Katie Duncanson and Tom Eckersley-Waites were the leading pair at the Sussex Team of 8 Event.

Patcham finished second equal out of 7 Clubs.

Well done team

Patcham BC will be running two sessions in the EBU British Spring Sim Pairs 2026 on Monday 13th April at 19:15 on BBO and Wednesday 15th April 2026 at 13:15 in the afternoon at the club.

In a club duplicate all our pairs play the same set of boards, thereby allowing a comparison to be made to see who played them to best advantage. Now imagine all around England (or even further afield) pairs in different clubs playing the same set of boards at the same time in a single event allowing comparison over the whole of the country. That is in essence what a Simultaneous Pairs event is – an event run concurrently at different clubs over a wider area.

Entry Fee

Monday 13th April - Members - $6 BBO - sorry no guests. The club will subsidise your entry fee.

Wednesday 15th April - Members - two playing vouchers.
The club will subsidise your entry fee.  Guests - £10. Due to limited space in the room at the centre there will be a maximum of 20 tables with players being seated on a "First Come First Served" basis – preference will be given to club members in case of over-capacity.

Why not come and join us for our first away day of 2026 at the Mid Sussex Golf Course for a lunch buffet, tea and coffee on arrival and a day of bridge (two sessions of 18 boards) on Tuesday 7th April 2026.

£25 per member - the club is subsidising this event (so we are limiting entry to regular players only please).

We are limiting to 40 members (10 tables) maximum due to room capacity.

9am arrivals - hot drinks 
10:00 Morning Bridge
12.30-1:30pm - buffet lunch - cold meats buffet
1:30pm Afternoon Bridge
4:30pm finish - but no real rush and the bar closes at 7pm 

Lunch will be a buffet featuring a selection of cold meats to include ham, turkey + smoke salmon, bread rolls, a variety of salad dishes to include: salsa salad, coleslaw & new potatoes, mini pork pies, crisp mixed leaf, mini quiches and prawn salad. 

Choice of dessert from  chocolate brownie and ice cream, vanilla cheesecake and berry compote, lemon meringue tartlets with cream, fresh fruit salad or cheese and biscuits. 

If you want to join us then the best way is to use our online form here!  (Or if you have difficulty with that then email the club or speak to Megan or Milli at the club). You will not be asked to pay when you register your interest.

Cut-off date to register your interest is Friday March 27th. 

If we have more potential players than seats, then places will be allocated based on the combined number of sessions played by the partnership at the club during the last 12 months. If you are selected then you will be asked for the money. Cut-off date for payment is Tuesday March 31st.

We are happy to announce that thanks to Doris Stauss's legacy to the Club,  we have decided to invest in a new scoring system - the Bridgemate III.

The Bridgemate III is the next-generation bridge scoring system and the natural evolution of the trusted Bridgemate II that we currently use. 

Completely redesigned with modern hardware and advanced software, it delivers a faster, smarter, and more intuitive experience for our players.

We started to use the new system on Monday 23rd February. So far we have had a few teething problems, but hope we have those sorted now. 

Using the handsets is intuitive and if you can use a Bridgemate II then you will be able to use the new devices without any problems.

Some light reading here and here 

The Club will be holding the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 22nd April  2026 at 16:30 straight after the afternoon bridge session.

A  G  E  N  D  A
 
1.    Apologies for absence            
2.    Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting – 16th April 2025    
3.    Matters arising    
4.    Treasurer’s report    (JH)
5.    Appointment of Financial Examiner    
6.    Chairman’s report    (RG)
7.    Appointment of Officers    
8.    Appointment of Committee Members    
9.    Any Other Business    

All members are welcome to attend.

Now that Winter is fast approaching, the committee would be grateful if members would stay away from the club if they have (or are in close contact with someone who has) any cold or flu like symptoms (runny nose, sore throat, cough, fever).

This is to protect all club members from unnecessary illness.

Thank you!

We are pleased to advise you that the car park is solely for visitors to the Community Centre or the Library.

To park there you will either need a Membership Permit or a Visitors Permit displayed in the parked car.

The new 2025 red parking permits are available to collect at any bridge session from 1st May 2025. Also day permits can be obtained for visitors. The old green parking permits are valid until 1st July 2025 so no need to panic.

Failure to display a valid permit or not parking tidily in a designated space risks a  £100 fine.

Parking will remain on a first arrival basis.

Detailed Parking Rules are in the Documents section in the lefthand menu of the website or click here  Patcham Community Centre parking rules.pdf

Your committee has decided that after many years without increase during a period of significant inflation that now is the time to raise the table money.

Having made a loss in the last finacial year demonstrates that building a cushion against possible future unexpected cost increases is a good idea.

So from the 1^st May 2025:-

A book of ten playing vouchers will be £25
A member paying cash will be £3
A guest paying cash will be £5

Monday's BBO game will remain the same at $3 BBO

We hope you all agree this is still excellent value for money.  

We know lots of you are looking for a regular or occasional partners. We also know that the facility in the Calendar pages is not the most “user friendly” thing in the world.

So, we are re-launching the “Find a Partner Pinboard” facility. We think that using the virtual pinboard will be easier for everyone. It has been available before but it was mixed up with the Contact Us form. Now it has its own menu link. You don’t need to login to the website to add a Pinboard request.

We are going to let the two methods run in parallel for a while so if you are looking for a partner, please check both the Pinboard (in the left hand menu) and the Calendar in the right hand column. Or add your own requests of course!

If you need assistance with the process contact patchambridgeclub@gmail.com