Bowling champ’s fears over club future after cuts

COUNCIL FUNDING ENDS FOR GREENS’ UPKEEP

A CHAMPIONSHIP winning bowls player is worried he will not be able to defend his title as council cuts threaten his bowling green.

After a hard-fought victory last summer saw Pat Connelly lift the senior pair’s trophy in Skegness, his hopes of a repeat in 2019 is in question after cuts to council sports pitches were announced last month.

“I was absolutely over the moon when we won”, he said.

“Everybody at the club knew who I was and people would come up to me and say well done.

“This is our Wembley and the games get quite competitive, but we always shake hands before we go on to the pitch and before we walk off.”

However, Pat is fearful that proposals to cut funding for sports pitches by cash-strapped Gateshead Council will mean they will be unable to play in the future.

“There’s not going to be any more football pitches and cricket pitches, but there’s not going to be any more bowling greens either.

“Our green is kept in an immaculate state and we do a lot of the work ourselves.

“But the council cuts the grass and maintains the green with chemicals as we don’t have the capabilities for that.”

As well as the competitive aspect of the sport, Pat is concerned that there could be serious impacts on the wellbeing of the club’s 50 members, some of whom are as old as 90.

“It keeps you going and it keeps you exercising”, he said.

“It really works your brain and makes your mind sharp too.

“If you’re playing three times a week like I am then it gets you out of the house, which is important at our age to staying healthy.”

The cash shortage is part of a series of cuts by Gateshead Council to plug a £29m gap on the local authority’s balance sheet in the next financial year.

The next budget will also squeeze funding for litter-picking and pest control after council leader Martin Gannon hit out at Government austerity for causing the borough “insurmountable challenges”.

He said that the local authority has been forced to prioritise crucial benefits such as adult care and children’s services meaning that some other areas have suffered financially. But