Happy New Year - 2026 Membership Now Open
A very Happy and Healthy New Year to all members, friends, family and supporters!
2026 Membership
The club’s main source of income, aside from grants, is the annual membership fee paid by members. The management committee have decided that the membership fee will remain at £40 for 2026. Although the 2026 season will not be officially starting until the end of March, members can renew their membership now.
If you wish to pay by bank transfer, please contact the secretary for the club’s banking details.
The committee discussed the membership fee at length and were in agreement that £40 is an extremely reasonable amount to pay for access to a superb green, an opportunity to play in the local leagues and being able to enjoy the clubhouse facilities and all social events. Given the excellent value for money offered, if you are able to pay a little bit more than the £40 it would be very much appreciated and will contribute towards the club’s financial security.
Senior Membership: Members aged 80+ only need to pay what they feel appropriate. This might be the full £40 but a donation would suffice as we want to keep members involved and active for as long as possible.
Children and Young People: Membership is free to all children and young people coming down to the club. This will apply up until such time as they play for one of the teams when registration to the County will be necessary at a cost of £20.
Fundraising Initiatives
Easyfundraising
The Easyfundraising platform has quickly become established as a major way clubs and organisations can raise money through their members on-line shopping. 8,000 on-line retailers will donate to a cause for every purchase made. Luneside Bowling and Recreation Club is a registered cause so if you sign up a small amount for every purchase you make will be donated to the club at no cost to yourself.
A small number of club members have signed up to raise money for Luneside, but it could be a good source of income for the club if more members sign up in the future. It really is easy money and although the amounts per purchase might be small, with more members participating the amount raised will become significant.
Sponsorship Boards
The annual charge for a board (2ft x 4ft in size) is £100 per board plus the cost of producing the board. We would really benefit from a member taking this on and project managing the selling of boards. If other members have links with any local companies who might consider sponsoring a board please point them in our direction.
Corporate Team Building Events
Over the last couple of years one or two local companies have used the club and green for social team building events. The Club is happy to facilitate these events as it raises the profile of the Club and potentially may lead to participants becoming members of the club. Once again if you have links with local companies please let them know.
Grant Making Bodies
We shall continue to apply for grants to cover specific items of expenditure around the green and as part of the ongoing process of modernising the Clubhouse. We are extremely grateful to those trusts and grant making bodies who supported the club last year:
- The 3R Foundation - under sink hot water heater
- Harold Bridges Trust - battery powered pedestrian sprayer
- Eric Wright Foundation - kitchen units and work top (still to be installed)
- The Barchester Foundation - light bowls, bowling aids and support for the CHAT programme
- Avanti West Coast Rail - resurfacing the ginnel and installing lighting
- Lancaster University Wind Turbine Fund - LED floodlighting (still to be installed)
£1,536 Grassroots Grant Awarded
We have just been awarded the sum of £1,536.00 which is a great start to the year! These funds are administered by Groundwork and the grant is made possible thanks to players of the People’s Postcode Lottery and awarded through Postcode Neighbourhood Trust.
The award is to go towards a dew brush for the green, more planters (as part of greening up the surrounds) and towards the costs involved with installing new ceiling tiles in the snooker room.
CHAT & Social Bowling
Although the official opening of the green will be towards the end of March the green is open for informal bowling as long as weather conditions allow. CHAT and Social bowling currently takes place on Mondays at 10am with Social Bowling on Fridays at 2pm.
Updates as to whether the green is playable will be posted on the WhatsApp group and on the Facebook page.
Forthcoming Events
Bingo Night
Thursday 5th February at 7pm - £2 (to cover prizes)
Always an enjoyable evening and a regular now on the Club social calendar. If you can donate a small prize it would be appreciated. Refreshments will once again take the form of a Jacobs Join. Such is the quality and quantity of the food members bring that it is worth attending even if you are not keen on Bingo.
Pizza & Bread Making Day
Saturday 21st February at 11.30am - Charge TBC
A brand new event which is being run by the pizza and bread making maestro, Jon Hill. Final arrangements, such as the timings and costings are still being worked out but make a note in your diary if you are interested in participating. The day will have a lunchtime start with a possible break in the afternoon for a bit of bowling, whilst the dough rises. The day will of course conclude with the baking (and eating).
