WIMBLEDON PARK BOWLS CLUB A Work in Progress

2013 … PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS  Membership had dropped to 24 playing members  Most members were retired  We had tried some Open Days, with limited success  LBM was looking at the viability of maintaining bowls greens in the borough as they were costing more than the revenue they generated  ‘Can you double your membership?’

WHERE DID WE BEGIN?  Outside help – Surrey’s Bowls Development Officer  Applied the advice – posters in and outside the park  Club noticeboard – focused on opportunities to learn to play bowls at the club  Updated website to reflect our outward looking focus, bowls parties

 Taster sessions with support from the club’s experienced bowlers every Saturday throughout the season  2 club members undertook an introduction to coaching course  Funding – grants were successfully obtained from the Bowls Development Alliance (BDA) enabling four free sessions to those taking up the ‘Bowls 4 Free’ Course  Advertising

ADVERTISING  Website  Banner

ADVERTISING  Posters  Leaflets  Free Magazines – My Merton, Wandsworth’s Brightside  Free on-line advertising - Merton Voluntary Services Council, Gumtree, ‘Join In’ – Post Olympic Legacy website

RESULTS FROM 2013  May Open Day – 21 visitors attended  BDA course – between 7 and 12 people per week  Taster sessions ran every week apart from the weekend of our club finals – almost 70 attendees  Advertising expanded  End of 2013 – 16 new members, a 67% increase  Invitation to assist the Surrey Development Officer

RESULTS FROM 2013  Runner-Up in the Mayor of London’s ‘Team London’ Volunteer Award for Sport and Healthy Living

2014…ON THE WAY  Advertising continued  Successes were celebrated – Two Merton Civic Awards, Runner-Up in the Mayor of London’s Award for Volunteering in the Under-25 ‘My Community’ Category

2014…ON THE WAY  External publicity was sought – Wimbledon Guardian, Surrey County Bowls Website, Surrey County Women’s Bowls Website, Bowls England Website, Age UK Merton  We worked closely with other clubs and the Merton Communications team and broadened our target audience – Merton Primary School Bowls Tournament was born  Links established with the Merton Schools Sports Partnership

2014 PRIMARY TOURNAMENT

FUNDING - GRANTS  We looked for further sources of funding through a range of grants  BDA grant for ‘Bowls for Fun’  Mayor of London’s grant aimed at the under- represented in sport through the ‘Free Sports’ programme

THE RESULTS  2 club members passed their Level 1 Coaching  The 2014 Open Day saw 31 visitors try bowls  12 people took the BDA ‘Bowls for Fun’ course  Just under 70 people attended at least one of the Saturday taster sessions  Successful grants from the BDA and Mayor of London enabled us to offer the introductory sessions whilst also paying LBM for the visitors to use the green

THE RESULTS  Another 15 people joined the club, so we had doubled our membership in two years  Had we suddenly become the best bowls club in England?  No, but our efforts were rewarded by Bowls England who found us to be Regional Winners for the South of England and 3 rd place in the country in its ‘Club of the Year’ competition

REGIONAL WINNERS – CLUB OF THE YEAR

2015  Worked with the new Surrey Development Officer  Maintained the advertising and included an article in ‘Time and Leisure’  Continued with the taster sessions, Open Day and ‘Bowls for Fun’ course  Celebrated further successes and achievements

2015  Co-organised the 2 nd Primary Schools Tournament  Extended coaching to a school in Wandsworth  Applied for further grants to support the recruitment activities

THE RESULTS  The Open Day had 27 visitors and 16 club members giving support  The ‘Bowls for Fun’ saw an average of 10 in attendance  72 visitors took part in the taster sessions  13 new members joined the club  Further Awards to club members

2015 AWARDS  Merton Civic Award for Sporting Achievement  Surrey Women’s Loyal Service Award

2015 GRANTS  BDA ‘Bowls for Fun’  Mayor of London’s ‘Free Sport’ – targeting under- represented groups (Disabled, Women, BAME)  Wimbledon Foundation Community Fund to support our school’s work (equipment and funds to LBM for the use of the green)  Merton Community Fund – new banner to replace the original and now damaged one

HELPFUL SITES FOR FUNDING  The Mayor of London’s ‘Free Sport’ Grant. Winter applications close on   Funding for Sport – central register of funding sources   Merton Voluntary Service Council (MVSC). Invaluable source of grant information 