The Christmas Party was a great success.  We were 40 in number despite a few unavoidable cancellations - so a brilliant turn-out and a really nice vibe all round.  The buffet presented (as usual) by Courtney and staff was amazing.  Gorgeous ham and salmon, a wonderful selection of salads and sides, desserts augmented by Robin's homemade rum truffles - such a generous offering much appreciated by us all.  Appropriately, there were many awful Xmas jumpers on show.  Great showing guys.  Again, Robin stole the show with his implanted flashing coloured lights.  If you've got it, I guess you just have to flaunt it (in a good way).  Jean McL oversaw the fun bridge - absolutely bonkers, as usual and great fun. She doggedly tried to keep order amongst the unruly crowd - anarchic inebriation never quite prevailing.  Well done Jean!  And thanks for the prizes.  The 'side' prizes;  Jon B seem to win all of those!! (or maybe he just had the loudest voice!!)  Quentin won the overall prize, fair and square - well, square anyway!!  Apparently he just adds his -ve scores to his +ve scores.  Why make anything more complicated than it need be, especially when your wife has rigged the whole thing anyway.   Andy A 'won' the vice booby prize.  The actual booby prize remains unassigned.......  And then, Frances decided that her 2 clubs had won that trick, you know, the 10th trick on the 3rd hand of the 2nd round.  You know, you must remember!!  No, really.

Seriously, there was much appreciation for the work of the committee in organising and manifesting the event.  But ultimately, their efforts only come to fruition because of the amazing membership at our club, all the acts of kindness, generosity and spirit that we sustain throughout the year, all the contributions large and small which keep the club going.  Bless us all over the winter break, keep well, take care of yourselves and each other.  We look forward to re-convening in January, bearing in mind that there are still a few sessions left before Christmas.

Kelso Bridge Club was founded in 1980. At the time a founding member designed a logo which is still in use today. This has served us well but now requires updating as part of a wider branding exercise to take the Club into the digital age.

The current Club logo – which is non-digital – comprises the letters ‘KBC’ which could mean anything to those who don’t know, a Latin Motto ‘Semper Primus’ (always first), the 4 bridge suits, and an image of Kelso Abbey.

The future

The Club is always endeavouring to attract not only more players, but players of a younger generation, to ensure its survival over the coming decades. To this end you will know that the Club is establishing a 5-year Development Plan for the Club which has 5 themes or Strands

1. Club environment - experience and enjoyment

2. Club Growth - increase membership and engagement

3. Schools initiative – bringing bridge to schools

4. Learning continuum - continued learning, competition

5. Networking and liaison - links with other clubs and the Scottish Bridge Union

This new branding exercise will hopefully contribute to several of these Strands.

 Heriot Watt University

The Club approached the Fashion Branding and Promotion Department of Heriot Watt University in Galashiels to see if this idea might be of interest to the students and provide a real-life project of benefit to the students and the Club alike. This was received with a positive and enthusiastic reaction.

Timing

It would be the intention to have the rebranding exercise undertaken over the next College term for completion a couple of months before the AGM. As an essential part of the process the Club membership would choose the ‘winning’ submission.

A further update will be given in the New Year.

Please make sure that you arrive for bridge sessions before the appointed time - 1845 for evening sessions and 1315 for afternoon sessions.  Late arrivals will usually cause stress and delay for the scorer and for those of us who rely on or prefer a prompt start and finish.

The scorers do a difficult job.  There are often difficulties in accessing the internet.  The Scorebridge database may need to be updated.  The optimum movement needs to be selected and table numbers, boards and Bridgemates distributed.  Chairs may need to be placed for sharing and relays.  Members may need to move tables and so on.  If members arrive late, much of the process needs to be restarted and this delays the start and hence the finish time.  Please help us all to start promptly and ensure a reasonable finish time.

Let's also take this opportunity to appreciate all those who arrive early and (week after week after week) help set out the tables and chairs, the cloths/bidding boxes/score cards and all of the tea/coffee/biscuit stuff.  Your contribution to helping the club nights run smoothly is recognised by the whole committee and by the rest of the membership too, I'm sure.  Thank you all very much.

GREAT NEWS

Following on from the successes of the Friday Afternoon trial, we are pleased to confirm that these sessions will continue into next year until March 27th.  Please continue to support this initiative.

Club participation/attendance increased last year by nearly 7% over the previous year.  Attendance on club evenings during the 2024/25 season was 1224 pairs over the year, compared to 1149 in 2023/24 (excluding the Kelso Congress and BABC events).  This attendance is distributed over about 100  bridge evenings, so our average nightly attendance is approximately 12 pairs, or about 6 to 61/2 tables.  We were able to welcome new members, including those new to bridge as well as more experienced players. 

This reflects the friendly and welcoming vibe within the club - an atmosphere that we strive hard to build and maintain.  We hope that this trend will continue. 

This coming year ushers in 2 new initiatives.  Firstly, we are trialling bridge sessions on Friday afternoons through until end of March next year.  We encourage existing and new members to make this initiative a success.  You will be most welcome.  Secondly, a KBC Development Plan is currently being drawn up.  Our aim is to identify priorities, targets and actions which will improve our experience of bridge at the club and to increase participation, membership and attendance.  This plan will encompass the environment in which we play bridge as well as pathways to introduce, learn and develop bridge for new and existing players.  We also wish to contribute to strengthening the community of bridge clubs and their members within the Border Region and nationally too.

Please feel free to reach out to our Secretary Shirley Redgrave (details below, or kelsobridgeclub@gmail.com) to express an interest in bridge or the club.  We look forward to welcoming you.

Most of us are Bronze members of SBU (New Members up to Senior Master level).  The SBU organise tournaments, leagues, competitions and events for Bronze members.  The SBU website presents challenges in navigating and accessing resources.  However, we are doing our best to nudge things forward.  In any case, we will try to keep up-to-date information regarding events dedicated to Bronze players.

We have a dedicated page for Bronze players under the SBU tab to the left, and directly accessed here

We are about to start work on creating a KBC Development Plan and are encouraging all members of the club to contribute by working in a group, or offering ideas and perspectives.  The Plan should be a reflection of all of our aspirations.

How can you help?

1. by reading the info on the Development Plan page

2. by offering your help, advice, ideas and perspectives

Elimination and Endplay.  Please access here or via 'Hand of the Month' on the lefthand sidebar.

We are a very friendly club and try to cater for all levels of bridge.  We can direct you to novice and intermediate classes, gentle bridge initiatives and so on.

We hope that newcomers to Kelso and its surroundings will discover the site and will be tempted to join us.

We play duplicate every Wednesday and Thursday evenings throughout the year in the Abbey Row Centre, Kelso, TD5 7BJ.  We are currently also running sessions on Friday afternoons as a trial until Christmas. 

Please be seated by 18:45pm for a prompt start before 19.00 for Wed/Thurs evenings, or 13.15 for 13.30 start for Fridays.  

Tea, coffee and biscuits are available at 50p per person.  There is a free carpark at the back of Abbey Row.  

Visitors are very welcome but please contact the Secretary in advance.  Table money is £2 for club members and associate members, £3 for visitors

 Kelso Bridge Club Committee 2024 - 25

President - Paul Hunt

Vice President - Anne Coles

Secretary - Shirley Redgrave - 07974 790521 email kelsobridgeclub@gmail.com

Treasurer - Helen Todd - 0773 6944413

Match point Secretary - Brian Saywood - 01890 885909

Tournament Director - Jean McLaren

Committee Members:

Lindy Mastenbroek-Andrew,  Richard Goodwin, Quentin McLaren, Sheena McPherson and Diana Veitch