The County has received the following from Clayton le Woods Bowling Club. Please help if you can and support this important initiative.

“May I introduce myself. I am the Chair of Clayton le Woods Bowlers Crown Green Bowling Club, currently based in Clayton le Woods, Lancashire. We are very proud of our achievements having in the past two seasons gone from a membership of 18 to over 40 and two out of our three teams have been promoted in local leagues. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, we find ourselves facing the imminent loss of our home green.  This is because the Parish Council who hold the lease for the green, and who despite several requests as to their intentions will not commit to renewing the lease which expires in the near future. In fact the Council has over the past two years reduced the maintenance budget for the green to a minimum and continues to do so.

Finding ourselves with such an uncertain future, we have been fortunate in finding another green nearby at Withnell Fold Sports and Social Club. Unfortunately, this green has not been used for a number of years and whilst work is well In hand renovating it, the rest of the infrastructure such as paths, shelters, seating, pavilion and safe access requires a lot of work and finance to bring it up to an acceptable standard for competitive bowls. Once this work is completed, it will provide us with a permanent home for our members and a green to continue to compete in local leagues. However, without this facility, our club will face closure.

In order to achieve our goal of retaining our bowling community we have through our new proposed host club been able to obtain a provisional grant from Sport England to carry out the work required. However, to obtain that grant, Sport England require that we raise the sum of £7,500 through Crowdfunding.

I would ask if your organisation would be so kind as to make a contribution to help our club to achieve this goal, thus helping to save us from closure. Any donation, no matter how small will be gratefully received.

You can donate by clicking onto the black button below. Please pass this on to anyone you feel may be able to help us.“

The Lancashire County Senior Team will play Merseyside C.C.G.B.A. in the Endsleigh County Championship on this coming Sunday (4th May 2025). Support for the teams is welcomed.

The Home Venue is Horwich RMI Bowling Club, Ramsbottom Road, Horwich, Bolton, BL6 5.

The Away Venue is Upton Victory Hall Bowling Club, Salecre Lane, UPTON, Wirral, CH49 0TA.

The Home and Away teams are set out below

Unfortunately Jimmy Glover has had to step down as County Registrar. Phil Coventry has taken over as the County Registrar and all registration forms should now be returned to him. The Registrations page and the form have been updated on this website. Many thanks to Jimmy for all his hard work over the years from all at the Lancashire CCGBA.

Just a reminder that all clubs have to have a safeguarding officer in place for when their greens open. If any new officers need a DBS or if existing officer’ DBS certificates are older than 3 years, then you can contact Sandie Whitaker on 07512 501 395, or by email at sandiewhitt@yahoo.co.uk to sort out a new certificate.

We want to make sure your club doesn’t miss out on Big Bowls Weekend 2025, running from Friday 23rd – Monday 26th May.

Many clubs have signed up already which is fantastic. This is an amazing opportunity for all clubs to:

✅ Attract new players and potential members – introduce people of all ages to Crown Green Bowls.

✅ Raise your club’s profile – be part of a national event with widespread promotion.

✅ Enjoy a fun, social event – bring your club together and create a welcoming atmosphere for visitors.

✅ No cost to take part – just sign up and make the most of the resources available!

So far, 149 Crown Green clubs have already registered – let’s get even more involved!

⏳ Sign-up closes on 24th March 2025, so don’t miss out.

📌 Register now at: www.bowlsbigweekend.com

If you have any questions or need help getting started, please get in touch with Ian Gill at Lancscountydevelopment@gmail.comLet’s make this the biggest Big Bowls Weekend yet and get more people enjoying our sport!

🚨Bowls’ Big Weekend is back for a fifth year!

And club sign-up is now OPEN. This is your chance to be part of a nationwide initiative, as our sport opens its doors to welcome potential new bowlers. Over 660 clubs signed up to take part in 2024 but we’re expecting 2025 to be bigger and better than ever before!

We are informed that materials will be ready earlier this year and posters etc will all contain crown green images. Follow it up with sessions for those that are interested. See our Development pages for help and advice or contact our Development Officer, Ian Gill.

Sign your club up today🔽
bit.ly/BBWSignUp

Find out more about Bowls’ Big Weekend🔽
bit.ly/BBW-FIND-OUT-MORE

Aviva | #BowlsBigWeekend

A coaching course has been arranged for Lancashire. There may be high demand for this course and there are only 12 places, so if you are able to attend then please sign up quickly.

The first two dates for the theory are zoom calls, and these are 9th and 23 April (6-9pm). The practical session will be held at Ormskirk Bowling Club on 8th May (9am-5pm) and the final assessment day also at Ormskirk on 12 June (9am-5pm).  The course costs £150. Apart from the insurance cost (which may be covered by your club) half can be claimed back from BCGBA and one quarter from Lancashire CCGBA on course completion. If you have any queries please contact Ian Gill, Lancashire Development Officer.

Bookings should be made on the Coach Bowls website – link below.

The BCGBA Rules Revision Meeting was held this afternoon and the key outcomes can be summarised below.

• The introduction of a £1 per player per club fee which will be ringfenced to fund the new BCGBA National Development Strategy. Lancashire will be providing clarification as to how this will be collected from clubs in due course after the AGM next weekend. This will be for a minimum of 3 years and all outcomes will be reported on annually.
• Clarification in the rules that any bowls travelling over a footer must be returned.
• The maximum weight of a bowl has been set at 3lb.
• Clarification in the rules that a disturbed bowl will be treated the same as a disturbed jack.
• Nicotine inhalers have been added to the list of devices that cannot be used on the green during play (unless there is a medical exemption).
• Clarification that players will not be allowed to play in bare or stocking feet.
• A proposal to add practice for Ladies County matches was not carried.
• The 18-23 Open Championship has been amended to 18-25.
• Changes to the structure of the World Club Team Championship have been made to have a group structure for the qualifying rounds and its name has been changed to the ‘World Team Championship.

As part of the Bowls Development Alliance’s Week of Learning there are a host of short free online courses available next week. These are on such subjects as Safeguarding, marketing your club, applying for funding and engaging with your community. Visit https://bowlsdevelopmentalliance.com/education/ for more information.

Happy Christmas to all Lancashire bowlers and your families. We hope you have a wonderful day.