Target reached!
All extra income will go towards making the new changing rooms happen.
Sharnbrook Bowls Club - New Changing Rooms
Bedford, United Kingdom
Aim
We are a successful bowls club but our old changing rooms were dilapidated a too small. This project will provide new larger changing rooms.
Who are we?
Sharnbrook Bowls Club was founded in 1969 and is a very successful club attracting members from villages across north Bedfordshire and beyond.
Among our members we have winners of County bowls competitions and entrants in National Finals. We have one of the best bowling greens in the area, if not the best, and most of the maintenance work on the green and surrounds is carried out by our own club members.
The Club is friendly and welcoming to everyone, of all ages and abilities, and from any background. In recent years our membership has grown steadily, encouraged by the building of a new Pavilion and Community Centre in 2016.
We provide coaching for new and existing bowlers and run regular friendly club night roll-ups, club competitions and competitive and friendly matches with other clubs. You can find out more about us at our Sharnbrook Bowls Club website.
If you would like to give lawn bowls a go, please come to our OPEN DAY it's on bank holiday Monday 5th May 2025, any time from 11am to 5pm. You're welcome to bring family and friends too!
Bowls is great fun, sociable, health enhancing and doable. It takes just a minute to learn, a bit longer to master!
Why were we crowdfunding? An update:
Our project is to provide two new decent changing rooms. Our old changing rooms were 50 years old, the timber structure was deteriorating and the need for repairs an almost constant theme.
Also, the old changing rooms were much too small to accommodate all players in a match which means that some were obliged to change outside in the open or in the toilets. There was no privacy nor access for wheelchair users. So the new changing rooms will be much bigger than the old ones, provide privacy and wheelchair access.
This is why we crowdfunded and all money raised has gone towards our fundraising efforts to provide Sharnbrook Bowls Club with new changing rooms.
Our site is very constrained. Its narrowness limits what we might build. Standard buildings are either too big, too small or don't facilitate privacy and wheelchair access so our buildings are specific to suit the dimensions of the space available and meet privacy and access objectives. This makes the building more expensive.
The total cost of removing our existing changing rooms, providing two new changing rooms, a more central viewing area, a new entrance for green maintenance machinery and a shed to house our watering system pump which was in the old changing rooms is £93,000. Following our successful crowdfunding campaign and grant from Sport England, a massive fundraising effort by Club members and generous grants from Sharnbrook Parish Council, The John Apthorp Charity, UKSPF Community Infrastructure Grant and Bedford Borough Council, for all of which we are very grateful, we are well on our way to reaching the total we need. We are still seeking further funding grants from other organisations who are interested in supporting our project.
How we are spending the money raised
All the money raised from this Sport England "Active Together" Crowdfunding project and other funds raised have gone towards the building of the first of our two new Changing Rooms. This first changing room, gates for bowling green maintenance machinery access and a shed over the pump for the watering system are now almost complete.
If we can raise the remaining funds needed, we shall be able to go ahead with the second new changing room built to the same high standard and complete a more central viewing area for a better and more inclusive view for spectators. Hopefully, all in time for the start of the 2025 bowls season.
If we don't manage to raise the remaining money needed soon, we shall continue fundraising and seeking further grants through 2025 with the aim of completing the project in time for the 2026 season. We shall have one of the two new changing rooms available for the 2025 season but that will not be an ideal situation for mixed matches and delaying the project will add to costs due to construction cost inflation.
Community impact
Our Bowls Club is an important and vibrant part of the village of Sharnbrook which is the focal point for rural communities across north Bedfordshire.
We provide opportunities for anyone to try out our sport at organised Open Days. We provide Fun Bowls Events for local businesses who take up these opportunities for staff team building or relationship building with their clients.
Our Pavilion, constructed in 2016 through fundraising by members and generous support from Sport England and other funders is not just a resource for our Bowls Club, it is also an important "Community Asset". Our Pavilion is now heavily used, particularly during the "closed season" for bowls, by several community groups, such as Learning for Pleasure, local art, music, craft, creative writing and foreign language groups, local sports and other groups for their meetings and activities.
The ability of our Club to continue to provide facilities for so many community groups is sustained by our Club remaining vibrant and successful. New and larger changing rooms will help our Club to continue to attract further new members and help greatly with the future success of our Club which will, in turn, benefit the wider community.
Again, if you want to try out lawn bowls, come to our Open Day, bank holiday Monday 5th May 2025, 11am to 5pm. It's a sport of skill and finesse, with a bit of luck sometimes! Give it a go and bring family and friends. You will be most welcome.
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! Our grateful thanks go to those who have already offered rewards - please click on the name below to go to their website - see what they offer!
The Swan with Two Nicks, Sharnbrook
Michael R Peters Tavistock Sound & Vision, Bedford
Hazel Kaye Hair, Beauty & Facial Aesthetics
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!
Sport England: Active Together has provided £4,500 of match funding
This project successfully funded on 9th May 2024