Dear Members
Please join with me in welcoming Richard Hughes and John Purdy who are new members of the Club.
Committee business
Meat Draw At their last Finance Committee meeting the committee reluctantly decided to increase the price of Meat Draw Tickets from £1.00 for a strip of 10 to £1.50 for a strip of 10. This price increase is the first for many years has been necessitated by the increase in the meat bill and the need to ensure the high quality of the meat prizes. This decision will be effective from Friday 4th November.
Hot water system The Belvedere gremlins have struck again. The hot water cylinder situated in the boiler house has sprung a leak. This cylinder stores water for both the hot water and central heating system. The Committee have commissioned two quotations from local plumbing companies and also advice has been sought from a heating consultant. There is no doubt that the leak cannot be left and some work will have to be carried out in the meantime Tony and George are “bailing out “the cellar!
Sale of Winchilsea Avenue Flats. Once again, I have nothing concrete to report. There has been some interest but it may or may not develop. We will have to wait and see. The current political and economic situation is not helping in this matter.
Staff, We have four regulars who are working very hard to keep our Club functioning but we are anticipating that the pressure will be on over the Christmas period. The Club is not the only such business to be in this situation. If anyone has any hours to spare or knows anyone who is looking for a job, please ring Miles on 07738 628668 for a chat.
Garden Bench Some of you may have noticed that the bench that used to be situated near the front entrance “disappeared” after it was broken. Well, thanks to one of our members it has now been expertly restored to its former glory
Well, I think you have to agree that it looks even better now with a fresh coat of paint. Our thanks go to Mick Cowley for his handiwork.
Cherry Tree In consultation with Sandra Wright and Vaughan’s family the committee has been trying to think of a suitable memorial to Vaughan. He was such a long- standing member of both the Club and Committee. Sandra and the Wright family have suggested a Cherry tree and the committee have decided to progress this suggestion in the Spring. We are advised that it would be better to plant the tree then when the ground is warm. If anyone would like to give a donation in memory of Vaughan please contact Helen, Tony or myself.
Website – Thank you to all those who showed an interest in helping. A number of committee members met with our current web manager recently. He informed us that we, the Club, have the potential to update the web site ourselves. He has offered to “train” a couple of committee members to do so and I am going to arrange for that to happen as soon as possible.
Open Forum – Feedback
Back on the 20th September I held an Open Forum at the Club. This was an opportunity for members to raise any issues or ask questions about Club business. Approximately 20 members attended and it was great to see so many. I took the opportunity to talk about the current financial and business environment in which we are operating at the moment, which is not good and then opened the floor to questions.
The first three questions were about finance and were from one member –
- How much does the Club owe in loans?
- £70,000 approx.
- What is the monthly shortfall?
- From £800 to £1,000 approx.
Obviously not a good position to be in nor one that can be sustained but the Committee are working very hard to rectify that. Also, when the flats are sold the plan is to pay off all the Clubs loans.
- How much rent did the Club receive from the flats in Winchilsea Avenue?
- £870 per month. This income has helped enormously over the covid period and with the bills that we have had to face.
Q and A As you all know the Committee are in the process of selling the flats and one member suggested that most “senior” members would be against that. I replied that there was no choice – the Club would not survive much longer without an injection of capital into the business and a reduction of overheads.
I do feel that the Open Forum would have been the arena for those “senior” members to make their feelings known to the Committee however his was the only voice.
Q and A Another member asked what was the average spend of each member and advised that some Clubs ask for a minimum spend from their members? At the moment we don’t collect the figures in such a way to give us that information. The committee will consider all suggestions about how to raise income
- The suggestion was put forward to ask all life members for a small donation or fee in lieu of membership fees.
- This idea will be considered by the committee in the future when discussing membership and all things connected.
I hope that everyone present felt that they had an opportunity to raise issues of concern and interest. I will include the last few questions / ideas in the next newsletter.
New Chair and committee members – please give serious consideration to giving some time and energy to your Club. Please let either myself, Tony or a member of the committee know if you would like an informal discussion about this.
MacMillan Coffee Morning. The total we raised has risen by £45.00 to £645-00 –when the bike was sold. Wow that’s a great amount raised for a very worthy cause.
