It is with great sadness that I share the news that Xandi Manning sadly passed away on Tuesday, 14th January 2025.

Xandi joined the club in the mid-1980s and was a wonderful supporter of our community. She played bowls and bridge and attended many social events, including New Year’s Eve celebrations and the Bowls Section Summer BBQ.

One of Xandi’s proudest achievements was earning her Surrey Bowls Badge, and she represented the club with distinction on numerous occasions. Her contributions to our club and the friendships she nurtured here will be deeply missed.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to her husband, Butch, her family, and all those who knew and loved her. We kindly ask for your understanding in giving Butch and the family privacy during this difficult time. Please refrain from contacting the house to allow them space to grieve.

Details of the funeral service will be shared once they are available.

Peter Bright

Club Chairman

Here is a roundup of the latest Purley Bridge News with some dates for your diary.

Winter Season

The Summer Season finished on the 31st of August and the Winter Season commenced on Sunday September the 1st and will end on the 31st of March 2025.

All ladders will require a minimum of 10 appearances to qualify

Teams event

A Teams event will take place on Wednesday 15th January in place of the usual Duplicate event.

For this event you must turn up as a pair. There will be a pair of stewards to ensure that every pair that turns up will be able to play.

Beginner Bridge Lessons

Purley Bridge Club will be running a new season of Bridge lessons for beginners in the Bowls Pavilion at Purley Sports Club commencing on Wednesday 2nd October.   The sessions will take place every Wednesday afternoon between 1pm and 3pm. The lessons will be starting from scratch and so are suitable for complete beginners or for those who want to revise their Bridge knowledge.   All are welcome.   Please contact Brenda Blackwell if you know of anyone who might be interested.

Improver training sessions will take place at the rear of the main hall, commencing on Wednesday 2nd October and running from 1pm to 3pm.

Weekly Bridge sessions

The Monday, Wednesday and Thursday sessions continue as normal.

Stewards are now available on all Monday evening and Wednesday mornings For the Thursday evening sessions there will be no steward on the first Thursday of each month.

The Wednesday afternoon arrangement whereby the Directors act as Stewards remains unchanged.

   A new rota for Stewards and Scorers has been set up for the Winter season. Details are on the Bridgewebs calendar.

The handicap for prize winners is 3% accumulating for the first and each subsequent win within the last 9 months. This applies to the same pairing and does not apply if one winner wins again with a different partner. The handicapping process will be kept under review.