Nuttall Park Bowling Club were badly affected by the winter floods in 2024. They have two greens, a flat practice green and a crown green. Due to the extent of the flood damage, the crown green was not playable for the 2025 season. Kevin, Chair of Nuttall Park Bowling Club was referred to Bury VCFA by Bury Council for support with finding funding to repair their crown green and flooding defences to prevent further damage.
Katherine, our Capacity Building Development Officer met with Kevin and Paul from the club in February 2025. They explained that their club was popular with people from the local community and had been in operation since 1991. Unfortunately, due to the flooding damage to the crown green, they had lost some of their members and income from their membership renewals. The committee were interested in applying for funding to cover the costs of the repairs but they had not applied for grant funding before. Katherine provided the club with several funding options including Sport England, National Lottery and GM Green Spaces.
Following this initial meeting, the club decided to apply for the Sport England Movement Fund. Katherine worked closely with Kevin to develop a strong application, ensuring the bid clearly outlined the impact of the flooding, the need for repairs to the crown green, and the club’s plans to improve resilience against future damage. She also supported the committee in gathering the necessary documentation and financial information to meet the fund’s requirements, guiding them through each stage of the process to build confidence in their first grant application.
As part of our community connectors work in the North Bury neighbourhood, Katherine introduced Nuttall Park Bowling Club to Ramsbottom Rotary. The Rotary frequently use Nuttall Park for their events. The Rotarians suggested that the club could be open during their summer event to offer pay-to-play bowling sessions on the practice green to help them fundraise. During this event, the club were able to raise a few hundred pounds which helped to plug the gap in funds from the lost membership renewals.
In July 2025, the club were successful in receiving the Sport England funding of £15,000. After further discussion with Bury Council and the Environment Agency, it was agreed that a natural flood defence of shrubs and trees would be suitable. The club were supported to submit a grant reconfiguration to Sport England which was accepted in October 2025.
A member of the bowling club who is also involved with Rammy Men was able to recruit 15 volunteers to support with the planting of the new natural flood defences. The tree planting day took place in December 2025 with volunteers from Rammy Men planting 250 trees and shrubs to protect the bowling greens from further flood damage.
The new flood defences mean that the club can now invest in developing their membership and repairing the crown green ready for the 2026 season.
“Thank you to Katherine from Bury VCFA for supporting us with achieving a successful bid for Sports England Funding. We have worked with the VCFA, Bury Council, NPBC Members and specifically Rammy Men's Volunteers to help manage flood defences for the protection of our bowling club and the immediate environmentally sensitive areas of Nuttall Park."
– Kevin Connolly, Chairperson of NPBC
