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Clubs Meeting 11th October 2026 – Report

It was great to see so many Clubs represented at the meeting on Sunday and I hope all who did found that what was said both interesting and informative.

Many matters were covered and please see the Summary Report  on various County specific matters by CLICKING HERE

Jon Cockcroft the Bowls England Chief Executive gave an interesting & informative presentation on Bowls England in general as well as on the proposed amalgamation of Bowls England with the English Indoor Bowling Association. There was a lot to take in and I will endeavour to put together a summary of the most important matters. I will be attending the Annual County Conference on 24th October when many of the matters mentioned will be raised and discussed and I will be better placed to update in more detail after this so I will probably need to wait until then.

Provided the amalgamation is passed by the respective BE & EIBA AGMs to be held in early 2027 the amalgamation will go ahead. There is a lot of fine detail still to be addressed and a lot more information on how this will impact Clubs & County Association will emerge after the Conference. The priority to date seems to be to get the top level Articles of Association for the amalgamated body in place and then to move on to how to the new ‘England Bowls’ will function at County & Club levels.

In the meantime, if you want more details on the reasoning for the amalgamation and the benefits that this provides then this may be found on the Bowls England website via the following links.

  1. https://www.bowlsengland.com/bringing-together-flat-green-bowls-as-england-bowls/
  2. https://www.bowlsengland.com/england-bowls-regional-delivery-hubs-bringing-support-closer-to-clubs-county-associations-and-communities/

 

The bottom line from what was said at the Clubs Meeting is that nothing will change in the short term BUT there are many matters affecting grass roots level that need to addressed and BE have advised that these will be communicated to Clubs & Counties for them to consider and comment on.

 

John Ottaway (Hon. Men’s Secretary)