Hi everyone, I hope you have all had a good Christmas/New Year. Dave Radley is asking if there is anyone in the club who is a qualified first aider and who would be willing to be named in the handbook for this year. If so, please contact him. On another matter, I have to affiliate all our members by 21st February, which is before we actually sign on for this year. We do not get any refunds if I register someone who then doesn't join. So if you are a member, but are not planning to join as a FULL member this year, it would be helpful if you could me know. Many thanks, Andy

Hi everyone, I hope you have all had a good Christmas/New Year. Dave Radley is asking if there is anyone in the club who is a qualified first aider and who would be willing to be named in the handbook for this year. If so, please contact him. On another matter, I have to affiliate all our members by 21st February, which is before we actually sign on for this year. We do not get any refunds if I register someone who then doesn't join. So if you are a member, but are not planning to join as a FULL member this year, it would be helpful if you could me know. Many thanks, Andy

Hi everyone, A big thank you to all who turned out to the AGM last evening. It was the largest attendance that I can recall and at one point I was beginning to worry if I’d run out of ballot papers! It was also one of the shortest that I can remember! John expanded on the financial report, highlighting where our income comes from – E.g. 25% from subscriptions and 33% proceeds from the bar! He also brought us up to date on the discussions concerning the development of the club and appealed for anyone with experience of architecture or the building industry to help. A modest increase in subscriptions was proposed and agreed: Full members: £100; Social bowling members (and first year full members): £50. Junior and social membership to remain the same at £5. The Club Person of the Year award this year went to Jean Willson. In recognition of his years of service to the club, it was announced that the committee had decided to confer honorary membership on George Ince. The new committee was elected en bloc, given that there was only one nominee for each position. The new committee is: President: Dave Walters Vice President: Gill Aspinell Treasurer: John Ventham Secretary: Andy Thomson Housekeeper: Vicki Bustin Property & Maintenance: Paul Eggleston Greenkeeper: Dick Hogg Development: Mal Mugglestone Health & Safety: Dave Walters Ladies’ Safeguarding: Kath Rothera Men’s Safeguarding: Dick Hogg Ladies’ Secretary: Barbara Lindsey Ladies’ Representative: Pat Radley Men’s Secretary: Stephen Smith Men’s Representative: Dave Radley Jean handed over the chain of office to Dave, and Dave spoke highly of Jean’s presidency and proposed a vote of thanks to her. The date of the next AGM was set as Thursday 5 th December 2024. Can I take this opportunity on behalf of the club to wish all members a very happy Christmas and a successful New Year. Regards, Andy

Hi Everyone, The Finals Weekend went off very well indeed. A big THANK YOU to all those involved in the arrangements – to the competition secretaries, to those who did the catering, to those who marked and scored for the matches, to those who came to watch and support and to the players themselves. There was some very good bowling. Inevitably there are winners and runners up. The results are as follows: COMPETITION WINNER RUNNER UP Men MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP M. Brown M. Wiggins MEN’S HANDICAP M. Brown J. Ventham MEN’S TWO WOOD A. Thomson A. Woodforth MEN’S NOVICE SINGLES M. Wiggins S. Carvell MEN’S PAIRS J. Ventham & K. Harrington M. Schiavone & A. Woodforth MEN’S VICTOR LUDORUM M. Brown Mixed MIXED 7 UP, JOHN LEE TROPHY K. Harrington D. Walters MIXED 101, GWEN MEE CUP K. Harrington R. Hogg Ladies LADIES SILVER CUP G. Aspinall P. Radley ROSE BOWL HANDICAP P. Radley G. Aspinall LADIES WYNN BOON K. Rothera G. Aspinall LADIES TWO WOOD C. Kenneth K. Rothera LADIES MAIDEN CUP S. Eggleston S. Norton LADIES PAIRS S. Eggleston & P. Radley J. Brooks & K. Rothera LADIES VICTRIX LUDORUM G. Aspinall Congratulations to all the winners, and particularly to Gill Aspinall and Mike Brown It was great to see the green teeming on Friday – we had 40 people bowling, only slightly below capacity! Friday roll-ups will continue, weather permitting, until 22 nd September. On Friday September 29 th , it is our traditional Candlelight Roll-up. If you wish to play, you will need to sign up. Sheets are in the Thatch. One difference this year is that we are offering a pizza supper, so make your choices when you sign up. The last Sunday event is the Mixed Triples Open Gala. It is open to all playing members and the sign-up sheet is in the Thatch. The final roll-up is on the afternoon of Sunday 1 st October. After that the green will be closed. During the winter we offer Short-mat bowling in the club house. The sign-up sheets are in the Thatch. There will also be Friday evening socials, but more about that in due course. Regards to all, Andy

