Angus French wrote: ↑Sat Apr 24, 2021 1:46 pm
John Swain wrote: ↑Sat Apr 24, 2021 1:36 pm
Angus French wrote: ↑Sat Apr 24, 2021 12:24 pm
I've seen the consultation messages from the two Silver reps (which were shown here) and a joint message from the Gold reps. Have the Bronze representatives consulted?
The Bronze representatives - Christopher Skulte and Aga Sapkowska (Milewska) - sent Bronze members an email on Monday 19 April and invited our views.
Thanks John. Can I ask: did Christopher and Aga say anything about the budget and the federation's finances? That's what I've been most concerned about.
It's probably easiest if I quote what the Bronze representatives had to say, rather than selectively quoting from it.
"Dear Bronze Members (from Christopher Skulte & Aga Sapkowska (Milewska) - Bronze Member representatives on the ECF Council)
Thank you for supporting the ECF with your membership this year, one where there have been challenges for so many. We hope that with lockdowns easing there is hope for positivity (& more importantly chess) in the future for all of us. For those going through a tough time right now, remember you can always text '85258' 24/7 to talk to someone. Shout is the UK's first free, confidential, 24/7 text support service. It's a place to go if you're struggling to cope and need mental health support.
We are writing to you today about two items which we go into more detail below, along with our views on the matters:
1) Upcoming ECF Finance Meeting
2) Support guide for club chess
Please use both following emails for all replies please, so they come directly to us ---
[email protected]
[email protected]
Upcoming ECF Finance Council Meeting
We are writing to you today to inform you of the upcoming ECF Finance Council Meeting on the 24th April (agenda attached). A few items of note, as well as our response - please feel free to email us your thoughts on any of the below:
1) Membership fees in 21-22 remain the same as the current year:
£18 - Bronze & £6 for Bronze juniors.
Response: We feel that no increase is fair and correct, the directors have put in considerable effort to reduce costs across the ECF in the current year, and along with additional donations have been able to keep the expected loss at £5k instead of ~£40k. We will keep a close eye on this next financial year, and if there is a surge of new membership and funding due to the increased interest in chess, we will look to reviewing our views in the future, though there is an expectation that it will take another year or so for the ECF to recover from the effects of Covid. In the meantime, we support the directors in giving them the maximum flexibility in this unprecedented time.
2) A vote on the length allowed of director terms (Item 11)
The 3 votes on the matter are as follows, that a director cannot stand for re-election to a post at an AGM, having just occupied that post:
(A) for a period longer than one three year term;
(B) for a period of two consecutive three year terms or longer
(C) for a period of three consecutive three year terms or longer
Response: This is a complex subject, where there are always many views.
We feel that there are many different directorships where committed individuals can support the ECF, though would not want to lose someone doing an amazing job. At the same time, change is always required for innovation to occur, which is already a challenge for large committee run organisations.
A fair balance feels that two terms is a fair middle ground, allowing enough time to deliver on changes, while not sticking to the same control of the ECF for an extended period.
3) Voting Allocations of council members (Item 12)
Response: Our thoughts are similar to the Gold member representatives (Lorin D'Costa and Rob Willmoth), and share their views below:
This is simply about allowing council members voting rights for online games, at half the rate of OTB games. Please read the attachment for more specific details.
The concern is again political. It is basically allowing certain groups who amass a lot of votes as they run a lot of tournaments to gain more voting power. On the other hand, it does not stop anyone at all from rating their online games and getting votes.
Our conclusion is that it would be unfair on organisers for not allowing this resolution as such organisers do bring in ECF members and pay game fees for their events and it also does not stop anyone at all from rating their online games.
If you have any additional thoughts or comments, please let us know.
Other Updates
We would also like to make you aware that we will be sending out a survey soon to better understand club chess across the country, along with using ideas and suggestions to work with the relevant ECF directors to put together a basic 'guide for clubs' to help grow and support the grass-roots of our sport, to help springboard the current momentum chess is gaining.
If you have any preliminary on this, questions, and areas of interest please do get in contact with us.
Kind regards
Christopher Skulte & Aga Sapkowska (Milewska)"