The Tom Bradley Award was created after the death of the former Treasurer of the EBU, who was a champion of attracting new persons into the game of Bridge and was particularly supportive of endeavours which were aimed at the younger player. Tom left a legacy in his will. For several years the Alec Salisbury Award was presented to a school teacher who had made a significant contribution to promoting Bridge in schools, but there was not any form of award for non-school teachers. Tom Bradley's legacy has enabled this omission to be remedied and this is the second year of its presentation, the first recipient being Cedric Cockcroft from Harrogate and the Yorkshire Contract Bridge Association.
I am pleased to announce and to present on behalf of the EBU the Tom Bradley Award for this year to Dave Bessant from the Isle of Wight.
Dave started running MiniBridge at some of the Islands middle schools and achieved some extremely good results. He is nothing if not persistent and contacted the Island's education authorities, who were so impressed with what he had done, particularly in its benefits to mental arithmetic that with their encouragement Dave managed to get MiniBridge into all the Island's middle schools in curriculum time. Along side this he created a flourishing Saturday morning Bridge School for youngsters which he held at the Ryde Bridge Club.
Since then he has been working with the writers of Bridge Baron to produce material in software form suitable for schools to use as well as providing an alternative game for youngsters to learn and play on their computers.
I hardly need to tell you of the importance and significance of Daveâ's achievement. Capturing the hearts and minds of the young in their early days is essential. They may not become Club players immediately, but there is a strong possibility that they will return later in their lives to the game that they enjoyed in their youth.
Thank you Dave and very well done. It gives me very great pleasure to present you with the Tom Bradley trophy and the citation certificate.
More information on the Tom Bradley Award here.
