BRADGATE BRIDGE CLUB
Report for annual charity commission return 2025
Charity number 1178398
This has been a very difficult year for the club. As you probably know, we rented the Rothley Centre from Rothley Parish Council who leased it from Charnwood Borough Council. In February the Rothley Parish Council informed us that they were terminating their lease and not accepting any booking beyond 30[th] November. Then, in March, they told us that they were going to close the Centre for the entire month of May because of caretaker issues. We took this opportunity to try out other venues and then returned to Rothley Centre intending to stay until the end of November. This was not to be. In August they gave us one week’s notice to vacate the Centre. Since then, we have, as Steve has so aptly called us, been The Bradgate Bridge Club on Tour. We are currently using the Woodhouse Eaves Village Halls where we play on most Monday nights and Wednesday afternoons, although some Mondays we have to play at County Bridge Club because the George V hall is not available. We have also played bridge at Thrussington Village Hall occasionally on Wednesday afternoons.
It is recognized that the Woodhouse Eaves Halls are not ideal, particularly the Youth and Community Hall used on Wednesday afternoons, which is rather noisy. For a time we also had to make do with some small chairs but these have now been replaced with higher adult-sized chairs. However, we wanted to try to give the club a base whilst on tour and these halls were the best we could find that matched our needs and that could accommodate us on both bridge sessions. Perhaps I should mention that the committee members spent a lot of time trying to source venues. Numerous visits were made to the more promising venues but most of these were either not available on the days we wanted, didn’t have parking spaces, bridge tables or have adequate kitchen facilities, were too expensive or were simply too small. A huge thank you to everyone who helped to keep our club running especially to Richard who has liaised tirelessly with The Rothley Centre, local councilors and Charnwood Borough Council, to Steve who has had extra work preparing bridge boards and directing, to Gail who has had to book the various venues, to Jim who has transported a large number of boxes between the sessions each week, to all the committee members who vetted all the venues and to everyone who has pulled together to set up the sessions and clear away the tables and chairs after playing bridge. It is all very much appreciated.
We are hoping that Bradgate on Tour will become The Bradgate Bridge Club again in early 2026. It is our understanding that Charnwood Borough Council wish to re-open the Rothley Centre as soon as possible in January and that the Centre will be run by a voluntary community committee. We have been given a list of likely charges so we are very hopeful that we will be back in our “home” in the New Year, possibly February.
I am pleased to say that, despite our difficulties with venues, we have still managed to get good attendance at both our Monday evenings and Wednesday afternoon sessions. We regularly attract 10 to 12 tables on Monday evenings and the same on
Wednesday afternoons. Both sessions attract players with different experience and ability. It is heartening that there are a large number of players that have joined us that have been taught by the Charnwood Bridge Teaching Group. The influx of new, dare I say it, younger players is essential for ensuring the continuity of the club. So thank you to the Charnwood Bridge Teaching group who give their time so generously to enable this.
During the year we have held numerous competitions ably arranged by our Tournament Secretary, Steve. Thank you, Steve. We have six teams representing Bradgate this year in the LCBA Teams of Four event and many Bradgate players have also won prizes in LCBA competitions. Richard will no doubt comment on these later.
During the year, we sadly lost four members - Jean Smith, Paul Statham, Susie Perrett and John Summerhayes . Also, we note the passing of former members Zena Grady and Eleanor Freshwater. On a more happy note, we had thirteen new members join us last year.
As you will be told, we remain in reasonably good financial order, thanks largely to the income provided by the success of CBT and the fact that we raised the table money £1.00 for each session to cover the increased costs of renting The Rothley Centre. Unless the situation changes we are not intending to raise the cost of table money or your annual subscription.
Bradgate Bridge Club Treasurer’s report, October 2025
In the year to 31[st] August 2025 the club had a (very) small surplus of £65, and again we were dependent on our share of the profits from Charnwood Bridge teachers to show any surplus at all. Subscriptions rose by £5 to £715 (ie net rise in membership of one).
