Sport England - Movement Fund has provided £5,000 of match funding
Northampton West End Bowling Club
Northampton, West Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Aim
Northampton West End BC are raising funds to improve and modernise our facilities, green and its accessibility.
We are pleased to advise that Northampton West End Bowling Club has been awarded a conditional offer of £5,000 from Sport England towards our campaign, subject to us raising the additional £5,000.
Who are we?
Northampton West End Bowls Club are an outdoor bowls club located in the heart of Northampton. We have been running for over 125 years and we are celebrating our 130th Anniversary next season. We have active teams in local leagues and have current players representing our club at county level and previously national level.
We are a mixed club and offer lots of opportunities for all ages and genders. We have members ranging from age 16 to 90 and we see ourselves as providing an important opportunity to our local community of all ages and backgrounds to have somewhere local to keep active and socialise.
Bowling is mainly throughout the summer months where every night the club is buzzing with people, be it for a game of bowls, skittles or just somewhere for people to meet up and have a chat. During the winter, we have a local skittles team who use out facilities to play in the local town league. Throughout the year we hold quizzes and social nights to encourage members to bring their families and friends to the club to showcase our facilities. We also offer the opportunity for members of the local community to use our facilities for their community groups and meetings.
Why are we crowdfunding?
After a tough period leading up to COVID, we managed to survive, and we are currently navigating the cost of living crisis but we feel as a club we are in the best position we have been in for a long time.
We’d like to invest in our club now whilst we’re in the position to protect it for the future. We’d like to strengthen our links within the community and offer people a safe space for them to come and play bowls as well as becoming a social hub for those who need it. We strongly believe everyone can find a way to benefit from it.
Our bowling green is our biggest asset and is the main draw for people to come to the club. We are currently the home of the Northamptonshire Men’s county team and we would love to continue to invest in our playing surface so it continues to be one of the best and most accessible in the county. This allows us to thrive and continue to attract more people to the sport.
Our second biggest asset is our club house. Since originally being built in 1963, we have managed to add small extensions in 1987 and 2001 and it has been redecorated and repurposed over the years but not had any major work done to it, including following a major fire we encountered in 2012. Over the last few years we have increased our membership and now our clubhouse is the heart of the club. It’s where people sit and put the world to right after a game of bowls, it’s where our skittles team play their league matches and it’s where members of the community come to grab and drink and have a chat with a friendly face. There is no judgement in the club house, just somewhere where everyone is welcome no matter what is going on in the world. This is why we would like to modernise the space, make it more homely as well as completely accessible and more sustainable to protect its future.
Our final aim of this project is to make bowls accessible to everyone. We’d like to remove any potential barriers that someone may face to enable everyone no matter what their background to thrive within our club and sport. We have a wide range of equipment available for people to borrow and we’d like to continue to invest in this. We also believe strongly in investing in individuals, making sure they are getting what they want from our club. We have lots of social and competitive opportunities for people to play bowls with us. We encourage friendships to be made and enjoy watching people thrive. We hold regular open days and we have volunteer coaches who are happy giving up their time to help anyone who may need an extra bit of help to improve their confidence or who might be new to the game. We believe it’s important to invest in peoples future by being able to continue to offer coaching support and up to date equipment to allow us to showcase the game to change people’s perception.
How we’ll spend the money raised
For our outdoor bowls green we would like to:
- Remove existing decking and replace with a smart gravel area with picnic benches to enable all to watch the game we love. In addition to this we would install a ramp to enable everyone to experience our outside facilities and feel part of our community.
- Purchase a new spiker to allow us to maintain the playing surface to a high standard and allow us to keep maintenance cost low.
- Upgrade sprinkler system following discovery of a leak which is losing us up to 1000L of water per day.
For our clubhouse we would like to:
- Replace the rotting gable ends and install cladding to weatherproof and future proof the structure of the club house.
- Upgrade our disabled toilets to make sure we meet requirements and provide a safe space.
To encourage more members:
- Continue to invest in our equipment and our coaches
- Purchase a bowling arm for those less physically able to still be able to play bowls without the added expense of specialised equipment
Community impact
Our club sits in the heart of Duston, Northampton. Whilst our primary aim is to offer a first class outdoor bowls facility, we believe in offering a range of activities and a safe space for our local community. Many of our older members rely on our club being open as it’s often one of the few safe spaces they have when they have little family and often no contact with others outside of the bowls club.
We also offer the opportunity for people from all walks of life to get active by providing all the equipment and support needed to enjoy a new sport and benefit socially from our facilities. This includes extra provisions such as ramps, specialist equipment for those more physically challenged and coaching for anyone who requires it. We also believe that providing a safe outdoor space helps improve people’s mental health as well as always having someone there to listen and help anyone who may need it.
How you can play your part
There are two simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
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.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 5th September 2026 at 12:00pm