Please remind all your club members that rebates on Universal Membership Subscriptions are available to those who played more than 150 times between 1st April 2017 and 31st March 2018.
We are in the process of processing the rebates, and in due course will contact by email all members who have received one. Some of your members, however, may have received a rebate but we do not have an (accurate) email address for them. If there are any such members of your club, please let them know that they should have been processed by the end of the month. Of course, for such members we would also appreciate you informing us of their email address, if they have one and are happy for us to have it, or updating any incorrect information.
Rebates are being held on EBU membership accounts. To find out how much of a rebate a member has received they should log on to My EBU - www.ebu.co.uk/members/. If a member cannot remember their password they should visit www.ebu.co.uk/passwords.
There are around 2,500 members with a credit on their account – from previous UM rebates or competition prizes – so it is worth all members checking their account, even if they didn’t play enough to get a rebate this year.
Rebates will be kept on the member’s EBU record as a credit. This can be used against competition entries, or when making a purchase from the Bridge Warehouse.
Alternatively, rebates over £5 can be transferred directly to their bank account. If the member would like to do so then they should contact accounts@ebu.co.uk or phone 01296 317200. The member will need to provide us with their bank details – their account number, sort code and name in which the account is held.
We are of course delighted to transfer any credits to EBED, or to the fundraising for the junior teams playing in China this summer. Any member who would like to do that should let us know.
The Treasurer is currently forecasting a loss over the next four years, and therefore has put together a financial recovery plan aimed at tackling that deficit. The Shareholders approved the removal of the rebates as part of this plan. This will affect only around 650 members, but will save around £7,500 per year, and remove a significant administrative workload from the Aylesbury staff.
No rebates will therefore be given for sessions played after 1st April 2018.