Ipswich & Kesgrave Bridge Club

Mondays and Thursdays at 7:00pm

Monday Relaxed Pairs: online on BBO or face-to-face at Kesgrave Community Centre, Ipswich, both sessions start at 7:00pm. The same boards are played and all participants receive follow-up notes on the deals, distributed by email, usually within two days.

Thursday Club Pairs: also on BBO or face-to-face in the Ropes Hall, Kesgrave Community Centre, Ipswich. Both sessions start at 7:00pm and although the results are separate, all participants play the same deals.

Visitors: always welcome, for any session we run. Before your first session you must register with us; see the Visitor Information Form. Online players for Monday or Thursday can use the respective links from the Online Bridge Club box, right.

At Kesgrave we run a cashless system for collecting table money and players are billed for sessions played at the end of each month.

If you need a partner, check our Partnership Desk. Non-members can be contacted by emailing Anne Edwards for their contact details – before 1:00pm on the day in question if possible.

Any questions, about any format, please let us know, we're here to help.

More below; scroll down or click on:

• Deal of the Week
• Charities
• Phil goes to Wales

Missed any? All past articles have their own page (also menu-item, left).

2025 Donations

Spring

For the first of this year's two Charity Weeks, donations went to an Ipswich organisation, Dora Brown. In their own words,

Dora Brown is a small charity based in Suffolk. We have a large team of volunteers who transform homes, free-of-charge, for families living in crisis; homes which have broken down because of furniture + hygiene poverty + domestic neglect.

You can see more of what they do on their website,
https://www.dorabrown.com/.

We are pleased say that the combined table-monies donated over the four sessions was £360.

On Thursday 26th June we were able to present a cheque to a Amy Smyth of Dora Brown. Amy gave a brief outline of Dora Brown's activities and expressed her apprieciation to the club.

There will be a second Charity Week in November and we would very much like to hear members' suggestions, especially of smaller, local charities to support.

2024 Donations

Autumn

The proceeds of our Autumn Charity Week were divided between two small organisations, both based in Ipswich.

East Anglian Sailing Trust (EAST) who provide regular sailing sessions for disabled and disadvantaged adults and children. Committee member Peter Hudson is a volunteer with EAST. See the EAST website for more information.

From our four sessions in November 2024 we were able to donate £200 to EAST.

Suffolk Refugee Support (SRS), an independent charity giving practical support to refugees and asylum seekers in Suffolk. SRS have more details of their activities on their website.

From our four sessions in November 2024 we were able to donate £200 to SRS.

Spring

We are pleased to announce that as a result of our Spring Charity Week we are donating £350 to East Anglian Air Ambulance. EAAA have thanked us, writing,

The lives of seriously injured and ill people across East Anglia are being saved today because of you and your fantastic fundraising. Thanks to donations from clubs like yours, friends and family will receive the expert critical care they need in an emergency, support with their recovery and, as well as this, people in the community will be able to learn the life-saving skills of how to deliver CPR – Your club really is making a difference.

Phil leaves us and goes to Wales

Monday 23rd June saw us say goodbye to one of the founding members of our Monday Relaxed Face-to-Face games. Phil Manington, who has been planning this for some time, is moving to North Wales.

To make sure he was given the appropriate send off, Mary Kramer, his regular Monday partner organised cake for Phil. Those of us who know Phil's dietary requirements will know that sorting out a cake was not as straightforward as it usually is!

He will be sorely missed by us all as he has been a fantastic supporter of our Monday Relaxed Game, the perfect role model for the sort of relaxed and friendly evening we have been trying to create. He has promised, and we will try to hold him to this, to come back for the Christmas Party where hopefully he will again be able to entertain us all.

We all wish Phil good luck in his Welsh adventure.