SCOTTISH BRIDGE UNION
As you will be aware the SBU is now a corporate body and a recognised Scottish Charity. Instead of the SBU Council, we now have a Board of Trustees guiding the SBU. Alan Goodman is the chair. Here is his first newsletter.
Dear Members,
As we move into Spring, I hope that this finds you well and that you are continuing to enjoy your bridge, whether online or F2F. As the new chair of the Board of Trustees, I plan to write regularly to members keeping them informed of what’s going on in the organisation.
SCIO is now operational
As of 1st March, the SCIO became operational, and all members have been transferred from the existing unincorporated organisation into the incorporated charitable organisation. In practice, this means that all business previously conducted by the existing organisation has been seamlessly transferred to the stewardship of the SCIO Board of Trustees. The assets of the existing organisation will be transferred once all the loose ends are tied up and the accounts have been certified by our accountants. New bank accounts and a new member application process are now in place.
New General Manager appointed
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Janet Unsworth as the General Manager of the SBU. Janet is currently the SBU National Congress Convener and will continue in this role to deliver the Peebles and Mallorca Congresses. Janet has taken the role of General Manager on a voluntary basis in line with her other activities as a charity trustee and member of the children’s panel. Transition into this important new role will be phased over the next couple of months to accommodate Janet’s other commitments. We expect the formal handover in mid-April.
Website changes
We plan to make significant changes to the website over the next few months, but in the meantime, we expect to release some enhancements before the end of March. Once these are released, we would like members to tell us what they are looking for from future changes.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine
The European Bridge League (EBL) has decided that, until further notice, no Russian or Belarussian participants will be invited to EBL events. The SBU fully supports this stance and will take similar action. We hope that those individual Russian bridge players affected, who may well be as outraged as the rest of us over what is happening, understand that this measure is not directed at them. We hope that sanity will ultimately prevail and this nightmare for the Ukrainian people, and the whole civilized world, will soon end.
Member Research
As we all know, the bridge landscape has changed significantly over the last couple of years, and we need to prepare for further evolution. We intend to conduct a significant piece of research to seek members’ views on a wide range of topics related to the future playing and teaching of bridge in Scotland. More details in due course.
Covid update
As many clubs contemplate a resumption of F2F bridge, we shall be issuing further information in
anticipated relaxations in Scottish Government legislation and guidelines. We hope to issue SBU
guidelines very shortly.
Other News
The Scotland Women’s Team is delighted to have been invited to play in the World Championships at the end of March. We wish them well.
The AGM will take place on 24th May- further details to follow. The Board of Trustees will be looking for a further three members to join the Board.
Alan Goodman
Chair of Trustees