As has been pointed out, the qualifier at Ormskirk has been moved to Saturday 13 May, not April!!

The Lancashire Senior Merit qualifier that was due to be held on the morning of Sunday 14 May on the grass green at Ormskirk Bowling Club has been moved forward a day to the morning of Saturday 13th May on the artificial green, still at Ormskirk BC. This avoids a clash with the Federation match on the Sunday. Contact Graham Royles for entry. Details on lancashirebowls.com on the Competitions page.

Details of the Senior Merit and Vets Merit competitions are now on our Competitions page. There are plenty of qualifying venues on offer so why not chance your arm?

Were you aware that the BCGBA has partnered with easyfundraising, a new funding source for your club.  easyfundraising turns your everyday online shopping into free donations for your Club.

You first need to register your Club for free at easyfundraising.org.uk/crown-green-bowls/, then encourage your members and their families to sign up to support your Club.

When you are ready to shop online, first go to the easyfundraising website or app, and then you can shop as normal at over 6,000 retailers.  The retailer will then send a donation to your club at no extra cost on a regular basis.

Ormskirk Bowling Club started using this at the start of February and has already raised over £50! Information can also be found on the BCGBA website.

The Bowls Development Alliance’s ‘Week of Learning is back. If you want to grow your membership these short online workshops will give you plenty of tips in the comfort of your own home.

From Monday 27th March they will be running the following FREE online workshops for all affiliated British Crown Green Bowling Association clubs:

• 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽
• 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
• 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮

To secure your tickets to these workshops (100 places available on each) or to take a look at the other online learning resources, please visit their Education Platform: https://bowlsdevelopmentalliance.com/education/. (scroll to bottom of page for workshops).

A short summary of each online workshop is set out below.

Club Helpers Workshop (28 Mar 6pm & 30th Mar 1pm)

This workshop aims to provide you with hints and tips on how to structure the first session for a new person or people attending an Open Day, whilst providing a process for all club volunteers (members) to follow when meeting and greeting new people on their first visit to your club.​

It will give you ​practical ideas that keep the session fun and engaging for people trying the ​ sport for the first time​ as well as ideas to ensure new bowlers come back for a second visit​.

Recruitment and Retention (28 Mar 1pm & 30 Mar 7pm)

The workshop aims to give your club an understanding on how to recruit new members, and integrate and retain existing members into your club.

It will cover the basics of promoting and raising awareness of your club, understanding the importance of engaging with your local community and how to reach out to new audiences, whilst briefly touching upon the essentials of holding an open day.

Website and Social Media (27 Mar 1pm & 29 Mar 7pm)

This workshop aims to give you an overview of how to use your website and social media pages to showcase your club, your members and events and how to use these to attract new and prospective members into the club.

It will also cover the basics of online safety, to help keep you and your members safe, looking at the best practice for adding information to your webpages whilst also looking at how you can create a social media policy that your members can follow.

Sandie Whitaker has now confirmed that further Safeguarding training and/or DBS verification will take place on Saturday 15th April, 10am to 1pm, at Coppull Con Club Spendmore Lane, Coppull, PR7 5DF. For the DBS please bring along your passport, driving licence, utility bill/bank statement with name and current address (dated within last 3 months), also need proof of previous address if moved house in the last 5 years, as well as proof of national insurance number. A pen and pad may be useful. The cost of the Safeguarding Training is £15. Please call Sandie on 07512 501 385 to let her know if you are attending.

The latest BDA Safeguarding Bulletin can be viewed below. These are good to download and put up in your club. Previous versions can be viewed at –https://bowlsdevelopmentalliance.com/safeguarding/resources/.