Cramlington Bowls Club Receives Funding Boost
The future of a popular bowls club is looking more secure thanks to a generous financial donation from a local development company.
The 50-member Alexandra Park bowls club in Cramlington is looking to flourish further with a new automatic irrigation system, which has been partly funded by the £5,000 grant from the Banks Group.
The new watering system, supported by cash from the Banks Community Fund, will ensure the bowling green remains in top condition, and is helping to safeguard the long-term future of the club.
It has four nozzles set into either side of the green and can be set to come on automatically whenever is best for the grass.
That means irrigation can take place during the early hours of the morning, when less water is lost to evaporation, which is better for both the green and the environment.
The donation from the Banks Group reflects the company's links with south east Northumberland, where it has operated opencast coal mines since the 1980s and where it is currently working the Shotton and Brenkley sites on the Blagdon Estate near Cramlington.
Founded in 1984, the Alexandra Park flat green bowls club has a membership ranging from retired people to "youngsters" who are in their 20s and 30s, and play in regional men's, women's and mixed leagues.
Yesterday secretary Keith Thompson said: "Having a good playing surface is crucial to the enjoyment of bowls, and both over or under-watering can have a serious impact. Too little water and the green will dry out, too much and the grass becomes spongy and hard to play on.
"This is a fantastic bowling club with a strong social side to it, and all our members are enjoying playing on the improved playing surface.
"Controlling the water supply is very important and difficult to achieve by manual watering, so this new irrigation system is hugely helpful.
"Since its installation our greenkeepers have been able to produce a wonderful surface and we have had the privilege of hosting county competition finals.
"Our future is looking very bright and we're very lucky to have a growing membership. We're very grateful to Banks for their generous help in making this happen."
Mark Dowdall, environment and community director at the Banks Group, said: "Alexandra Park bowls club is a well-established organisation that is well-used by a wide cross-section of the local community.
"We're very pleased to have been able to support the improvements to their playing facilities and we hope the new irrigation system serves the club members for just as long, if not longer."
Projects, community groups or organisations in the vicinity of a Banks development can apply for funding by contacting Clare Johnson on 0191 378 6342.
