MSO World: Bridge Articles

When the English Bridge Union stated their intentions to raise money for the above charity in the autumn of 1999 the committee of Towcester Bridge Club thought it would be a particularly good initiative if the club could organise some kind of event to help support this worthwhile cause.

In the Spring of 2000 the committee had already agreed to donate the proceeds of a 'normal' club night towards this cause. However, it became apparent in early June that no other club in our county had already organised something on a larger scale. This was the time when Towcester decided to hold an 'all day' event and invite all the clubs in Northamptonshire. The date being fixed for Saturday 18th November 2000. The proceeds of a normal club night (29/08/00) would also go towards the 'grand total'.

Five months of careful planning followed, culminating in over 100 people gathering together at Bugbrooke Community Centre to take part in this event. Both Rubber and Duplicate bridge were play from 2pm until 10.30pm. People travelled from all over Northamptonshire and neighbouring counties i.e. Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire.

The event was a tremendous success in all of the three aspects we had promoted i.e. we wanted people to have fun, make new acquaintances and raise money for charity. Raise money we certainly did! An excellent raffle supported by prize donations from local businesses and bridge related companies throughout the county helped to beat the original target of £1000. The total eventually reached a fantastic £1200. The sum of £1200 will now go toward the English Bridge Union's target of £30,000, which is a tremendous effort from everybody connected with Towcester Bridge Club.

Save The Children Area Manager, Kate Smith, who had been involved with this project since July was delighted to be involved with our day and came along to meet everybody and gave an insight to the charity. Kate also gave the following quotation tow week after the event and has asked for this to be incorporated into this press release.

"Save The Children wishes to thank Towcester Bridge Club for their fantastic fund raising efforts. On my recent return from Tanzania, where I saw how a small amount of money can make a lot of difference, for example £1000 can build a classroom for 60 children, this amount of money raised by Towcester will certainly improve the lives of some children in the world." Kate Smith, Area Manager.

The event was such a great success with all concerned that people have asked if we will be holding another event at the same venue next year, if so they would like to reserve their place! Perhaps we will, as they say, watch this space.

Joan Wilding 'the chair' of the Northampton branch of the charity also came along to meet everybody and brought a selection of Christmas cards and wrapping paper. She was delighted to have sold £80 of merchandise in a short time (so did we raise £1280 altogether?). We also had on sale (or return) a large selection of Peter Dunn's bridge books and memorabilia. A percentage of the sales he then donated to our fund.

The event was a great success in helping the charity and for promoting bridge in general in Northamptonshire. We had people new to duplicate attending our event saying that they would like to play at their nearest affiliated club in the future.

Andy Robinson, Secretary
Towcester Bridge Club.