FORTY-Eight bowlers came together at Wellington Bowling Club to take part in a charity event to raise money for the Beacon Centre at Taunton.

There were 12 teams of four, each one named after a city in Europe. The aim was to have some fun in a friendly competition while at the same time raising funds for the President's chosen charity.

Each team played three matches. Prague's Ian Lloyd, Tony Weston, Viv Newton and Jay Merrell were the overall winners despite fierce competition from Amsterdam, Berlin, Oslo and others.

In the first round, Ian, Tony, Viv and Jay's Prague team took on Athens' Doug Campbell, Janet Moore, Tony Stone and Bob Newton. It was a closely fought game but Prague won it 6 – 4.

In the second round, Prague had a bigger fight on their hands against good bowling from London's Ron Taylor, Phil Wiggan, Roger Murphy and Pauline Wadham. When the six ends had been played the result was a 4 – 4 draw.

In the last round Prague took on Copenhagen's Jacqui Finney, Richard Turner, Mike Copping and Tony Gibson. It was a high scoring game for both sides but the Prague foursome won it comfortably 12 shots to 6 which was enough to win the game so Ian, Tony, Viv and Jay could celebrate being this year's competition champions.

Amsterdam's Judith Short, Marguerite Nichols, Steve Horrill and Ian Hollingsworth came second and Berlin's Suzanne Worth, Diana Dagg, Ken Brown and Bill Warnett were third.

It was great to see so many “European” teams taking part and helping to raise £189 for the Beacon Centre. Thanks go to Paul Kelly and Pete White for a fab BBQ, which raised money for the club and fed the hungry bowlers.

Ian Hollingsworth deserves special thanks for organising and running this enjoyable and very worthwhile event.