So this year, instead of shooting on Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club days, i took on the position of hosting them at Sporting Targets.
There is so much more to this role than just turning up and meeting/greeting the ladies and issuing rosettes at the end , and i’ve had to learn fast and think on my feet at times, as well as listen to feedback from the ladies and change what i’ve been able to.
The first one of the year, was a very gentle introduction into being a S&CBC host, as i only had 8 ladies book on! The second in Aug, i had 14 ladies and started to get a better idea of what worked and what didn’t, and what needed tweaking, although i must admit that it did not fully prepare me for the last 2 events, where i had 49 & then 57 ladies booked on!
I host these days, as i want to encourage ladies into shooting via the route, places and people who supported me into it, and the ’payment’ i get from hearing and seeing ladies return for lessons, applying for their licences and getting out into the field, is enough for me.
The Oct event at Sporting Targets was held in memory of my mum, who passed away in April with Myeloma, which is a blood cancer. What started out as a normal bun club day, turned into a full scale event with goodie bags to be put together, a charity raffle organised and a fun photo competition. Out of the 49 ladies booked in; half had never shot before!
We raised £1070.00 for the local Dialysis unit in memory of my mum, and i had a flurry of bookings for the next & last event of the year in Dec.
Well; if i thought 49 ladies was a lot, then we smashed it with 57 booked on! As it was Christmas, and we had so many ladies booked on, we held another charity raffle; this time for the grounds choice of charity, Parkinson’s UK, and the ladies raised £880.00!
Although i said i wouldn’t, i have now agreed to host again for 2022. As much as i love doing these days; the last 2 mega ones have really required a lot of planning & organising and I’ve not being able to spend as much time with the ladies as i wanted to, but it’s a catch 22, as i don’t want to put off any willing ladies who want come and give this sport a go, so i won’t cap the numbers.
I do have to say, VKL & Max at Bun Club HQ, have had endless patience with me and have tried to tweak and change things as much as they have been able to when i have asked them, and i think this year has been a huge learning curve for the 3 of us.
Lets see what 2022 brings!
Clays2Game_lady 