A Century of Bowling - Royal County of Berkshire Bowling Association

BERKSHIRE GRANFERS
BOWLING ASSOCIATION
• Founded 1952
• An Associated Member
We were set up by four bowling founder members, all grand-fathers, hence
the name. It is a loose association of bowlers from Clubs within Berkshire,
Hampshire and Wiltshire. We have never had our own Headquarters or
Clubhouse, so meetings are held in various venues, including Tilehurst and Whiteknights
Bowling Clubs.
Around 1989 the Association had its first lady officer, but the teams were all male until
1992, when mixed matches were played.
However in 2001 the first lady became Captain, then subsequently President two years later.
The aim of the association has always to collect funds from within the bowl’s fraternity, by
visiting Clubs by invitation, and at the end of the game take part in raffles, auctions etc,
raising funds to benefit the general community.
The Clubs who host our matches, usually donate the profits or part thereof from such exercises.
In turn, these Clubs are then invited to nominate local registered charities to be supported that
season. Last year donations of £500 were made to each of seven local charities.
In recent years donations have been made to adult and children hospices, children’s
bereavements units, Cardiac Rehab Unit, Air Ambulance, Contact the Elderly, Cancer related
units and other health related charities to name but a few.
Currently we have around 60 playing and 4 social members, who come from Berkshire and
Hampshire. In 2008 we played 14 Clubs outdoors, plus internal games and 5 Clubs indoors
within the two counties.
We hope to continue to enjoy our bowling, but more importantly to raise money to help
others.
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