This week's blog has been written by John Griffith, Chairman of the Merseyside Bridge Centre. He talks about the history of the centre and the upcoming plans for the 40th Anniversary celebrations:
The centre opened as a business venture in 1983 at 657 Borough Road Birkenhead with seating capacity for some 25 tables. Regular weekly sessions to cater for varying levels of players were offered together with lessons and seminars. Hot food was available plus a licensed bar.
In 1989 the club owners offered the tenanted premises, together with furniture and equipment, to the members and a new committee was appointed with four trustees. The club flourished with membership numbers well in excess of 200 and open for different events every weekday and occasional weekends.
In addition to playing at our club we have also celebrated our 21st & 30th anniversaries at the St. George`s Hotel Llandudno together with regular weekends away in Lytham St Annes. This year we celebrate our 40th birthday and return once more to Llandudno for our celebrations.
In December 2017 we decided not to renew our lease and were fortunate to find alternative accommodation at a local church. Membership and attendance flourished until the arrival of Covid and, as with many other organisations, we closed our doors.
Since our move, it is pleasing to see that some of our members, some of whom worship elsewhere, have enjoyed joining several Church events and supported their fund-raising efforts.
Post Covid our attendance has naturally fallen as many of our members prefer to play from the comfort of their homes. The committee are working hard to generate attendance back to face-to-face bridge and we now have regular Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon sessions.
We are also hopeful of reinstating some of our previous non- regular events together with daytime lessons and seminars.