LOOE Bowling Club has been awarded cash from Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund to help the club keep going and maintain its greens during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The £2,860 for Looe is National Lottery money, £20million of which has been made available to deliver immediate funding to those who have a role in supporting the nation to be active but who are experiencing short-term financial hardship or the ceasing of their operations.

It is part of a wider £195m package announced by Sport England to help the sport and physical activity sector through the crisis.

The Bowling Club and its putting greens have been closed since the lockdown, and the grant will help the club to cover essential costs such as green maintenance, administration and maintenance of the club, and deep cleaning in preparation for post-lockdown opening in accordance with Government guidelines.

Janet Rowley, secretary of Looe Bowling Club, said: ‘We are delighted to receive this support from Sport England, which has enabled us to ensure that our greens and club are properly maintained during the lockdown.

‘Our members and the local community will be able to enjoy our facilities as soon as Government guidelines allow us to do this safely, and we look forward to the time when we can fully re-open.

‘After this period of prolonged lockdown, we hope all members of the community, young and old, will once again enjoy the social and health benefits of this popular sport.’

Tim Hollingsworth, Sport England’s chief executive, said: ‘As the body responsible for the growth of sport and physical activity participation, we want the vital grassroots organisations that make sport and physical activity happen in this country to not just come through this crisis but to be in a position to thrive again in the future.

‘The £20m Community Emergency fund, made possible by National Lottery players, is part of a multi-million-pound package of support we are providing to ease the pressure on a huge number of the organisations who are central to the nation’s health and well-being.

‘We are proud to be able to provide vital funding to Looe Bowling Club to help it through these extremely challenging times.’

Owing to the recent easing of lockdown restrictions, Looe Bowling Club says it has been able to open in a very limited way to members adhering to strict social distancing. But the club awaits guidance from the Government and Bowls England on when it might be ok to open to the wider public, says Janet.

‘We cannot have shared equipment, and we don’t have the necessary screens and so on to take money. So at the moment we don’t know when we would be able to open to the public.’

Looe Bowling Club was established in 1913, and has maintained an active membership ever since.

It encourages members of the local community of all ages to take up this sport, and also maintains two putting greens which are normally open to the public throughout the season.