Community rallies round to save popular Brandon Town Bowling Club
Councillors who helped fund work at Brandon Town Bowling Club attend the first match of the season. From left to right: Forest Heath councillors Peter Ridgwell, David Palmer and Victor Lukaniuk, with club chairman John Kennedy and Suffolk County Councillor Reg Silvester. Picture: Colin Lloyd - Credit: Archant
Bowlers rallied round to save their beloved club when its league status came under threat after its green started collapsing.
Brandon Town Bowling Club president John Kennedy on the green which has been repaired with help from various funding sources. Picture: Rebecca Murphy - Credit: Archant
John Kennedy, chairman of Brandon Town Bowling Club, said the green may not have met the standard of the league and with other clubs starting to complain about the sloping pitch, they had to take action.
And because of its specialist nature, work to repair the foundations around the edge of the entire green cost £7,188.
The club, which has 50 playing members, received £6,000 in funding - but the rest was raised by members who rallied round to help
Former Suffolk county councillor for Brandon, Reg Silvester, donated £3,000 from his county budget and four Forest Heath councillors - Victor Lukaniuk, Christine Mason, Peter Ridgwell and David Palmer - gave £150 each.
Brandon Town Bowling Club president John Kennedy on the green which has been repaired with help from various funding sources. Picture: Rebecca Murphy - Credit: Archant
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The Suffolk Community Foundation also gave a grant of £2,000.
Mr Kennedy, 72, said: 'Without the support, we do not know how long the green would have lasted or been accepted. Without them we might not be bowling this year.
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'We had to get something done. Without it, we would have lost some of our good players.'
In order to raise the remaining £1,188 the thriving club, which also has 25 social members, held raffles and opened the bar on Friday nights throughout the winter.
'We have a guy who makes a good profit out of our raffles,' said Mr Kennedy. 'And we generate some really good money from them.
'We also stayed open throughout the winter. Every Friday night the club was open and we would get a minimum of 21 people every week. We are going to keep it open all the time now.'
The work took three weeks on-and-off to complete.
A special open day was held on the first match of the season and saw everyone who helped with the fundraising invited along to watch the bowlers in action, enjoy a drink at the bar and try their hand at the sport.
Mr Kennedy said the work everyone put in to the 'friendly and happy club' is an 'excellent example of community spirit and support' and said the open day was 'very successful'.
To find out more about the bowls club and how to join visit http://brandontownbowlingclub.co.uk/
