Last minute lifeline thrown to Portgordon Bowling Club
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PORTGORDON Bowling Club has been handed a lifeline after teetering on the brink of extinction.
No new committee members stepped forward at the club's AGM at the tail end of last year, meaning that an EGM held on March 5 was the last chance to avoid it folding forever.
Club secretary Iain Paterson issued an appeal for new committee members to step up to through the pages of the Advertiser and was delighted to report that a solution to allow the club to continue, at least in the short term, had been found.
He said: "At the EGM it was agreed that a temporary committee would be put in place to ensure that the club would continue in the immediate term.
"Portgordon Hub have offered to do a leaflet drop door-to-door in the village to try and get folk interested and consider taking on a committee role. After that, a public meeting will be held and hopefully a new committee will emerge from that.
"We have experienced members of the club, including former committee members, who are willing to act as buddies to help new committee members settle into their roles.
"It was also agreed at the EGM that we would proceed with plans to open the green – probably on the third Saturday of April – and hopefully we'll get a good attendance for this.
"We're by no means the only club affected in this way. I was told by our district co-ordinator that there were around 12 clubs in District 2 [which covers the north-east] which have not registered with Bowls Scotland yet.
"I believe that Covid is to blame for the situation we and other clubs find ourselves in. It's so long since we've been bowling and the pandemic has given many people differnt priorities.
"It would be a great tragedy for the community if Portgordon Bowling Club were to close, it was such a vibrant club before the pandemic. If it folds, that's it gone for good."
While Portgordon Bowling Club, which was formed in 1981, has experienced issues attracting committee members, it has nevertheless been a successful organisation both on and off the green.
Before Covid hit, the club had won the Banffshire Coastal League again and had a green of which members were hugely proud.
With around 50 members in all, Portgordon also boasted a large junior section, with Mr Paterson describing the atmosphere at the club pre-Covid as "buzzing".
Healthy finances helped the club ride the pandemic lockdowns which put bowling on the back burner and saw normal income streams dry up.
Prior to the pandemic, many improvements to the facilities at the club over the years had been brought about by the hard-working committee and membership. This included winning grant funding to renovate the kitchen and decorate internally, as well as purchasing a second hand portable cabin which was revamped and transformed into a changing area for bowlers, complete with lockers.
