WBU Subscriptions

[gwynndavis]

Affiliated clubs have just received a memo from the WBU Membership Secretary informing them of subscriptions for the 12 months from April onwards. "The MC has decided that the basic subscription for the forthcoming year will be £20 (£25 for direct members), £2 of which will cover area membership".

I have checked the MC minutes available online, the last of which is for 6 December. The minutes contain no reference to subscriptions so I assume these were set at a later meeting, as yet unminuted publicly.

There are frequent references within successive MC minutes to the parlous state of WBU finances. The subscription hike is presumably in response to declining income from other sources, resulting in diminishing reserves. Clubs are being asked, in effect, to dragoon their members into subsidising the WBU even though the majority of their members don't play in national events.

Successful NBOs make their money through activity (entry fees); their annual subscriptions are LOW. It is the mark of an unsuccessful and poorly led organisation that income from activity is low (many events either cancelled or loss-making), whilst subscriptions are hiked in an attempt to make good the shortfall.

Is this approach going to work? If the WBU can't devise events that attract a good proportion of its members, it's finished. For years it hasn't managed to do that. One notable recent success was the Premier League (ten teams). Everything else has run at a loss or been cancelled.

Having seen at first hand what an ineffective talking shop it is, I doubt the MC is capable of turning this situation around. People with the energy and skills to achieve such a transformation are in very short supply. It would be little short of a miracle if a tiny organisation like the WBU could uncover someone of that calibre. The East has recently discovered a gem in Jennifer Wardell, but there aren't many like her.

Meanwhile we limp on, but for how much longer? I note that two national events are scheduled for March. Will they be successful? Will they even run? It's a mark of the state we're in that no-one can be confident of the answer to those questions.

[Alan Screen]

The MC was asked to set its 24-25 subscription before 31 January. In response a "meeting" was held by email resulting in an acceptance of the Membership Secretary's proposal that it should be £18 + £2 for Area affiliation, total £20.

Gwynn suggests that this increase might be used to support International teams, but that is not so. After this season's internationals the costs will be met by participating players. There may be small costs for NPCs. Of course, Juniors will continue to be supported from WBU funds.

Gwynn makes a good point about WBU tournaments. Is the success of the Premier League an indication that face to face bridge is recovering, post Covid?. I note the East Congress has 15 tables of pairs and 14 of teams. That is encouraging.

[Simon Richards]

The EWBA Pairs and Teams, held at the weekend at the Gwent Bridge Academy, were both well supported with 16 tables in play on both days so F2F is back on the Agenda. I will send my thanks to Jennifer Wardell, as ATO for making this weekend such a successful event, and to Colin Simcox in his role as a very competent Director.

I understand that the WBU Pairs and WBU Teams events are going ahead in Cardiff over the weekend of 9th and 10th March, but there has not been much publicity about these events to date on the WBU website and there are no details of any entries to date on the BESS website.

I also note that each WBU event is £10 per player more expensive each day than this weekend's EWBA events. It is not clear what players get for the additional £10 and this may be impacting on the paucity of entries.