Thornhill BC raise £4,500 in 24-hour bowling match
In June, Thornhill Bowling Club in Dumfriesshire raised a staggering £4,500 for Macmillan Cancer Support by hosting a club bowl-a-thon!
The 24-hour charity event was mostly promoted on social media, with the club sharing news on their own page as well as local and national bowls pages to spread awareness across the Scottish bowling community. 6 players took part in the match, Andy Ross, Gavin Maxwell, David Broatch, Ross Williamson, President Sam Stitt and 2024 President Gary Stewart with floodlights brought in to allow the game to go on through the night. After 10 hours play, the teams were tied at 113 a piece after 106 ends. Supporters and donations continued overnight, with the club providing updates on their Facebook channel throughout. The eventual winners were Gavin Maxwell, Gary Stewart and Ross Williamson, with a 11-point victory after 255 ends of competitive bowls.
A true community event, the club received donations from other local groups and businesses. Members hosted a cake sale, bar-be-que and competitions to guess the weight of a carrot cake and the total number of ends in the match to drum up extra donations. On the Saturday at the end of the 24-hour match, there was a fun spider competition to mark the end of the event.
Andrew Ross, a member at Thornhill, got in touch to tell us more about the success of the event:
“We had a continuous stream of supporters came down to cheers us on from the minute we started on the Friday night. The only time we were on our own was 03:30 to 05:00. Locals donated baking as we had a cake sale during the day on the Saturday to encourage people down to the club. Other members donated items for the BBQ and anyone wanting food from the BBQ just simply left a donation as there were no set prices. At 2 o’clock in the morning we had a streaker run across the green, thankfully a mankini was being worn with a wig, glasses and fake moustache to hide their identity!!
The event was the brainchild of Gavin Maxwell who wanted to do something for a cancer charity following his sisters recent battle with the disease. His sister Claire is now doing well and continuing her journey.
Along with 5 club mates he decided to challenge them to a pairs game for a full 24 hours. One member of each team of 3 sat out for a small break every hour while the other 2 battled it out. The game was extremely close and there were only a few shots in it playing the last end.”
Congratulations to all involved in this fantastic fundraising effort by Thornhill BC and thanks to Andy for sharing the news with us.
As well as supporting good causes, fundraising can be a great way to bring clubs and their communities together. Bowls Scotland's official charitable partner is Erskine Veterans Charity and any club interesting on fundraising on their behalf can find details at www.erskine.org.uk