From the Committee
We have recently updated our table number statistics to see how our various sessions are going from a quantitative viewpoint. Overall non-supervised weekly table numbers have eased slightly in the winter months from their high earlier in the year. (Supervised sessions were excluded because we do not have reliable data for previous years.)
Within this overall trend, Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon sessions have increased or retained their higher table numbers while Tuesday morning, Thursday and Saturday afternoons, and Tuesday and Friday evenings have eased. Wednesday evening, apart from the last few weeks (when a session was cancelled), has shown higher table numbers.
Members will remember our effective use of some federal government funding via the Stronger Communities Program over the first part of 2018 - it paid half the costs of our new printer/copier, of a new director's computer, of a large external TV monitor, of new chairs and side-tables and of new boards and some bridge-mate devices.
We have just been advised of an opportunity to seek further infrastructure funding support via the 2019 round of the same program, but the deadline to seek such an invitation is very short.
Our bridge education has been and is a critical activity for our club, essential for the ongoing renewal of our club, and for maintaining our vibrant member body and promoting our game. It has been instrumental in our change from a club with declining membership more than five years ago to one that now has stable, stronger membership trends.
Some members have raised the question of how our bridge education activities are managed and accounted for.
The direction, scope and course fees of our bridge education program are agreed between the Committee and the Bridge Education Sub-Committee every six months. This year for example we reduced the number of beginners classes in favour of more courses focused on our improver players. This shift probably contributed to our club membership falling slightly this year in contrast to growth in recent years.
In the past three months we have incurred four separate callouts from the building's security contractor when the alarm system has indicated that our club-house has not been properly secured. The charges for these callouts add up to several hundred dollars - money we would prefer to spend on other benefits to our members!
While the responsibility for ensuring that our club-house is left secure rests with our volunteer directors and we are trying to find our ways of supporting less issues, all members can help by ensuring that windows are fully closed at the end of each session.
As many members are aware the lease on our current premises expires in 2021. The Premises Working Group has been tasked with looking at all our options.
In May we met with Kylie Walsh, the new Executive Manager, Community Arts and Culture at Northern Beaches Council at her request to brief Council on our needs. At this meeting Kylie explained Northern Beaches Council had employed consultants to look at current and future community centre needs. Kylie said Council would advise within 6 months the future of the Nelson Heather Centre.
In the meantime we are keeping alert to any opportunity for suitable premises. Clearly a key issue for us is accessible transport and parking.
I spoke last month to you about the importance of preparing for the future security of our Clubhouse.
It has been wonderful to hear back from you, and that you are overwhelmingly in support of this strategic direction. Thank you to all of you who took the time and interest to communicate your support, questions and suggestions for future savings.
The decision to no longer issue winner’s tickets is one part of a broader review of the club’s finances, to ensure that we continue to add to our surplus.
Recent changes have triggered some discussion among members at the club, including on the need for us to have registered for GST.
To help this discussion be more informed we have attached two papers that the ABF commissioned when GST was introduced and later when the GST thresholds were revised.
The club runs on the contributions of a large number of members. As we have been reviewing our expenses and the way we manage our activities, I am impressed at how much different people do to help our club be as good as it is. We don't yet have a full list of the different contributors and their contributions, but I am convinced that the size of some of these contributions are largely unknown to our overall membership. For some of the roles, possibly only the persons who have held the role previously can comprehend the amount of time, effort and responsibility involved.
Take for example the House Manager role, currently filled by Bill Fitzsimons. In recent months a sample of things I am aware that Bill has been involved in, completely on a voluntary basis, include:
