Sport
9 March, 2022
Oakey Bowls Club awarded grant
The Oakey Bowls Club has been awarded a $34,540 grant from the Queensland Gambling Community Benefit Fund (GCBF).
Treasurer Warren Patterson said the club already had plans to upgrade lights and install new lights on the second green before applying for the grant.
“We currently have ageing old lights that are costly to run,” he said.
The current light posts are leaning and becoming a safety hazard.
“With this grant we will be able to get both of the lawns lit up, which means we can promote more night bowls,” Mr Patterson said.
“We already host three day games every Saturday and if the weather is bad we have to cancel or postpone them, but with the new lights we will have good visibility to continue to play,” he said.
“We do a Thursday night barefoot bowls event and these new lights will allow us to promote and host more nighttime games.
“The whole process took about four months to secure the grant and we ended up getting $34,540.
“When trying to get funding for the lights, we sourced the help of David McMahon who found and applied for the grant for us and helped us get the invoices and quotes together for how much the upgrades would cost.”
The next upgrades on the list include getting more lawn mowers, which Mr Patterson said are surprisingly expensive at about $8,000 to $10,000.
“We also want to apply for another grant so we can get a disabled toilet built,” he said.
The Oakey Bowls Club offers more than just playing bowls.
It has a function area equipped with a professional kitchen.
“We have recently refurbished our indoor function space, which people can hire it out as a venue for weddings and birthdays,” Mr Patterson said.
“We even had a baby shower here the other week,” he said.
“We charge $100 for access to the indoor function hall and the kitchen facilities, and guests are more than welcome to go and use the lawns to play a game of bowls.
“Now that we can install lights on both of the fields, it makes the space more accessible as the field that does not have lights yet is actually closer to the hall we hire out."
The club hosts one or two functions per month and has a 150 person capacity.
Mr Patterson said the club has had a very successful start to the year, with a 10% increase in membership.
