National Volunteer Week featuring QLD’s Pat Reely
Club Helensvale is where you will find Pat Reely, one of many hard working volunteers the sport of bowls is lucky to have.
Pat Reely is just one of many members that give up their time to assist the bowls club and make coming to Club Helensvale a welcoming experience for everyone.
Reely moved to Club Helensvale in 2004 from Halekulani on the Central Coast not realizing how much of an impact the club and the wonderful members would have on her a decade later.
Reely is very proud to be a member of such a fantastic bowling club that she felt the need to volunteer her time to give back to the club and the members she loves.
“Being part of Club Helensvale is an honour in itself; the club looks after its members very well and that is the main reason I put my hand up to be an umpire years ago as I felt it’s my way to contribute back to the club; it’s my way of saying thank-you,” Mrs Reely said.
It is by no means a small feat what Reely achieves as a volunteer, she gives up four to five days a week to umpire and co-ordinate the other 16 umpires the club has accredited; she organizes ladies social every Tuesday and club championships most Thursdays in her role as Games Director and has often put in 50 hour weeks during major tournaments as an umpire.
Reely is one very organized and accommodating lady; she plans rosters to ensure the volunteers who still like to compete in championships, pennants and premier league get the opportunity to play and is proud that the men and women of Club Helensvale will jump in and help each other during their respective pennant seasons and tournaments.
Whilst Reely hasn’t played pennants for two year she has watched hours of bowls and gets front row seats to view Australia’s best bowlers in action like Mark Casey, Nathan Rice, Brett Wilkie and Lynsey Clarke who are all members of the powerhouse club.
Club Helensvale Bowls Co-ordinator and Australian Captain Lynsey Clarke is very appreciative of the help she receives and says it adds to the prestige of the club to be renown on the Gold Coast to have so many willing volunteers giving back to the club.
“We are really lucky to have a great group of volunteers; they enjoy putting back into the club their countless hours and the club also does a great job looking after the volunteers with little perks here and there to say thank-you,” Mrs Clarke said.
“We’re pretty lucky here at Club Helensvale to have a great lot of volunteers who are all prepared to help out when I call them for duty especially Pat, she is here sometimes five days a week and does such a fantastic job; she would probably have a bed here.”
This National Volunteer Week we thank Pat Reely along with all those wonderful volunteers working so hard in bowling clubs across the country.
