The Victoria West Lawn Bowling Club Volunteers’ Guide

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How, are you, as a new Club member, going to know what to choose from all the volunteer opportunities
listed in the Volunteer form that you saw on the website?

With the help of the descriptors for each volunteer category found in this guide, your decision as to what to choose should be easier to make.
Keep in mind that the Greenskeeper is the only professional person who is hired and he even asks for
volunteers for some tasks that need extra help to keep the green in top shape.

The garden, clubhouse maintenance, tournaments, open draws, Club games, and social events are all managed by Club members. Your support as a volunteer is the key to our success.

 

Here are the opportunities you have to choose from:
Building Maintenance
The buildings must have all systems working so that safety requirements are followed.

Repairs that don’t require professional services are the responsibility of the maintenance team.

Usually, the Executive Committee reports to the maintenance team or the team coordinator when repairs are required who then arranges what needs to be done and in a timely manner.

Like a house, “wear and tear” happensand must be fixed.
Clubhouse Cleaning
The duties of the cleaner are done twice a month and include:
• Cleaning the men’s and women’s bathrooms
• Cleaning of the windows and doors both front and back
• Vacuuming the doormats
• Sweeping and occasionally washing the main clubhouse floor
• Washing the kitchen and bathroom floors
• Emptying the garbage
This takes between 2-3 hours.

At present there are 3 cleaners which means each performs the above duties every month and a half.

Club Rentals/Guest Services Coordinator
VWLBC has a long tradition of allowing its facilities to be rented out to outside groups for a fee, to maximize our income from the facilities.
The outside groups who have used the facilities fall into 2 groups:
1. Work or Social Groups who wish to hold a bowling “event” for their employees/members
2. Other groups (mostly Strata Councils) who wish to use the Clubhouse for meetings.

The Guest Services Coordinator plays a key role in arranging the rentals. Planning such events is mostly done through emailing and phone calls from one’s home to the interested party:
a) Be slotted into available times,
b) Not interfere with tournaments, open draws, scheduled leagues or the time slots for the Greenskeeper.
Procedures to be followed for the rentals is set out in the Policy and Procedure Manual.

COMMUNITY
Whenever the clubhouse and/or green are rented to non-members, there is set-up to be done.

The Club Rentals’ Coordinator will provide the information needed for a particular event.
INSIDE SET-UP in the clubhouse:
*Place chairs in rows and put out 1 or 2 tables about a half-hour before the event.
*Greet the event manager who often comes early and may assist with the set-up.
*Do not stay for the event, but return after receiving a phone call from the event manager who will call
When the meeting is nearly over.
*The chairs will need to be stacked. Again, the attendees may help. The lights must be turned off, the clubhouse locked, and the gate closed.
OUTDOOR SET-UP for the greens:
*Usually, 4 volunteers are needed.
*Set up the rinks for lawn bowling – the guest coordinator will let you know how many rinks to set up
*Give out the bowls’ sets according to the hand size of each guest
*Welcome the guests. Be sure to say that they are playing a simplified version of the game and would need to take coaching lessons if they wanted to know more about lawn bowling.
*Introduce the guests to lawn bowling by demonstrating:
- the bias of the bowl by throwing from each side to show how it curves
- how to throw the jack and centre it
- emphasize that the bowl is to be ROLLED in order to protect the green
- how to use the rake
- give a few tips for the stance for delivering the bowl
- show the boundary markers and the ditch so they know when the bowl is out-of-play
- After End 1 is completed, show the players how to score – do not include measuring or marking the bowl if it hits the jack because they will have absorbed enough info

COACHING
As a general rule, 2 years of lawn bowling experience are needed before taking the Coaches’ Training Lessons.

The training involves a weekend in early May. A Criminal Check is required.
Once you qualify as a coach, the Membership Coordinator will assign you to people who have signed up for coaching lessons.

Details of how this process works is explained in the Club’s Policy and Procedure Manual found online.

Socials & Potlucks
Once a month, from November to March (maybe April), the Club holds a dinner/social night by having a Potluck plus entertainment.

Members who have signed up to volunteer will host these events and take turns.

Two people are needed for each event. Kitchen volunteers will help with the clean-up.

Often these events are thematic such as Robbie Burns night, Valentines, and St Paddies that includes optional
decorating. The Club does have some games available such as Bingo, and Trivial Pursuit. However, it is
up to each team to decide the entertainment. One time, a team put on a Murder Mystery night. Another
time a team had us playing Left, Right & Centre.
Christmas Party
On the first Saturday of December, the Club celebrates the Holiday Season with a catered Christmas Party.

The 2 hosts are responsible for reserving the caterer soon after the last year’s party.

