BowlsMark Gold Case Study: Strathmiglo BC
Congratulations to Strathmiglo BC who have achieved their gold BowlsMark accreditation on the clubs’ 125th Anniversary year! The second club in Fife to achieve the gold level, Strathmiglo BC is a community hub; offering members and the wider community a variety of social family-friendly events as well as both fun and competitive bowling opportunities. Strathmiglo boast a thriving junior section and regular coaching sessions alongside their well-attended Try Bowls events.
BowlsMark is Bowls Scotland’s Club Accreditation Scheme which enables clubs to develop safe and welcoming environments for all. Benefits to the scheme include, but are not limited to, tickets to the National Championships, free places on coaching courses, improving club culture and providing a stepping stone for funding opportunities. Our National Development Officers (NDOs) provide one-to-one support throughout the bronze, silver and gold stages of accreditation, assisting clubs through the entire process.
We spoke to Jenn Pearson, Secretary of Strathmiglo BC to find out more about their journey to BowlsMark gold and their plans for this anniversary year. Read the Q&A below…
Q: Why did Strathmiglo BC sign up for BowlsMark
A: Our club signed up for BowlsMark as a way to ensure that we had everything in place to keep our members safe. We wanted to make our members and the wider community aware that the club have policies and procedures in place along with action plans to keep our members safe and to plan for the future of the club.
Q: Explain the process the club went through to achieve gold accreditation?
A: Our secretary was involved in gold, we really wanted to achieve our gold accreditation to mark our 125th anniversary. Meant putting in place plans for the clubs future, looking at how we communicate with members and wider community and if we could improve on that.
Q: What would your message be to encourage other clubs to sign up to BowlsMark?
A: I would encourage all clubs to do BowlsMark as it shows members that the club and committee have taken relevant steps to keep them safe such as policies and procedures as well as planning for the clubs’ future.
Q: Tell us about the clubs plans for the 2025 season?
A: 2025 is a big season for the club as we celebrate our centenary year. The committee have lots of things planned for members but also the wider community. We were delighted to present five lifetime memberships on our Opening Day in April to Lorraine Gordon, our current president, Jimmy Dick, Alun Thomas, Ann Hutton and John (Sandy) Dempsey. This was the day that Morag (Robertson, District 7 District Co-ordinator) also presented the club with our gold award, it was a fantastic day of celebration to kick-start the season ahead – we even made the newspaper!
Stuart Bell, NDO for the East supported Jenn and the club along their BowlsMark journey by providing documents, information and one-to-one support. He was delighted to see the club obtain their gold accreditation in this season of celebration for the club. Stuart said:
“I am delighted that the hard work of the volunteers and committee at Strathmiglo BC has been recognised with the achievement of their gold BowlsMark award. It has been my pleasure to supplement the support from the Development team, working with this inclusive and proactive club on this journey. I look forward to continuing to see the 125th celebrations across the bowling season and believe the club will continue to go from strength to strength. The gold award is recognition of the members of the club, as ‘keyholders’, to protect she future of our sport, this along with their busy junior section and focus on community engagement shows that Strathmiglo really is a club at the heart of its community.”