Post by Cornwall County Short Mat Bowl on Jan 16, 2012 20:30:27 GMT
Cornwall Bowls Alliance Working Group (CBAWG) – Newsletter No 4
What is being planned for 2012? The working group will discuss a draft plan at our meeting in January (date to be confirmed) but any ideas on recruitment from any source are welcomed and will be considered – please email these through to David Parr on david@dparr.orangehome.co.uk or ring 01637 875842, but here are some the current ideas to be going on with:
1. 21/22 April – linked with Get Active Cornwall we will seek to attract potential new members to our clubs. We are hoping that all our clubs will make provision so that any person turning up at their club on these days may either have a go at the time or their details taken and a suitable time arranged for them to do so (our basic open day/taster sessions). The plan is that our county press will have adverts/stories encouraging people to try out our sport and identifying these specific dates, the 21/22 April to come along to our clubs.
If your club is already planning to run open days/taster sessions anyway and you were going to place your own local adverts in the press then please continue to do so – the bigger the impact the more chance of gaining new members
If your club already has its details on the Get Active Cornwall web site, great, can you please update them for 2012. If you have yet to register your club on this site then I would urge you do so as quickly as possible – go to info@getactivecornwall.co.uk and register as a “provider” or ring 01872 323344 where somebody at the County Sports Partnership will help you through the process (it is free!).
2. The Bowls Development Alliance (BDA) are planning a national drive to gain more bowlers called “bring a friend” – this is for the week starting the 28 April to 5 May. More details on this event will be available shortly from the BDA.
3. Plans are in place for the BDA “have mat will travel”, the most promising looks like taking place during the “Be Active Truro” event on Lemon Quay 7th to 11 July (the BDA van is provisionally booked). The other options under investigation are the Royal Cornwall show but this is dependent on whether we are able to have the space to set things up and the spring fair in Saltash.
4. The CBAWG have purchased several sets of New Age bowls to help assist any clubs/members who are planning to visit any groups, schools etc., where they need/wish to demonstrate our sport away from the bowls green. New Age bowls perform similar to conventional bowls except that they are “soft” and hence can be used on any flat surface with minimal risk of damage to the surrounds/persons. They are ideal if you are demonstrating our sport in a hall or similar. If you wish to access them then please contact Rob Harrison on 01872 323348 or email rharrison@cornwall.gov.uk at the Cornwall Sports Partnership (CSP) offices. In addition there is available a BDA fold out recruitment banner that may be used to assist advertising our sport, if you wish to collect this from the CSP offices.
5. Club Mark; if your club is interested in working with local schools, anticipates seeking to do more within your local community then Club Mark is something you ought to consider. Provision has been made within the CBAWG plan to help pay for the required courses that a club official is required to attend when seeking Club Mark. Potentially there are great benefits/opportunities for your club in seeking to obtain Club Mark e.g. opens up the opportunity for grants from outside sources etc. We have three clubs in the county with Club Mark, St Austell, St Stephen and Chacewater. Why not contact their secretary directly and have an informal chat with them about what is involved, the benefits they have been able to access? If your club is interested in seeking to obtain Club Mark or just wants more information then contact Natasha Howard on 01872 323344 or email nhoward@cornwall.gov.uk
6. Working with schools; whilst the BDA are (and have to because of Sport England targets) focus on>65s, we in this county like to work with all age ranges. Working with schools opens up opportunities for external funding, wider community support for your club as well as potentially new members (remember the kids have parents and grandparents and our sport can be played by all the family). In this county there are the school games and similar type arrangements but bowls is yet to really make an impression. If we are to do so we need to present the schools with a “bowls package”. This is a discrete package of work and needs somebody to lead on it – again we will be discussing in more detail at our working group meeting.
7. Calling anyone interested in becoming an umpire or coach; provision has been made to support the training of these within the county. If you are interested in becoming either a coach or umpire then contact Brian Sweet on 01208 8727921 (bsweet019@btinternet.com) for coaching and Max Richards on 01726 73676 (wrichards727@btinternet.com) for umpires.
8. Short Mat Bowls; many of the outdoor clubs during the winter months run short mat bowls. Please remember that you can be supported if you run taster sessions etc for short mat bowls in the “winter period”. It is a great way to get more people (potential new members) down to your club
What did we achieve in 2011– basically we did very well! It does pay to keep trying even if sometimes the hard work does not always seem to bring forth the results always hoped for.
A quick comparison between the 2010 and 2011 figures, headline results, 268 in 2011 tried bowls as opposed to 195 in 2010, 166 people joined a club as against 106 of which 93 were >65 as against 49. 100% of the indoor clubs are running recruitment work whilst it remains at approximately 50% of the outdoor clubs, although more in 2011 than 2010. Our short mat colleagues seem slower to make use of the opportunities on offer but we will keep trying and making them aware. Monies coming from the BDA for all the work to date, going to clubs etc, in 2010 it amounted to approximately £3k, in 2011 approximately £4k (and trying for a bit more!). Whilst this may not seem a great deal it is important to remember this is “outside monies” i.e. not something you have needed to raise from your own members – it all helps.
Thank you for all your efforts and please keep going. We are all well aware that we must keep seeking to attract new persons into our sport. I am sure we all hope that these new members will “pick up the baton” by becoming volunteers/officials in our sport some time in the future
I wish you all a Happy New Year.
