After a couple of years of acrimonious dispute the EDGA EC (executive committee) has bowed down to it’s members wishes.

At a meeting in Feb. the members of EDGA voted that the closed shop policy be changed, immediately, and that the EC will change the constitution and structure of EDGA to reflect the wishes of all their members

I am please to report that the EDGA EC has been in touch ( 2 telephone calls duration 1.5 hrs in total) and it appears that the EC is prepared to go along with its members.

We have been asked to advise on the changes necessary to the structure and constitution of EDGA that would assure our attendance at a meeting in Eire in Sept. It was intermated that the changes recommended would (probably) be accepted.

One thing I did insist upon was the withdrawal, of the "Official Statement". This "Statement" is the one where EDGA banned the whole world from entering their tournaments.

In my view if they were kind enough to publish this they should be good enough to unpublish it.

Sadly ,although these telephone conversations took place three or so weeks ago, I have yet to receive the written withdrawal. Until I do I can only presume that the ban is still in place. Experience in these matters has taught me to accept nothing until I see it in writing.

Such was the tone of the calls however ,that I remain relatively optimistic.

John Byrne (BALASA Golf co-ordinator and Handigolf Committee member)

1st Terry Kirby 20 points, 2nd Norman Leach 16 points, 3rd Keith Robinson 15 points

T. Chance 12, B. Alden 11, A. Campbell 9, M. Gibson 4, J. O’Reily 3, A Tofield 3, G Hinchliffe

Minutes of Handigolf Committee Meeting
Normanby Hall 12.5.03

Present
Andy Greasley, Terry Kirby, Tony Tofield, Don Hancock, Keith Robinson,

Discussed items
Following the recent theft and severe damage to a buggy from a store shed the insurance policy was reviewed. It was decided that this was an acceptable risk compared to the last premiums offered for such coverage. Members are urged to attempt to place such items on their household policies where possible even though they are not personal belongings.
The format of events was reviewed and it was considered that there were sufficient opportunities for all members to play in the preferred format.
A display possibility has been offered preceding the British Open in Sandwich Kent. The Kent based Handigolfers have agreed to organise the stand.
AG is to re-engrave a trophy to replace the Most Improved Golfer one that has been lost in the post as follows 96 D Burt, 97 Ian Hayden, 98+99 Keith Robinson, 2000 Tony Tofield, 2001 M Gibson, 2002 Brian Alden.
Terry Kirby to list all tournament winners on the web site.

Disabled Travel

Below is a request I receive asking if I would publish a letter on our site to help a student gather information for a dissertation. The information is to help disabled travellers and is confidential. A link from her web site to ours has been set up in return.

Dear Sir/Madam

My name is Jenny Congrave and I am a third year geography student at the
University of Exeter.  I am currently working on a dissertation that aims to
investigate the travel needs and motivations of wheelchair users.

I may have contacted you before but I have had a few problems with e-mails not
getting through so I have decided to send out another e-mail.

For my dissertation I have created a questionnaire for wheelchair users to
complete and I have placed it on a webpage.  The address is:
www.congrave.btinternet.co.uk

I would like to ask you if it would be possible for you to have a look at this
webpage and consider placing this link to my questionnaire on your webpage.
In addition it would be very helpful if next to the link you could place a
small amount of text either in your own words about my dissertation or from my
introduction.

Another question I would like to ask is would it be possible for your
organisation either to send an e-mail to all members or contacts asking
wheelchair users to consider completing the questionnaire, or to place a small
paragraph in your next publication about my dissertation and asking readers to
complete the questionnaire.

I would be very grateful if you could take the time to consider whether any of
the above options would be viable for your organisation.  I am trying to make
the travel industry aware of unmet needs of disabled travellers to hopefully
improve the standard of attention such travellers receive.  I also want
disabled travellers to have their say about past travel experiences good and
bad.  More about the aims of my dissertation can be found at the web address I
gave above.


I hope to hear from you soon,
Many thanks

Jenny Congrave

jenny

Minutes of Handigolf Committee Meeting
Wavendon 8.9.2003

Present
Andy Greasley, Terry Kirby, Tony Tofield, Keith Robinson, Joe O'Reilly, Graham Hinchliffe.

Discussed items
TK reported that the Spinal injuries association wanted to use our logo on promotional material and this was found to be acceptable.
The Northern Open was reported to have been a good event and to be repeated if possible.
GH tendered his resignation as Handicap secretary but was persuaded to continue, He reconfirmed his preference to play alongside other disabled players in events
GH was asked to determine the "Most Improved" player in order to present the trophy at the AGM.
The shed at GH's house was agreed to be written off as an asset and not worth moving. Future storage problems predicted by GH.
J O'R reported that the Masters next year was planned as a 2 venue event.
AG was asked to investigate a Milton Keynes venue for the AGM and TK was asked to book Walsall if one could not be found,
All contributors to another very good season were acknowledge and appreciated. 9. AG to write to Lydd golf club to accept their offer of a tournament. The AGM to decide the best date in April or September.