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'Bridge is not just a game for your gran'

Jonathan Lillycrop Adrian Darnell playing bridge in a room. He is wearing a red checked shirt, is holding a pack of wards and has items for playing bridge in front of him. He is wearing glasses and has grey short hair. There are other people in the room, behind him, also playing, sitting on chairs at tables. There are coats on hooks, the floor is wooden, the walls are green and there are red doorsJonathan Lillycrop
Adrian Darnell says the game needs selling to younger players

Bridge needs a rebrand to attract new players – and if it doesn't, "it will disappear".

That is the view of Adrian Darnell of the English Bridge Union (EBU), which has its headquarters in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

The average player is in their early 70s, and Mr Darnell said the card game needed "to break this cycle that people think 'It's what my gran does'."

Abbey Smith, 48, who teaches bridge, insisted that "it's not a game for old people, by any stretch of the imagination", and it used logic, helped to keep the brain active and was sociable.

Abbey Smith Abbey Smith sitting at a table playing bridge. A pink plastic box is in front of her, with a blue covering on her table. She is holding cards, with other cards in front of her. There are red patterned drawn curtains. She is wearing a purple top with a black top underneath. She has glasses on her head and has chin-length hair. She is smiling. There are two people at the table with her. A fourth person is sitting down, with their back to the camera, to the rightAbbey Smith
Abbey Smith says the game can be played at any level

Mr Darnell, 71, from Durham, a volunteer with the membership-funded EBU, started playing as a teenager.

"The game's demographic is getting older and we recognise that's something we need to address," he said.

"It does not need to be played by someone who's retired."

He said the EBU hoped to gain new members from universities as well as the wider society to increase its membership.

"Every time you pick up a hand of cards, it's different. It's a delightful exercise in problem solving," Mr Darnell said.

"If we do not attract new people, if we do not recruit, then it will disappear. We're losing people naturally.

"We've got to have new people coming in – I would love to see our organisation with a wider, more diverse demographic."

English Bridge Union A large room of people playing bridge. There are lots of people holding cards and sitting on chairs around tables, playing the game. The room has a high ceiling, a wooden floor and blue curtains. There is bunting on the leftEnglish Bridge Union
The more "tricks" played, the higher the score

Ms Smith, from Drayton Parslow, near Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, said the game was her passion and had given her "the best career that I could have asked for".

She was taught to play aged 12 by her father and represented England juniors at 16.

"You have to think logically, and with children it makes them think without them knowing they're thinking," she said.

"It has nothing to do with the luck of the cards. It's how you play the cards that you were dealt that matters, so it's about skill."

Rebecca Moore Rebecca Moore playing bridge with two children, a boy and a girl. They are sitting around a table with a green top on it, and one child is holding a number of playing cards while the other child is looking at cards in front of him. Rebecca has short white hair and is wearing a patterned jumper. The girl has wavy shoulder-length hair and the boy has short dark hair and is wearing a T-shirt. There are chairs and a table behind them and a doorRebecca Moore
Rebecca Moore said the game was like a "puzzle", and she would like to teach it in schools

Rebecca Moore, from Swaffham Bridge Club in Norfolk, said it was a great game to play with children as it used maths skills, and she played it with her grandchildren.

"It gets children away from their screens. It's a good way of being with them and it's not expensive," she told the BBC.

"[I hope that] the more younger people you have, the more likely you are to get more younger people."

Ciara, 26, from Norwich, said she had loved learning to play over the last year.

"It is such an interesting, varied and really fun game, and I have also met a lot of new, lovely people in the process," she said.

English Bridge Union A room full of people playing bridge. There are green tablecloths on the tables and people holding cards. The room has brick walls and a wooden floor, and a man in a red top is standing behind the tablesEnglish Bridge Union
The English Bridge Union has about 40,000 members

Mr Darnell added: "Bridge is a game for all. We need to break this cycle that people think 'It's what my gran does'.

"It's multi-generational – it just needs a bit of a rebrand."

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