Hitchin Town Bowls Club have been awarded a cash grant from the Hertfordshire Community Foundation. This follows on from their success during last summer in offering bowls taster sessions to local schoolchildren. It will enable Hitchin to purchase sets of

Hitchin Town Bowls Club have been awarded a cash grant from the Hertfordshire Community Foundation.

This follows on from their success during last summer in offering bowls taster sessions to local schoolchildren.

It will enable Hitchin to purchase sets of special sized bowls more suitable to be used by younger children, as well as added funding to allow the club to continue to offer free bowling green usage to specialist groups.

Hitchin are following a country-wide initiative, instigated by the English Bowling Association, and promoted by the Herts bowling associations.

The objective is to introduce the sport of lawn green bowling to the next generation.

Ken Porter, the club's young persons bowling organiser, said: "The Hitchin club has a desire to make their bowling facilities in Hitchin Town Centre available to the youth of our town on a regular basis.

"This funding will enable them to continue towards those objectives.

"Finding bowls for use by large groups of visiting youngsters has in the past been a problem, with the youngsters having to try out bowling using bowls possibly many sizes too large for them."

Size 00 bowls, the smallest bowl normally permitted in national competition, are suitable for use by most youngsters over the age 10 or 11, but the Hitchin club now have smaller bowls particularly suitable for the younger visiting children.

Having bowls in a range of bright colours helps to increase the appeal of the sport to the younger generations.

Porter continued: "The sport of bowls in general profits from introducing youngsters to the game in that some young people may wish to take up the sport during the next few years, or maybe take up the sport at a later stage in life."

Qualified bowls coaches registered with the Hertfordshire Bowls Coaching Society, cleared to work with young and vulnerable persons, oversee the free taster sessions.

Hitchin provide experienced bowlers to help with bowling instruction on the bowling greens, all under the watchful eyes of the visiting school's qualified teaching staff.

The club has a commitment to the young and vulnerable persons legislation as required of them by Bowls England.