Pentyrch Bowling Club urgently requires replacement toilet facilities to continue with lawn green bowling and a range of social activities.
by PENTYRCH BOWLING CLUB in Cardiff, United Kingdom
Any extra money raised beyond the £7000 needed for replacement toilets will go towards other infrastructural projects at PBC. After the toilets, the top priorities are replacement changing rooms and a replacement store for the bowls equipment.
About us and our need
Formed in 1991, Pentyrch Bowling Club (PBC) is a grassroots and community-focused lawn green bowling club. With a membership of around 60 men and women, the club plays both league and friendly bowls matches in south Wales and hosts Monday bowls club nights for members and the wider community. It also offers various social events for both members and non-members. The club is run by a group of volunteers and provides a means of enhancing the health and well-being of people of all ages; it is striving to improve basic facilities for members, visiting teams and the wider community.
The COVID pandemic had a significant adverse financial impact on PBC over a two-year period. However, recovery is now underway and the club has increased membership during the past two seasons. Despite this, the club desperately needs funding to replace some of the original infrastructure which is in poor repair. The main concern is the state of the toilet block which no longer meets the standards expected in the 21st century. The toilets frequently leak, the prefabricated walls are rotting, the access steps are difficult for disabled and elderly people, and there is no electric lighting. Without a new toilet block, with disabled access, there can be no competitive bowls matches at the club nor social functions for members and non-members.
Our vision
Over the next five years, the club aims to ‘upgrade its facilities in order to attract more people from Pentyrch and surrounding communities to participate in bowling and non-bowling activities, resulting in improved physical and mental health and greater community cohesion’. With equal opportunities and safeguarding policies in place, we want to attract all ages, income and cultural groups to the club. Funds raised though this crowdfunding initiative will go towards the provision of replacement toilets and we wish to thank in advance those people offering their help and support. If we are lucky enough to exceed our financial target for replacement toilets, the remaining monies will be put towards the cost of other infrastructural improvements.
Lawn green bowls is one of five sports offered on the Parc Y Dwryln site in Pentyrch. PBC is open to experienced bowlers and those who have never played bowls before. It offers free taster sessions, provided by qualified coaches, and anyone can come along to the Monday club night, where both sexes from about 10 upwards play bowls in a fun atmosphere. The club enables people to engage in exercise and friendly interaction, thus providing opportunities to avoid social isolation and promoting health and well-being. The club also has an active programme of social functions, ranging from monthly coffee mornings, bi-annual quizzes, a race night, cheese and wine events and a monthly lucky numbers prize draw. All of these social functions are open to non-members and their support over the past decade has been fantastic. As well as providing a social and friendly environment for the local community, these events help to ensure the financial sustainability of PBC.
However, without replacement toilets much of this social impact will decline, with a negative impact on the wider community. Conversely, new toilets will enable the club to not only sustain its current social activities but to invite more local societies to enjoy social evenings at the club, where they can have a go at bowls and relax in the nice garden surrounds.
With a number of new, large-scale housing developments within two to three miles of Pentyrch, the club is confident that, through good social media advertising and innovative recruitment strategies, it will continue to grow its membership in years to come.
PBC embarked upon an ambitious and urgently-needed regeneration programme in 2015 in order to attract new members. This included building a new bowls pavilion, constructing a disabled access pathway to the bowling green, installing outside lighting and purchasing bowls equipment - funded partly from grants. However, progress was halted from 2019 by the COVID pandemic and the resulting loss of income. Bowls resumed in 2021, on a small scale, until a normal programme of activities resumed in 2022. We are now in a situation where the toilet block is in urgent need of replacement, but this comes at a time of insufficient club funds. Hence the need and desire to seek financial support through crowdfunding and Sport Wales.
Crowdfunding support will enable the club to continue with its full programme of bowls in 2023; it will also help to ensure our longer-term sustainability. Without good facilities, it becomes more difficult to meet the needs of our current members and to attract new members. PBC has always demonstrated sustainable financial management and crowdfunding support will really help to maintain this community-focused sporting facility.
No replacement toilets effectively means no competitive bowls, no new members and a severely restricted set of social activities for what the club sees as its 'community of interest'.
The money raised through this crowdfunding initiative will be used to replace the deteriorating toilet block with a newer modular building; this will contain full facilities and provide disabled access. Without such a vital piece of infrastructure, the club will be restricted in fulfilling its bowls’ fixtures, attracting new members and providing social activities for the community. If the initiative does well, and we hope it does, any surplus funding will go towards other needed infrastructural improvements.
There are three simple ways in which you can help us reach our target and make this project a reality:
Make a pledge. Please don’t delay if you are going to support us because momentum is key to our success.
Spread the word. Please 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 hope to get.
Get a reward. We have designed a set of rewards to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who pledges to our cause. The rewards are based on the value of your pledge. Local businesses can get involved in this by donating things that we can offer as rewards to our supporters.
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