Interested in trying bowls?
Are you looking for a friendly and sociable sport that's easy to learn and keeps you fit? Why not try bowls here at Auriol?
We are closed for the winter but bowling starts again in April. You can have a
free 'taster' session
where everything -
including coaching by one of our qualified coaches
- will be provided. Come along on any
Monday
at 10.45 a.m or 4.30 p.m, or at 10.45 on a
Thursday
morning to have a go, or at other days/times by appointment. Just bring or wear flat-soled shoes (eg. trainers). Experienced players also very welcome. For more information see
About our Club
or phone our Club Secretary Janet
on 020 8873 7006. We look forward to welcoming you!
Christmas comes
twice
a year at Auriol!
A Christmas party was held at the club on each of the two Brunch Club days in the run-up to Christmas, courtesy of our brilliant catering team of Doreen, Geoff, Maggie and David. Games and competitions enlivened the parties, including a Christmas Jumper competition, won on the first day (Thursday 19 December) by Norman Bird, with runner-up Ros Long, and on the second day (Monday 23rd) by Stephen Warriner, runner-up Doreen Weight. Other winners include Jan Kirkpatrick and Julian Cowdery, who won the Knockout Card Games. Go to our
Picture Gallery
for photos from the two parties.
AGM 2024
Members please go to the
Members
page for a summary of the 2024 AGM. The Committee members elected for 2025 are listed in the
Who's Who 2025
page.
Club Championships
The 2024 club championship matches were played in perfect weather, and - as ever - we saw some exciting matches with nail-biting finishes over the course of the Finals weekend. Congratulations to all the finalists, and our thanks, too, to the markers, scorers, the brilliant catering team, and to all the many helpers. Particular thanks go to our Competitions Secretary, Jan Kentish, who organised the whole competition programme so effectively, right through from planning the initial draw to the its culmination on Finals weekend. A full list of the results can be found on the
Results
page, and some further photos on the
Picture Gallery
page.
Portugal 2024 Bowls Tour
Twenty club members departed on the 1 October for a week’s trip to Praia da Rocha, a beach resort close to Portimão on the warm and sunny Algarve coast, a welcome change from the wet weather we had been experiencing in Surrey.
Temperatures remained mostly in the mid 20s centigrade during our stay and we managed to play four bowls matches during our week-long trip. Two were against other teams from the British Isles and a further two games against resident ex-pats bowling clubs in Valverde and Floresta. All were played in a good spirit with a friendly atmosphere and social get-together following the matches.
During the tour we also had free time to explore the local area and had trips to the pretty towns of Tavira and Lagos nearby. A party evening, including a 3-course meal with wine, was held at a local restaurant to complete a successful tour, enjoyed by all who travelled. Tour organiser Keith Gomm's fund-raising fines scheme worked very effectively once more (we'd like to show you some of them, but they're not for publication; they are viewable in the pavilion, though!).
Our heartfelt thanks to Keith for all the hard work he put in to organising the whole tour, and to making it such a success.
President's Charity Drive
On May Bank Holiday Monday Club President John Green held a fundraising drive to raise money for his chosen charity, SERV Surrey & London. SERV stands for Service by Emergency Rider Volunteers, commonly known as the Blood Bikes, who transport blood products, urgent samples and medical supplies, along with donated breast milk to hospitals and milk banks across Surrey & London. They also carry out a daily delivery of blood to Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex. The bowls element of the event was unfortunately rained off after just a couple of ends, but the rest of the afternoon was a great success, as our incredible catering team provided members and their guests - including our guests of honour Chris and Steve from SERV S&L - with a large and delicious cream tea. Chris and Steve gave a fascinating talk on the vital work that SERV does, entirely through volunteers, many of whom also have their 'day jobs', and then showed members round the two liveried electric bikes which they'd ridden to the club (see photo below and in
Picture Gallery). President John was delighted to announce that a total of £550 was raised by the event, and thanked everyone involved for making it such a success, and our particular thanks to Chris and Steve.
... and there's more ...!
The fund-raising efforts didn't end there, though. Shortly after the Charity Drive, John Green also organised a Horse Race Night at the club in aid of SERV, and raised an amazing £271!
John said "Thank you to all who came to my charity race night, with special thanks to Geoff’s catering team and to Brenda who helped me. It’s a pleasure to be president of such a friendly caring club, and thanks to you all we raised £271 for SERV".
Results
Go to the
Results
page to see how the club fared in the various internal competitions and external and internal leagues.
