Who are we?
I am the Secretary of Northampton Whyte Melville Bowling Club and together with other Committee members help to run the Club on behalf of our members. It was founded in 1909 and played in one of the main parks in the town. Its base at the time was a Working Mens Club. The Club was named after the sporting novelist Major George John Whyte-Melville who donated the proceeds from the publication of one of his novels to go towards the purchase of land for the building of the first Working Mens Club in Northampton in 1865. Fast forward to the present time and we have now located to a council owned sports ground in Northampton. We share facilities comprising of changing rooms. bar and function room with other sports teams. Our Club has a sub lease for the bowling green which located in the corner of the sports ground. Our members come mainly from the local area and they are a great supportive group of people. We are a fully inclusive Club with players of all ages. genders and disabilities. There are also several social and family members who come and support our matches and fundraising activities. Attracting new members to lawn bowling and retaining existing ones is always a challenge. It helps to have a decent green to bowl on and with the help of our volunteers we have achieved an A* rating for the green from our county association. Our aim is to make sure our Club continues to be fit for the future providing excellent facilities which are accessible and safe.
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Why are we crowdfunding?
We intend to spend the money raised to renovate and relay the concrete paving slabs around the perimeter of the bowling green, The slabs are too heavy for our volunteers in the Club to handle so we require a local contractor to do the work.
We have been extremely fortunate to have the Sport England Movement Fund awarded the Club a pledge of £2804 towards our target of £5654. Now we need your support to reach that target either by donations and/or by taking advantage of one of our great rewards.
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How we’ll spend the money raised
You may think it’s difficult to get enthusiastic about a couple of hundred square metres of concrete slabs but that’s just what we are doing at our bowling club. These 2 x 2 heavy monsters form a walkway around the green and have been in place since 2000. Over time the sand bed underneath has eroded away due mainly to wear and tear. Many of the slabs have sunken, some have cracked and the whole area has become a trip and slip hazard. All of them need some TLC.
The contractor will initially power wash/scrub the slabs to clean them and remove the algae build up. Then lift them up and remove what's left of the old sand bed. Replace any broken slabs and relay them all on a new bed of sand.
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Community impact
Our bowling Club offers the local community the opportunity as a welcoming place to make new friends. We have a full fixture list playing against other bowling clubs in the area, having fun as well as taking part in a low impact competitive sport. Families can join in and bowl together. It does not require a great level of fitness, but it can improve co-ordination and strength. There is a fair amount of walking involved in playing lawn bowls so that provides some physical exercise which in turn promotes mental well-being. However, many of our older members benefit more from the social aspects of the game as well as the physical side. It can help them to overcome loneliness and encourage an active lifestyle. Also our club provides members with the opportunity to be become involved with fundraising, the day to day management of the Club and maintaining the bowling green. From time to time our bowling green and facilities are used by other local organisations for a funday so it needs to be kept in good order and safe for everyone to use.
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How you can play your part
There are four 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. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!
4. 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!