The minutes of the previous meeting, held on 16.12.04 were presented and agreed.

The possibility of insisting that all members must have completed convention cards was discussed at length. Since it was thought possible that some existing and also new players might be put off by such a ruling it was agreed that the following steps should be taken:-

• All players should be encouraged to use convention cards
• Alison Nicolson would provide specimen completed convention cards for copying. Copies of these, together with blank cards, would be made available by the club.
• Members should be advised that if the director were to be asked to give a ruling then his or her judgement will favour players with convention cards.

Arthur Jones asked whether some conventions, such as Multi Two Diamonds, should be banned on club nights. The committee thought, as the Orange Book also indicated, that the grading of conventions was a complex subject; it could best be dealt with by insisting on convention cards being used only if players were using conventions above Level 1.

Alan Grunwald reported on a recent OBA meeting when the purchase of such a machine was discussed. The OBA will obtain a machine (costing about £3K) which would be based in Oxford and could be used by other clubs. The possibility of buying a machine for Wantage B.C. was discussed. Various options including sharing with other clubs, a possible trial period and an interest free loan could be considered. However Ken Eaton was not enthusiastic about the financial commitment and it was agreed that 4 sets of Duplimate boards would be purchased (£300) which we would run on the Oxford machine for a trial period.

Ken Eaton suggested an "introduction to duplicate" evening should be organised (8 tables minimum). It was agreed that such an event should be held in the Spring of 2006. Alison Nicolson offered to help with tuition throughout the club.

Although there had been some improvement last season Wantage B.C. were still languishing in the lower part of the bottom division of the League. It was agreed that the club could do better and that some of the better players should be encouraged to participate. It might be possible to run ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams.

These are currently being used, although some members questioned their effectiveness. It was agreed that they should continue to be used until the 2006 AGM at least.

• Wantage Bridge Club had been approached for a donation by the Farmoor Reservoir Pontoon project who are attempting to raise £200K. It was thought that any surplus club funds should be given instead to local charities, particularly in the Wantage/Grove area.
• The Ridgeway Cup, a summer league for local teams, had been completed. The winners were Highworth B.C. with Wantage B.C. being 4^th of the five competing teams.
• Arthur Jones pointed out that in some events instructions to ‘arrow switch’ had been ignored. It was agreed that it should be left to the discretion of the director for the evening as to whether points should be deducted for such infringements.

Alan Parker (Hon. Secretary)

23^rd September 2005