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Friends of chess society
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2026 12:45 pm
by MJMcCready
Greetings, I found this:
- Capture11.PNG (289.7 KiB) Viewed 2911 times
Does anyone know how long it lasted or anything else for that matter? I found the attachemnt above here:
https://sccu-chess.com/bulletins/SCCUBu ... 970_77.pdf
Re: Friends of chess society -how long did it last?
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2026 1:24 pm
by Jon D'Souza-Eva
Re: Friends of chess society -how long did it last?
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2026 1:32 pm
by MJMcCready
How influential has it been?
Re: Friends of chess society -how long did it last?
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2026 4:08 pm
by Roland Kensdale
2024:
Would current supporters please contact the secretary (Mike Gunn:
[email protected]) with your email address and level of support?
Re: Friends of chess society -how long did it last?
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2026 6:58 pm
by John Upham
I thought it was still going and Simon Brown operated the purse strings.
I've no idea what its activities are which is a hint that they could do a better job of letting people know about themselves.
Re: Friends of chess society -how long did it last?
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2026 8:15 pm
by Simon Brown
It is and I do.
These days funds are limited as the demographic of members means that subs tend to lapse for natural causes. We still support norm events and occasionally more unusual requests. Recipients of grants give us some publicity but apart from the website, that’s all we do.
Re: Friends of chess society -how long did it last?
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2026 11:25 pm
by Christopher Kreuzer
Might I suggest the thread title be modified? As it currently implies that Friends of Chess has ceased to exist, when it has not! As for the demographics, maybe plans to put things on a more sustainable footing might be a good idea? It is impressive that it has continued to operate for over 50 years, and is coming up to 60 years in three years time.
Re: Friends of chess society
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2026 4:41 am
by MJMcCready
Ok, modified.
Re: Friends of chess society
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2026 10:50 am
by John Upham
Might I respectfully suggest that the committee listing be updated.
https://www.friendsofchess.org.uk/index.php/committee/
Having deceased and no longer active persons listed does not inspire confidence from those considering donating.
Re: Friends of chess society
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2026 4:15 pm
by Mike Gunn
Existing members of the committee are myself, Simon Barnes, Gerry Walsh and Loz Cooper.
We continue to give funds to a couple of tournaments/ individuals a year. We attempted to relaunch a couple of years ago when the website was updated, we increased subscriptions slightly and attempted to hold a meeting at the British Championships at Hull. Nobody turned up to that meeting and I have been contacted by a handful of people since then who found the website. My next job was to revise our constitution so we could hold the AGM on zoom but the general lack of interest/ new people subscribing means that hasn't been a high priority. John is correct: the website needs updating.
Re: Friends of chess society
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2026 5:56 pm
by John Upham
Mike Gunn wrote: ↑Sun Apr 19, 2026 4:15 pm
Existing members of the committee are myself, Simon Barnes, Gerry Walsh and Loz Cooper.
We continue to give funds to a couple of tournaments/ individuals a year. We attempted to relaunch a couple of years ago when the website was updated, we increased subscriptions slightly and attempted to hold a meeting at the British Championships at Hull. Nobody turned up to that meeting and I have been contacted by a handful of people since then who found the website. My next job was to revise our constitution so we could hold the AGM on zoom but the general lack of interest/ new people subscribing means that hasn't been a high priority. John is correct: the website needs updating.
By Simon Barnes I assume you mean Simon Brown?
Is there a formal process by which someone considering willing their assets to the FoC should record in their will?
Re: Friends of chess society
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2026 10:21 am
by Mike Gunn
Er, yes, you are right I'm starting to get names wrong, not just on this MB. I don't know about the will point, but I have left equal proportions of part of my assets to relatives and organisations (including two chess organisations) and that seemed to be done in the straight forward and obvious way (just telling the solicitor to name the organisations in the will)>