English Bridge Education and Development, the new charity for the game, is beginning to take shape.
The charity has two public benefit objectives: the furtherance of bridge as an activity which enriches the life of all, and secondly a specific aim to foster bridge among those in full-time education. We are now developing specific projects which we believe will move the game forward on both these fronts.
Building upon the very successful suite of activities formerly undertaken within the EBU’s Education Department, the charity is now seeking to extend its reach further to attract bridge players from the wider community. This will afford important economies of scale, allowing us to hold more courses in more places and will, we hope, also encourage more people to look at the range of benefits and services which EBU membership confers. Please do tell your non-EBU friends about our Teacher Training and TD courses which are open to all comers (although only affiliated clubs can take advantage of the range of discounts offered).
Among the key challenges we are now looking at are: how we can foster the provision of accelerated learning, how we convert more classroom students into playing members, the provision of out-of-classroom venues for young players, and how we work with schools, colleges and universities in a more integrated co-ordinated way, taking advantage of proven success up and down the country.
To undertake these projects will require both manpower and financial assistance, in addition to the generous support which we already receive from the EBU. As we work to build our case for support from these sources, we hope that clubs and members will be increasingly keen to become involved and help us to increase the size and enthusiasm of our membership. More news to come in the next issue of Club Management Focus!