The Moonfleet Chronicle

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MOONFLEET A 25      EAST DORSET A 21

Moonfleet Ladies A team travelled to Christchurch where they had a close contest in their latest game in the County inter-club league. Chris Rod, Mairie Mathie, Chris Thompson and skip Jennie Brown got off to a flying start and were 9 – 0 ahead after six ends against the East Dorset rink with skip N Mapes. The hosts then rallied and took control and, by end thirteen had narrowed the gap to lie one shot behind at 9 – 10. This game of two halves finished with the final five ends seeing the advantage go to first one side then the other and with a conclusion of a 12 – 12 draw.

On the other rink Karen Hofen, Gill Lock, Di Edwards and skip Helen Monelle had an equally close tussle over the first half of their game against the East Dorset rink. With the scores 5 – 5, 6 – 6, 7 – 7 and again 8 – 8 the contest could not have been closer. From end thirteen though the Moonfleet rink took control and, winning five ends on the trot, added five shots to their total to finish with a 13 – 9 victory, an overall 25 – 21 total and 7 of the 8 league points for the match.

MOONFLEET B 49     DOLPHIN C 29

With one home and one away rink Moonfleet B faced Dolphin C in this second round game in the Dorset Ladies inter-club Knockout competition. The home rink of Julie Watts, Jo Taylor, Heather Gillingham and skip Trixie Dempsey had a slow start against the opposing rink with skip A Mousley who, by end five, were 6 – 0 ahead. Fortunately the local ladies then came to life and gradually closed the gap to lie level at 9 – 9 by end ten. The close tussle continued for the next seven ends with the advantage moving from one rink to the other and by end seventeen the scores were level at 15 – 15. A breakthrough to the Fleet foursome on the next end with a four shot haul gave them the edge to control the final ends and finish with a 22 – 17 victory.

Over in Poole Mary Dunne, Ruby Spavins, Judy Why and skip Jill Gwilliam got off to a positive start against the Dolphin rink with skip S Ball and were 7 – 3 ahead after five ends. The hosts though got in and, by end ten had narrowed the gap to lie just one behind at 9 – 10. The Moonfleet quartet then went up a gear and took back control to lie 15 – 11 in front by end fifteen. The final six ends saw the Moonfleet ladies shut out the opposition and, adding a further twelve shots to their total, the Gwilliam rink finished with a very comfortable 27 – 12 win. The combined score of 49 – 29 means that Moonfleet B will progress to the next round where they will face Dorchester C later in the month.

MOONFLEET C 34 BRIDPORT B 33

Moonfleet Ladies travelled to Bridport for a thrilling cliffhanger game in this latest Ladies County Inter-Club League fixture. Pam Jones, Di Carteur, Jan Lever and skip Madge Churches had a game of two halves against the Bridport rink with skip Sheila Nicoll with the hosts moving into a commanding lead of 12 – 3 after nine ends. The Moonfleet ladies then moved up a gear and, four ends later, had narrowed the gap to lie just one shot behind at 11 – 12 and again 13 – 14 by end sixteen. The Bridport quartet though took the final two ends to seal the outcome and finish with a win of 18 – 13.

On the other rink Kathy Samson, Jennifer Browne, Val Spicer and skip Ruth Neary had a really close first five ends against the opposing rink with skip Pat Cowmeadow with the scores at 4 – 3 in Bridport’s favour. Four shots to the hosts on the next end though, widened their lead, but the Fleet foursome stuck to their guns and gradually narrowed the gap to lie only one shot behind at 9 – 10 by end eleven. A splendid five shot haul then gave the visitors the advantage and, with another big four shot take, the Moonfleet quartet had their game in the bag and, finishing with a 21 – 15 score, just managed to pip the Bridport ladies at the post to claim an overall 34 – 33 total and 6 out of the 8 league points for the match.

 

MOONFLEET B 37      DORCHESTER B 21

Moonfleet Ladies B team entertained Dorchester B in their latest Ladies County inter-club league fixture. Mary Dunne, Julie Watts, Jo Taylor and skip Jill Gwilliam had a close first few ends against the Dorchester rink with skip Kay Johns and, by end six, the scores were level at four shots each. The next few ends saw the two sides pretty evenly matched with the Moonfleet rink just one shot in front 8 – 7 by end ten. The Moonfleet quartet then moved up a gear and, shutting out the visitors for the next four ends, the hosts managed to add ten shots to their total to lie in a strong 18 – 7 lead. Although the Dorchester ladies rallied over the remainder of the game, it was not enough to prevent the home rink from claiming a 19 – 13 victory.

