BOWLERS in Blackbird Leys urgently need more members to keep their clubhouse intact.

The Oxford and District Indoor Bowls Club, on Sandy Lane West, has used the same building for 42 years, but the roof needs replacing.

Yet with a dwindling number of members, there is not enough money coming in from membership fees to pay for the repairs.

Club secretary and Greater Leys resident Jean Bailey, pictured below, said: “We desperately need to replace the roof, but that’s way beyond our pocket at the moment.

Our top stories

“We’ll have to fundraise somehow, it will have to be done at some point. The more members we have coming the more chance we have got. We’ll get there in the end.”

She added: “We desperately need new, younger members because most of our members are in their 70s, 80s and 90s.

“When we opened 42 years ago we had 800 members, now we’re crossing our fingers that we’ve got 300. We have six rinks and we need 48 people playing at any time to really fill them.

What we really need are the younger people, we need the 40-year-olds who have given up football but want something to do.”

Call 01865 775891 or visit oxbowls.co.uk

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.