Team Registration & Social
Thursday 5th March at 7pm - No Charge
This is an evening set aside for members to indicate which teams/squads they wish to be part of for the forthcoming season. It also allows an opportunity for members to renew their membership, if they wish to pay by cheque. The evening is fairly informal so all members are welcome to attend irrespective of whether they wish to play for a team. If you attending please bring finger food to share in the form of cheeses and savouries to accompany biscuits, crackers and bread. The bar will be open.
2025 AGM & Committee
The AGM took place on Thursday 20th November 2025 and was well supported by members, given the inclement weather on the night. Sandra Tomlinson and Stuart Morris stepped down from the committee and Jon Hill and George Tutin were elected onto the committee.
The 2026 committee is:
- Chairman: Polly Tyrer
- Secretary: Graham Brandwood
- Treasurer: Bryan Moulding
- President: Hilary Kennett
- Committee: Andrew Seddon, Emma Foster, John Sugden, Mark Norcliffe, Jon Hill and George Tutin
Following the formal business of the AGM, the 2025 Presentation of Awards took place. Although, as a Club, we didn’t quite achieve the successes of 2024 there were some solid and encouraging individual and team performances over the course of the season. Pride of place goes to the Luneside Vets B team who were runners up in Division 3 but in addition won the Vets Challenge Cup defeating the top two teams in Division 1 in the semi final and final respectively.
Graham Brandwood, representing Luneside, won the Morecambe League Presidents Day singles, successfully defending the trophy he had won the previous year. He also won the MBL Division 4 merit prize. Prize money totalling £160 was added to club funds as a result of these successes.
2026 Bowling Season
For the 2026 season we will be fielding teams in the various leagues as follows:
Lancaster League: Tuesday evenings
- A team (Division 2)
- B team (Division 3)
Morecambe League: Wednesday evenings
- A team (Division 3)
- B team (Division 5 - A new team)
Ladies League: Wednesday pm
- Luneside (Division 1)
Vets League: Thursday pm
- A team (Division 2)
- B team (Division 2)
Although the various leagues won’t be starting until the end of March, at the earliest, please let the secretary know if you are or might be interested in playing for one of the above teams and/or come along to the team social evening on Thursday 5th March.
At the forthcoming Lancaster League AGM taking place on Tuesday 10th February, there is a proposal to reduce the number in a team from 10 to 8 players. If this is passed, we will have the option of entering a C team into the league. They would play their home matches on Thursday evenings.
Team Practice
In preparation for the various leagues, team practice evenings are being scheduled for Tuesday evenings in March. The first of these will be on Tuesday 3rd March from 6.30pm. All members interested in playing for the Luneside teams are invited to attend.
Communication and Social Media
The first choice of communication with members is by email. There are very few members for whom we don’t have an email address so it is no longer necessary to post out newsletters etc., reducing our administration costs. A copy of the latest newsletter will always be displayed in the Clubroom window.
Facebook: The club has a Facebook page – Luneside Bowling Club, which is another good way of keeping in touch. If you are on Facebook send in a request and you can be added to the group.
WhatsApp: There are two WhatsApp groups – Crown Green Bowls and Luneside Social. The former is used to convey key information such as if the green is open/closed as well as listing forthcoming events. The latter is more lighthearted, and gives members the opportunity to communicate with one another and share information such as recommended books to read. Please contact the secretary if you wish to be added to these groups.
Website: The Club now has its own website which was officially launched at the AGM in November. The website is still being developed but there is lots of useful information on there already. The Club is extremely grateful to Jon Hill for developing the website and for agreeing to administer the site as we move forward. If you have any suggestions as to how the website might be improved please let us know.
Hidden Talents - We Need You!
Do you have a hidden talent that the club management and, indeed membership, is not as yet aware of? If so, please do not hide your light under a bushel, particularly if it might involve DIY skills. At some point soon we will be looking to redecorate the table tennis room and we need people to both help with the redecoration but we could really use someone who could plan and project manage the work.
As a voluntary run club we really benefit from member involvement whether it is carrying out work on the green and surrounds, tidying up the clubhouse or being involved with projects like the one mentioned above.