Derek & Janet have been stalwarts of Bedfordshire County bridge for many years. In his main role as Competitions Secretary, Derek developed a challenging and enjoyable calendar of events each year; organised directors, scorers, and helpers for each event; provided and maintained all county equipment from card tables to computers; and was instrumental in obtaining the splendid Wixams Lakeview Village Hall as a venue for all county events, with space for storing all equipment.
In her role as County Secretary, Janet organised and recorded Committee meetings and the AGM; looked after trophies, including engraving with winners’ names; and maintained communications with the EBU and clubs. Janet had served as County secretary on a number of occasions in the last 15 years.
In addition to the hard work devoted to their general duties, Janet and Derek made two massive contributions to Beds. County bridge:
Firstly, they ran the annual Charity Pairs Day, donating all the delicious food and wine, collecting donations of prizes, and running the event. Each event raised over £2000 for charity. Many new players were introduced to county bridge through this fun day.
Secondly, when Duplicate Bridge as we knew it stopped in March 2020, Bedfordshire County was in some disarray. All Bedfordshire clubs stopped playing in organised events bar the Bedford Bridge Club who had an opportunity to use free sessions on BBO. The County committee felt we needed to bring more clubs back on stream and started running Thursday evening sessions.