Lancashire Meetings

Next Meetings

Annual General Meeting (at Bolton )
Monday 16th May 2011 - 7.30pm

Council (at Bolton)
Monday 16th May 2011 (after AGM)

Executive (at Blackburn)
Monday 7th March 2011

Minutes of the Council Meeting held at Bolton Bridge Club on Monday, 6th December 2010, at 7:30 pm

Present
Mr. J. A. Smith (Chairman), Mr. J. B. Brelsford (Secretary), Mrs. M. J. Wright (Tournament Secretary), Dr. A. J. Barnes, Mr. D. Cross, Mr. P. A. Evans, Mr. S. Norris and Mrs. J. Newall.
Since this number failed to make a quorum, it was agreed to conduct the business on the agenda and have it ratified by the next quorate Council.

1. Apologies
Apologies were received from Mr. G. McConkey (Treasurer), Mrs. M. McConkey, Dr. J. M. Brearley, Mrs. J. Brearley, Mrs. L. Hitchen, Mr. J. Dearing, Mrs. A. Sallin and Mr. D. Johnston.

2. Minutes
The minutes of the meeting of 6th September 2010 were taken as read. Their approval was proposed by Mrs. Wright, seconded by Mr. Evans and passed nem. con.

3. Matters Arising
(i) The EBU Northern Easter Festival was being dropped from the calendar. The Yorkshire CBA would be organising a replacement competition in York in 2012.
(ii) The Charity Commission was having second thoughts about giving mind sports charity status.

4. Correspondence
Mr. Brelsford reported that Mr. Smith had returned the Education Working Group Questionnaire.
He had returned the form on County P2P amount and affiliation fees for next year.
He had received the EBU National Club Committee's terms of reference and structure. He had received a letter on the election of a County Club Representative on the Regional Club Committee, to be done at the AGM, together with a list of club contacts for all affiliated clubs in Lancashire.

5. Secretary's Report
Mr. Brelsford reported that he had continued to provide agendas and minutes for all Council and Executive Committee meetings. The minutes for meetings were now being sent out with the agendas for the next meeting in order to cut costs. He had attended the AGM of EBU Limited and provided a written report. He had met the deadlines for the October and December editions of English Bridge. He had attended the Appraisal Meeting for the Northern Counties' Bridge League, which decided next season's dates, venues and formats.

6. Treasurer's Report
Mr. McConkey reported that the bank balances totalled £10,134 allowing for uncleared cheques compared with £11,043 at the corresponding time last year..

7. Levy for 2011/2012
Mr. Brelsford proposed that the levy continued at £1 per member for all affiliated clubs. This was seconded by Mr. Barnes and passed unanimously.

8. Tournament Secretary's Report
Mrs. Wright reported that the Mixed Pairs at Bolton had been won by Nick and Sue Woodcock with Robin Atkinson and Pauline Holden runners-up. There had been an entry of 10 tables, an increase of two tables over the previous year.
The Congress Pairs had been won by Austin Barnes and Stuart Norris with Michael Tomlinson and Brian Irlam runners-up. The Congress Teams had been won by Nick and Sue Woodcock, Stuart Clarke and Bill Carr with Catherine Draper, Andrew Woodcock, Michael Prior and Keith Ashcroft second. The two venue arrangement at Brierfield and Blackburn worked well and we had a full house on both days.
There had been a problem with the direct credits for the Congress. Ian Mitchell has admitted to a mistake in transferring the points to individuals, which has now been corrected.
The Tournament Directors for the rest of the season had been sorted out. Jeff Smith will do the Butler Pairs, Mike Amos the Championship Pairs, Barry Brelsford the Teams of Eight and Rob Turner the Madeline Berney Swiss Pairs. Rob had just directed the Lytham Rose Bowl and impressed with his ability to sort out a problem with the Bridgemates.
Forthcoming events are the Butler Pairs at Brierfield on Saturday, 15th January 2011, the LCBA Championship Pairs at Blackburn on Sunday, 6th February 2010, and the LCBA Teams of Eight at Bury on Sunday, 20th February 2011. The posters and entry forms are in the clubs; please encourage entries.
The Secretary was asked to find out from the EBU Lancashire's number and password for sending up a result directly.

9. EBU Shareholders' Report
Mr. Brelsford had prepared a written report for the meeting and offered to answer questions on it. Mr. Norris was confused by comment on the Annual Accounts up to 31st March 2010 and comment on the current year up to September.

10. Selection Committee's Report
Dr. Barnes reported that in the Northern Bridge League Lancashire A had finished fourth out of four counties, Lancashire B second out of eight counties and Lancashire C fourth out of eight counties. Lancashire had failed to qualify for the final of the Tollemache by finishing third in its group behind Kent and Manchester.
Mr. Smith asked whether Lancashire should be picking only four pairs for the Tollemache. This was generally thought to be a bad idea.

11. Election of Selection Committee
Mr Brelsford had received one nominations for the Selection Committee:-
Mike Nicholson proposed by Austin Barnes, seconded by Barry Brelsford.
Sue Woodcock and Barry Brelsford were then both proposed by Mr. Evans and seconded by Mr. Smith.
There were no other nominations and these three candidates were unanimously elected as the Selection Committee.

Team 11 June 9th July 10th Sept 22nd October

A No Matches Manchester Bradford Bradford

B Blackburn Manchester Keighley Bradford

C Manchester Keighley Bradford Manchester

The appraisal meeting would be at Bradford on Thursday, 3rd November 2011, at 11:00 am.

13. Any Other Business
Mr. Brelsford said that he was going to write to all affiliated clubs to ensure that they had a delegate, other than an Executive Committee member, at Council meetings so that a quorum would be reached.

