Ormskirk Bowling Club

The Club has been notified of the sad passing of Jimmy Gardner.  Jim played for several clubs over the years, and was a team member in our Aughton League ‘B’ side in our inaugural 2016 season, playing in one of the first matches to be played on the artificial green.

Prior to that Jimmy played with several of us over the years at the Windmill and was well known in bowling circles.  He was a keen sportsman and lover of all sports, as well as enjoying an occasional flutter.  For many years, when younger, he ran the Burscough Boxing Club, training many young lads in the sport.

Jimmy always enjoyed playing with and encouraging the younger players at our club and he will be sadly missed.  Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.

Dear OBC member

Firstly, and most importantly, I hope that you and your loved ones are healthy and keeping safe during these troubling times.

At the moment the prospect of bowling looks some way off whilst we remain in lockdown. I am though writing to ask for your support. As previously mentioned, like all sports clubs, OBC has set costs which we have to continue to pay regardless of whether or not we are actually able to use the greens. These include licenses, utilities, insurance costs, affiliation costs, green upkeep, etc. As a committee we will be looking at grants we may be able to apply for to help with these costs, but we must also turn to you , our members, and ask for your support.

I would be extremely grateful if you could pay your annual membership fees as soon as you can please and no later than the end of April (my thanks to those who have already done this). Put simply, we face a massive loss in income through the lack of match fees, football cards, etc and we need your support to ensure the club remains in a stable financial position. If you were thinking of not paying your subscription fees this year can I please urge you to reconsider and join up again. Remember, unlike most other clubs, we offer all-year round bowling facilities. I can assure you that every penny we receive through subscriptions will be spent on keeping the club in good order for the enjoyment of all members.

Thank you for your ongoing support and I hope to see you on the green at some point this summer.

Stay safe and healthy.

Steve James

Chairman

Firstly on behalf of the committee we want to send our best wishes to all of you whether you are affected by the current outbreak or not. We are aware that we have a club that is part of the community and if anyone who is experiencing difficulties or needs any assistance due to the current climate please let us know as we have the resources to assist in any way we can.

You may be aware that the BCGBA has suspended all league matches until further notice and we are obviously complying with this directive as well as suspending any club competitions including the winter ladder. Whilst we have not taken this decision lightly we have decided to close both of the clubs greens until further notice to abide by the government directive and in recognition of the fact that Ormskirk Cricket Club and most other sporting clubs have closed their operations for the time being.

Additionally we are cancelling this Saturdays ground force day and the subs/social night scheduled for 23 March 2020.

We are requesting that members who are able pay their annual subscriptions online via the Join tab on the clubs website, if you are unable to do this please pay via other means to the secretary or the treasurer. We are sure that you will appreciate that the club has a number of fixed costs which must be paid irrespective of the current circumstances and to give you a flavour of this the costs we need to generate are around £3100 to maintain our current position by the year end. Having said that, for those who do not feel able to pay the full amount, we are agreeable to a reduced subscription of £25 for adults, £20 for cricket club members and £5 for juniors if this helps.

Finally we hope that we are soon able to resume the sport we love and we wish you and all your family and friends best wishes in these unprecedented times.

Kind regards

Ormskirk Bowling Club Committee

All the Club’s fixtures have now been published on Bowlsnet (apart from Maghull League that uses a different system).  Perhaps the best place to view all the fixtures is on our own Club Bowlsnet Portal – http://bowlsnet.uk/OrmskirkBC/!Fixtures.

The Maghull League fixtures can be found at https://www.cgleague.co.uk/maghull/.

All fixtures will be gradually added to our Club Calendar over the next week or so. The next few will appear on the right hand side of this site and all will be able to be viewed on the Calendar page – choose the ‘schedule’ option for optimum viewing.

We are organising the above event to undertake some much needed ground preparation for the season. We need to fill the pot holes on the drive, clear leaves, branches, etc and have a general tidy up in the pavilion and the toilets. Please can as many as possible turn up armed with spades, garden forks, wheel barrows,etc. The more come down the quicker it will be. Thank you.

We are holding the above social at the Ormskirk Cricket Club as a chance to get together before the start of the season. It offers the opportunity to pay your annual subs by cash or cheque (if you do not want to pay online) and Chris Horsfall has kindly agreed to organise a quiz again which was very successful last year. Hope to see many of you on the night.

Please take time if you haven’t already to read the article in this weeks midweek Champion about our member, Brian Green. You may not know that Brian was an olympic athlete and bob sleigher whose story is inspirational. Brian has kindly agreed to act as press liaison officer for the club to increase our profile and potentially attract new members to our club. I am sure you will all join me in thanking Brian for taking on this role and also to wish him well in his ongoing treatment for his kidney condition.

Jimmy Gardner’s son has been in touch to say that Jimmy is not well and is currently in Southport Hospital.  Jimmy played for the Club in its first year or so, and before that played at the Windmill and other clubs – many of you who have been playing for  our club or other clubs will have played with or against him.  He has had poor health for the last couple of years and hasn’t bowled. If anyone would like to visit Jimmy he is in Ward 14b and visiting hours are 1.30-8.30pm.

If you are enjoying the World Indoor bowls on the telly, and fancy having a go yourself, get in touch with us.  Ormskirk Bowling Club has two crown bowling greens, one grass and one artificial.  We are a relatively new and growing club and we welcome new members and beginners of all abilities.  We will be holding taster sessions and an ‘open day’ when the weather improves in March/April.  Get in touch via the ‘Contact’ page of our website and we will be back in touch when we set some dates.  Bowls is a fantastic social sport, which you can play just for fun or competitively in one of our many teams playing in local leagues.  Could you play as well as Nick Brett?

The Club’s AGM & Presentation Night will be held tomorrow (Monday 20th January) starting at 7.15pm in the Cricket Club pavilion.  Please can as many members as possible attend. We hope to see you there.