ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY? BOWLS CLUB MEMBERS ANSWER ‘YES’ AFTER GRANT TO BUY NEW CHAIRS
Members of a Norfolk bowls club which has been in existence for more than a century can now sit down in their clubhouse in comfort – thanks to a grant from the Victory Housing Community Fund.
North Walsham New Road Bowls & Snooker Club, situated in the town centre, desperately needed new chairs for their clubhouse after the old ones started to fall apart and be dangerous. The club applied to the Victory fund, which supports grassroots community organisations throughout north Norfolk, for a grant to help replace them – and received £800 towards the cost of the new chairs.
The club has seen membership grow by around 50 percent in the last three years to around 110 members, and it plays host for competitive matches to teams from all over the county.
“We have a busy programme of sporting and social activities, and we rely completely on volunteers to keep going,” said treasurer Hazel Sadler. “The clubhouse is the centre of that activity, and unfortunately our old chairs had got to the stage where they were in danger of collapse. This grant will enable us to continue our programme of events.”
The Victory Housing Community Fund was established in 2008, and since then has given out a total of 157 grants totalling £427,204 to a range of community organisations. Grants are allocated twice yearly by a panel made up of Victory Housing residents, advised by the team at Norfolk Community Foundation.
“It is clubs like North Walsham New Road Bowls Club, run entirely by volunteers, which are the lifeblood of any community,” said Victory’s housing director Christine Candlish. “The social side is so important, bringing people together and providing a focus for community activities. Even a relatively small grant such as this can make a big difference to help clubs like this keep going.”
North Walsham New Road Bowls & Snooker Club was founded in 1912 when the New Road site was bequeathed to the town to be used for sporting purposes.