On the other rink Mary Corben, Sue Board, Ruby Spavins and skip Liz Williams moved into an early lead against the Dorchester rink with skip Jenny Trotman with the scores 10 – 3 in Moonfleet’s favour by end eight. The visitors really struggled to make any impression as the Fleet foursome calmly increased the pressure and, with a timely four shot take, the hosts had widened the gap to 17 – 5 by end fourteen. Even though Dorchester won three out of the four final ends, the home rink had a sufficiently safe lead to finish with a convincing 18 – 8 win which gave the Fleet ladies a 37 – 21 combined total and all 8 of the league points for the game.

MOONFLEET B 39    DORSET RESORT 25

With one home and one away rink Moonfleet B took on Dorset Resort in this first round match in the Dorset inter-club Knockout competition. The home rink of Julie Watts, Jo Taylor, Sue Paull and skip Liz Williams had a really close game against the Dorset Resort rink with skip Bev Champion. The first eight ends were evenly split between the two sides and scores were level at five shots each. Four ends later and again there was nothing in it with the two sides on seven shots. The next seven ends continued to see a real game of cat and mouse and, with two ends to go the tension rose as the scores were again level at 13 – 13. One shot to Moonfleet on the penultimate end followed by a conclusive four shots on the last end gave the Fleet ladies a victory of 18 – 13.

Away at Dorset Bowls Resort Mary Dunne, Ruby Spavins, Judy Why and skip Jill Gwilliam quickly moved into a convincing lead and were 12 – 4 ahead after eight ends against the Resort rink with skip Liz Males. The Moonfleet quartet continued to dominate in the middle part of the game and, by end sixteen, had built up a 20 – 9 score. Three ends later the combined overall total to Moonfleet had reached 39 – 25 and at this point the Resort rink conceded leaving Moonfleet to move into the next round.

60+ League 2nd Division   Moonfleet C v Moonfleet B

On rink 2 Pete Drage, Pete Anthony and Terry Errington of the ‘B’ team  were up against Ian Marshall, Tim Munro and Richard White for the ‘C’ team in what proved to be a good match. the B tean got off to a good start winning the first three ends then it was the turn of ‘C’ to reply on the next 4 ends, managing a 6 on end 7 to give them a good lead of 11 shots to 3. Next end ‘B’ replied with a 4, then ‘C’ with a 3 then ‘B’ with a 3 and a 1 making it 14-11 to ‘C’ after 11 ends. That was pretty much it for the ‘B’ team. A series of ends gave the ‘C’ an lead which wasn’t to be beaten and a win of 23-15.

On rink 3 Dave Clegg, Steve Wilson and skip Mal Smith for Moonfleet B were up against the might of Harry Hovenden, Mike Legge and Howard King for Moonfleet C. This was a cracking match with the leads trading shots, the 2nds trading shots and the skips on good form. The first half of the match up to end 11 belonged to the ‘C’ squad with some excellent bowling. It was one of those ends on end 10 where the ‘C’ team were holding and skip Mal Smith just couldn’t get one in dropping a 6. End 11 was similar with the ‘C’ holding 3. A good bowl from Mal took shot but a better bowl from Howard made it 5 to ‘C’ and that left the score at 21-7 to ‘C’. Then it all changed….. a 3, a 1, a 4, a 2, a 1 then a 2 brought it back to 21-20 with one end to go. After the leads have played ‘B’ are holding 2, after the 2nds have played ‘B’ are holding 3, just the skips to go and pressure on Howard, Mal smith to bowl first and misses, Howard next and not close enough, Mal bowls again, not there, Howard bowls and cuts the deficit to one – looks like a draw is on the cards – Mal bowls, better this time, nudges the jack for 3 to ‘B’. One bowl left, can Howard do it, Noooooo. 3 to ‘B’ and a win of 21-23.

An overall win of 44-38 to ‘C’ and 4-2 in league points. 

