Target reached!
If we could manage to hit our stretch target of £6500 we could use the extra money t...
North Duffield Bowling Club - "Needs Your Help"
North Duffield, England, United Kingdom
Aim
Our aim is to survive the financial hardship caused by Covid. We haven't been able to fundraise and our running costs are virtually fixed.
Why we have launched this campaign:
The aim of our crowdfunding campaign is to secure the future of the club by mitigating the financial hardship of Covid-19.
The impact of Covid-19 has resulted in us losing 80% of our income but for the most part all our regular overheads and bills still need to be paid.
Due to funding shortfall our campaign is aimed at raising £6,000 to cover essential costs to survive in 2021 and beyond.
The club has always been proactive in promoting bowls in the community and our campaign is also aimed at encouraging more people to play bowls.
After long periods of lockdown and isolation, it's an opportune time to promote the many benefits of playing outdoor bowls such as social, physical and psychological.
How you can help us:
- by making a donation - "every small donation helps"
- by purchasing one of the rewards on offer
- by becoming a club member - see rewards section
- by signing up for one of our bowls taster sessions - see rewards section
- by sponsoring one of our playing rinks - further information below
Who we are:
Club members and supporters at the end of Daniels 12 hour Bowlathon in June 2018. He played 21 different people, who all paid to play, and this resulted in Daniel raising £800 on the day. The money went towards the £3,000 he had to raise in order to attend the World Scout Jamboree in America.
North Duffield Bowling Club is a not for profit organisation and has been in existence for over 40 years. The club membership is open to all and the current age range of active members is from 9 to 82 years.
We are a small village club with 20 members which plays an important role in keeping our local community physically active and socially connected.
The club has always placed high importance on reaching out to the wider community by hosting open events which everyone in North Duffield and surrounding villages can enjoy.
As a club, we offer members the opportunity to play social bowls as well as playing in the local Ladies, Men's and mixed league teams.
To safeguard the clubs future and to promote an interest in outdoor bowls, we run junior training sessions and host school visits.
Come and join us:
Ignore the naysayers; outdoor bowling is a sport for life - not just for retirement!
It's a very accessible sport and it's open to everyone, regardless of age, gender or physical ability.
It is a sport that takes just a few seconds to learn - and the rest of your career to master!
If you haven't played before, we have spare bowls to start you off and we will explain the ins and outs of the game.
Come rain or shine, an umbrella is a bowlers best friend and if all else fails you can always improvise!
Why not come and give it a try, you will be made very welcome....honestly!
Our achievements:
In 2019 our Ladies and Men's teams both reached the National Finals at Leamington. This was a fantastic achievement for a club of our size as you need to progress through local, regional and county matches to reach the finals.
Our most successful Ladies team.
Our Men's team included Daniel who at 15 years of age was the clubs youngest player. He joined as a junior member when he was 12 years old and has since gone on to be crowned county junior champion and U25 player of the year.
Why are we crowdfunding:
Our aim is to survive the financial hardship caused by Covid-19.
As a small village club we only survive by holding regular fundraising events and due to government restrictions all our fundraising events have been cancelled.
In addition, we did not generate any income from individual match fees as all competitive bowls was cancelled in 2020.
The impact of Covid-19 has resulted in us losing 80% of our regular income but for the most part all our regular overheads and bills still need to be paid.
Our major expenditure items are:
- essential materials for maintaining the green £2,600
- servicing of maintenance equipment & irrigation system £1,000
- building & contents insurance £600
- ground rent £540
- utility bills £250
Maintaining our green is our single biggest expenditure and even though we aren't currently playing competitive bowls we still have to look after the green so it's playable when bowling resumes.
Historically we paid a specialist green contractor but this became too expensive so in order to safeguard the long term future of the club the members agreed to carry out all the necessary green maintenance work ourselves.
Our green maintenance team giving their time looking after the green.
In recent years we have raised sufficient funds to buy some of the essential equipment needed to maintain the green, albeit most of the machinery is second hand and ranges in age between 15 to 35 years old.
Some of the key equipment we have purchased through our fundraising efforts:
Fundraising:
Without holding regular fundraising events our club would not exist.
Fundraising is the lifeblood of our club.
One of our main fundraising events is when we hire St Crux in the centre of York for the day and sell bric-a-brac plus homemade refreshments. In normal times we would hold two St Crux events per year so this has seen a major loss of income.
During May we would normally hold our annual Whistlestop. This is a very popular fundraising event attracting bowlers from right across the region. It's a full day competition with half the time spent socialising, eating and drinking and the remaining time bowling in a very cordial environment.
Our dedicated volunteers making sure our Whistlestop visitors don't go hungry or thirsty.
Unfortunately our annual indoor bowls Christmas fundraiser that attracts entries from a number of local clubs had to be cancelled in 2020. We offer a prize for the most festive dressed team, hence the extent of Christmas regalia on view!
As it currently stands the chances of us being able to fundraise in 2021 is looking highly improbable. This further loss of income is seriously impacting our ability to survive.
In the meantime we face the dilemma of having to cease maintaining the green other than cutting the grass. This is something we want to avoid as it will have a very negative impact on the green and our ability to play when circumstances permit.
Consequently, our immediate aim is to raise £6,000 to help cover our running costs with the key objective of ensuring the club continues when it's safe to resume bowling again.
The success of our crowdfunding campaign is vital to help the club get through this very challenging time.
Our Rewards:
We are mindful of asking the same people to donate more, so we have a number of "rewards" that will offer something in return for their continued support.
Our rewards also underline the aims of the club in that:
- We are seeking to attract more people from the local community and surrounding villages to become members of the club.
- We would like to encourage more children and adults of all ages and abilities to participate in outdoor bowling.
- We are seeking to partner with local businesses with regards to sponsorship and raising the profile of their business.
A reminder of how you can help us:
- by making a donation -"every small donation helps"
- by purchasing one of the rewards on offer
- by becoming a club member - see rewards section
- by signing up for one of our taster sessions - see rewards section
- by sponsoring one of our playing rinks - see below
If you are a UK taxpayer, please pledge using Gift Aid, which means your donation will be worth 25% more to us at no extra cost to you.
Thank you for your support, it's very much appreciated.
Sport England: Active Together has provided £1,800 of match funding
This project successfully funded on 9th April 2021