We are sad to hear that Rita Todd died on 20th November.  She was a member of SBC for some years, although she hadn't played recently.  Our condolences go to her family and friends.

The Club is sad to report the death on 6th November of Richard Whittington, a true gentleman and a loyal supporter of Summertown’s face-to-face sessions. Our condolences go to Dorothy and his family.

Tell your family and friends about this event!  If they like social bridge, and even if they haven't played for a while, this is an introduction to online bridge - help will be given where needed.  Details are here: https://www.bridgewebs.com/oba/

Sadly Chris Dawe died suddenly in late August while in hospital having some tests done.

He had been a member of Summertown BC for many years, and had recently stepped in several times when players were short of partners, in particular one evening he agreed to play at about five minutes' notice!  He was a qualified EBU director, as well as directing at Oxford BC.  In 2023 he won an EBU award: see this link.

https://www.ebu.co.uk/biographies/chris-dawe

His funeral will be held on Friday 10^th October at 12 noon in Easthampstead Park Crematorium, Wokingham.   For details click here.

Peggy’s funeral was held on 12th September. Click here for Trevor’s recollections of Peggy at the bridge table, as given at the funeral. 

On 7^th July, we played in the ECats Summer Charity Pairs in aid of the British Heart Foundation and Kidney Research UK.

There was no charge to players. Dorchester & Summertown will share the cost of the admin fee. 

ECats asks that players consider making individual donations of at least £3.  You are encouraged to be generous in the light of the fact that there is no table money at present.  You can add Gift Aid if you pay sufficient tax.

Payment can be made at the links below:

ECatsBridge Fund Raising is fundraising for British Heart Foundation

ECatsBridge Fund Raising is fundraising for Kidney Research UK

When you make your donation JustGiving will suggest that you add a tip - and the slider doesn't go down to zero! However, if you click the ’Enter Custom Amount’ link below the slider you can set it as zero. Which means that your whole donation goes to the charity, if this is what you want.

National results are at:

ECatsBridge - Promoting Real Bridge in a Virtual World

The Club is sad to hear of Peggy Manuell’s death on 3rd June aged 94. 

She was a long time member of OBC, but became a loyal supporter of Summertown, along with her daughter, Linda Kimber. 

We send our condolences to Linda and the rest of Peggy’s family. 

The Club is sad to hear that Steve Nyman died on 8th February after a long illness.

He was charming at the bridge table, always friendly and a pleasure to play against, and he will be greatly missed.

He loved playing bridge and his wife (Audrey) says it was the longest lasting of all his hobbies (having started when he was about 16).

He also did a lot for young people and ran a successful youth group.

Steve's funeral is on Wednesday 12th March at 12 noon.  For full details please email Erica (ericasheppard5ATgmail.com).

Page 24 of the February issue of the EBU's 'English Bridge' magazine featured Summertown BC and Dorchester.  Sandra kindly wrote the article about our collaboration.  Thank you, Sandra!

Albert Eastham sadly died on 23rd December at the age of 89 after a short illness.

He was a longstanding member of the club, and was always ready to chat.  He was an interesting person, a proud Lancashire man, and a university lecturer who had worked in many countries and climbed many mountains!  He will be missed.

A thanksgiving service will be held on Friday 21st February at 1pm at St. Andrew's Church, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UG.  Albert was keen that the service should not be a sombre occasion. He was a fan of brightly coloured clothes so please feel free to dress as you wish. He wanted everyone to enjoy some food afterwards and have time to chat - two of his favourite pastimes! 

Any pair that gets over 55% in a club game in the weeks commencing 3rd and 10th February will be entitled to play in the Regional Finals on 23rd March.  Oxfordshire is part of the Midlands Region, along with Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northants, Nottinghamshire, Staffs & Shropshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire.  The regional finals will be online.

The results from the regional finals will determine the top 50 pairs, who will be entitled to play in the National Pairs Final on RealBridge on 12th - 13th April 2025.

On Monday, 27th January, ten tables played in our first sim pairs in over five years, the ECats Charity Pairs in aid of UNICEF, a strictly 'fun' event, with no prizes and no extra master points.

Here is the link to the national results:

https://www.simpairs.com/default.asp?session=003665

ECats asks that players consider making individual donations of at least £3 to UNICEF, who desperately need money to be able to help the many thousands of children affected by war, famine, floods and climate change.

The details of how to make payment are here:

The OBA is inviting players to compete in an on-line teams-of-four competition starting in January 2025, on the fourth Thursday of each month on Real Bridge starting at 19.00.

There will be one competition between January - May 2025 and a second competition between July - November 2025.

Teams can be made up of players from multiple clubs, and the team can be made up of different players each month. It is anticipated that most players will have an NGS of about 8+. The results for each competition will be recorded in a ladder on the OBA website.

Names of proposed captains should be sent to matthewcovill@hotmail.com.  The captain is then responsible for organising a team to play each month and paying the usual OBA table money on-line. The captain does not need to be available for every match, just to make sure a team is fielded by entering the team each month on the OBA website.

If you scored 55% in the club game at Summertown on 5th or 12th February, you are entitled to enter the Regional Finals of the National Pairs on 24th March. For details follow this link:

https://www.ebu.co.uk/competitions/national-pairs#: :text=2024%20National%20Final,6.00pm%20on%20the%20Sunday.