QMPBC Update 23th October 2020 Hi everyone, I trust you are all keeping well, in spite of the rise of Corona cases in the area. Under the new government 3 tier system, Charnwood is tier one, so things for us can continue as before. Several people have been asking what happens if Charnwood goes into Tier 2. The simple answer is that the clubhouse will have to close and Short-mat would have to be cancelled. However, despite the rumours doing the rounds, I’ve had not hint that that is going to happen. I get the Charnwood Borough Council’s daily updates and will let you know if anything changes. So as things are at the moment, the short-mat bowls can continue as before. But I do need to remind everyone that face coverings are mandatory when in t he clubhouse for whatever reason. We had a near disaster recently when a large branch overhanging the equipment shed next to the green came down. Fortunately, it didn’t completely break off, so didn’t actually rest on the shed. The only damage was a tear in the roof felt and broken guttering. The landlord arranged for the branch to be taken down completely and Dave Walters has done the repairs to the shed. The new green is looking good and is now being mown regularly. So all is on track for the new season, Covid permitting. Of course, when we aren’t able to get together rumours tend to abound. The current one about the club being in financial difficulties is not true. We would never have been able to do the work on the green if we were! Looking ahead, it is clear that we are not going to be able to hold our club AGM in December as planned. The constitution allows for it to be deferred for up to 3 months, so the committee has decided to postpone it until March. Until then the current committee will remain in post. We currently have three vacancies on the committee, and if anyone would be interested in helping, I would be pleased to hear from you. Thanks to Dave Radley, we now have a slightly modified new logo for the club – the bowls actually look like bowls! You can see it on the website https://www.quornbowling.co.uk/ Regards to all, Andy

QMPBC Update 3th October 2020 Hi everyone, I do trust that you are coping with these difficult times. The restriction on meetings to no more than 6 has made it difficult for the Trustees to meet, but we are working on how we might do it. It also means that we have had to shelve plans to start up the Friday social events programme. Apologies to those who were looking forward to bingo! We are still looking for several people to join the Trustees’ committee. I you feel you might like to join us, please do get in contact with me. In particular we are looking for someone willing to oversee the maintenance of the property (They don’t have to do it all, there are a number on folk willing to help. It just needs someone to be the point of call when something needs to be done.) We also need a Development Officer to encourage new people to join the club and to make the club known in the village and surrounding area. Rod Soars has decided to resign from the Trustees Committee, but is continuing to look after the green, for which we are very grateful. There has been some concern expressed that members have not been able to see the minutes of the Trustee Committee meeting of 1st July on the website. This is because there is only provision to post the last set of minutes approved and we had had two sets of minutes approved at one meeting. Copies of the minutes are up in the club house, but I am also attaching those minutes to this for your information. Our treasurer has asked me to let those of you who did play bowls this year, that the charges for playing will be added to your subscription next year. This seems to be the easiest way to collect the money. It is great to know that the short-mat bowls is going well and people are enjoying it. The decision to limit each session to 6 can in retrospect be seen as inspired! In terms of the club, the work on the green is largely done. The green has been levelled and reseeded, and the grass is germinating well. So all looks good. We also had some branches in a tree in the car park that suffered during the high winds several weeks ago. These have now been cleared away. We’ve also had badger incursion into the grounds and their holes under the fence have been blocked with slabs. There is always a certain amount that needs doing to keep the grounds tidy and we are very grateful to the few who come down on a Wednesday morning to help with that. If there is anyone else able to help we would be very grateful for your assistance, even for just an hour or two. It is nothing technical, just clearing leaves, sweeping, etc. The more there are the easier it is. We are planning, in hope, for a relatively normal start to the season next year, as are the different bowling organisations. So we will be entering the same teams in the Loughborough Leagues next year as before. I’ve also been asked to remind you about the County Competitions for 2021. So far Stephen has received no entries. The closing date for members entries is Sunday 1st November 2020. Over the past little while several of our members have been unwell. Sam Harvey was diagnosed with severe Alzheimers and dementia and is in the General. He has now stabilised and should be moving to a care home soon. Pauline Lockton is in Glenfield with pneumonia. John Ventham is recuperating at home after an operation on his kidney and Kevin Henson has had an operation on his foot. Wishing you all the best and keep safe, Andy

