Alan Stanfield of Gloucester Bridge Club and Churchdown Bridge Club in Gloucestershire talks about his experience teaching bridge to local care home residents:
A number of residents in a local Care Home had expressed interest in playing bridge, some of whom had previously played bridge or other card games, so we were contacted by a member of staff to see if we could help.
We met with staff, to discuss possible arrangements. Some challenges to be expected included manual dexterity to hold the cards etc, hearing/visual difficulties, dementia and mobility issues etc. We agreed with staff that a couple of them should join in, so that we can withdraw in due course. That will also allow the residents to play whenever they feel like it, with help from staff. We’ve provided a selection of card holders and some visual aids, which seem to help.
We agreed that minibridge would be a good practical activity, and so we’ve started with minibridge with no trumps and will move on to minibridge with trumps in due course. We started with pre-dealt boards but are now encouraging the players to shuffle/deal if they can, and we’re gradually introducing scoring.
So far, we’ve had 3 tables of residents and we have 3 volunteers from local clubs who run each table. Despite the challenges, it has been great to see the players enjoying their games, and as volunteers we’ve enjoyed helping them. Onwards & upwards!