Current Membership

[Neville Richards]

The latest figures for membership as of the 16th of June are a total of 912 and not the figure quoted by Alan.

It seems that the figures published in the Scottish Bridge Union Newsletter were nearer the mark than I and others thought.

WBU Non members include two of our representatives in the EBL teams and pairs Events in Funchal. How come that they were declared to be in good  standing with the WBU in the entry submission to the EBL?

More surprising is the fact that six of the current WBU Management Committee are shown as not having renewed their membership!

[gwynndavis]

Some may not have been logged yet. That said, what care is taken to ensure that candidates for teams have paid their subs for the year? I can't remember doing that when I was a selector. Likewise, do all Entry Secs check NBO membership? How easy is it to do this, in fact? Neville seems to have access to the WBU members database, but I wouldn't know where to start. In some contexts there is probably a tendency to rely on name recognition - which may be convenient for some. 

[Simon Richards]

As a current Selector, I have a duty, as do the other Selectors, to ensure that anybody selected to play for Wales is "of good standing" and meets any eligibility criteria laid down in the respective "Conditions of Contest" for the competition, but it is unclear, as Gwynn highlights, where this information can be accessed and whether it is publically available. It is also unclear whether the Membership database is current and accurate.   

[Simon Richards]

Ref: https://welshbridgeunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Membership-2022.pdf

This states that: The WBU does not have a direct relationship with its individual members (except in the case of Direct membership) and therefore will rely on Affiliated Clubs to ensure compliance with the Regulation. To this end, the WBU have provided a draft "Privacy Notice" which Clubs can "adapt" to suit their circumstance but must at least ensure that each member registering for the current year has signed some such document and must keep those records whilst the members personal data is held by the club and the WBU.

This may mean there is no publicly available WBU membership database, except for Direct Members, and that most WBU membership is controlled via the clubs. 

[Simon Richards]

People should check their facts as there of often a lag before the membership subscriptions cascade down via the clubs to the WBU via the Membership Secretary!

Having spoken to the Membership Secretary it would appear that the two players that made it through to the Women's Final in Funchal are both WBU members, as are five of the six that played in the Open Team. The one "non-member" is based in Wales and his membership oversight is being rectified. In fact, one of the Open team had actually paid twice and a credit is now due. 

[Gilly Clench]

You highlight, Simon, a clause that I do understand.  Why doesn't the WBU have a direct relationship with its members?  This seems madness to me.  I wish we did have a direct relationship and a list of members, maybe not public, who are contactable.  Filtering everything through the clubs seems most cumbersome.

[gwynndavis]

Yes, any organisation should know who its members are, and be able to contact them. Also, I cannot think why such a list should not be publicly available. Isn't that what masterpoint rankings used to accomplish in the old days? Not criminal convictions and medical records - just a list.

[Gilly Clench]

My post should have read " a clause which I do NOT understand".

[Ddraig_Goch]

There is of course a complete list of WBU members on our secure server and in compliance with GDPR. The list is currently available to our Membership & MP Secretary of course, but also to our CEO and Treasurer by using their MP database logins.
Additional access rights could be sanctioned by the WBU MC if required.
Various lists can also be downloaded or viewed by any member who registers their Master Points in Wales. These lists are due for update during this week.

NB. There are NO contact details for members registered through Cardiff BC as their Committee refused to supply them! 

[Gilly Clench]

Thank you for that - very useful and maybe I can get access to send out my Newspage, once I have sorted out GDPR.  Who are you by the way?