Entertainment is also decided by the hosts and usually includes singing Christmas carols and songs.

At present, the Club has members who help with the party. One member creates table centerpieces..
A month earlier boxes are put out for the collection of food for Neighbourhood house, and items to fill the Baskets that are given away at the party.

On the last Saturday of November, all members are invited to the Christmas Decorating event that takes about 2 hours.
Appy New Year
All members are invited to bring an Appy to this annual event. The decorations are taken down and stored away. Weather permitting, we play about 6 ends of lawn bowling before we dig into the Appys.
No formal organization is needed. It is a “happening time” where members show up.

Games

This area has a Coordinator who develops the Games schedules for the Club.

The coordinator needs volunteers who will run the Club Tournaments.

Teams of 2 work together.

New members who are interested in learning how to run a tournament should volunteer here, and then help out in order to “learn the ropes”.
Gardens
Volunteers select an area of the garden that they would like to weed.

Some volunteers are needed to take responsibility for various aspects, including:

mowing the lawn (not the green)

-weeding ditches (one volunteer is assigned to weed a ditch on one side of the green-North, South, East  or West, and is expected to weed as necessary, especially before tournaments)

-power washing the moss off the sidewalks, or watering.

The club also holds a spring and fall clean up day where all members are invited to help out.
Goodwill Ambassador
This volunteer’s role is to act as a mediator when a member or members have a verbal dispute where neither party wants to make a written complaint to the Executive. Each complaint to the ambassador will be dealt with confidentiality.

Grants
This area requires expertise so anyone interested would have to learn how to apply for Grants.

Anyone with expertise and interest should volunteer here.

The Club relies on Grants to fund larger, expensive projects whether in the maintenance area or for the lawn bowling equipment.

Greens
The greenskeeper is the one person who is under contract with the VWLBC.

He is an expert in Green’s Management.

However, there are a few times in the year when he needs members to help with certain aspects of maintaining the Green. If you like a little manual labour, this is a good fit for you.

Kitchen
Making tea and coffee
Putting out cookies, squares, nibbles etc.
Washing dishes and using sanitizer machine.
Cleaning counters and tables after use
The above is usually done in support of a Tournament Manager or for the Club’s social events.

Lockers, Name Tags

This volunteer assigns lockers to new members, or allows members to add their names to the locker list to claim empty lockers and then tries to keep the locker list current.

The locker lists are presently by number and by first name.

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Name tags are ordered for all new full members.

Returning members may request a name tag, too, but will need to pay for it.

At present no volunteers are needed for these roles.

Membership
A Membership Coordinator processes the Membership/Volunteer Application Forms for returning and new members. The Emergency Contact List and Sunshine list in the blue binder are also updated.

A complete description of this role is found in the Policy and Procedure Manual online.

If you are interested in learning about this role by helping the Membership Coordinator who is a seasoned member, check off this box.

As of 2024 the Membership Coordinator (or a designated helper) also sets up Coaching Lessons.

Marketing
Marketing volunteers gear up in February and continue until early May in order to prepare for the opening of the Spring season. This preparation involves:
- checking over the signage for necessary repairs or replacements or updates
- hanging the exterior signs on the annual spring cleanup day.
- preparing ads for the early April Open House
- preparing ads for any mini-open houses that may be held
The Policy and Procedure Manual lists the commercial businesses that the Club uses for the marketing
projects.

Recycling
Beverage cans, and refundable containers need returning to a recycling depot in order to collect the refund that is given to the Treasurer. Paper is also recycled. When enough people volunteer here, a schedule can be created in order to share the work.

Note that all refundable beverage containers should be rinsed before adding to the collection can.

Refreshment Coordinator and Team
The Refreshment Coordinator buys the beverages and stocks the the fridge with the refreshments.

The team takes turn selling the beverages to members at Club events.

The money is collected by the Refreshment Coordinator who uses the cash to buy the beverages and keeps track of the money using a simple accounting system.

The profit is given to the Treasurer. Whenever the beverage station is open, a member of this team must be present.

Sustainability
This role involves carrying out an annual review of where the Club is at regarding its’ stewardship of the property indoors and out. The written review must be presented at the Fall AGM. Recommendations may be made about expanding what already has been done.

Volunteer Coordinator
One experienced member has the responsibility to find volunteers for some of the events occurring at the Club. 

Website Coordinator
A member who has the expertise in working with computers and website management is necessary here.

As of early 2026 there is a new Website team creating a new website on a new platform.

The website is to be updated with events and useful information.

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Please note that some volunteer areas require a seasoned member who has been mentored for the
role or who has expertise in that area:
Club Rentals’ Coordinator
Membership Coordinator
Volunteer Coordinator
Website Coordinator