60+ League 1st Division    Moonfleet A v Bournemouth

On rink 4 were Mel Thorne, Mantle and skip Jim Hamilton, this was a story of consistent bowling from the ‘Fleet trio, a slow start which gathered momentum with a 4 on the third end to give them a 2 shot lead which was never relinquished. At end 10 the lead was up to 11-5 with the Bournemouth skip having no joy at all. Eventually Moonfleet ran out winners 20-10.

The group on rink 5 of Andy Short, Chris Dean and skip Derrick Taylor had a much closer match and looked like losing all the way through, at end 8 however, the score was 6-7 to Bournemouth and then a steady stream of winning ends from Bournemouth saw the score after end 15 a seemingly unassailable 9-15. Hold the front page, a 3 to ‘Fleet!, another 3 to ‘Fleet!, 15-15, can they do it! Yes they can!!! Another 3 shots on the last end gave Moonfleet a cracking and unexpected victory of 18-15 to take all 6 points.

MOONFLEET C 38   WELLWORTHY 30 – Ladies County Inter-club League

Moonfleet Ladies C teams had thrilling games as they entertained local rivals Wellorthy in their latest County Inter-Club league fixture. Lyn Wellman, Sara Sancto, Val Spicer and skip Ruthie Neary had a really close first half against the Wellworthy rink with skip P Skinner with ends being won with one and two shots only and the advantage swinging first to one side then the other. End six saw the scores level at 4 shots apiece, again a tie at 8 – 8 at end twelve and 9 – 9 two ends later. With four ends remaining, the outcome could have gone either way, but the Fleet foursome held their nerve to take control and add a further 9 shots to claim a victory of 18 – 11.

On the other rink Edwina Toone, Mo Morgan, Celia Robertson and skip Glynis Thorne had an even more nail-biting contest against the visiting rink with skip M Clements. The first five ends were split evenly between the two sides 5 – 5, but then the Wellworthy ladies began to pull away and, by end nine, were 11 – 6 ahead. The Moonfleet quartet were in no way daunted and, with a superb 10 shot fight back over the next three ends, they were sitting 16 – 11 ahead. The game of nip and tuck continued with the visitors nudging into a lead of 18 – 17 with two ends to go. Three shots to the hosts followed by only one to the visitors saw the watching Moonfleet supporters breathe a huge sigh of relief as the home rink finished 20 – 19 ahead, with an overall 38 – 30 total and all 8 of the league points under their belts to round off an exciting afternoon.

MOONFLEET C 42       EAST DORSET B 16

Moonfleet C entertained East Dorset B in their latest match in the Ladies County Inter-Club League. Kathy Samson, Diana Carteur, Celia Robertson and skip Madge Churches had a really close contest against the East Dorset rink with skip J Griffiths. Although the Moonfleet ladies moved into an early lead, the visitors levelled the scores to 6 – 6 after eight ends. Both sides kept up the pressure and the game of cat and mouse continued with the scores level at 8 – 8, 10 – 10 and again at 12 – 12 by end sixteen. A splendid 5 shot haul to the Moonfleet quartet, though decided the outcome and the hosts finished with a well-deserved 18 – 12 victory.

On the other rink Gwen Rees, Eileen Devonald-Batt, Glynis Thorne and skip Val Spicer got off to a flying start and were 10 – 1 ahead by end seven. The visitors really struggled to make any impression on the Fleet ladies who went from strength to strength winning the next seven ends to increase their total to 22 – 1. Although the East Dorset foursome did add to their score, the afternoon belonged to the Moonfleet ladies who ended with a convincing 24 – 4 win on this rink, an overall 42 – 16 total and all eight of the league points.

MOONFLEET A 49 DORCHESTER B 31 – Report from Julie Watts

Moonfleet A had a game of mixed fortunes as they entertained Dorchester B in this latest fixture in the Ladies County inter-club league. Karen Hofen, Mairi Mathie, Di Edwards and skip Anne Chislett had a very close first half against the Dorchester rink with skip Sue Lofthouse with the scores even at 6 – 6 after eight ends. End ten, though, saw Dorchester pick up five shots which seemed to spur them on to take control of the second half and play out with a 25 – 10 win.

