Club Directors

Club Legal Structure

Hornsea and District Indoor Bowls Club (or Hornsea IBC) is run by Hornsea and District Indoor Bowls Club Limited, a company registered in England and Wales as Company Number 03524099. This is company limited by guarantee without shares and which means that it is a non-profit making community club. 

Directors

Hornsea IBC has a Board of non- executive (i.e. unpaid voluntary) directors who are answerable to the members as they oversee the assets of the club, its management and finances.

The current directors are Ian Paddy, Peter Meggitt and Gerry Woolfenden. 

Ian Paddy

Ian was a driving force in the formation of Hornsea IBC and with a team of enthusiastic local bowlers, they sought funding and managed the project to build the club which opened it’s doors in 1998. This is Ian’s third stint as a director and so he has an in depth knowledge of the club and of club matters.

Formerly a teacher, Ian is a talented carpenter and his handiwork can be seen in the bar area of the club.

Ian is also head coach and is well respected around the UK as an EBCS Advanced Coach who wrote much of the EBCS training material. He is passionate about bowls and is still developing ideas to improve coaching methods.

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Peter Meggitt

Peter lived in Hornsea for 13 years which is why he and Marianne returned to the town just before retiring. He has been a member of the club for 7 years both socially and in a league for one season. Peter volunteered to run the Saturday socials when people were needed to open up, operate the till and bowlr, organise members on the rinks and to close up afterwards.  Wednesday afternoons were then identified as an unused time slot with potential for another Social session (moved to Thursdays in summer) so allowing more pairs games.  So where does Peter fit in as a director?

“Myself and a colleague started a printing company in Pocklington in January 1979. We ran it until retirement time and sold the business with no debts whatsoever and £220,000 in the bank – so I have 36 years experience as a director.

Marianne and I both play golf at Primrose Valley where we have a caravan and play in the monthly charity match 8 times a year.  We have provided 2 trophies per game for several years , the money the group raised last year went to Filey Lions & this year will go to the RNLI which is 200 years old this year.

When Ian asked us to become directors we were happy to throw our time into it. We enjoy organising the Social Bowls and had both helped on the 2 open days this year where we got tremendous pleasure helping people with the basics of the game.”

Peter saw the main challenge as increasing membership, with the aim is to reach 350-400 this year. He also aimed to get everyone onto Bowlr as that saves administration time and cuts back on manual errors arising from entering payments on the till and then again on BOWLR, plus speeds up checking in and reduces annoying debtor emails.

The directors aim to re-open the kitchen (on a limited basis) has been achieved after purchasing a new dishwasher and a re-organisation of the kitchen.

Peter goes on to say, “There have been complaints that errors have been reported and not acted upon this must come to an end. I had a complaint recently and resolved it within 2 hours. The directors are available to listen to your problem and will aim to sort it out.

You will see from the accounts that the club was in a dire financial position and could not have survived much longer without the drastic action taken. This will not happen again during my tenure as a director as I will keep a close eye on the bank balance and costs as well as watching the income. I want the club to prosper and return to a warm friendly welcoming place.”

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Gerry Woolfenden

Gerry Woolfenden has an extensive and varied background in the field of leisure management. His career began in hotel and catering, where he served as the catering manager of Edgbaston County Cricket Club and later, at the prestigious Lord’s Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood, London.

After a brief stint attempting to break into copywriting, Gerry transitioned into a role as a buyer for a chain of department stores. However, his desire to return to Yorkshire led him to a position as the Deputy Director of Leisure and Catering Services for Rotherham in local government. Faced with the challenge of failing eyesight, Gerry made a significant career shift into education.  He became a Senior Lecturer in Leisure Management at Glasgow University’s Queens College and later, Blackpool and Fylde College, where he worked under the auspices of Lancaster University, ultimately concluding his career as a director.

Later in his career, Gerry was invited to become a British Council consultant, working for short periods in Turkey, Egypt, and India. He best describes these events as “interestingly memorable.” he was also a non-executive director for a national hotel chain before completely retiring.

Gerry’s academic qualifications include both a first degree and postgraduate degrees in management and computer sciences. Additionally, he is a member of the Institute of Quality by examination.

Developing a passion for the sport of bowls, Gerry admits that his enthusiasm far exceeds his skill. Nevertheless, he is eager to bring his wealth of experience in managing large and complex leisure operations to the Hornsea and District Indoor Bowls Club, where he believes he can make a significant impact.

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Directors Visit to Lincoln Indoor Bowls Club

Three directors (Ian, Peter and Marianne who has since stepped down) visited Lincoln Indoor Bowls Club (at 1,000 members it is much bigger than HIBC) to see how they operated as they have had the Bowlr System in operation for some time.  They have the system running very well and it has made their bowling so much easier to book both for the members and the club. They gave us some insight as to a few of the problems we were facing such as bowlers just turning up and bowling without paying. Their answer? Just keep the jacks in the office and check that people are actually booked onto the rink before handing them out – an easy and free fix.  They also have policies which result in virtually no missed or rearranged games.

Although Lincoln is bigger than us (two greens each split into 4 rinks), it does not have a big seating area or dance floor like us. However, they supplement their bowling by hiring a “floor” which fits over one of the 4 rink greens, which they use as a stage/event floor (like Selby). We are lucky in that we have the space and seating in our function room, to host most activities without having to hire anything. The directors believe that the way forward includes hosting events to supplement the bowling income for the club

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HIBC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)

The club AGM for 2024 was held on 3rd November where the Directors presented their report and the accounts for the year. The club now has a solid set of financial figures and the directors outlined their vision and objectives for the future of the club.  Both Peter and Gerry were voted on as directors, having been co-opted on previously.