April Update

This newsletter is quite a serious one!! Apologies for this but the committee felt it was important that all members were updated on the situation and decisions being made. Perhaps the most important thing to say is that the GREEN AND BIDDENDEN BOWLS CLUB will be there and ready for us when the current crisis is over. We intend to send out regular updates by newsletter and to keep the website up to date. Hopefully we will be including positive stories and pictures (so please send some in!!) as well as our quizzes and puzzles. We will make every effort to ensure that those members who do not use the internet/emails will receive a paper copy so that no one is left out.

So to balance things up we are sending out a second news letter concurrently which is a bit more light hearted!!

A message from Jeannette

“As Chair of Biddenden Bowls Club I fully understand the challenges we face in the coming year. Bowls is a community sport and brings people together from all walks of life and I know we will all pull together to ensure the club "rolls" forward into 2021.

Be assured that all decisions and plans the Committee are proposing to put into place during the Covid-19 Pandemic will be made in the best interests of all our members and the Club.

The green maintenance team are working hard to ensure you have a green we can be proud of when we return to bowls, and I would like to thank them for giving up their hour a day of "personal exercise" to ensure that essential work on the green continues during this difficult time.

Be assured, in the coming months we will tackle the ongoing challenges together and, in the meantime, keep in touch and stay safe and well”

BOWLS ENGLAND and KCBA (Kent County Bowls Association)

Message from Bowls England 18th March 2020

“Now more than ever is the time for us to work together to ensure that our clubs and bowling greens are available when it is deemed safe to resume our much-love sport. So, we would urge our members to commit to their clubs, keep an eye out for their fellow members who may feel isolated and be ready to get back on the greens when government guidance allows”

Bowls England has refunded the 2020 affiliation fees paid to them by playing members (£5 per player). For the time being KCBA is not refunding the £5 per member affiliation paid to the county. All national and county competitions for 2020 have been cancelled and entry fees have been refunded to the clubs.

Bowls England is inviting bowlers to sign up for news, chat, keep fit and classic matches via the Bowls England e-newsletter. To subscribe members need to visit the Bowls England website at www.bowlsengland.com and add their email address to the relevant area at the bottom of the home page. Kim has already done this and received the first e newsletter which was very good.

Update on where we are

You will be impressed to know that the committee met on the 1st April using a video ZOOM conference link – very 21st century!! A full review of finances, events, members, maintenance and planning took place. Here is a summary:

• All of our events for April are cancelled or postponed. On or about the 15th April a decision will be made about the May events and then monthly thereafter.

• Finances – the current position and various forecasts to the end of the season have been reviewed. Our bowls club finances are sufficiently robust to withstand the “shock” of Covid19 impacts in 2020 and to take us through the 2021 season. However, our income streams are going to take a real hit with the loss of home friendly matches and league games and Tractorfest monies. As a result, the committee is asking that subscriptions paid by members for 2020 are retained by the club. Any members who were intending to join but have not paid are encouraged to do so. This is in line with the views of Bowls England and Kent Bowls both of which are “encouraging all club members to support their clubs by continuing to pay their annual subscriptions in order that the clubs will be there for them when we are able to resume bowling”

• The committee is also suggesting that the loyalty of members could be rewarded by offsetting a proportion of any 2020 subscription paid against that due for 2021 (to be agreed at the AGM). It is good that our sponsors 77 Wealth Management and The Family Funeral Service are continuing to support the club.

The GREEN – As Jeannette says above a small team of volunteers are undertaking basic maintenance on the green. It is looking good and a huge thank you to all of those volunteers. It was good to receive reassurance this week that the actions being taken on the green are in line with Government Guidance.

The Sport & Recreation Alliance (SRA), which represents a number of national bodies including Bowls England, sought clarification on behalf of all sports as to whether grounds maintenance work is classified as essential during a meeting with the Sports Minister and other sector stakeholders on Thursday 2nd April. The SRA was informed that as long as social distancing regulations are adhered to and due regard for health and safety is followed, work that is essential to that space and cannot be done at home is considered to be acceptable. You are reminded that whilst essential work on greens is therefore currently permitted, the latest Government guidance must be followed at all times.

So that is it for this update but please look out for the next newsletter which we hope will make you smile and test those "little grey cells".