Ilford really is a special club with a wonderful blend of strong social connections and impressive competitive spirit! It’s great to see how the camaraderie fosters a positive environment that attracts members, and even more exciting, to see the club’s competitive achievements this season.

We had another successful Gala in February although our footfall was well down as were the taking on the raffle, tombola and White Elephant stall. Our thanks to all those involved in organising the event and helping out on the day, particularly the kitchen helpers, car park operatives, raffle ticket sellers and the few who stayed behind to clear up.

Merry Christmas/Hanukkah to all our bowlers and their families! This year has been another fantastic one for our club, and we’re so grateful for the wonderful community we have. This newsletter is a chance to celebrate our shared successes, reminisce about the good times, and look forward to another year of friendship and bowls. We hope you enjoy reading it and wish you a joyous Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

We’re excited to bring you the latest news, updates, and highlights from our vibrant club. In this issue, you’ll
find information about upcoming matches, social events, club achievements, and more.

Whether you’re a seasoned bowler or just starting out, we hope you’ll find something of interest here.
Let’s celebrate the camaraderie, sportsmanship, and friendly competition that make our club so special.

We hope you are having a fantastic summer despite the less than seasonal weather. For those of you who bowl outdoors, it’s been heavy going but hopefully you are progressing through the various competitions.

So the school has now finished their exam season and handed the keys back to us. This is the time of year when we take the opportunity to carry out essential high level maintenance works whilst the boards are down and we can access the equipment via a tower. This should all be finished by the end of the month, after which we will be asking for volunteers to help lift the boards, ready for the new season which starts on the 16th September.

Where does all the time go? It seems like only yesterday we were preparing the club for opening and here we are, already in April and with the summer ahead of us. For those of you who play outdoors, we hope you enjoy your season and have a safe and healthy spring and summer in the sun (wind and rain). At least indoors you don’t have to worry about the weather.

Well done to Janet Doe, Jeanette Edmunds, Melanie Nathan and Sally Garlick who came 3rd out of 24 in the Tye Green Ladies Gala beating some renowned opposition. Well done girls. If we can compete at this level, then why is it so difficult to recruit our ladies to play in the County League? We have a one off opportunity to add ladies to the County Roll and this result proves that there are many ladies in the Club who are good enough to play at this level.

It’s hard to believe that we are already in the second half of the season. Where did that time go? We have been fortunate up to now with the weather. No snow to speak about so no closures or postponements. Let’s hope we can see the season through with no interruptions.

Our new members, all 45 of them are settling in nicely and we are fortunate to have secured some pretty good ‘Newbies’, some of whom have never played bowls before. I personally have played two of them and both gave me a run for my money. So you Club veterans, watch out because they are going to be the champions of the future. If you have joined the club since the beginning of 2023, you are entitled to enter our NEWBIES competition which is due to be held on the 27th March 2024.

It has been a very successful start to our 2023/2024 season and we are pleased to welcome 42 new or returning members, to date with several more interested in joining in the next few weeks or at the beginning of 2024. Welcome to you all.

At the time of writing, we are delighted to advise that we already have taken on 30 new or returning members, many of whom are much needed women members who we hope will strengthen this section of the club. We extend a warm welcome to you all and hope that you enjoy playing and socialising here at Ilford.