IMPORTANT MESSAGE No. 1

Your committee met last night to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and how our club should respond to this. We also reviewed advice from New Zealand Bridge. As we are all well aware, the pandemic has already proven to be particularly hard on the over-60s (which, of course, encompasses a huge percentage of our membership). We are also hearing more about people who are unaware they have COVID-19 inadvertently infecting others. “Social distancing” is being encouraged and bridge is not a game that easily accommodates this.

None of us want players harmed; consequently, the Committee has decided to follow the recommendation from New Zealand Bridge and close the club for three weeks from Monday 23^rd March. Currently, we plan to re-evaluate on 9^th April to see whether closure should be extended or if it is okay to reopen. If we do, the first session would be Tuesday bridge on 14^th April. If there are further changes or new Government advice in the next few days we may need to get in touch again and start the closedown period sooner.

We are very sad at having to shut our doors but feel it is the right course of action as we must take care of our bridge family. We would far rather apologise for what might be seen in hindsight as an over-reaction; than to have to explain why we didn’t have the courage to do something that may, however slightly, help reduce the impact of the COVID-19 virus in our community.

HOME BRIDGE

We hope some of you may want to keep playing bridge at home and would like to support this as much as possible. We recommend that you limit home bridge to no more than 8 players at any time. We are offering a “Tauranga Home Bridge pack” for you which can include all or any of the following:

• 8 Boards
• Bidding pads
• Score sheets for teams and pairs
• Movement instructions for 8-person individual events where everyone present plays everyone else
• Tables and table cloths (maximum 2 per person and available on a first come, first served basis)

We are also offering free coaching, help and support for your home bridge sessions. If you are interested in having one of our team of coaches come along to your session to provide hints, tips and direct it for you, please REGISTER YOUR INTEREST with Norm. He will be available by phone (Monday-Friday 10am-Noon) and email during the closedown period.

WELFARE AND SUPPORT

This year we introduced a Welfare and Support Sub-Committee to formalize our strategies and plans for taking care of our club members and providing support where required. Your Committee has agreed that we want to make our Welfare and Support team available to you during the coming weeks and starting now as the Club will be closed.

If you would like a chat, or are feeling stressed or alone at this uncertain time, please reach out to one of our Welfare and Support team – we are here for you. It is a time when it is important to think of our wider community as we focus on stopping the spread of COVID-19. We also can potentially help with delivering groceries or assisting with other shopping.

The team is:

We will be in touch over the coming days and weeks with further updates as required. If you have any questions or concerns you can contact me or Karen at any time.

Thinking of you all

Kate

KATE TERRY

PRESIDENT