On the other rink with Monique Gandy, Margaret Hooper, Helen Monelle and skip Margaret Crawford, the story was very different. With a magnificent six shot haul on end four, the Moonfleet ladies completely dominated the first nine ends to lie 19 – 2 ahead against the visitors with skip K Johns. Another fantastic six shot take on end ten really decided the outcome and, by end fourteen, the Fleet foursome were in a massive 28 – 6 lead. The final four ends belonged to the hosts, who rounded off the match with a third six shot haul to finish with a truly impressive 39 – 6 victory, an overall 49 – 31 total score and 6 out of the 8 league points on offer.

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Match Report-Dolphin B v Moonfleet B – Dorset 60+ League

A bad day at the office for Richard Caseley, Steve Wilson and Mal Smith but a better day for Dave Grantham, Pat Holmes and skip Brian Miller still not successful though and a 6-0 loss. 

Mal Smith’s team, apart from Steve just couldn’t match the bowling of the Dolphin trio, their skip, Mike Hemnett was on top form and anything we did was matched and bettered by him and it was one of those days when, if the jack was struck, it turned a one down into three down. Aaaargh. A 6 point flourish on the last 3 ends was nowhere near enough and the final score was 24-9.

Brian’s team fared better with the a 4 on the second end and holding their own up to end 10 where Moonfleet were 9-8 up. Dolphin managed a 4 on end 11, a 2 on end 12 which put daylight between the teams finally ending up as 20-14 to Dolphin B.

Overall score 44-23 and 6 points to Dolphin B.

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Notice re internal competitions

WINTER KNOCKOUT COMPETITIONS

CHANGE TO “PLAY BY” DATES

In order to help with the problem some competitors are facing in arranging their winter competition matches we have changed two of the “play by” dates:

  • The matches scheduled to be played by 31st January can now be played anytime up to and including 10th February

  • The matches scheduled to be played by 28th February can now be played anytime up to and including 7th March.

The problem with rink availability is chiefly centred on January and at this stage we do not believe there is a need to change the 31st March play-by date.

The dates of the Finals remain the same.

Although there is now extra time available for match completion we strongly urge competitors to arrange their games as quickly as practicable.

If you have to cancel a rink booking please do so as quickly as possible so that other competitors can use it.

Jennifer Browne & Steve Wilson

Competition Secretaries

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Dorset Mens 60+ League, Moonfleet B v Dolphin IOP

This was a cracking match with Pete Drage, Peter Anthony and Terry Errington on rink 4 and Dave Clegg, Dave Grantham and Mal Smith on rink 3.

Mal Smith’s team kept it close at the start then on end 4 IOP had a mare and Moonfleet scored a 6! Steady progress after that saw Moonfleet leading by 12-4 after 7 ends. Both Dave’s bowling really well to keep the oppositions leads under pressure. Then the rot set it in, losing the next 4 ends the score was back to 12-12 on end 11. Come on Moonfleet, concentrate! Next end 3 to us, then 2 to them, then 3 to us, then 3 to them, 18-17 after 15 ends. Too close for comfort. Ends 16 and 17 saw some inspired bowling from Mal Smith but only scoring a single each time. 20-17 to us going into the final end. Before the skips bowled IOP were holding 2. First bowl from Mal took the jack and gave us 4, whew, two more bowls right on the jack and Terry Buck doing his best to spoil it gave us a 6 on the last end. 26-17 was the final score on a thrilling (if you were Moonfleet) match.

On rink 4 Terry’s team made heavy weather of it in a topsy turvy game. Leading after the first 5 ends, losing by a margin after 10 ends and then fighting back to make it a very close finish, just losing out by one wood 16-17.

An overall 4 points to 2 for Moonfleet and a good win against a strong team.

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Dorset Mens 60+ League, Moonfleet B v Dorchester B

Played on Monday 10th December this turned out to be a great game, on rink 3 Richard Caseley, Pete Drage and skip Mal Smith had a steady start matched all the way by the Dorchester team but then a poor end by us gave away a 4 to give Dorch a bit of breathing space. After end 9 it was 9-13 to Dorchester. Then it seemed to turn around and bit by bit Moonfleet etched away at the lead to be 16-13 up going into the final end, it looked iffy at one stage but a fine bowl from Pete Drage put us only one down which was enough, Mal Smith then gave us the lead by one with another good bowl. Dorchester skip was under instructions from his no.2 to fire! He did, hit our bowl which put the jack in the ditch and gave us a 4! Thanks Ted. Overall a good win of 20-13 and 2 points on the board.

