Bridge players from across the county and from much further afield will descend on Bury St Edmunds town centre on Thursday, 19 September.

The Suffolk Bridge Association which represents over 500 members in the county is holding its first ever Café Bridge event.

Such events are extremely popular in some parts of the UK with literally hundreds of players participating, but this will be a first for Suffolk.

The highly unusual format involves participants playing in different cafés and restaurants in the town centre and moving between them after each round, in a complicated movement set up by Victor Lesk who is the UK’s leading exponent of Café Bridge.

Victor, who is in much demand, will be attending to direct the event; and his unique BriAn Bridge app will be used by players to record their scores.

The event is aiming to raise funds for the St Nicholas Hospice Care charity and the following venues have all very kindly agreed to support this event. The Lounge and Garden; Procopios Pantry; The Bay Tree Café; Mowgli Street Food; The Angel Hotel; Abbeygate Cinema; Gastrono-me and the Apex.

A Suffolk Bridge spokesperson said that apart from the event supporting a local charity, its further aim is to also promote the game of Bridge through the awareness and visibility that comes with such an event. Millions of people play bridge worldwide in clubs, online and socially, making it one of the world’s most popular card games.

Players of all standards are welcome to register for the event, which has an entry fee of £30 by visiting the Suffolk Bridge website at https://www.bridgewebs.com/suffolkbridge/.

This is a third-party event, not organised by St Nicholas Hospice Care.

Find out more and sign up