Newark Children’s Bereavement Centre prize draw. – the Committee have agreed to donate a prize in the form of 2 free Sunday dinners to this worthy cause.
Special Offers The Committee has decided that both the offers below will continue.
Special Offer number 1 – for a limited period only Somersby draught cider at the knock down price of £3.50 a pint.
Special Offer number 2 – for a limited period only
Every Friday Night between 7.00 pm and 9.00pm all draught beers, lagers and ciders will be £3.00 per pint to include the Somersby cider. At the moment our guest beers are Courage Directors, Batemans XXXB Green King Abbott Ale and London Glory.
Christmas events Xmas Fayre Menu, Christmas Day menu and details of other Christmas events have now been emailed to those with email addresses and are attached in hard copy for those without. All available on request from Miles.
Past events
October 8th was a Steak Night with entertainment guitarist/vocalist from Neil Timothy. There was a full house to enjoy the food from Miles and the music from Neil Timothy. The evening was a great success and the entertainer proved to be very popular – he got us all up and dancing to his beat.
On Saturday evening, October 28th we all enjoyed a supper of fish or chicken and chips followed by several games of Bingo. Good fun was had by all. Thank you to Miles, Andrea and Charlotte for the food and service and also to Miles for calling and Helen for ensuring that the money side of things ran smoothly.
A big thank you to all of you who come and support our entertainment evenings.
Dates for your diary
Don’t forget – you can book any event over the bar or by giving Miles a ring on
07738 628668
November 19th is Race Night
Sausage or scampi and chips (vegetarian option available)
£5 per person, non-diners and non-members no additional charge
Calling all our snooker players –
Food served at 7.30pm and is also available in the Snooker Room this evening
Advance booking and payment essential
Saturday 26th November – This is advance notice that the Alexander Lounge will be closed to members from 4.00pm onwards because of a private function. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.
And coming soon
World Cup Football Come and watch the matches at the Club. Food will be available in the Lounge and Snooker room. First screening Friday 25th November at 7.00 pm and Wales v England on 29th November at 7.00 pm
Casino Night Saturday 10th December – dress to impress!! Make sure you bring Lady Luck with you.
Thursday Lunch-time Carvery
The lunch time carvery is back – enjoy!
Saturday Morning Breakfast
– from 10.30 to 12.30 pm
Vegetarian breakfast available on request. All with a pot of tea and toast.
Sunday Lunch
All the favourites from 12.00 pm until 3.00 pm.–
with our loyalty card you buy 9 mains and get the 10th free
Please book with Miles in the usual way
Lunches
Wednesday to Saturday
12.0pm to 2.00 pm
Snooker Room –
Book to avoid disappointment
Newark Conservative Club Bowls Section
Christmas Dinner. Thursday 15th December. Please book and pay Andrea or Miles directly. This must be before the 8th of December. Full details of the menu – Xmas Fayre – have been circulated and are posted on the board. The bowls green has been scarified and looks marvellous. 5 4 3 2 1 trophy will be presented 🎁 at the Christmas Dinner.
Newark Conservative Club Snooker Team:
I am reliably informed that the Newark Conservative Club Snooker Team has won their most recent match and currently are leaders in the Lincolnshire Snooker and Billiards Association tournament. Well done to you all and keep going!!
Wednesday Quiz and Open the Box Regrettably the Committee has taken the decision to temporarily suspend this quiz. The aim is to replace it with something else to entertain you. Thanks to those who have supported this quiz. Watch this space.
Friday night Meat Draw, Play your Cards Right and Kath’s Jackpot (currently £330) start at 10.00 pm. Filled cobs will be available to purchase from behind the Bar.
Sunday Night Quiz, Silly Question, Card Bingo and Ring the Bell. Please note that this event starts at 8.30 pm. Filled cobs will be available to purchase from behind the Bar.
Best wishes
Ruth, (Chairwoman) Tony, (Secretary) Helen, (Treasurer) Alan, Ian, Kath, Sheila, Mark and Darren (Committee) If you want to contact the Committee, please email at info@newarkconservativeclub.org or write to us at the Club address
