A BRIDGE club is hoping its fundraising campaign will come up trumps and pay for a new extension to its home.

Oxford Bridge Club – which has about 350 members – has recently registered as a charitable organisation.

Social secretary Pat Lewis said it was now hoping to attract people from all over Oxfordshire to join and try the popular card game.

Mrs Lewis, 75, a former orthoptist at Oxford Eye Hospital, said the group was also set to launch a fundraising campaign next year for an £400,000 extension to its premises at 147 Banbury Road.

The work would involve demolishing a conservatory coming to the end of its lifespan and replacing it with a new single-storey extension, with a new kitchen and toilet facilities installed. Mrs Lewis added: “It is a big project and needs to be done, because what we have now isn’t going to be viable for much longer.

“Our plans for the expansion are ongoing, but it is something we hope can come to fruition next year.

“We have already dug the footings.”

The plans were submitted to Oxford City Council and approved in 2012.

Grandmother-of-eight Mrs Lewis, who retired in 1999 and has lived in Oxford since the late 1950s, said the group was hoping to widen its appeal to people from areas outside of Oxford, as well as younger players.

She said: “Bridge is something which people can play together socially and it also keeps you mentally active. You can also keep physically active by travelling in to play.

“Apart from that, it’s a very good card game.”

After becoming a charitable organisation, the club recently held a fundraising event across several cafes in Summertown. It raised £1,225 for Respite nursing for Oxfordshire’s Sick Youngsters (ROSY).

The club was approved by the Charity Commission in February last year and began full operation as a charity in July 2014.

It has two sessions every weekday. For information, sees tinyurl.com/pzzcrtx