As vice president, coach and youth convener, Shirley has many hats and dedicates a lot of time to her club. She is considered a positive role model at her club and within the wider community around Ellon BC.
We caught up with Bowls Scotland to hear more about Shirley’s volunteering journey.
What has been your volunteering experience to date?
I have been volunteering at the club for a couple of years however this last year I have been much more involved.
I have taken up the role of Coach convener and Youth convener, I have helped Peter, the President, which in turn will be helpful for me this next year.
Why do you volunteer?
I took the position as I wanted to be able to try and do more for the club. I really want to get children involved more. After doing the summer school, I started an afterschool club where we had about 7/8 come along.
I am also wanting to encourage more women to join and become more competitive. A lot of women I feel lack in confidence so I want to work on that in the club too.
What do you enjoy most about volunteering?
I love seeing new players improving every time they play and seeing the kids from the summer school I did this year, really getting involved and asking lots of questions about bowls.
I have lots of memories from the last couple of years from taking my work colleagues along for an afternoon to having over 70 people come to our try bowls day.
I think I really enjoyed seeing the kids’ faces when they all received either a wee trophy or a medal at the end of our summer school week. I also loved it when we hosted a beginner’s trophy this year in September. The green was full, and the 16 players (out of 23 new members) enjoyed playing a competition against each other.