CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

After 4 years in the chair I am now standing down but not without a feeling of pride at having been asked to hold the office.  It has been a great privilege and I wish my successor all the best. 

Malcolm has also expressed a wish to retire after 13 years on the Committee and he will certainly be a difficult person to replace as he has been a tower of strength to me.  He has not only been Chairman but also Chief Director, Scorer and Webmaster, all time-consuming tasks, and on your behalf I thank him for the many hours he has devoted to the Club.

And then just at the last minute our proposed Treasurer announced that he is hoping to go and live in Hampshire.  Andrew has been responsible for the Director’s List and the White Notice Board and I am very grateful for the industrious way has attended to these tasks.  Good luck in your new surroundings and do come and visit us occasionally.

P2P seems to be working OK with no problems to the club thankfully.  The rate has now been increased from 29p to 31p but your table money will remain the same.

Sadly we lost 2 of our friends lately.  We were shocked when Olivia Dawson who had been a member for 18 years died suddenly in February and she will be much missed.   Shortly afterwards we learnt that George who helped us with refreshments had had a massive heart attack and sadly he never recovered.  His cheery nature, helpfulness and, of course, his sweeties will leave a gap in our club.  Letters of condolence were sent on your behalf to their families.

We had a successful Invitation Day in October from which we gained new members and it is hoped to continue this practice in future.

One abiding memory I will take with me is one Friday in February when I was doubled in 4 spades going down one.  Not really memorable, you say, except that it was by a 7 year old boy visitor!   The other special memory was our Silver Jubilee party in 2009 - a super evening.

Slow play, the bane of bridge, was mentioned at the last AGM and I hope you will agree that we have done our best to improve this.

Finally my thanks to all the Committee that have served with me during my term of office without whom this club could not function.  I wish the Club all the best in the coming years under new management.

Sylvia Timberlake