National Volunteer Award Profile – Gordon Jamieson
The latest winner of the Bowls Scotland National Volunteer Awards is Gordon Jamieson from BowlsMark Silver Club, Grantown BC in the Highlands. Gordon was chosen as a winner due to his work maintaining the bowling green for over 30 years, committed long service to volunteering and outstanding contribution to the local community.
Gordon has been a member of Grantown Bowling Club for 40 years, and in this time has been President, club coach and has maintained the green to a very high standard as a volunteer since 1994. We asked Gordon how he first got involved as a volunteer at the club…
“Well I started bowling in 1994 and took the presidency on in 1996 for a three year period, during my presidency we started renovations on the club and improvements on green…”
After his presidency, Gordon stayed involved as a volunteer at the club, supporting the committee and taking on the upkeep of the green amongst other roles. The time and longstanding dedication that Gordon has dedicated to the club hasn’t gone unnoticed by fellow members. Francoise van Buuren, Club Secretary, recognised Gordon’s efforts with a nomination for this award on behalf of the club. Francoise highlighted many of Gordon’s contributions to the club within her nomination:
“As a committee member, Gordon has provided essential support in managing the Club, including during the COVID years when membership and income dropped significantly, almost causing the club to close permanently. Established in 1908, the Grantown Bowling Club is a highly valued community asset and would have been a major loss to the town if Gordon and his fellow committee members had not turned things around in extremely difficult circumstances. Also a qualified coach, Gordon has also provided discrete, supportive coaching to members of all ages and experience and this summer, along with other volunteers, he introduced bowling to well over 150 local school children, Girl Guides and Boy Scouts groups.
“However, his greatest contribution has been the time and commitment he has given as a volunteer to care and maintain for the bowling green. Since 1994, he has led the ongoing management of the Club grounds, levelling banks surrounding the green, annual scouring and coring of the green, regular feeding and watering throughout each season and cutting the grass three times a week. This year, with Gordon’s support and advice, the Club installed an accessible ramp to make the green accessible for everyone. Gordon is also helping a school leaver to learn new skills as a greenkeeper.
“The Club is now a Scottish Registered Charity and Gordon is a Board Trustee. He also oversees the management of the green, provides advice in the running of the club and encourages and coaches new members. Gordon is such a positive role model within our club and already holds Honorary Membership in recognition of his contributions over many years as a volunteer”
The skills and knowledge acquired from Gordon’s long-standing commitment to the maintenance of the green at Grantown are now being passed on to the next generation of club volunteers, we asked Gordon how he first started as the club’s greenkeeper and about his passion for helping others…
“I knew nothing about greenkeeping! When I was President, our greenkeeper was retiring, I’ve been doing the job ever since then and we’ve been looking for a new greenkeeper the whole time which we’ve just never found. A lot of the knowledge I got from the greenkeepers at the golf club and by researching in books. We had a student last summer working with us helping to cut the green, and I was working closely with him which was fantastic."
Gordon told us more about his involvement as a club coach, introducing more young players to our sport, when describing the sessions last year with the local school and Scouts groups, He said:
“A green need to be busy, it needs to be used to play well. It was fantastic to see so many children out on the green and enjoying it, a lot of them really getting stuck in there, learning how to play the game. The school is just next door so it’s very handy that way, we’ll maybe get more students in this year and grow the membership that way."
Gordon was presented with his National Volunteer Award by Alec MacDonald, District Co-Ordinator for District One at the clubs’ prizegiving night last December, when asked what it meant to be presented with the award, he told us:
“I had no idea this was coming, no idea whatsoever – I found out later on that the other members have been doing it for a while, I usually get a good idea when something’s being planned within the club, but I had no clue. I was just speechless, and that’s not like me! The members knew all about it and I think it’s ideal - it’s good for the club and members so it’s just fantastic, really fantastic. I’m still trying to get it into my head!"
Congratulations to Gordon on behalf of everyone at Bowls Scotland for receiving his thoroughly deserved National Volunteer Award! The club and Gordon also received a write-up about the award in their local paper, The Strathspey and Badenoch Herald, which can be found here.