FIRSTLY, ON BEHALF OF ALL OUR MEMBERS WHO TRAVELLED TO POTTERS LAST MONTH, I WISH TO THANK JOHN McCULLOUGH WHO ORGANISED THE TRIP. IT WAS HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL.

JOHN APPARENTLY IS ORGANISING A 4 DAY TRIP NEXT YEAR SO LOOK OUT FOR NOTICE OF THIS.  HE IS ALREADY COLLECTING NAMES!

Restaurant: Sadly, Alberta has informed us that she will be giving up the restaurant franchise at the end of the current season.  Both her and her team will be greatly missed by members, staff and visitors alike.  We have started the process of trying to replace her, so if any of our members know of anyone who may be interested in taking on the  restaurant franchise, please speak to Richard or Alberta for more information.

Appeal: Secondly, our Club cleaners are appealing for all members to help by not putting full or half full cups of coffee, water or tea into the bins. PLEASE pour your leftover fluids down the sink.

IWIBA Championships: As you will have noticed by now, our ladies swept the boards in the Baker Stadium by winning ALL IWIBA Championships. Congratulations to them, especially Sandra Bailie.

Ladies U25 Home Internationals: The Club is hosting the BIWIBC U25 Ladies UK Championships on February 9^th and 10^th(Saturday and Sunday). Support would be welcome, as would anyone prepared to help with marking boards, stewarding, selling raffle tickets etc. Please let the Office know.

Email Addresses: Once again we are appealing to members for their email addresses so we can send them out our summer pack, rather than post the pack out.  Also, if you have changed your email address, please inform the office.

Lady presidents Day: This will be held on Friday 29^th March at 2pm.  The cost is £4 per person, which includes supper.  Names are being taken at reception.

Short Mat: Saturday 16th February sees the short mat folks on the top green.

LED Lights: Work is progressing on the LED front and hopefully you will all see (!) the difference in the coming weeks.

Summer Leagues: entry forms will shortly be available for our Summer Pairs leagues.  Last year we ran leagues on Tuesday & Wednesday mornings and Thursday & Friday evenings.  It is our intention to run the same leagues again this summer.

Congratulations: Many congratulations to Robert Kirkwood who had an outstanding win in the World Indoor Singles Championships recently.

Also, Belfast Team 1 won the Inter-Stadium series (see photo). Interestingly, they beat BIBC Team 2 to do so. Again, congratulations to the men. The Club has had a good year so far!

Cancelled Matches: You will have also noticed by now the lists of back or cancelled games in the foyer. Thanks to all those members who are making the effort to replay their matches. This saves the Club a lot of money. Once again, don't complain about increasing rinks fees if not re-arranged.

Bowls Shop: The usual January sale is now on with some great bargains to be had in the foyer. Also, just in…… for the month of February you can get 20% off all Clothing, Shoes and Bags!! This is available in store only and not online!

Note: Please note that bowls is a gentle game – a game of courtesy, kindness and generosity to the opponent – it promotes friendship and caring between people from different backgrounds – it also starts fights occasionally!

Quiz night: The popular Ladies Quiz Night takes place on Friday March 1^st. You will have noticed by now the huge alcoholic hamper in the foyer - this is towards the International Ladies. There is another hamper full of chocolates of which proceeds are going towards lost rink fees due to the U25's weekend.

Editor