It has been a somewhat turbulent year from a financial point of view, entirely due to the venue problems. In April we were hit by a substantial increase in room hire rates at the Rothley Centre, and then its unavailability in May and from mid-August onwards. We increased table money to compensate, and although we successfully found alternative accommodation there was understandably some reduction in attendance. From April onwards the average Monday attendance dropped by one and a half tables, and Wednesday by one table. Average table numbers for Monday and Wednesday are now almost exactly the same, continuing the trend over the last few years.
The net result of all this was that room hire costs this year have risen by 29% relative to last year, and table money income has risen by just 5%.
Despite the above, I’m happy to report that the club is in excellent financial health. The total of our various bank accounts is close to £20,000. The greater part of that is in a relatively high interest account which last year paid over £500 in interest. The committee have agreed that subscriptions for this coming year shall remain unchanged at £5 – a bargain!
One factor which makes the figures look worse than they really are is that our current landlord, Woodhouse Eaves parish council, require room hire costs paying in advance, so the expenditure in these accounts include the costs for all of September.
Although the future is still slightly uncertain, the expectation is that we will return to the Rothley Centre in January and the charges so far proposed (but not yet confirmed) indicate that the costs will lower than those levied by Rothey PC, although we are going to do our own setting up and packing away.
Away from room hire and table money issues the story is similar to last year. The depreciation of the dealing machine is almost complete, so that will soon disappear from the accounts. The cost of league entry looks higher because payment for both last season and this fell within this accounting year. The ‘bridge items’ figure includes the purchase of two new laptops.
2024/2025 Accounts for Bradgate Bridge Club as @ 31/08/2025
| Bank Balances at 31 August 2024 Community Deposit Money Market Total Dealing machine Cost 2,368.79 Depreciation 1,451.56 Assets at 31/08/2024 Subscriptions no of members 143 Table Revenue Monday Cash Card Wednesday Cash Card Bank Interest CBT catering Donations Teaching profit Table money collected from CBC visitors (Mondays) Use of dealing machine by LCBA Total Income less Expenditure Surplus for the Year Bank Balances @ Community Deposit Money Market Total Dealing machine Cost 2,368.79 Total depreciation 2,241.16 since 30/10/22 Residual value (Depreciate over 3 years) |
3244.71 3552.86 12000.00 18797.57 purchased 30/10/2022 917.23 19714.80 Income Expenditure 2024/2025 2023/2024 2024/2025 2023/2024 715.00 710.00 Room Hire Mondays 5,266.64 4,147.00 Wednesdays 2,490.80 1,468.00 room setup 723.00 925.00 League 0.00 0.00 45.00 6317.50 6,126.50 0.00 4401.00 4,167.00 UM 2,209.46 2,289.66 Zettle charges 209.33 196.22 597.56 137.80 Bridge Items 675.70 571.88 Training 0.00 120.00 505.00 0.00 Donations 700.00 220.00 SIM Pairs 379.00 0.00 EBU Affiliation Fees 30.00 29.00 Insurance 74.70 74.70 2000.00 2,000.00 Xmas Party 283.53 461.29 County club charge for Monday visitors 139.78 120.00 Bank Charges 55.00 60.00 Expenses 2.99 0.00 Competition entry fees 180.00 0.00 Catering 753.52 543.12 76.50 League Entry/Travel 220.00 50.00 AGM costs 0.00 0.00 Misc 182.40 260.26 Bridgewebs 60.00 60.00 Fixed Assets Depreciation 789.60 789.59 15111.56 13,186.30 Total Expenditure 15,046.45 12,265.72 15046.45 12,265.72 65.11 920.58 Reconciliation Total Assets as at 31 August 2024 19,714.80 31-Aug-25 1501.86 Add Surplus for the Period 65.11 5623.38 12527.04 19652.28 127.63 19779.91 19,779.91 |
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