First the good news.  On two recent Saturday afternoons the club has been full as we have hosted two excellent events.  On April 2^nd we paid our tribute to Anne Swannell for all she gave to the club over many years.  Many people returned to the club for the first time since lockdown to enjoy bridge face to face again, as well as delicious cakes.  Last Saturday, the 23rd, saw an equally full house and equally scrumptious tea in support of Ukraine.  Again, lots of people playing f2f for the first time in two years.

Now the very disappointing news.  On Friday night we had just two tables for the evening session.  Fridays used to be one of the highlights of the week with a high standard of play and keen competition.  To win on a Friday night was an achievement.  Now it was a 1 in 4 chance!  Why the contrast between the Saturdays and the Fridays? I think it may be that lots of people are quite keen to start playing live again but they want to know that it will be well-attended and have a sense of occasion.  So they will return, but not until the numbers go up and keen competition is restored.

We would all like to play alongside plenty of other people, enjoying one another’s company and feeling we have achieved if we’re in the top three but we may need to commit ourselves a bit more to get the ball rolling!  I hope that you will come along to play live very soon, as so many did last Saturday, and then Fridays will again become noisy and fun.