also Barbara Lewis who took over the post. It is a big job and requires work throughout the years as new members come in, and a mailing job as subscription renewals fall due.

Harold Hulmes and Norman Southern: are the safety experts who make sure that the lights work, that we don’t get electrocuted and that the chairs and tables don’t collapse. Thank you to them for their hard work and also to Harold for his efforts in trying to keep Friday bridge viable.

Caryl Bloch: AJ said that he was really sorry to lose Caryl from the committee this year because of illness. She had been involved in the insurance of the club and had organised the team entry into the Gazette Cup competition.

Laurel Mollan and Karen Sandler: who have raised a number of issues and have provided good commonsense advice during committee discussions.

Beyond the committee, AJ thanked Norman Southern and Steve Wilshere for putting up the Xmas decorations; Robert Jones for acting as MC at the Xmas party; Joyce Jones for purchasing the prizes for the party and also preparing the quiz that took place at the end of the party; Pat Burrows for running the partnership services and organising and paying put the prize money; Jean Roberts, especially as she is still running the class for beginners on Monday mornings - she acts as a standard bearer for the club, increasing its reputation and also bringing funds into the club; Adrian Roberts for auditing the accounts.

AJ went to thank the directors – David Barton, Steve Wilshere, Geoff Barlow, Harold Hulmes, Rod Franks and Robert Jones; and also the scorers – David and Chris Barton, Mary Green, Victor Ridding, Steve Wilshere and David Pennington.

His report was completed by AJ informing the meeting that whilst he had been chairman, everyone had been most helpful.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR’S REPORT (DAVID BARTON)

DB thanked his wife Chris for her assistance with the scoring

Pay to Play came in on April 1^st 2010 and the club was ready in time because of Christine’s efforts beforehand. It necessitated changing the scoring method and the new system has been supplied by another member of the club – Jeff Smith.

Track has to be kept of new members and visitors, the work involved is ongoing but the problems are now minor because of all the work put in before the start of P2P.

DB then went on to say that he would like to see increased attendance on Fridays to keep it viable and that it would be a shame to lose it after so many years.

Duplimated boards: the advantage of duplimated hands is a printout of all the hands at the end of the session. As for bridgemates, with them and a computer on the premises, the results could be produced very soon after the finish of play. DB stated that there is a minority view against bridgemates, and that having them would not bring in any new members. His view is that members are currently happy with the way the results are produced.

Harold Hulmes informed the meeting that since the beginning of August, 44 different people had played on Fridays. Alec Smalley said that he would encourage people to come along on Friday evenings when they would enjoy a good standard of bridge.

TREASURER’S REPORT (BARBARA KIDWELL)

BK thanked David and Chris Barton for setting up the accounts and Adrian Roberts for the auditing.

She explained that the club is to have a rates holiday in the coming financial year when the club will not be liable for rates, but she stressed that the club needs to keep a certain amount of funds in order to meet the rent

DB remarked that P2P and the increased table money came in halfway through the year, that the music group folded at approximately the same time with a loss in income, and that a picture of the state of the club’s finances will be clearer this time next year.

Steve Wilshere asked how far the club was into the 10 year lease. He was informed that the contract had gone beyond the 5 year break clause and that there is approx 4 more years to run.

BK informed the meeting that the landlord, Kevin Murphy, has ceased using the upstairs and that the security of the bridge club is somewhat less because of this. However, KM is hoping to let the upstairs premises through an estate agent.

Barbara Lewis stated that the members list stands at 170 (but with 9 members not having paid the subscription that was due on September 1^st).

The following awards were made:

The John Barton Cup: M Costagliola, R Franks, J & P Hismurgh

The Committee Cup: G Griffiths, J Jones

The Pivot Teams: D Barton, J Currie, D Grimes, J Smith

The Paul Vincent: B Lewis & A Smalley

The Tuesday Cup: J Dean & C Harper

Monday Night Individual: D Barton

Monday Night Pairs: D Daji & H Stubbings

Friday Night Individual: J Jones

Friday Night Pairs: J Jones & N Southern

Chairman: A Smalley, proposed by H Hulmes, seconded by C Birtles

AS having been elected now took over the Chair from AJ.

Secretary: P Buxton, proposed by B Lewis, seconded by A Smalley

Treasurer: B Kidwell, proposed by D Barton, seconded by H Hulmes

Tournament Director: D Barton, proposed by H Hulmes, seconded by L Bloohn

Membership Secretary: B Lewis, proposed by H Hulmes, seconded by L Bloohn

Auditor:

H Hulmes, proposed by N Southern, seconded by C Birtles

L Mollan, proposed by H Hulmes, seconded by N Southern

K Sandler, proposed by L Bloohn, seconded by H Hulmes

N Southern, proposed by H Hulmes, seconded by C Birtles

S Taylor, proposed by H Hulmes, seconded by L Mollan

(PB suggested that Mary Green would an asset as a committee member and will mention it to her before the next committee meeting).

She will also investigate as to whether or not Adrian Roberts would agree to act again as auditor.

Harold Hulmes suggested that when the club is being used by members for league matches etc, perhaps a charge should be made to cover the heating costs. Alec Smalley replied that it was too late to change the arrangements for this season, but that the matter could be discussed at the next committee meeting

Pat Buxton said that originally she and David had persuaded Alan to stand as chairman: his three years as chair had not always been easy but Alan had worked very hard and had done a wonderful job and on behalf of the club she wanted to thank him.

AS then thanked everyone for attending and the meeting closed at 8.30pm.