English Bridge Union
An update from Tim Anderson
In September I was appointed Membership Development Officer, a new post created to support county associations in the task of bringing new members into bridge clubs. Some of these new members will be former players returning to the game, while others will be new bridge players who need not only teaching but also to be brought into gentle, supervised sessions where they can gradually learn to play at normal club level.
Increasing club membership is satisfying for all sorts of reasons, and the process of running membership campaigns and setting up suitable classes and sessions is enriching for clubs as well as beneficial for the community.
It is also vital for the future of bridge. All of us will be aware that bridge has an aging demographic, and the data tells us that unless we act now to increase club membership, many clubs will simply not be viable 10 years from now.
One of the things I am working on is a new resource site with information, guidance, images and templates that clubs can use to support their membership campaigns, and you can find this (currently under construction!) at https://ebumemberdevelop.org.uk.
The creation of this role is in large part thanks to the success of the membership campaign run by Yorkshire Contract Bridge Association in which, says Regional Development Officer David Guild, 20 of 34 clubs ran campaigns, and in 18 cases have had good results. We are drawing on what has been learned in order to make it as easy as possible for county associations to run their own campaigns.
Campaigns are already under way in Manchester and Merseyside & Cheshire. Other counties will be joining them, and if you are interested in finding out more please visit the web site above or contact your county association.
