Spotlight on Balerno Bowling Club
What target groups do you help?
A wide range of people are welcome to get involved in bowls, its not just for the “oldies”
And how do the volunteers help?
Volunteers play a vital role in ensuring any club is successful. The roles that volunteers do is wide and varied however, the main thing is that volunteers show some enthusiasm for their role. Volunteers can make an impact on the work that the club does and assist in the running of the club aswell as having an impact on members and visitors to the club. Volunteers can make a difference to someone being made welcome and feeling that they belong to the community that they are involved in.
What volunteer roles do you have, and do you have any areas you wish to get more volunteer involvement?
There are a wide range of roles that need to be covered within the bowling club. These include:
Office bearer
Committee member
Fundraiser
Welcome committee
Coach
Painter
Cleaner
Maintenance of surrounding area; weeding, planting etc
Catering – got to have a cup of tea and a biscuit
Match Secretary
Social media and emails
What skills & experience are required to volunteer with you?
No specific skill are needed as we will endeavour to give all the relevant training in house or by accessing courses / workshops. If you have a particular skill that you would like to help the club with e.g. accountant can do a treasurer’s role, then let us know. Whatever role a volunteer would like to be involved in, we would always welcome you.
What training can the volunteer expect?
A simple welcome and induction into the club will be at the beginning. There are plenty of people with experience at the club that can pass on their knowledge to volunteers. The club will also search for courses that will assist in developing the role that volunteers have.
Volunteers statement or story
I currently got involved in my volunteer role after bowling for a number of years with the club. At an AGM the Treasurer was stepping down from the role and no one was keen to take it on. I hesitantly took on the role and grasped it with both hands. Although I had some experience in keeping books this was a slightly different role and had to learn on the job. It was difficult at times as not all information I needed was at hand. I changed the way income and expenditure had been recorded to better suit the way that I preferred, while meeting all the requirements for the club. Not all members know what is involved in the treasurers role and they just think the books and cheques get done all by themselves. However, there are many key members of the committee know the work that is involved and appreciate what is done to keep the club running. It is great to be involved in the club as a player but to know that I am heavily involved in keeping the club running successfully gives me a little bit of pride.
A story or statement told by someone who benefits from your organisation and the involvement of Volunteers.
I love to play bowls, its good for keeping me fit, physically and mentally. I like meeting up with other bowlers too. It has been really difficult as the club had decided not to open again due to Covid. I am glad that it is now opening again as I missed seeing lots of my friends. I am glad that the committee that run the club have decided to restart, I am really grateful to the work they do and although I don’t always say it directly to them, I would like to thank them.
