Bedford man who started playing bowls just before 9th birthday receives merit award

Bowls Bedfordshire presented Andrew Manning with an Award of Merit for outstanding service to the sport of bowls in Bedfordshire at the county lunch on Sunday, December 3.

Andrew started playing lawn bowls just before his ninth birthday and has been a keen player of the sport and a key member of Sharnbrook Bowls Club for many years.

His playing achievements include winning nine county competitions including singles, two wood singles, pairs, mixed pairs, triples and fours and being a finalist on a further nine occasions. In addition, he has won an amazing total of 54 separate Sharnbrook Bowls Club competitions in the years from 1991 to 2023.

Andrew has been Sharnbrook’s delegate at Bowls Bedfordshire’s county meetings and has been a selector for the county teams for many years. He has promoted the fortunes of bowling generally at Sharnbrook and in Bedfordshire for a very long time.

But it is his massive contribution to keeping Sharnbrook Bowls Club’s bowling green maintained to an extremely high standard which is so appreciated by every member of the Sharnbrook Club and visiting players too. The considerable amount of time, effort, knowledge and experience which Andrew contributes is awe inspiring. He leads teams of club members who help with mowing and maintaining the green at such a high standard but the key person in achieving this is Andrew Manning.