Brockham Bowls Club - Fundraising
Fund-raising
Subscriptions have never provided sufficient money to run the club and over the years numerous methods have been employed to boost funds. Raffles or draws with cash prizes and even Bandit cards, a type of scratch card with cash for lucky numbers, have been the principal source of additional income. Match fees, charges for teas and visitor fees have also helped while special fund-raising events and loans from members have enabled the club carry out various projects.
The first fund-raising event was a Whit Bank Holiday Monday drive in 1951 which brought in 12 shillings (60p when converted into today's money but almost five times that year's annual subscription and about £15 in today's money).
But whist drives were the real money-makers during the club's first decade. In 1953 they practically paid for the new mower purchased that season. In 1960 whist drive money was earmarked for the proposed pavilion but had to be spent on the green instead.
Through the 1960s jumble sales brought in useful sums. These were organised by Harold Rogers, the headmaster of Brockham School and the 1963 club captain. They were still good fundraisers in the early 1970s, as Kath Briggs remembers. "We used to store all the stuff in Harry Knight's garage (in Brockham Lane) and sort it in Mrs Knight's kitchen. The sales were in the village hall and towards the end Harry Knight would get up on the stage and announce 'Everything a penny'."
But newsprint was the big earner of the late 1970s. At first this produced £20 a ton, recalls Syd Budd who managed the operation and provided storage space at Leighs Farm. "Bowlers would bring us their papers and we tied them up in 56lb bundles," he says. About five tons would be collected from the farm at one time but eventually the price fell away. The scheme produced about £80-£90 a year up to 1982.
That was the year that also saw the end of the annual donation from Beryl and Doug Balchin of The Duke's Head on Brockham Green. They retired that year and so ended their weekly bar room raffle which, season by season, had contributed funds to the village football, cricket and bowls clubs.
These contributions, worth about £34 a year to the bowls club, were much appreciated and Doug and Beryl were made vice presidents in acknowledgement of their support. "A good bowler and an enjoyable companion," was how president Harold Rogers described Harry Knight when he called members to stand in silence in Mr Knight's memory at the annual general meeting of December 1984.
As well as putting in a massive amount of work for the club over the years, Mr Knight supported it after his death with a bequest of £1,500 for building and ground preservation. This was put into a separate account and spent on a number of capital expenditure projects in the ensuing years.
The club has often profited by joining in with village activities. The annual village bonfire is a good example. In years gone by the club provided guards for the fire in the run up to the event to help ensure that no one set it alight ahead of the celebrations, and in 1954 provided an escort of torch bearers to accompany Lady Howard de Waldon when she performed the official bonfire lighting ceremony.
In more recent years members have helped Brockham Bonfire Committee by operating car parks or shaking collecting tins or buckets and have been rewarded with substantial donations to club funds.
In 1977, during the celebrations for the Queen's Silver Jubilee, the club ran a bowling sideshow on the village green and, as the event coincided with a new fixture with Bookham, there was much concern about rallying sufficient members to carryout both commitments. There was talk of possibly importing players from Pippbrook to make up the team.
During the village VE-Day anniversary celebrations and the Village Weekend to mark the year 2000, the club ran similar sideshows, both adding to the jollity of the occasions and the bowls club coffers.
Sunday afternoon and Bank Holiday Monday "teas on the green" are another feature of village life. Delicious teas with a wide variety of home-baked cakes are offered by local organisations which book places on a rota organised by members of Christ Church, Brockham Green. Teas are served either in the Church Hall or the church garden, depending on the weather, at prices fixed by the organisers. The system operates throughout the summer and autumn, including the run up to Bonfire Night - weekends when there is much activity on the green and both bonfire builders and those who come to watch appreciate a cuppa and a cake.
The bowls club has been on the rota since 1988, sometimes twice in the season, and often on a Bank Holiday Monday when it is permissible to have a sales table, too, trading plants, books and other items. The effort can be worth between £150 and £250, depending on the day.
But the biggest fundraising enterprise was the Riverbank Fund project masterminded by Anne Dodd, Doris Seacombe and Keith McIndoe (alias Ratty, Badger and Mr Mole) in 1990. A total of £5,500 was required to shore up the southeast corner of the green and stop it falling into the River Mole.
The club's landlords, the Sidney Michael Poland Charities, made a grant of £3,500 towards the work and a loan of £2,000 to be paid off over five years, but, thanks to the energy of "Ratty, Badger and Mr Mole" and the enthusiastic support of fellow members, the loan was repaid in eight months with a balance of £13.81 contributed to club funds.
The money came from many sources: From donations begged from organisations and companies, from lunches, teas, a summer raffle and a birthday book, and the sale of all manner of goods - from books to beans.
Since 1993 the club has benefited from a share in the sale of World Bowls draw tickets, which has produced £75 each season, and in recent seasons the weekly bonus ball competition instigated by Clive Leomondine in which member's stake 50p on the bonus ball to be drawn in Saturday's National Lottery, has raised useful amounts.
But since 1994, the major earner has been Poland Day. This is a day-long triples tournament to which neighbouring clubs are invited to send teams. It has proved a most successful event and a grand draw helps boost profits.
But all these efforts over the past 50 years will be completely eclipsed should the proposed move take place, and members get to grips with raising the many thousands of pounds this will require.