Poole Park Bowling Club Howden Green Upgrade

Aim: We are embarking on a programme of works to improve the quality of our greens to reflect our aim to be the leading bowls club in the South.

Who are we?

Our club was established in 1909, and we are privileged to have 2 greens within the picturesque Poole Park and unlike many Local Authority Grounds throughout the country we have recently been fortunate to renegotiate a 25-year extension to our lease.

However, we are responsible for all the costs including the upkeep of our two greens which is a considerable drain on our resources which are totally dependent upon revenue from our 130 members.

Our club has a rich history and boasts many past internationals and national champions including the current National Ladies Indoor and Outdoor Junior Champion. 

We regularly host Dorset County games and have become the venue of choice for one of the 4 regional finals for the Disability Bowls England Open Singles. 

With our association with Disability Bowls England, we would like to explore opening our facilities to local disability groups and with the current Junior Nation Champion amongst our members via local schools and youth groups try to encourage youngsters to become interested in the game of bowls.

Lastly with the Poole General Hospital no more than a 5-minute walk away there is an opportunity to open up our playing facilities to staff and patients. 

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Why are we crowdfunding?

With our long term future now secured with the lease extension we want to focus on improving our playing facilities in particular our second green, the playing standard of which is well below that associated with the level of players and regional events we host, and our aim to be the leading bowls club and venue on the South Coast.

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How we’ll spend the money raised

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We are to embark on a programme of works by outside contractors to improve the quality of the playing surface, which involves extensive rectification works over the next 2 years including: - 

• Additional Spring & Autum Processes
• Additional scarifying
• Verti-cutting
• Aerating
• Additional mowing
• Additional fertiliser & ecofriendly worm treatment
• Iron applications

The cost of the above is approaching £10,000.00 per annum over the next 2 years which is in addition to our annual green maintenance cost of £20,000.00 per annum.

In addition, we now need to purchase a replacement mower at a potential cost of £12,000.00.

These costs are of course a considerable expense for a club financed solely by our members.

The green improvement costs of £20,000.00 over 2 years plus the capital investment of £12,000.00 for the new mower mean we are looking at having to finance approximately £32,000.00 over and above our normal running and operational costs which are of course a considerable expense for a club financed solely by our members.

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Community impact

By improving the playing surface of our second green this will spread the number of competitive and friendly fixtures across both our greens enabling us to free up playing capacity to allocate more time for social bowls including: -

• A commitment to keep 2 rinks available at all times for non-members and visitors to the area.
• Running free weekly “taster sessions” for the local community.
• Arranging a community evening league competition

With our association Disability Bowls England, we would like to explore opening our facilities to local disability groups with the current Junior Nation Champion amongst our members via local schools and youth groups try to encourage youngsters to become interested in the game of bowls.

By the very nature of our sport in addition to the competitive games we have a very active social bowls section where the age range is predominantly 60+ and many are over 80 and into their early 90’s and find bowls throughout the summer is not only a vital means of remaining active but perhaps more important gives them an active social life and purpose.

Lastly with the Poole General Hospital no more than a 5-minute walk away there would be an opportunity to open up our playing facilities to staff and patients. 

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!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 16th August 2025 at 7:18am