Prestbury Bowling Club

                                        Prestbury Bowling Club:  July 2025 Newsletter

Dear Members,
 

As we move into the second half of the season, now feels like a good time to update everyone on progress that has been made at our Club, plus spotlight events and activities that are planned for later in the season. Let’s start with an update on our membership and our sponsors.

 

Membership Update:

Last year we made tremendous progress driving up membership from just over 80 to finish the year with 126! Following the success of last year’s Open Day weekend, we hosted another this April. Second time round we felt it unlikely to be quite as successful as in 2024, but, thanks to a lot of hard work and planning, we enjoyed another super successful event. We had 50 people visiting the Club through the weekend and, following subsequent taster session, this led to over 30 new members. Whilst we did have nearly 20 members not renewing their membership in 2025, we have still been able to increase our numbers from last years 126 up to 139. A huge thank you from me to all members that helped throughout the Open Day project, from leaflet design, leaflet distribution (we distributed 700!), hosting on the weekend and helping with the follow-up taster sessions.

 

Sponsorship Update:

Last year was a major step forward on sponsorship with an increase of sponsors from 4 to 8. This year, the Sponsorship sub-committee, led by Brett Bull, have been successful in securing renewed sponsorship from all 8 sponsors, increasing sponsorship income and continuing to raise the profile of our Club in the community. Sponsor flags around the green have been renewed where necessary to ensure a positive presentation of our sponsor names.

 

Barbeque by Bacchus:

The next competition is the Brian Jagger Challenge Cup on Saturday 2nd August which is selling out fast! Immediately following the bowling at around 5:15pm we have one of our most popular social events of the year, the Barbeque by Bacchus. All details are on the website, including the menu, and the cost is just 20 pounds. Feel free to invite friends along, and bring your own drink to combine with the excellent food on offer, and enjoy socializing in the sun through the early evening!

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Our Green:

You will have noticed that our green has suffered in the long hot dry spells we have had through April, May and June. It is important that we work to improve our green in the second half of the year so that we go in to the close-season ready to start next year with an improved playing surface. Noting this, we have planned for recovery work on the green to take place during w/c 4th August. This will include a full top dressing with fertiliser and seeding and we have been advised that we will need to close the green for one week to allow the treatments to take effect. Green closure dates will be published in due course.

 

Club Clothing:

Many of you will be aware of the excellent range of Club Clothing that we launched in March this year to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. All details are on the website and also on our Notice Board and we continue to manage a steady flow of orders. If you fancy one or two more items, then just fill the Order Form in by the Notice Board and we can take this to the local supplier to progress.

 

Celebration Lunch to mark our 25th Anniversary:

2025 is a landmark year for our Club, and we will be celebrating this with a special event. This will be held on Friday 19th September at Shrigley Hall. For those with good memories, this is the same location that we went to in 2021 for our 21st Anniversary. The event will consist of drinks upon arrival, a 3-course lunch, raffle, short quiz and a bit of surprise fun! The cost is 40 pounds per head. All details, including the full menu, are on the website and on the Notice Board in the Clubhouse. The deadline for booking is 12th August. Please don’t leave it too late to sign up!

 

Summary:

As you can see, there has been much progress to further strengthen our Club. This is really helping drive up bowling participation levels with more usage of our green and more people joining the Club Competitions and League teams. Please do support the special social events in the near future with our Barbeque by Bacchus and our special 25th Anniversary Lunch at Shrigley Hall. Finally, a big warm welcome to the 2025 wave of new members. Enjoy new friendships and enjoy your bowling!

Alan Heaton
Chairman,
Prestbury Bowling Club