Newsletter No:5 - from The Chair

by Allan Morris - 13 April 2018

Last Sunday the Board met. The first for this financial year. It was a pleasure to welcome John Skipper to the Board. I am sure John will contribute in a most significant way. Following the election cycle we have a vacancy on the Board.

Rather than rush to fill this vacancy we are re-looking at the present skill sets against those we require to fulfil our mandate and deliver on the strategic plan. We will in due course be issuing an “Expressions of Interest”. If you are keen to serve on the Board we look forward to receiving a response to the Expressions of Interest when it is released.

As you may have seen we have issued an “Expressions of Interest” to serve as a Trustee on the Foundation. This closes on 30 April so if you are keen to serve on the Foundation we encourage you to respond to the Expression of Interest.

It is just over 2 weeks since we last met. Nevertheless we covered a significant number of subjects. A summary is set out below.

At this time of the year we normally review the allocation of portfolios and responsibilities. We have a little work to do in this area but at our meeting planned for 15 May we will be affirming board roles and responsibilities.

We are also putting in place a board work programme for the next 12 months. We want to streamline reporting and create more time to focus on specific subjects. In future reports will be set out in two sections:- 1. Items for discussion and/or requiring a decision. 2. Items/ material for information.

Our approach to Youth Bridge is a little disjointed. The International Youth squad will continue to fall under the mandate of the International Committee.
Richard will continue to work with youth. He will be supported by Jan France the regional bridge mate for the Auckland Northland region. Jan has over 23 years’ experience in youth work and youth work management. Whilst we may have two streams of activity it is important we develop an overarching strategy. Developing an overarching strategy will be our first action point.

Youth have been significant beneficiaries of the NZ Bridge Foundation. We are keen to have a more cohesive approach between the Foundation and NZ Bridge to funding in this area.

Financial results to 31 March 2018 show us performing ahead of budget before cost of the regional bridge mate initiative. We still have a little work to finalise the financial statements. As soon as these are finalised and audited we will release details of our financial performance. The budget for 2019 will be signed off at our meeting on 15 May.

We had an approach from a Mr Sun Xiao a visitor from China who is keen to set up a relationship along the lines of City to City or Region to Region where players can visit and play a little bridge. Whilst bridge is the glue any exchange is primarily holiday. We will share more about this initiative as it is developed.

The Constitution Review working group is making progress. It is working to a tight timeline of releasing a discussion paper, seeking feedback from Clubs, Regional Committees, interested players, volunteers and other stakeholders so its findings can be discussed at the National Conference on 15 July.

Members of the Open team that finished 4th at the World’s in Lyon last year have been invited to play the Yeh Bros Cup. This is a most prestigious, by invitation, event with teams from all over the world.

As noted above we have two election processes in play. The first is that we are seeking expressions of interest for the position of a Trustee of the New Zealand Bridge Foundation. This comes about because John Skipper was required to resign on his appointment to the Board of NZBridge. Another vacancy arises when John Wignall’s term as a Trustee and Chair of the Foundation comes to an end later this month. The second relates to a vacancy on the Board of NZBridge. Following the elections, I was elected the Chair, which resulted in a new vacancy on the Board. We will be calling for expressions of interest in the near future.

As you are aware we held elections over February and March. We had 4 very commendable candidates. Karen Martelletti was re-elected to the Board for a further period of 3 years. John Skipper was the other successful candidate. We received a total of 255 votes with the top 2 candidates polling between 35% and 39% each. The remaining two polling between 10% and 14% each. It is huge commitment putting your name forward so we want to recognise the willingness of all participants whether they were successful or not.

Best wishes
Allan Morris