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Moray bowling club could be forced to fold after 111 years

Departing secretary of Dufftown Bowling Club, Helen Ramsay, is hopeful members will step forward to save the club.
Departing secretary of Dufftown Bowling Club, Helen Ramsay, is hopeful members will step forward to save the club.

An 111-year-old sports club faces closure because no-one can be found to run it.

Dufftown Bowling Club’s entire leadership team recently stepped down due to relocation, ill health and retirement.

But no-one at its annual meeting was willing to volunteer to take their places, plunging it into crisis.

The club will fold unless locals respond to a rallying call.

An emergency meeting has been organised next month in a last-ditch effort to find new leaders and stop the doors closing.

Outgoing secretary Helen Ramsay has held the post for seven years but is stepping down due to plans to move away from the area.

She said: “The sad thing is that we work so hard to get people into the club. In the grand scheme of things we’re a very forward-thinking and up-and-coming club.

“We had 11 new members join in the last year, which is a huge amount for us. There’s also a busy youth section and Wednesday club for elderly residents.

“It’s been here for 111 years. It’s unthinkable for it to come to an end but it’s a sign lifestyles are changing with people having children and working full-time – they don’t have the time to commit anymore.”

At the club’s annual meeting on Sunday the group’s president, vice-president, secretary and match secretary quit, due to a mix of ill-health and length of time in the posts.

No-one attending put their hands up to replace them.

Since the shock development, some members are understood to have reconsidered their positions and could be willing to put themselves up for nomination.

In recent years the active club has been successful in winning Lottery funding to build links with schools, create a new junior section and pay for equipment.

Mrs Ramsay said the club folding could have a devastating effect on some members of the Speyside town’s community.

The departing secretary, who also runs coaching sessions, added: “We have elderly members come in the winter to play indoors. We’ve run it for four years now and it’s very popular.

“Even if they’re not fit enough to play then they come in for a cup of tea and a natter. Some of them say they would just be at home eating otherwise – it really helps cut down social isolation.”

Speyside Glenlivet councillor Mike McConnachie is hopeful a new group of volunteers can be found to bail out the treasured club.

He said: “It’s a very popular club but sadly this is a thing that is happening to a lot of clubs and organisations – not just sports groups but charities too.

“It’s not as easy to run these clubs now too.

“Changing treasurer used to be just a note to the bank but now they need to see passports and things.

“I certainly hope it doesn’t come to an end and somebody will step forward from the membership. It’s been there such a long time.”

The extraordinary meeting of Dufftown Bowling Club has been organised for Sunday, February 12 at 2pm in the clubhouse.