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Perth bowling club fighting for future after being axed from leisure facility

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Susan Myles and Lena Smith with fellow members.
Perth Bowling Club's Susan Myles and Lena Smith with fellow members. Image: Kenny Smith/DC Thomson.

Members of a Perth bowling club are fighting for their future after being told their facility will be replaced by gym equipment taken from the flooded Bell’s Sports Centre.

Perth Indoor Bowling received the shock announcement last month that their club was being axed from Dewars Centre at the end of their current season on April 5.

The club are now left fighting for both their short-term and long-term future as they try to get indoor bowls included in plans for a new leisure facility being prepared by Perth and Kinross Council.

The flooded Bell's Sports Centre after Storm Gerrit hit Perth.
The flooded Bell’s Sports Centre after Storm Gerrit hit Perth. Image: Kenny Smith/DC Thomson

Susan Myers, lady secretary at Perth Indoor Bowling, told The Courier there had been no consultation about the closure and it came as a complete surprise.

“We were basically told on March 25 that was us stopping here and there is no future for us because they’re not including us in PH20,” she said.

“Our club finishes because there’s nowhere to go.

“The email we got was a shock.”

Indoor bowling club forced out by flooded Bell’s Sport Centre

The situation putting the future of the club in doubt is down to the flooding at Bell’s during Storm Gerrit last year.

Live Active Leisure made the decision to move the fitness gear from the under-threat Bell’s to the current indoor bowls carpet at Dewars as the washed out centre is not currently fit for purpose.

Susan questions the decision as other gyms are available in Perth but the closest indoor bowling facility is in Dundee.

“There are gyms coming out your ears in Perth at the moment,” said Susan.

“We’ve been working this year increasing membership and getting the place used more often and we’ve done that.

“Then all of a sudden an email came out to a few us saying that because of Bell’s situation they were going to be re-purposing this at the end of the season and that would be bowling ceasing at Dewars.”

Campaign for all sports

Plans for a new leisure facility in Perth are set to come forward in August after the previous proposal, which did not include an ice rink or leisure pool, was rejected by councillors.

The Perth indoor bowls community are demanding that they are included in any new venture – even if it’s in a separate facility.

The Courier wants to ensure the opportunity is seized to build Perth a leisure centre to be proud of.

Take our survey below and have your say on what you want to see in a new facility.

Indoor bowling important to older generations

The Perth Indoor Bowling club has produced a number of internationals over the years.

Evelyn McGarvie won 54 caps for Scotland between 1994 and 2010, 51 of them while she was based at Dewars.

A British Isles champion, the 79-year-old believes keeping bowls in Perth is extremely important for older generations who want to keep active and socialise.

“Seniors and people of my age just love this in the winter,” said Evelyn.

“They’re sad that it’s closing because they get exercise, they get a wee bit of friendship.

“Although it’s a competitive sport a lot of them just love indoor bowling.”

Doug Lambert, Hazel Duke, Evelyn McGarvie and Colin McKenna.
Doug Lambert, Hazel Duke, Evelyn McGarvie and Colin McKenna. Image: Sean O’Neil/DCT Media

It’s an aspect of the sport also recognised by former Scotland international Doug Lambert.

The vice-president of the men’s seniors section at the club says the age range of their membership goes from 16 to 80 and above.

“People play to over 80 years old and it’s not just the bowling,” he told The Courier.

“They’re getting some physical exercise in here in the warmth and they come along and chat to other players and it’s a social life for them.

“Some of the older members might not have anyone to speak to at home so they come along here and they have a cup of coffee, have a chat, have a game of bowls for a couple of hours.

“So it’s good for their mental wellbeing as well.”

‘As important as every other sport’

Club members are clear that a short-term solution must be found for the club to continue this September when the league re-starts.

They would be happy to see four rinks at Dewars instead of the current eight, even suggesting they could share the floor with the gym.

“If it shuts this year, if we don’t come back in September, if it’s three years down the line, then you’ve lost three years of bowling,” said Susan.

“A lot of people won’t come back so you’ll lose them forever.

“There’s a lot of people have said that will be them finished with indoor bowling if there’s no future for them here.”

Susan Myles and Lena Smith with members calling for the club to be saved. Image: Kenny Smith/DC Thomson

The bowling club had been incorporated in the original idea for a new leisure facility, first mooted in 2014, and they say it is imperative that they remain part of future plans.

Doug said: “The big bugbear is that when PH20 complex was first mooted, indoor bowling was included as well as the ice rink and the swimming pool.

“And now they’ve turned around and said because of the cost of that development they’re paring it back to a certain extent to justify what they’re going to spend on it.”

Susan added: “I think they should incorporate everybody, it’s not that we’re wanting them to have us and for someone else to fall out of the remit.

“It’s just that we’re just as important as every other sport.”

Perth and Kinross Council confirmed new plans will come forward in August.

A spokesperson for the local authority said: “PH20 was paused by the council in 2022 for affordability reasons.

“We are currently preparing a revised project scope together with Live Active Leisure to ensure PH20 can be achieved in an affordable and sustainable way and council will consider officers’ recommendations on this in August.”

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