Sue received the Dimmie Fleming Award in 2024, recognising a long and valuable contribution to county bridge, below is the citation for her award from Manchester:
Irene Davies has made a major and significant contribution to the success of Manchester County Bridge Association during the last 15 years.
Initially, she joined the Executive Committee as Tournament Secretary, responsible for organising and managing the county’s major competitions, for the benefit of members of all abilities and enabling winners to progress to finals of prestigious EBU trophy competitions. In conjunction with this, she also took on the job of Congress Secretary – the county’s annual flagship event that was attracting, prior to Covid, up to 400 players during the congress weekend – to include innovative events designed to encourage non-experts into competitive bridge.
Throughout the last 9 years (2015-2024), Irene has been an exemplary Chair of MCBA, demonstrating outstanding leadership qualities. During Covid lockdowns, she led the drive to encourage members into on-line bridge and since Covid has been instrumental in encouraging players back to face-to-face bridge, both locally and further afield. She was a very pro-active chair who believed in the power of F2F contact with members and so made a conscious effort to visit and play in as many of the county’s clubs as she could.
Irene has been an active member of the County Chairs’ group with a special interest in endeavours to attract newcomers to bridge via publicity and events in our local communities, and in so doing has succeeded in bringing them into lessons in a number of the county’s clubs. Her commitment to newcomers and teaching has been a major asset in the development and growth of several clubs.
She has also been successful in encouraging non-affiliated clubs to engage with the county and the EBU and 4 such clubs have affiliated during her tenure.
The Executive and county members admire Irene’s passion for bridge and her dedication to the roles she has taken on. Throughout all her endeavours she has shown initiative and thoroughness, carried out in her very personal manner and in good humour. We recommend her for a Dimmie Fleming Award.