Sport England - Movement Fund has provided £3,381 of match funding
Headcorn Short Mat Bowls Funding Appeal
Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom
Aim
To raise funds to purchase a 2nd electric rolling machine for 2 mats to improve health and safety and encourage wider participation
Who are we?
Headcorn Short Mat Bowls Club with a membership of around 42 mainly older people (some in their 90’s) is open to all. It is a wonderfully friendly and supportive group which meets twice a week with occasional matches against other local teams.
Why are we crowdfunding?
We have manual rollers for two mats (see above) and an electric rolling machine for 2 mats (see below). We now need another electric roller to address health and safety concerns associated with the manual rollers, improve access to the other 2 mats to increase participation as many members currently cannot physically operate the heavy manual rolling apparatus.
How we’ll spend the money raised
The money raised will enable the club to purchase a second electric roller to replace the two old manual hand-cranked rollers.
Our aim is to raise £6762 and currently we have conditional offers of £3381 from SportsEngland and £500 from Kent County Council.
Community impact
Our club provides social and physical benefits to our club members who are primarily of retirement age and living in a catchment area of seven miles from Headcorn in Kent. Besides meeting and playing bowls there are additional social events for women and men such as theatre nights and regular group lunches and dinners. We believe that our club is a vital local resource for people to be able to participate in an active/physical sport.
How you can play your part
Here are three simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!
This project successfully funded on 28th November 2025