A few pictures from a chilly but very enjoyable opening day for Ember Bowls Club!



Thanks to all who attended the pre-season meeting. Pictures of the new club shirts coming soon!

A full pre-season meeting for Ember Bowls Club
The last of the winter indoor evenings in the Main pavilion will be on the Second Tuesday the 11th of March 2014. Doors will open at 7.30pm for a start about 7.45. We will as usual open the Bar for refreshment.
Traditionally our outdoor season opens on Easter Monday but we would normally hope to start playing early April if the weather is kind to us and the lawns dry out. There will be a Get Together social evening on Friday the 21st of March from 7.30 pm. Spouses and partners welcome.
But please put a note in your diaries as we have a rather important matters of business to attend to that should only take 5 to 10 minutes, but will require a Quorum of ten members. Please don’t rely on others to make up the numbers, everyone counts. Thank you.
There is more work to be done on the lawns and the pavilion before the beginning of the season – if the rain ever stops. The lawn has not been scarified once and will now be cut weekly to get it into shape, is a bit soggy in places at the moment. More treatment will be applied before we start to play so please do not walk on the lawn unless you need to work on it. We will try to get the hoops set for Sunday March 23rd. Thanks to Mike Lambert who has, through his contacts with the Hurlingham Club acquired a number of second hand mallets and handles which he has used to refurbish a dozen mallets for our use as club mallets, Mike many thanks.
The SECF Team Doubles tournament takes place over two days and comprises of teams of four players playing doubles games against other clubs. Normally 5 games over the 2 days. The four players can be changed at any time between games. The Sat and Sunday teams can be a totally different four or players can substitute morning and afternoon, etc.
We need to diary the weekend and to know that we can have at least 6 members available over the w/e to play. Please let Roger or Mike Lambert know if you are interested.
Please come along to the Indoor session on 11 March it will be a good opportunity to get the feel of a mallet again before we get back outside. Spouses, partners and friends also welcome.
The Club can earn cash donations when members register to support us and shop online through the easyfundraising website. It’s a simple process:
Register at www.easyfundraising.org.uk by following the on-screen prompts – you will need to enter an 8-character password.
When you’re asked to choose your cause, enter “Ember Sports Club” and then click the ‘Continue’ button.
Each time you are considering an online purchase, first log into your easyfundraising account, select a participating retailer (there is a search facility), and then continue your transaction in the normal manner. During the process you will be advised of the percentage of the purchase value that will be passed on to the Club.
There are over 2,700 online retailers available, including Amazon, John Lewis, eBay and Tesco and all will give a small percentage of what’s been spent back to the Club to say thank you for shopping with them.
If you wish your contribution to be made available to your section, then you will need to confirm to Bob Knox the total you have raised, which will be shown in your easyfundraising account.
We are holding open days for new members: Visit us on 14 or 21 April, 2-4 pm. Play, Chat, Tea and Cakes!
The standard membership subscription for an adult will increase by £4 this year to cover the £2 rise for the main club subscription and the £2 for the tennis subscription; so the standard membership will be £215 for the year. Other adult subscriptions will be increased pro-rata. There will be no increase for junior or student subscriptions.
During the month of April, the tennis section will hold open afternoons so that visitors can come and see the mix in or join in. All members are asked, when possible, to welcome visitors and potential new members; there should always be someone present from the committee to talk to any visitors. An advert will be going in Your Elmbridge magazine, due to be delivered on 1st &2nd April.
The new membership year starts on the 1st April. All members are encouraged to bring friends to try the mix-in, and hopefully join the Club.
The tennis section intends to run a Bank Holiday tournament on April 21st. More details in next month Newsletter.
Match results: Ladies second team have played all their winter season matches, winning 2, drawn 1 and lost 2. They ended up third out of six in their league.
Due to the prolonged bad weather, all tennis court show substantial moss growth, especially courts 1,2,3,4,and 5; the plan is to have them all treated soon after our finals in July but until then, a bit of elbow grease spent on brushing them occasionally would be very welcome, especially from a safety point of view. Brushes will be taken out from the garage and made visible and easily accessible. Could all members please consider spending a few minutes at the beginning of the daily session and try and brush some of the worst bits on the court they are playing on; between us all, we should be able to make the surface completely safe and better looking.
A defibrillator will be purchased by the Club in March and located in the phone booth, to be used in case of emergencies; any member willing to familiarise with its operations, please contact Piero Zarantonello on piero.zaran@btconnect.com, or 07711 084 884, who will then arrange the opportunity to inspect it and understand its functionality.
The Club can earn cash donations when members register to support us and shop online through the easyfundraising website. It’s a simple process:
There are over 2,700 online retailers available, including Amazon, John Lewis, eBay and Tesco and all will give a small percentage of what’s been spent back to the Club to say thank you for shopping with them.
If you wish your contribution to be made available to your section, then you will need to confirm to Bob Knox the total you have raised, which will be shown in your easyfundraising account.
The Ember Players upcoming Ladykillers production is featured in “This is Local London”.
Read the full article here: http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/11125578.The_Ladykillers_bring_spring_laughs_to_Cecil_Hepworth_Playhouse/
With the improving weather, all members are informed that the ball machine is now available for use; please remember not to use it with wet balls as they cause damage to this very valuable piece of equipment.
This will be held on Saturday 26th April, also the day for our manual ballot for the Wimbledon Championship tickets; cakes and biscuits will be available, with any voluntary donations going to the MacMillan Nursing Association.
The successful run in this prestigious competition ended when the Ember rinks came up against Cuddington in the quarter-final. Having done so well to be level pegging with two ends to go the match finally went in favour of the opposition. Well done to all who played in the various rounds and many thanks to Ray Croucher for organising and captaining the matches.
Pictures from the 2013 Ember Sports Club Bowls Finals are now available on Flickr here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjVseU5B