The meeting closed at 8:36 pm with the Chairman thanking Bolton Bridge Club for its hospitality and delegates for attending.

Minutes of the Council Meeting held at Bolton Bridge Club
on Monday, 6th September 2010, at 7:30 pm

Present
Mr. J. A. Smith (Chairman), Mr. J. B. Brelsford (Secretary), Mr. G. McConkey (Treasurer), Mrs. M. J. Wright (Tournament Secretary), Mr. D. Cross, Mr. P. A. Evans (Membership Secretary), Mrs. M. McConkey, Dr. A. J. Barnes, Dr. J. M. Brearley, Mrs. J. Brearley, Mr. D. J. Pendlebury (Publicity Secretary), Mr. S. Norris, Mrs. L. Hitchen, Mr. S. Anderton and Mr. J. Dearing.

1. Apologies
Mrs. J. Newall and Mrs. S. Woodcock.

2. Minutes
The minutes of the meeting of 17th May were taken as read. Their approval was proposed by Mr. Pendlebury, seconded by Mr. Evans and passed nem. con.

3. Matters Arising
(i) The deadline for the Masterpoint and Licensing feedback was the end of September. Mr. Brelsford was to reply on behalf of the LCBA.
(ii) Mr. Cross queried whether the EBU would have to become a company limited by guarantee in order to achieve charitable status. The Shareholders were asked to follow this up.

4. Correspondence
The Secretary reported that he had received nomination papers for positions on the Board of EBU Limited and for Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Treasurer of the EBU. He had also received nomination papers for positions on the Selection Committee, Tournament Committee and the Law and Ethics Committee. Since nominations should be in by 15th September, he had already nominated Andrew Petrie for the Board and Vice-Chairman.
He had received the County Voucher for one free EBU tournament entry. It was agreed that the Secretary should use it this year.
Baroness Ruth Henig had also written after her re-election as President of the Association. Her letter was read to the meeting.
There had also been a lot of e-mail correspondence about the licensing fee for One Day Joint Ventures. Andrew Petrie’s letters to counties and Surrey’s and London’s responses were available to delegates.
The EBU was no longer going to hold a Northern Easter Festival and had asked whether any of the northern counties was interested in organising a replacement. Mr. Smith was going to respond in the negative.

The county would be asked to provide a representative on the new Club Committee, which would be formed next year.
The EBU had set up an Education Working Group to consult with counties and there was to be a consultative meeting in Manchester on 11th October at 1:00 pm. Mr. Smith would attend and the county could have up to two more representatives. There was also a County Education Questionnaire to fill in before the meeting.

5. Secretary’s Report
The Secretary reported that he had distributed the minutes of the LCBA AGM and Council in May together with the Club Record Form. Eight out of the nine affiliated clubs had returned them with only Chorley outstanding. He had sent out the agendas for this meeting and prepared and sent reports for the August and October editions of English Bridge. He had also provided headed notepaper and compliments slips for the LCBA.

6. Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer reported that the bank accounts totalled £11 461 with all nine affiliated clubs having paid their levy. This compares with £11 002 at the corresponding date last year. We can expect this balance to decrease over the next year and we will have to take care to keep it in the present healthy state.
He took the opportunity to announce his intention to step down as Treasurer at the end of the financial year.

7. Tournament Secretary’s Report
The Tournament Secretary reported that the Teams of Four had been won by Sue Woodcock’s team with the runners-up being John Halliwell’s team. The Plate had been won by George McConkey’s team. She thanked all the entrants for their co-operation in keeping the competition roughly to time in view of the very late start.
Tournament Directors had been found for all the county events but the Butler Pairs, which she was still thinking about.
Entries for the Mixed Pairs at Bolton on 19th September and for next season’s Teams of Four had been very slow coming in but would hopefully pick up. The Congress on 30th and 31st October was proving popular with the Pairs at Brierfield more than half full and the Teams at Blackburn more than two thirds full. She was hoping for a full house in both events.

8. EBU Shareholders’ Report
Mr. Pendlebury reported on the June meeting. P2P fees were to increase and the Board was trying to reduce the number of Shareholder meetings. Council were very much against any reduction.

9. Selection Committee’s Report
Dr. Barnes reported that Lancashire had finished third out of eight counties in the President’s Cup. Paul Evans had come in as a last minute substitute.
After three rounds of the Northern Bridge League Lancashire A was fourth out of four teams, Lancashire B second out of eight teams and Lancashire C second out of eight teams.
The Tollemache team would be picked over the next few days.
The selectors have made some small adjustments to the squads considered for selection, but if any pair feels that it may have been overlooked then please contact one of the selectors.

10. Autumn Congress 2010
This would be a two-centre event with the Swiss Pairs at Brierfield on 30th October and the Swiss Teams at Blackburn on 31st October.

11. Any other business
(a) Mr. Pendlebury asked how EBU members of non-affiliated clubs were going to be represented on Council. Mr. Brelsford replied that all the major non-affiliated clubs had been asked to nominate a member of Council from among their EBU members. That was why Mr. Anderton was present tonight. They were also receiving Council minutes. Mr. Pendlebury volunteered to put the minutes on the web-site, if Mr. Brelsford would send them to him in electronic form.
(b) Mr. Dearing said that Lytham Bridge Club would be holding an EGM to decide whether or not to continue to affiliate to the EBU. How do we promote the national organisation? The EBU provided the framework within which we could enjoy the game. Mr. Anderton wondered if a rival to the EBU would be set up but the EBU tournaments reigned supreme.

The Chairman thanked Bolton Bridge Club for its hospitality and the meeting closed at 9:00 p.m.