QMPBC Update 28th August 2020 Hi Everyone, There are a few things to update you about since I last wrote: 1. Club Lease: I’m delighted to be able to let you know that the lease for the club property as now been signed. This is the end result of a lot of work over several years by John Ventham, Dick Hogg and Dave Jones. A big thanks to them. It has a number of important advantages for us. In the first place it gives us security of tenure for at least the next 25 years. Then, secondly, it means that we can now apply for grants that were previously not available to us, because we had no security of tenure. 2. The Grounds: The green is now well on the way to the completion of the first phase, which sees the green levelled and reseeded. During the recent high winds, a tree in the car park suffered damage. A big branch split away. This is being dealt with by the landlord. Also our thanks to Dave Walters for re-roofing the small shed. 3. Short Mat Bowls: Mike Brown and Dave Radley have worked together to produce the attached guidelines for “Return to Short Mat Bowling”. The focus has been on keeping everyone safe. Please do read them through and make yourselves familiar with them. Starting on Monday 14th September, there is provision for 7 sessions each week with 6 players each session, and there are still quite a few slots open. Details are: Monday 11.00-12.00 – Full; 13.00-14.00 – 4 spaces; 15.00-16.00 – Full. Tuesday 13.30-14-30 – Full; 15.00-16.00 – 2 spaces; 16:30-17.30 – 4 spaces; 18.00-19.00 – 6 spaces. I’ve been asked to emphasise that things are still open for change. So if you are interested in playing or have any questions, please email Mike Brown mike5.5brown@gmail.com. 4. Friday Nights: Just to remind you again that the Friday night social are starting again at 7.00pm on Friday 18th September with a bingo night. Then on 2nd October it will be Quingo. Jacket potatoes with a variety of fillings will be available. Wishing you all the best, Andy correction to the Friday night programme. Because of Covid-19 the kitchen at the club is closed, so Pat cannot produce the baked potatoes as planned. Instead Stephen has arranged for fish and chips. But he does need to know numbers. So if you are planning to come to the bingo on Friday 18th and would like Stephen to order fish and chips for you, please contact him as soon as possible – stephen60uk@gmail.com or 07884 153993. Many thanks

Hi Everyone, I trust you are all keeping well and covid-free. Last Saturday was the long-delayed final of the short-mat bowls, held over from March. It was played outdoors with the mat laid out on the green, and it was very well organised by Carol Kenneth and Mike Brown. However, I think all the participants found the bowling a challenge and were having difficulty keeping the woods on the mat! The final was between Angie Peasant and Dave Walters and was won by Dave – congratulation to him. The trophy was presented by Barbara. Then on Monday the contractor moved in to start work on refurbishing the green. It has been dusty work taking off the old surface. We expect the essential work to be done in by the end of next week with the new surface laid and the green reseeded. It should be well established before the end of the year. So we will be enjoying the new green when the season starts next year. Looking ahead, the committee has decided to open the clubhouse from September. This is for some Friday evening events, for short-mat bowls and for hire to outside groups. Obviously our major concern is the wellbeing of members, so things will have to be a little different from the way they were before. The Friday night events will be limited to things that are possible with social distancing, which rules out things like whist drives. But things like bingo and quizzes are possible. The first event planned is Bingo at 7.00pm on Friday 18th September, followed by Quingo on 2nd October. Pat Radley has kindly offered to do baked potatoes for the events. This year Mike Brown is organising the Short-mat bowls, which we hope to start on Monday 14th September. Again, we are going to need to make sure everyone is safe. Sessions will be slightly more spaced out, to allow one group to leave before the next one arrives. So there will only be 8-10 people in the clubhouse at any one time. The woods will be sanitised before each session and will be marked with coloured stickers so that each player only touches the woods allocated to them for that session. E.g. Player A plays with the black woods that have red stickers, Player B with the black woods that have green stickers, etc. Also each player will have their own chair and need to sit in that chair when not bowling. There will be six sessions again this year: 1. Monday 10.30 – 12.30 2. Monday 12.45 – 2.45 3. Monday 3.00 – 5.00 4. Tuesday 1.45 – 3.45 5. Tuesday 4.00 – 6.00 6. Tuesday 6.15 – 8.15 If you would like to play this year, please email Mike Brown on mike5.5brown@gmail.com . Please do not text or phone him. I will also be forwarding to you information recently received from Bowls Leicestershire, which includes a survey, which you might like to contribute to. Best wishes, Andy