Wanted: Life-saving funds
The club has launched an urgent appeal for funds to purchase a defibrillator.
It will be bought and installed in the clubhouse following the heart attack suffered by Bruce Gibson last month. His dramatic collapse at a GC roll-up highlighted the need for extra measures to improve our duty of care protocols.
Unfortunately none of this vital equipment and its ancillaries was budgeted for in the Blewbury accounts. The committee thinks £1,000 will be needed to get the defibrillator up and running.
Luckily we have our own in-house medic, former GP Jackie Bryant, who will oversee the purchase and installation. She will also have the task of organising members to attend free First Aid Awareness courses, probably through the St John’s Ambulance.
Jackie said: “The St John’s Ambulance website offers the potential for a free course for anyone who wants to attend covering CPR and defibrillator use. Presuming a reasonable number of people take up the offer this would increase the chance that at least one person present has the confidence to respond.”
However, the club must first raise some cash. Members are invited to use the BACS system, making donations to the club’s account number 04040874, sort code 30-91-31, using the reference ‘DEFIBRILLATOR’.
Jackie added: “We will also need the defibrillator-specific case to keep it in to prevent damage, as well as a wall bracket. Good-quality scissors and a razor would allow quick access to the chest for application of the pads when needed.”
* Look out for the ‘In Case Of Emergency’ notice and car park access numbers posted in the clubhouse.
Best picture of the year
Here’s the shot we all wanted to see… heart-attack victim Bruce Gibson up and about and looking as though he is on the road to recovery.
It’s particularly heartening for those of us who were nearby when he collapsed at the club and had to be rushed to hospital.
A month on, he’s got every hope of a return to the croquet courts very soon. Bruce said: “So here I am braving the elements and looking as healthy as I can. Still making good progress.
“I get some important reviews with the cardio rehab team next week, and also the GP. That should tell me if I’m doing as well as I think I am. Fingers crossed!”
He added: “Please pass on my thanks to everyone for their cards and best wishes and once again to those who helped on the day. I am certainly still aiming to be back playing croquet for short sessions when the courts re-open.”
Bumper month for newbies
Blewbury are delighted to welcome a superstar new member, the Phyllis Court double champion
Charlie von Schmieder.
That’s Charlie (left) proudly showing off this season’s AC and GC titles at the Henley club.
As opposed to our usual haul of mid-ranking club players or keen beginners, Charlie joins us as a current international, being the captain of Ireland. All his handicaps are well into ‘minus’ territory!
Another top-level newcomer is Alan Cottle, from the Sussex County club, a friend of our own Avril Rangoni-Machiavelli who spends increasing time in this area. Alan, who joins us as a ‘distant’ member, still plays off near-scratch at both codes, having boasted minus handicaps for over 20 years.
Elsewhere, Liz Walker and Pam & Charles Briggs joined our ever-growing band of players from Caversham, which will remain their primary club.
Likewise Blewbury will be the second club for Goring-based Julia Green, who still retains her Phyllis Court membership and will probably be captaining one of their teams against us next season, while Trish Clayton has switched from the Bransgore club now that she is living in Cholsey.
Newer to the game are Johnny Dewar, introduced by Peter Allan, Aston Tirrold-based Malcolm Leeder, and Peter Ryding – just learning AC – from Berrick Salome.
This week we’ve had another surge of entries, with 4 more colleagues of Peter’s from Wantage Bridge Club; Shirley and Barry McCarthy, Jacqueline McDowell and Gary Shamrock have joined as standard members. I believe all four are new to the game. These ‘signings’ bring our total membership number to a whopping 71.
Let’s get the party started
Plans are well in hand for Blewbury’s courts to re-open for play next week.
Following the closure for autumn maintenance, Thursday, November 5th remains the date on the calendar for the big restart. Mowing, white-lining and hoop re-setting should be taking place over the weekend. As ever, the best advice for confirmation is to keep an eye on the TeamUp calendar and your email inboxes.
For those looking further ahead, the 2027 season kicks off when the clocks go forward on Easter Sunday, March 28th. The following day, Easter Monday, has been set aside for the Roger Cambray Memorial one-ball tournament.
Then we’ll finally see an end to the 2026 season on April 24th, when Deirdre Cochrane, Andrew Petit, Joe King and the unbeaten Brian Jamieson contest the semi-finals and final of the Prebendal.
Your last chance to vote
The deadline for proposals for Blewbury’s “Club Member of the Year” expires on Saturday night, the final day of October.
Please let secretary David Long have your suggestions for the member who has made the biggest contribution to the club this year — not just for playing performance. The club committee will review the shortlist of nominees before next month’s AGM.
The presentation to the winner will be one of the highlights of that meeting at the Melland Room on November 25th (4.30pm start).
That’s when a decision will be made on subscription fees for 2027; the committee are proposing that they should be held at this year’s levels.
The world’s Joe’s oyster
Many congratulations to club chairman Joe King for his selection to again represent England in the AC World Championship next year. Last season it was Florida — where he reached the plate quarter-finals — and in February Joe will be off to Wellington, New Zealand, for the big one. What an honour!
GC poll is a split vote
There was a very broad spread of responses to the club’s inquiry about whether members prefer their competitive GC to be level-play or handicap.
With Eynsham’s plans for a 2027 shake-up coming before next month’s Southern Croquet Federation annual meeting — including a proposal for more level-play leagues — our committee wanted to know what was the favoured way forward for Blewbury players.
The answer to our emailed plea was…WE’RE SPLIT ON IT!
Slightly the largest vote came from those who are happy to represent the club at either level-play or handicap.
There was also a good number who would prefer to take their chances starting all square rather than suffering the dreaded Advantage/Target scenario, although a few others did say they were more comfortable with the Target scoring system.
Another group are happy to play social croquet, with a few willing to be emergency standbys to cover late non-availability.
Sadly, by far the largest constituency was the ‘can’t-be-bothered-to-answer-emails’ gang, who made up about half of Blewbury’s GC players. That’s not helpful when we’re trying to plan for the future.
More controversially, I wonder what the reaction would be if we copied other clubs’ example by picking every team strictly on merit rather than following the Blewbury ethos of trying to give as many people a game as possible.