Why a charity bowls day is worth the bother

A lawn bowls club sits on some of the best-kept open space in any village or suburb, and most of the year it is used by a fairly narrow slice of the community. A charity day throws the gates open. Grandparents bring grandchildren, neighbours who have never touched a bowl have a go, and the club raises a few hundred pounds for a cause people actually care about. It is also, quietly, the best recruitment tool a club has. A family that spends a happy Saturday afternoon on your green is far more likely to sign up for a taster session than one that only ever sees the club through a fence.

The trick is to resist the temptation to run it like a league fixture. Keep the games short, the rules simple and the cake plentiful, and almost everything else looks after itself.

Choose a format that keeps everyone moving

Nothing empties a green faster than a long wait. Aim for games of 30 to 45 minutes with four ends each, played as triples or rinks so that every team has at least a few experienced bowlers to steer things along. A round robin works well: eight to twelve teams, three rounds, a break for tea in the middle.

• Draw teams on the day. Mix newcomers with members so nobody is stranded. A simple coloured peg from a bucket is quicker than any spreadsheet.
• Run a spider to open. Everyone bowls one wood towards a jack in the centre of the green, entry a pound or two, nearest wins a prize. It takes ten minutes, includes absolutely everybody and raises money before a single end has been played.
• Add a side game for children. Target bowls into a hoop, a "beat the skip" challenge, or a roll-up against a marker on the bank. Short mats and size 00 bowls are light enough for quite small hands.
• Publish a finish time and stick to it. Families plan around teatime.

Simple rules, explained once

Most people who arrive have never bowled, and a rulebook read aloud is the fastest way to lose them. Appoint one cheerful person with a whistle to give a two-minute briefing before the first end: how to hold the bowl, which foot goes on the mat, that the jack has to travel at least a set distance, and that the nearest bowl to the jack scores. That is genuinely enough.

Then relax the details. Allow a gentle nudge of the mat, let beginners bowl from a shorter mark, and let the skip on each rink decide anything contentious without appealing to higher authority. If someone's bowl goes in the ditch, the ditch is part of the game and everyone laughs. Keep a spare set of bowls by each rink so nobody has to wait for a turn, and consider a walking frame or bowling arm for anyone who needs one — clubs increasingly hold both, and they make the day genuinely open to all ages and abilities.

Make the off-green bits count

The bowls are the excuse; the tea is the memory. A charity day lives or dies on the clubhouse table, and you do not need to cater it yourself. Ask members to bake, put out a donation tin beside the urn, and price things low enough that people buy twice. Scones, a decent fruit cake, a tray of sandwiches and endless tea will outperform anything fancy.

• Set out seating in the shade with a few chairs reserved for older visitors and anyone who has come to watch rather than play.
• Run a cake stall alongside the tea so people can take something home and feel they have contributed.
• Keep a jug of cold squash going for children and a water bowl for dogs, which are invariably dragged along.

Raising money without pestering anyone

Stack small, low-pressure asks rather than one big one. An entry fee of a few pounds per player, the spider, a raffle, a tombola, a guess-the-number-of-sweets jar and a cake stall will comfortably outperform a single collection bucket. Local shops and pubs are often happy to donate a raffle prize if you ask a month ahead and explain where the money goes.

Keep the paperwork tidy. Check with your club treasurer that the charity is registered or that you are raising for a recognised cause, keep a clear record of cash collected with two people counting at the end, and remember that entry fees and raffle tickets do not qualify for Gift Aid — straight donations do, provided the donor signs a declaration. If you plan to sell alcohol, arrange the licence well in advance, and confirm the club's public liability insurance covers visitors on the green.

Plan for weather, children and first-timers

This is Britain, so assume rain and pack a plan B: a shorter format, a couple of covered rinks if you have them, or a table-top bowls competition indoors. Publish a decision time for calling it off, and make sure the charity still gets its money through entry fees paid in advance.

Have a register at the gate with emergency contact details for children, a first aid kit on the bank, and someone nominated to keep an eye on the younger players near the ditches. Finish with a short presentation — a word of thanks, the total raised, a small prize for the winning rink and the wooden spoon for the lowest score. Then let people stay and bowl on for half an hour if they want to. That relaxed, unhurried coda is where next year's members are made.