Re-Opening of the Club for Face to Face Bridge
It has been a long time coming but hopefully it will not be much longer before we can meet up together to play face to face bridge again.
Of course it is still not certain that all the restrictions will be lifted in the next step of the Government’s Roadmap on 21st June. Every day brings new theories in the press, may be some form of social distancing, face masks still being worn, even local restrictions. However the Committee has and will continue to press ahead with planning to re-open the Club as soon as we can feasibly do so.
We do not at this stage know how many of you will want to come back to the Club. Some may want to do so immediately, others may want to wait to see how things go. We are sure though that, certainly initially, we will not be returning to how things were before we were forced to close.
From feedback we have been receiving it is clear that many of you want the online bridge to stay and so we have taken that into account in our planning. We also know that the Bolton only sessions have been extremely popular and so we have decided to avoid the timing of those sessions for play in the Club. The sessions we are proposing for face to face bridge are as follows:-
Monday evening 7.30 pm start time
Tuesday afternoon 1.00 pm start time
Wednesday evening 7.30 pm start time
Up to 24 boards in each session, with a break for refreshments. Tea/coffee/biscuits will be available for all three sessions and the bar will be open for the two evenings.
The first 2 weeks of opening will be free of charge.
All sessions will be open to everyone who wants to play with no restrictions on ability. In other words they are not simply a reinstatement of the previous sessions on those dates/times.
At first we think that we may have to limit the number of tables in play and if that is the case then pre-booking would be required, as too will the usual pre-booking of any stationary seats.
There will not be a Host available and therefore you will need a partner.
As said above we do not know what the Government guidance will be after 21st June. Whilst there has been a lot of discussion in the press that this disease is not passed on via surfaces we appreciate that many will not be comfortable in handling items used by others. Whilst we can take some steps to mitigate this, East/West using the same bidding boxes for the entire session for example, it is not practical when playing duplicate to only use each set of cards once. Sanitisers will be put on each table and of course people can choose to wear gloves if they so wish. Windows will be open to provide good ventilation. Face masks may well have to be worn. The Club will be thoroughly cleaned between each session.
So in outline that is our plan, but in the end it is all dependent not only on the Government, but also you too, our Members. We plan to hold three mornings where members can drop in for a coffee and let us have their views. These are planned for Tuesday 22nd, Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th June from 10.30 to 12.00. The planned opening day of the Club for bridge is Monday 5th July which will give us time to make any necessary adjustments to our planning.
To help us know what might happen we would welcome your input and below you will find a short questionnaire. If you could take the time to give us your feedback it would be very much appreciated. You can do that by email to boltonbridgeclub@gmail.com, by mail to the Club address or by contacting a member of the committee. They are in alphabetical order – Duncan Ault, Wendy Blyth, Heather Carr, Jay Cooper, Paul Evans, Ken Hardman, Stephen Hazlitt, Linda Hitchen, Andy Htchon, Vanessa Openshaw, Jeff Smith, Susan Squires, June Timperley or Paul Vose.
Thank you for your help in advance.
Heather Carr, President.
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Are you planning to return for face to face bridge? IMMEDIATELY LATER NEVER
2. If Never – please can you give your reasons why
3, Would you come to a drop in coffee morning? YES NO
4. If you are currently playing in the online duplicate sessions will you continue to do so?
YES NO
5 If YES which ones – please state
6. We plan to play 24 boards but how many boards do you think we should play?
24 18 Other – please state number
7. The sessions in the Club are initially open to players of all levels. Do you agree with that proposal?
YES NO
8. If NO what sessions would you want to see? Please give details.
9. Going forward as the number of people playing increases and we understand better what our Members would like, we obviously want to increase the number of sessions . To help us plan please can you indicate which days/times/levels you think we should move to? Please select days and beneath indicate time – Morning/Afternoon/Evening and the level – for example if anyone can play put All
MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT SUN
10. Please give any other suggestions or comments below.
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