A letter from the Chairman
18th August 2005
Hello,
I thought that the re-launch of the Young Chelsea web site would be a good
opportunity to get in touch. It's about time that the membership was appraised
of what was going on at the club.
Earlier in the year, it was announced that a Management Committee was formed,
to take business decisions, and to facilitate the transfer of ownership
from Cardinbrook Ltd to the members. Since then, improvements have been
made, and a lot of behind the scenes work has been done to transfer the
club's ownership. First of all, it might be best to clarify who exactly
is involved in running the club, and what their respective roles are.
Warwick Pitch: Still Club Secretary, and to remain Club
Secretary as long as he wants to.
Majiecz: Two major areas of responsibility: Firstly, he's
"building manager". He's responsible for the fabric of the place, including
the flats upstairs. Secondly, all the things that make the club ready for
you, including the playing areas and the bar are down to him as well.
Mahmoud Sadek: Tournament Director on Wednesdays, responsible
for ladders and record-keeping.
Gordon Rainsford: Tournament Director Mondays and Fridays.
Also responsible for club administration. Web site, e-mail, membership rolls
etc – all this is down to Gordon.
Ricci Hammond: Tuesday and Thursday host. Responsible on
these evenings for greeting people, arranging partnerships and directing.
Management Committee:
Ian Payn (Chairman).
Christine Duckworth (Vice-Chairman). Also responsible for teaching matters.
Simon Cearns
Tim Gauld
Nick Boss
Simon has taken on the task of sorting out the transfer of ownership, Tim
is responsible for negotiations for the renewal of the lease, both very
arduous and tedious tasks.
Club Committee: As Management Committee, plus David Burn, Sally
Sherringham, Sati McKenzie, Brian McGuire, Debbie Sandford, David Martin.
The Club Committee considers playing matters. Members tend to represent
a constituency within the club, and are all approachable. That's the people
side of things covered. You might be wondering what's happening with the
building itself. Well, when the new lease has been signed (and it will be,
once the wrangling is over) a major refurbishment is planned. Prior to this,
the bar will be tarted up. I know I've said this before, but this is imminent!
The smoke extractor has been ordered, and once a colour scheme has been
chosen, we're off.
We've tried a number of initiatives in the playing arena.
The "Guest Experts" on Tuesdays and Thursdays were a mixed success, but
attendance on those evenings didn't seem to suffer, so after the Summer
hiatus, the Experts will be back.
Sunday evening duplicates haven't so far set the world alight, but those
who turn up seem to enjoy them. We'll keep them going, but don't expect
a full and fearsome movement, just a friendly game on a Sunday evening.
The October Open Teams has already attracted a lot of interest, from top
teams, and those who want to play against top teams.
An ongoing Autumn "strong event" will be formally announced at the beginning
of September.
Web Site
The old web site was knackered. There was (unknown to us - one of those
takeover deals) a transfer of service provider. The new service provider
hasn't coped very well with the program the old web site was written with. This
has galvanized us into completely re-vamping the site. If you're reading
this, it's working. The redesign was done by Gordon Rainsford, and a jolly
good job he made of it, too.
Communication
We need to be able to get in touch with you. Please send your e-mail address
to info@ycbc.co.uk if you are unsure
whether we have it or not. When you renew your subscription, please make
sure that other details are correct.
On the other side of the coin, if you have any comments or questions, you
can use the preceding e-mail address. You can also speak to any member of
the Management Committee or the main Committee, or e-mail me, ian.payn@charterchambers.com
- I really do want to hear from you, whether you think something's going
right, or if it's going wrong. I can't do anything if I don't know there's
a problem.
Finally...
We're trying to turn the YC into a member's club. This is Warwick's wish,
and we're determined to see it through. You, the members, have to tell us
what you want, and what you have problems with. I can't do anything about
engineering works on the tube, or road works on half the parking spaces
in Earls Court (should that happen), but I can do something about bad behaviour,
or the state of the WCs.
Don't let things fester or rankle - get in touch. You have my e-mail address:
Drop me a line straight away, and I'll do something about whatever the problem
is. Alternatively, approach me at the bar before or after a duplicate. I
don't play as much as I used to, but I try to get in once a week. Other
committee members play more frequently, so you can speak to one of them,
and if he or she can't deal with something they'll refer it to me as a matter
of course.
That's all for now - thank you for reading, and let's see if we can inject
a bit of life into what is, after all, your club.
Ian Payn
Chairman