Club Development Forums Review
Over the last eight weeks Bowls Scotland’s National Development Officers, Alan McDonald, Stuart Bell and Holly Hamilton along with our Disability Development Officer, Stuart Chesby, have delivered 23 Club Development Forums across the country.
The forums were aimed at all club members and focussed on outlining the support and resources available to clubs from Bowls Scotland ahead of the 2025 season commencing. It was brilliant to have a total of 323 members from 192 member clubs attending the forums to provide a platform for clubs to discuss any opportunities and share their good practice.
Bowls Scotland Chair, Gary Grant, CEO, Malcolm Dingwall-Smith, and Business Operations Manager, Brogan Sinclair, also enjoyed attending a number of the forums and hearing directly from clubs.
Speaking on his positive experience at the Gallatown Bowling Club forum on Monday 17th March, Jim Connor from Burntisland Bowling Club, said: “First off all may I thank Bowls Scotland for the very informative evening at Gallatown Bowling Club. I was the Secretary of Orbiston Bowling Club in Bellshill in the 1990’s and early 2000’s but only recently got back into club officialdom with Burntisland over the last two years.
“The presentation delivered at the forum was an eyeopener as to how much Bowls Scotland have progressed, I took a lot of actions away with me.”
Pleased with the success of the forums, Brogan Sinclair, Bowls Scotland’s Business Operations Manager, added: “We are delighted to have engaged with so many fantastic volunteers from clubs right across the country over the past eight weeks. It has been great to see a boost in the uptake of support around Try Bowls and a number of clubs beginning their BowlsMark accreditation to continue to improve their governance and environment.
“Bowls Scotland member clubs can benefit from a wide range of support through our Development Team, so I would encourage anyone who has not yet tapped into this resource to get in touch.”
For anyone that was unable to attend the in-person forums over the last month or so, we are now offering an Online Forum on Thursday 8th May from 7-9pm. To sign up, please visit: https://bowlsscotland.justgo.com/workbench/public/events?ref=0A9F534C9054AE84ADDCC07F987C73EE07ED57C4