Gay City Bowlers<\/a> brought their mission to Lane 7 on Matilda Street, making Sheffield the organisation\u2019s eleventh city.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe nationwide bowling club is dedicated to fighting social isolation among LGBTQ+ people through the medium of ten-pin bowling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event consisted of two games played back-to-back, providing an opportunity for people to connect with others in their community in a low stakes environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Founder Marc Geoffrey, 51, said: \u201cAs we’ve expanded over the years, it’s really highlighted how much it tackles loneliness and isolation within our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gay City Bowlers first began when Mr Geoffrey and his husband moved to Manchester in 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The original purpose was to find people in their community in a new city, but it has become something bigger over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said: \u201cThe bowling is almost secondary to me, and also for a lot of people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s just something that brings us together.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe way that it’s organically grown has been much more about the social aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event is particularly helpful for newcomers as it takes the pressure off being thrown into a group of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA Gay City Bowlers group at a previous event. After the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Geoffrey recognised peoples\u2019 ‘desperate need to reconnect’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After discovering no other gay bowling groups across the UK, Gay City Bowlers began their expansion.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They ‘hit the ground running’, initially launching in Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, Sheffield is the latest city to join the Gay City Bowlers\u2019 mission, where local volunteer Carl led the inaugural Sheffield event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Geoffrey said: \u201cWithout our volunteers, we just simply couldn’t do what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are volunteer hosts in each city that allow operations to run smoothly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last November, Gay City Bowlers received a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund to support the expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Geoffrey added: \u201cAgain, I didn’t set this up for it to become what it’s become but it’s done exactly the same thing for so many other people and we want to keep that going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We want to bring it to as many cities as we possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The organisation has lots of plans for the coming years, including launching in Portsmouth next month, making it the twelfth city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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