Braid BC Club Story
In March, Bowls Scotland asked clubs who are open and inclusive to their communities to sign up as Try Bowls Clubs. Braid BC in District 15 were quick to register having run successful Try Bowls events before the pandemic, they also attended our Social Media workshop for some tips to help promote their club.
We spoke to the club to find out more about their aims for Try Bowls and their membership recruitment drive. The committee outlined 4 key focusses for their 2022 season which are:
- The re-opening of the Green for play
- Meeting and reconnecting with other club members
- A big recruitment push
- An emphasis on fund-raising to re-coup Covid losses to Club funds
Braid BC are planning free and friendly Sunday afternoon sessions for all ages and abilities, starting in May as President, Derek Wilkinson, explains…
“Our Sunday Afternoon ‘Try Bowls’ sessions pre-Covid proved to be an effective way to recruit new members. A combination of leaflets, local advertising, encouragement to members to bring along family & friends and, most recently, entries on local social media sites, brought a positive response. We have now also added a banner to our street railings as another way to catch public attention.
“The free sessions are open to everyone whether they’ve played bowls before or not. Bowls and shoes are provided for our visitors. We also have sets of junior bowls for younger visitors to play with.
“After an initial short coaching session from one of our members, our visitors are introduced to a rink to join with Club members who will help them with their game. At the end of the game visitors are invited into the Club House to join members for tea/coffee and biscuits.
“Contact details for our visitors are taken and they are given a sheet of information about the Club and a link to the Club’s web site. If a visitor decides to join, then there is a reduced annual subscription.”
Frances Martin, who has been a member at Braid BC for 4 years, attended a Social Media workshop hosted by Bowls Scotland on behalf of the club and subsequently set up a Facebook page to help promote the clubs’ Try Bowls sessions and other news…
“We signed up to your course because we felt it was time to set up social media pages for our club. The course was good. I especially appreciated the one-to-one help Bowls Scotland gave me after the course. I’ve still to conquer Canva but there’s time for that! The links given out in the handouts following the course will be really useful for future reference.”
Bowls Scotland have made all the resources and a recording of the workshop available via our YouTube channel for any clubs who missed the workshop. And hope to see more clubs follow Braid’s example in using social media to promote their club events this season.
The committee and members of Braid BC were saddened by the recent death of David McGill a former Scottish & British champion, Commonwealth Games silver medallist and member of their club. As a well known and respected bowler, who was also involved in encouraging young and new bowlers to try the sport, this feels a fitting club story to remember and honour David with.