Harehills ❤️ Love

estled within the vibrant green space of Harehills Park lies a hidden gem with a rich history: Harehills Park Bowling Club. Established in 1906, this thriving club has been a cornerstone of the community for over a century, providing a space for recreation, camaraderie, and friendly competition.  

But Harehills Park Bowling Club is more than just a place to enjoy a game of bowls. It’s a community hub that embraces inclusivity, supports local residents, and actively promotes the sport to people of all ages and abilities.  

And they have plenty to celebrate! This year alone, the club has achieved remarkable success on the greens, securing promotions in four different leagues and clinching three league titles, including the coveted Barkston Ash league and cup.

However, the future of bowling greens in Leeds is facing uncertainty, with the council planning another consultation that could potentially lead to closures. Harehills Park Bowling Club is determined to protect this valuable community asset and ensure its continued presence in the heart of Harehills.

In this Advent calendar exclusive, we hear from Laura, a passionate advocate for crown green bowling and a driving force behind the club’s recent resurgence. She shares insights into the club’s rich history, its commitment to community engagement, and its vision for the future.

Q: Can you tell us about the history of Harehills Park Bowling Club and how it has evolved over the years?

“With records dating back to 1906 Harehills Park Bowling Club has a long history of being one of the best home greens in Leeds with successful teams participating in various leagues across the county. Due to the success of the club Harehills Park Bowling green is the go to choice for both the Leeds Federation teams and Yorkshire over the years with that popularity returning over recent years including the Yorkshire vets teams choosing Harehills as a regular home venue.

We had seen a decline in bowlers across the years as many passed on and the promotion of bowls non existent however we now have increased teams from just two team in leagues, to six teams in leagues. This is due to opening the greens for dozens of events and community group sessions throughout the season.”

Q: What are some of the ways the club engages with the wider community, beyond just bowling?

“Reviving the club since 2020 the current committee is dedicated to the promotion of Crown Green Bowling for it’s amazing health benefits not just for older people but for people of all ages including children.

It is a fantastic low cost family sport for all the family from toddler to great grandma! In order to support the community the bowling club has taken part in many great projects and is a warm welcome space where people are welcome to come and have a free hot drink, access WiFi and take part in bowling if they wish.

We have accessed funding to support the community with food vouchers, hampers, warm clothing and free opportunities to take part in crown green bowls.

Q: Harehills Park Bowling Club seems to host a wide range of events. Can you tell us more about those?

“We host an annual Easter egg hunt, celebrate at Eid, Halloween and host many open events throughout the year recognising various different groups that benefit from our sport, our Santas Grotto is in its 4th year and is extremely popular and is very much looked forward to by those who attend year on year.

We have hosted very popular events to coincide with the Common Wealth Games and The Olympics and shared our vision with other local greens collaborating with other parks greens to share the joy Crown Green Bowling brings.

We now have our very own Blackout Bowls Trophy and Heritage Cup as part of Heritage Open days Week and International Day of Disabled People. The blackout bowls is a pairs competition where one partner plays blindfolded, this was brought to life after one new member joined us who is extremely partially sighted and to help raise awareness. Crown green bowls is truly the sport for all!”

Q: I understand the club has made some recent improvements to its facilities. Can you tell us about those?

“We have renovated the pavillion in 2021 with support from Sport England. It was falling apart! We have now installed shelters on the winter green, increased seating, and now have had planning permission granted for floodlights to enable us to increase access to the bowling greens when it is too dark to play without. We have had a ramp installed for accessing the green with railing and had rails installed on the steep steps down to the winter green.

We believe crown green bowls is the one sprort truly for all and are advocating for accessibility to bowling greens across Leeds Parks over all as many are difficult to find!”

Q: What is the club’s vision for the future, and how does it see itself continuing to serve the Harehills community?

“Our most important goal is keeping our greens open and available for everyone and now that means raising funds for floodlights so those who are working can still access the sport in winter, we will continue to provide social and competitive bowls opportunities for everyone and the many free open events throughout the year.

We are in the process of registering as a charitable organisation in order to enable us to support our community much more and access funds to enable us to ensure the security of our bowling greens for the community for hopefully another 100 years with the passion to maintain the greens in Harehills Park ourselves and relieve the council from their duties.”