On rink 4 the team of Dave Grantham, Pat Holmes and skip Brian Miller had a tough day. They started out by just edging Dorchester into second place but they wouldn’t give and fought back to lead going into the final 3 ends. But some dogged play and a bit of luck gave Moonfleet the lead going into the final end and with a final flourish victory was secured. End result, 16-12 to Moonfleet, 36-25 overall and 6 points in the bag!

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Dorset Mens 60+ League, Moonfleet B v Moonfleet C

Rink 3 Had a home side of Dave Grantham, Richard Caseley and Terry Errington take on the selected might of Tony Colton, Ian Marshall and Tim Munro as skip. This was a close run affair up to end 11 when the score was locked at 9-9 then 5 winning ends with only a single in reply saw Moonfleet C take a pretty much unassailable lead of 17-10 going in to the last end. Hold on a mo, some very good bowling saw the Monnfleet B side holding 4 on the last end but they were unable to convert it into a 7 so they went down 17-14.

On the other rink the lightweight Dave Blackmore, Dave Clegg and Mal Smith took on a formidable looking Moonfleet C side of Harry Hovenden, Colin Chatburn and Howard King. There was some excellent bowling going on with Harry as consistent as ever but the 2 Dave’s keeping the ends tight and surprise, surprise Moonfleet B were ahead 8-7 after 9 ends. Then the rot set in, a 3 then a 4 on the next two ends put ‘C’ 14-8 up. Then a trade of 2 each still left ‘B’ in arrears. Then, a 5 by ‘B’ on the 14th end put ‘B’ back into the game only down by 15-16. Unfortunately that was it, 7 points to ‘C’ on the next 3 ends gave them the win 23-17. Overall 6 points to Moonfleet C but a good game for all that.

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MOONFLEET LADIES A – 37 –  DORCHESTER LADIES A – 22

Moonfleet Ladies A team welcomed Dorchester A in their latest game in the County inter-club league. Jill Poulter, Mairi Mathie, Chris Thompson and skip Linda Bryson had a close first half against the visitors with skip L Hill and by end nine there was only one shot in it, 6 – 5 to Moonfleet. The next six ends, though, belonged to hosts as they kept Dorchester out completely and cranked up the pressure to sit with a 14 – 5 lead by end fourteen. Three ends to the visitors over the last stages, were not enough to stop the Moonfleet quartet playing out with a 15 – 9 victory.

On the other rink the Dorchester rink with skip S Jennings faced Margaret Hooper, Gill Lock, Shirley Bowley and skip Carole Venton who, hungry for victory, had moved into a lead of 10 – 3 after five ends. Although the visitors worked hard to close the gap over the next few ends, the Moonfleet ladies kept up the pressure and refused to be overtaken. With four out of the five final ends going to the hosts, a 22 – 13 victory was in the bag with an overall total of 37 – 22 and all 8 of the league points on offer.

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Sweet Revenge for Moonfleet Ladies in Mason Trophy

Having recently been knocked out of the Yetton Trophy by Dorchester, it was revenge time for the Moonfleet Ladies as they stormed to a 45 – 15 victory against Dorchester in the National Mason Trophy.

At home Margaret Hooper, Mairi Mathie, Carole Venton and skip Anne Chislett began as they meant to go on, picking up 5 shots on the very first end followed by 2 on the next. Dorchester with skip Fran Dyer then took up the reins to narrow the Moonfleet advantage to only two shots 9 -7 by the halfway stage. The second half of the game though saw Moonfleet take command and, as Dorchester struggled to make any real impression, the Chislett rink piled on the pressure to play out with a 19 – 10 win.

Over in Dorchester, Chris Rod, Gill Lock, Chris Thompson and skip Margaret Crawford dominated from the start against their local rival rink with skip Hazel Newboult and, by end seven, were 13 – 3 ahead. The hosts only managed to take two more ends and, as the Fleet foursome went from strength to strength, the score had increased to a massive 26 – 5 lead by end fifteen. This, combined with the Moonfleet home rink score, proved too great a total and Dorchester conceded after end fifteen leaving Moonfleet to move into the next round against Bridport next week.

