Modderfontein Bowling Club receives anonymous donation to keep doors open – for now
The club is one of Modderfontein’s historic buildings which were built by the AECI in 1931.
An anonymous donation has kept the Modderfontein Bowling Club (MBC) doors open for a while longer, just as the members were coming to terms with the bad news of the club closing.
It was a close call to closing the historic doors of the club.
Carol Gaynham, president of MBC, said they only recently realised how bad their finances had become in January 2020.
According to the president, the club accumulated high utility bills over time.
“We also lost members due to deaths, others left and stopped playing.”
Another contributing factor was Modderfontein’s Sports Complex closing down, which was their neighbour.
“When the sports complex was still open, parents would wait for their children at the club and spend some time with their children for a meal and drinks after matches,” said Carol.
Now that the complex was closed, their consistent revenue subsided.
According to Carol, the anonymous donation from a member of the club was not enough to sustain MBC for a long time.
The club committee is now looking for ways to revamp, and to keep its doors open for the long run.
“We would like to introduce younger players to grow our membership numbers. We hope to see new members from our surrounding schools join us,” said the president.
Fund-raiser of MBC Linda Liwinslow said other ways the club considered to raise funds included hosting reasonably priced functions.
“We have happy hour from 6 pm to 7 pm on Fridays, and social afternoons with light meals.”
Linda said the club also hires out their venue for birthday party anniversaries and team building events.
“We are open to companies to use our venue for fun days.”
Carol added that they could provide bowls equipment and coaches to help visitors play bowls during their events.
“We have live music, a bar and lots of parking.
“However we can only accommodate up to 100 people at the venue,” said Carol.
Retrenchment would be the last resort to keep the MBC doors open.
“Should fund-raising efforts fail, we will have to retrench our greenkeepers, or lower their wages.”
The club is one of Modderfontein’s historic buildings built by the AECI in 1931.
“We have 90 years of proud history we would lose should we close,” said Carol.
Everyone is welcome to join the sports club.
Carol shared reasons why new members would enjoy the club.
“Our team is very competitive, we won the Men’s Premier Division in February, and our ladies were promoted to premier level.
“We have the best greens in the district.
“We are a friendly club, and everybody is welcome.”
Companies or residents who would like to sponsor, or host events on the club’s premises, can contact Carol on 0829430855.
