Note to All Members dated 5th July
Here is the latest news of where your Committee is with developments and plans for your Club in the coming month.
We will cover the Rebuild first because to a great extent everything else hinges on its’ completion.
Clubhouse Rebuild
The new Clubhouse project is going well in the challenging circumstances.
The painters are more or less finished barring the need to do some final touches when other work has been done.
This week just gone and the early part of next the flooring is being laid – vinyl in the kitchen, toilet areas, behind the bar and carpet everywhere else.
Those of you following updates on our website will have seen the kitchen has been installed minus the 3 sinks and taps – we are chasing the suppliers for delivery and fitting of these.
On 1st July we had a new electric meter installed and an appropriate power supply for the new building to go with it. Our electrical contractors are therefore in again to undertake further works and within the next 7 days the Fire Alarm and Intruder Alarm will be commissioned.
The new storage shed is finished – this building has 3 sections, one for bowling equipment (mats, scoreboards, pushers etc), one for maintenance equipment (mowers etc) and finally the largest section for storage of what we do not need cluttering up the Clubhouse at any one time (for example excess tables, chairs, table tennis table, short mats and so on when not in use). To save a considerable chunk of money on the cost of the new shed, thanks goes to Janet, Ian, Barry Green and Ray Lewin for spending many hours staining the timber. (Chris who is happy to admit he is useless at painting, tried to help, went to collect supplies and interfered a lot as well!) The shed will need further coats of paint in coming months and we will need to organise some internal shelving and storage units. We will hopefully enlist support from the members to make this happen.
All of the fencing is now down and the Tennis Courts cleared of boards.
We have a list of further tasks, items and issues that need to be addressed to complete the project; these include blinds (although we have identified our preferred supplier, style and colour with help from Jill and Marion), electrical appliances, notice boards and display stands, honours boards and a number of other fixtures and fittings. The Rebuilding Committee are working through this list over the next few weeks and although a few members are already involved, again we may look for some more assistance moving forward.
The main outstanding concern is availability of paving slabs for the surrounding areas of the Clubhouse. Builder Matt Hawes has several hundred on order but the lockdown and huge demand from within the building trade and garden centres has caused a supply problem. We are hopeful Matt’s order will be fulfilled week commencing 20th July and that the groundworkers will be available to do the work swiftly after that.
By the time the Clubhouse is finished we will probably be allowed by law to open the bar and abide by whatever Government Guidelines are in place at the time. Rebellion have contacted us already and are dying to supply us with beer, so hopefully it won’t be long before we can have a drink or two on the patio outside the main entrance.
The Sports Club are investigating contactless payments but costs may mean we have to defer putting that in just yet. Cash is not ideal but we may have to revert to that method of payment in the short term.
Various Clubhouse items are still in storage and we need to plan how best to get these back. Some of these items are heavy, like the cooker and dishwasher but some not so much, like items related to the bar and kitchen. Any volunteers who are willing to help with this task please reply to this email.
Photos of Clubhouse progress continue to be uploaded on the website. Please use the link below to take you to our website page where you will see a further link to the photos. If you then double click on any photo you will get a brief update on progress. https://www.thamebowlsclub.co.uk/index.php/clubhouse-rebuild
Re-opening the Green
As we said in our Note of 11th June, we are making plans to re-open the green as soon as we can and we’ve had over 40 positive responses indicating that many of you cannot wait to roll up again in the fresh air.
One thing we are required to do is introduce an off-site rink booking system that will avoid people having to travel to the Clubhouse and start touching pens, pencils, touchscreen and so on. To do this we wish to trial a rink booking system that we can use online. We know not everyone will be able to easily use online booking but we have a few ideas how we can make it work for everyone.
As a first step we would like to trial the booking system over the next couple of weeks with around 10 members to make sure it meets our requirements – it should work ok because we know of other clubs that are already using it. We will write to a few of you about trialling it for us in a day or so – it won’t be an onerous task. Thanks goes to Phil Reed who has been researching what is available and will be masterminding the technical side of things.
Our contractors Avonmore continue to do their monthly visit and Chris and the green team have been mowing twice a week or more. Avonmore are happy that the green is in very good condition.
Again, many thanks go to Jesse Matthews, John Ashfield, Barry Green, Ray Lewin and Mike Sawyer for helping Chris and Janet with the mowing and maintenance tasks.
We also need to reclaim the bowls playing equipment that we are allowed to use from storage, acquire supplies of sanitiser for cleaning hands and equipment before and after playing plus various other things before we can get going.
With everything else going on we could do with some help with all these arrangements, so please don’t be surprised if you get a call requesting some assistance! Volunteers always welcome.
Club Finance
June has been a quiet month financially, with more money going out than coming in. However, the advertising boards are back on display at the green and Graham Watson has contacted all our sponsors with the offer of a new reduced rate deal to cover both this season and 2021. In this way we acknowledge the lack of exposure their boards have had this year and responses so far have been encouraging.
In conclusion
As before, any one of your Committee is very happy to discuss your concerns or answer any questions not addressed by this latest note to all bowls club members.
The Committee hope you are all still safe and well and, as always, we are very grateful for your support and understanding.
Bill Giles OBE Chairman Thame Bowls Club and the Bowls Club Committee
