Hi Mark, You will probably need to have two accounts depending on how much money your Club has. One account for day to day banking, direct debits, cheques etc and a second account with another bank or building society that pays interest. For the latter there are a number of organisations that offer much higher interest and still covered by FSCS protection up to £85k. Money can be instantly sent back from an Instant Access saver account to your current account when needed using online banking. The second account can either be with Instant Access or a Fixed Rate over varying terms. Hope this helps. Ian

Hi Richard, I agree with your comments regarding Skips. We certainly do not currently have any formal structure in place for bringing players along. At our Club we have identified this year the need for training at all the positions - Lead, Number 2, Skip etc and have agreed that we will start some training sessions for the next outdoor season. Training both in the theory and practice are both essential. We have found many players do not really know the rules - minimum length of Jacks etc. Unfortunately we do not have a "Qualified" bowls coach but do have a number of experienced players that should be able to help out. A couple of our members have volunteered to organise these training sessions. To date we have held weekly "roll up" sessions and have relied on these for new players to get to know more about the game generally, before playing in matches. Very much going straight into the deepend in many cases!. The "roll ups" are not enough on their own and hence the need for training next year. Ian

Hi Rod, Thanks. The RAFA Bowls do not have any Life Members currently. However consideration is being given to one individual. Better not name them here in case they look at the website forum. Ian

Thanks Alan and Richard for this - very helpful. Ian

I am not sure of the reason more Bowls sets are not in stock other than the cost to the shops for carrying a large stock - different sizes etc. I would have thought the manufacturers would subsidise shops until items sold, but they do not appear to be doing this. Only more suppliers to create competition amongst the manufacturers will change this. Realistically though, we all tend to buy only one or two makes of Bowls - Thomas Taylor, Drakes etc . Ian

Always pay by credit card or PayPal. You are more protected that way. Ian

New, coloured bowls are expensive and a long time to wait for them. The time delay is not necessarily an issue if you are playing Lawn bowls as the next season does not start until the end of April 2024. The cost is too high at £400.00 plus, in my opinion. I have purchased coloured bowls for myself and wife over the past year. I have managed to purchase nearly new Thomas Taylor sizes 3 and 0. I bought these on EBay and have been pleased with both sets. Cost was £250/£280.00. If you look on the internet there are also a number of bowls dealers who advertise both new and second hand ones. Ian RAFA 381 Bowls Bognor Regis