Three years ago, Frome Bridge Club decided to re-invent itself as a club that not only played bridge, but taught bridge, both to those who had never played before and those who had played but wanted to improve.
The honest reason behind this was that the numbers playing the ‘serious’ bridge on a Monday night had declined, and the Club needed to increase its membership to survive. As it turned out, though, the effect was something better and happier than we could have hoped for!
What started out as a plan to save Frome Bridge Club has now acquired a life of its own and in the process almost every aspect of Frome Bridge Club has changed beyond recognition. The numbers coming to duplicate bridge on a Monday evening have almost trebled, with many of the newcomers having first attended the Thursday classes. The Thursday mornings have alternated between lessons followed by play, and ‘supervised’ play, in which the less experienced bridge players have been supported and mentored by experienced club members.
As well as improving the numbers coming to bridge in Frome, the nature of the bridge itself has been transformed by an improvement in technology – the Monday night bridge hands are pre-dealt by a duplimator machine, and both Monday and Thursday play are scored electronically using Bridgemate machines. This does mean that for the more competitive of us you can get an instant result of how people have done on both Mondays and Thursdays.
But the most important thing has been how pleasant and positive the Thursday morning sessions have been. This kind and supportive atmosphere has also become the norm at the Monday evening sessions, so that both Monday and Thursday sessions are friendly and happy occasions. Many of the people who come have formed friendships through coming, and now play bridge regularly in each other’s homes. Of course, daytime bridge will always struggle to attract anybody who isn’t retired (although young people would be welcomed with open arms) but the danger is not that the time becomes too boring, but that people laugh so much it gets noisy. If it is indeed helpful to keep your brain active, coming along to a friendly bridge club may prove to be a good way to do it
This year, starting on October 6th, we will be offering different lessons for less and more experienced players. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer lessons for beginners. As usual, the lessons will be at Wesley Church on Thursday mornings, but at the slightly earlier start time of 9.15am. Newcomers as always are very welcome.
Marianne Lewin