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Dolphin v Moonfleet C 12 Nov 18 Dorset 60+ League

Harry Hovenden, Colin Chatburn, and Richard White had a frustrating day at the office, having only scored 3 by the 11th end, dropping an 5 on the 10th on the way. 3-13 down. A mini comeback then occurred scoring 11 in the next 7 ends but unfortunately it wasn’t enough and the final score was 14-19 to Dolphin.

On the other rink the team of Ian Marshall, Tim Munro and Howard King had a much better day putting in a consistent performance and leading 20-4 by end 12. A slight hiccup on end 13 dropping a 5 gave Dolphin a bit of a lift but it was not to be for them. Moonfleet winning 27-10. Overall 4 points to Moonfleet and 2 to Dolphin was an excellent result.

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Moonfleet Men v Dorchester B 11/11/18

The first match in this encounter in the Wessex B saw Brian Martindil, Phil Emery,Howard King and Richard White lose to Dorchester in a very close tussle. After 4 ends Moonfleet had failed to score but after 7 ends they were winning. Dorchester then to be winning 20-12 after 17 ends then the Fleet scored a 5, a 1 and a 4 to claw it back but they eventually lost 22-24.

On the other rink it was a completely different story with the quartet of Brian Burroughs, Neville Trott, Tim Munro and Jim Hamilton storming the entire match after a slow start, Dorchester were 5 up after the 4th end but that was pretty much it. Highlights of the last 17 ends were a 5 on end 7 and a 7 on the 14th end. Moonfleet finished with an impressive 43- 8 victory.

On the away rinks Pat Rod’s team were beaten 17-21 and Ashley Welsh was victorious with a 21-18 win. Overall a win for Moonfleet.

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Moonfleet Ladies v East Dorset Ladies – County Inter-club League – 15 Nov 18

MOONFLEET A 35 EAST DORSET A 23

Moonfleet Ladies A entertained East Dorset A in their latest game in the County inter-club league. Chris Rod, Gill Lock, Di Edwards and skip Anne Chislett found themselves up against strong opposition from the visitors’ rink with skip J Griffiths. After five ends the hosts were 8 – 2 behind, but moved up a gear to win four out of the next six ends and narrow the gap to 11 – 9 behind. Although the East Dorset quartet opened the gap further to hold a 15 – 11 lead by end fifteen, the dogged determination of the Fleet foursome meant that they won all three remaining ends and, adding four shots to their total, finished with a 15 – 15 draw.

On the other rink Karen Hofen, Mairi Mathie, Chris Thompson and skip Carole Venton having lost the first two ends against the opposing rink with skip N Mapes, took control and, by end nine, had notched up a 10 – 4 lead. This domination of the game continued as the East Dorset ladies struggled to make any headway and, losing only three more ends during the rest of the game, the Moonfleet rink stormed to an impressive 20 – 8 victory which gave the hosts an overall winning total of 35 – 23 and 7 out of the 8 league points on offer.

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Andy Blackwood (right) receives a cheque for £1920 from Jennie Brown of Moonfleet 2000 Indoors Bowls Club.

Moonfleet Members Support Youth Centre

Members of Moonfleet 2000 Indoor Bowls Centre has been raising funds all year and recently presented a cheque for £1920 to STEPS Club for Young People.

STEPS Chairman Andy Blackwood was bowled over to receive the cheque and said he was most grateful to Moonfleet 2000 IBC for their generous support. The bowls club elects a charity annually to benefit from the club’s social activities and for the last playing season, because of all the support it offers for the young people of the town, it voted to support STEPS Club for Young People.

Andy Blackwood said: “Our work is educational, developmental and preventative. At STEPS, we enable young people to develop, to learn and to achieve. We also provide valuable support for young people, which can sometimes be critical in their lives. We are working hard to keep the Club going as a Charity and donations such as this are a tremendous boost. We are very grateful to the members of Moonfleet 2000 IBC for their generous support.”

Jennie Brown for Moonfleet said “We run a number of social activities at the club including dinners, dances and quizzes and the proceeds and collections are shared between the club and our chosen charity. We were pleased to nominate STEPS as our chosen charity because of all the help it gives to the young people of our town at a difficult time in their lives”.

STEPS has been run as an independent charity since September 2016 after Dorset County Council stopped running all of its 22 Youth Centres and is reliant on fundraising and support from the community.