David Parr
Bowls Cornwall Development Officer for
Cornwall Bowls Alliance Working Group (CBAWG)
Email david@dparr.orangehome.co.uk or phone 01637 875842
What is being planned for 2012? The working group will discuss a draft plan at our meeting in January (date to be confirmed) but any ideas on recruitment from any source are welcomed and will be considered – please email these through to David Parr on david@dparr.orangehome.co.uk or ring 01637 875842, but here are some the current ideas to be going on with:
1. 21/22 April – linked with Get Active Cornwall we will seek to attract potential new members to our clubs. We are hoping that all our clubs will make provision so that any person turning up at their club on these days may either have a go at the time or their details taken and a suitable time arranged for them to do so (our basic open day/taster sessions). The plan is that our county press will have adverts/stories encouraging people to try out our sport and identifying these specific dates, the 21/22 April to come along to our clubs.
If your club is already planning to run open days/taster sessions anyway and you were going to place your own local adverts in the press then please continue to do so – the bigger the impact the more chance of gaining new members
If your club already has its details on the Get Active Cornwall web site, great, can you please update them for 2012. If you have yet to register your club on this site then I would urge you do so as quickly as possible – go to info@getactivecornwall.co.uk and register as a “provider” or ring 01872 323344 where somebody at the County Sports Partnership will help you through the process (it is free!).
2. The Bowls Development Alliance (BDA) are planning a national drive to gain more bowlers called “bring a friend” – this is for the week starting the 28 April to 5 May. More details on this event will be available shortly from the BDA.
3. Plans are in place for the BDA “have mat will travel”, the most promising looks like taking place during the “Be Active Truro” event on Lemon Quay 7th to 11 July (the BDA van is provisionally booked). The other options under investigation are the Royal Cornwall show but this is dependent on whether we are able to have the space to set things up and the spring fair in Saltash.
4. The CBAWG have purchased several sets of New Age bowls to help assist any clubs/members who are planning to visit any groups, schools etc., where they need/wish to demonstrate our sport away from the bowls green. New Age bowls perform similar to conventional bowls except that they are “soft” and hence can be used on any flat surface with minimal risk of damage to the surrounds/persons. They are ideal if you are demonstrating our sport in a hall or similar. If you wish to access them then please contact Rob Harrison on 01872 323348 or email rharrison@cornwall.gov.uk at the Cornwall Sports Partnership (CSP) offices. In addition there is available a BDA fold out recruitment banner that may be used to assist advertising our sport, if you wish to collect this from the CSP offices.
5. Club Mark; if your club is interested in working with local schools, anticipates seeking to do more within your local community then Club Mark is something you ought to consider. Provision has been made within the CBAWG plan to help pay for the required courses that a club official is required to attend when seeking Club Mark. Potentially there are great benefits/opportunities for your club in seeking to obtain Club Mark e.g. opens up the opportunity for grants from outside sources etc. We have three clubs in the county with Club Mark, St Austell, St Stephen and Chacewater. Why not contact their secretary directly and have an informal chat with them about what is involved, the benefits they have been able to access? If your club is interested in seeking to obtain Club Mark or just wants more information then contact Natasha Howard on 01872 323344 or email nhoward@cornwall.gov.uk
6. Working with schools; whilst the BDA are (and have to because of Sport England targets) focus on>65s, we in this county like to work with all age ranges. Working with schools opens up opportunities for external funding, wider community support for your club as well as potentially new members (remember the kids have parents and grandparents and our sport can be played by all the family). In this county there are the school games and similar type arrangements but bowls is yet to really make an impression. If we are to do so we need to present the schools with a “bowls package”. This is a discrete package of work and needs somebody to lead on it – again we will be discussing in more detail at our working group meeting.
7. Calling anyone interested in becoming an umpire or coach; provision has been made to support the training of these within the county. If you are interested in becoming either a coach or umpire then contact Brian Sweet on 01208 8727921 (bsweet019@btinternet.com) for coaching and Max Richards on 01726 73676 (wrichards727@btinternet.com) for umpires.
8. Short Mat Bowls; many of the outdoor clubs during the winter months run short mat bowls. Please remember that you can be supported if you run taster sessions etc for short mat bowls in the “winter period”. It is a great way to get more people (potential new members) down to your club
What did we achieve in 2011– basically we did very well! It does pay to keep trying even if sometimes the hard work does not always seem to bring forth the results always hoped for.
A quick comparison between the 2010 and 2011 figures, headline results, 268 in 2011 tried bowls as opposed to 195 in 2010, 166 people joined a club as against 106 of which 93 were >65 as against 49. 100% of the indoor clubs are running recruitment work whilst it remains at approximately 50% of the outdoor clubs, although more in 2011 than 2010. Our short mat colleagues seem slower to make use of the opportunities on offer but we will keep trying and making them aware. Monies coming from the BDA for all the work to date, going to clubs etc, in 2010 it amounted to approximately £3k, in 2011 approximately £4k (and trying for a bit more!). Whilst this may not seem a great deal it is important to remember this is “outside monies” i.e. not something you have needed to raise from your own members – it all helps.
Thank you for all your efforts and please keep going. We are all well aware that we must keep seeking to attract new persons into our sport. I am sure we all hope that these new members will “pick up the baton” by becoming volunteers/officials in our sport some time in the future
I wish you all a Happy New Year.
David Parr
Bowls Cornwall Development Officer for
Cornwall Bowls Alliance Working Group (CBAWG)
Email david@dparr.orangehome.co.uk or phone 01637 875842