The four trustees met face to face for the first time recently, appropriately at a mind sports centre, aka the Young Chelsea Bridge Club. We had met several times before but via Zoom.
Being such a new team (half a few months, half only a few weeks) we wished to have a good debate about what the strategy of EBED should be over the next five years and firm up on what our top priorities are and what may also be important but addressed less immediately. We are ambitious but as a small organisation and it would be unwise to try to do everything at once.
We discussed some of the organisational aspects, such as our desire to appoint another couple of trustees, the remit of the Youth Advisory Group and the EBU’s Education Working Group. I can report that interviews for CEO are ongoing and that some very strong candidates have emerged.
Our financial position was reviewed and although this year we forecast to run at something of a loss, we are of course buffered by the generous bequest that we have received, which we are duty bound to steward and spend wisely. This year we are more than doubling the resources that we are putting into youth bridge.
A good relationship with the EBU is a top priority and this has greatly improved of late. To maintain this we will be jointly formalising a list of aspects of the game where the roles and leadership or support are defined. Some are obvious, others less so, hence the need for clarification.
Our remit is plainly about helping more people of all ages to benefit from learning our wonderful game and we recognise that most will aspire to being no more than club players - we are after quantity and giving a start to those who will take themselves further. We will soon be producing a short video on Taster Sessions to support teachers and clubs, which will be timely for September’s The Festival of Bridge.
We have a particular emphasis on youth where we have very recently appointed a second National Youth Officer, taken all three of the youth camps under our wing and redefined our operational guidance on safeguarding. There will be greater promotion of the camps now with professional marketing support. A central youth website and data base are both in hand, as is combining the EBED and EBU teaching directories to eliminate duplication and help prospective learners to find teachers.
We are determined to expand schools’ bridge and will need inputs from clubs and counties to jointly achieve this - growing the new generations of players. Central to our mission are bridge teachers and supporting them is fundamental to us. EBTA is of value in this with its extensive range of materials and also the seminars, insurance cover and the support line. We intend to hold an EBTA conference in 2025.
I hope that you can see that the new Trustee team has got stuck in, is identifying priorities and is investing in the future of the game.
