Dennis and Ian have been members of The Friends for 19 years and 10 years respectively. Ian worked in the University Library for 30 years, while Dennis’ father-in-law worked at the University for 40 years after the war. Both, inspired by their connections to Reading, joined The Friends to further their shared passion for local history and heritage. Teaching. This means the club can teach you bridge, or direct you to a suitable teacher, even if you have no experience whatsoever.

The Friends have three core objectives: outreach work in the wider community, providing volunteers to assist with University events, and offering grants to departments and societies across the University. There are two kinds of bridge, rubber which is normally played at home for leisure, and duplicate bridge which is used for competitions.Recent academic work has shown a link between mental activity and maintenance - or even improvements - in mental health and wellbeing. Research has found that the social interaction that can come from playing bridge can be a key to a long and happy life - this talk from TED explains more: CBAI125515 SWISS TEAMS DROGHEDA & FRIENDS ALL WELCOME Players: How to register to a Swiss Teams Tournament FOBC Duplicates are currently held every Sunday, Monday & Wednesday at 7.15pm and Wednesday at 10.45am Congratulations go to the following FOBC members who have been promoted to a higher rank through the EBU master points scheme:

Oliver Cromwell banned all card games during his Protectorate - however after the Restoration and once Charles II was safely on the throne, card games returned! Dennis added: “We had six organised tours booked with groups in 2020 and they all had to be postponed.CONNECTED finds out what motivated Dennis and Ian to move into the realm of video production to tell the story of the University of Reading’s history, and to discover more about the work The Friends do. Making history accessible Probability There is opportunity to use probability at all levels of the game Knowledge of how cards split (with 5 cards out the likely split of 3-2 is 68%, 4-1 split is 28%, 5-0 split is 4%) Knowledge that a finesse is an evens chance, in the absence of other information. Due to the activity of this Committee, together with the Stirling University Research, promoted and coordinated by Prof. Samantha Punch with the support of the WBF, the image of bridge is strengthened and developing its full potential with such projects in the social, cultural and educational fields.

Bridge is popular with UK politicians - every year there is a match between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Ian said: “We are currently researching a leaflet on the history of the halls of residences, and perhaps one on the Earley Gate side of Whiteknights campus.” These videos The Game of Bridge or Learn to Play Bridge in 5 minutes will give an overview of the basics of the game.Certainly not Homer Simpson, but different people and ages are hooked by bridge, and it is a rapidly growing pastime with ever more individuals enjoying what the game has to offer. In these days of people becoming lost in electronic entertainment, such as box sets and social media, more and more people are returning to board and card games as families see the value of learning and playing together in a more social, interactive environment. Many couples attend classes together, because bridge is a great inexpensive activity and it’s a wonderful way to make new acquaintances. Finally, bridge is prominent throughout the celebrity and political world: from Bill Gates to Winston Churchill, and Omar Sharif to members of the band, Blur! Sharif is quoted as stating that, “Acting is my living, but bridge is my passion”, and Gates is a self-confessed bridge-obsessive: The study commissioned by the EBU at St. Paul 's School in Manchester clearly shows a positive development of the young people involved. This study concentrated more on social skill development, rather than improvements of a purely academic nature. Experience shows that bridge teaches: Team Building Unlike chess, which is a single player game, bridge is a partnership game You have to work as a team understanding that bidding is a dialogue between partners aiming to reach the best contract Understanding that defence is a partnership activity.