THE annual indoor carpet bowls and skittles award presentation at Moree Whiddon residential aged care facility on Monday featured a major donation from Moree and District Services Club.

Whiddon residents compete in weekly carpet bowls and skittles tournaments, and this year they were surprised with a new indoor bowling mat from Moree Services Club to enjoy their Monday morning bowls sessions.

Whiddon area manager Kelly Bruce thanked the club, with board president Gary Maidens and CEO Rob Shields at the aged care facility to hand over the new mat.

“Our small community here at Whiddon couldn’t be more appreciative,” Kelly said.

“Our residents are passionate bowlers and having the club supply us with a new mat makes us very proud.

“The Whiddon community means everything to us, and to get people helping from outside our little community is just amazing.

“We have programs facilitating carpet bowls and skittles, and it’s really great for the residents because they’ve played in the community their entire lives and this is an extension of that.

“It’s fantastic the Moree Services Club has supported Whiddon in this way, and we couldn’t be more thankful,” she said.

Club CEO Rob Shields said donations like this are about the club supporting the community.

“That’s what we’re here for,” Rob said.

“The Moree community and visitors and tourists to town support the club, so we like to give back to the community and organisations like Whiddon.

“We love supporting local groups in any way we can,” he said.

Moree Whiddon women’s skittles champion this year was Patty Parry, with Lorraine Dorrington named runner-up.

Patty was also women’s carpet bowls champion for 2025, with Deirdre Marshall named runner-up.

The 2025 men’s bowls title went to Michael Hodgkinson, with John Hennessy the runner-up.

John was also runner-up in the men’s skittle championship behind Martin Watts.

Whiddon leisure co-ordinator, Mel Smith, said Whiddon residents are never idle, with a calendar full of seasonal events throughout the year.

“We have bowls on the program every Monday and usually start with a round of skittles – a 10-pin bowling type of thing – before a game of carpet bowls,” Mel said.

“Bruce Clyne has been volunteering here for about 20 years and keeps score and organises our trophies and medals at the end of the season.

“We have a presentation each December and will start a new competition in the new year,” she said.

Mel said the Whiddon activities calendar was chock-full week in and week out.

“We have church twice a week and art on Monday mornings, with plenty of volunteers for that,” Mel said.

“There are a couple of groups of school children who come in and help out during the week with different things, which is fantastic.

“On Thursdays, we have what we call Armchair Travel, where we pick a destination and explore that region or country.

“Bingo is a big, big thing at Whiddon and we also enjoy bus trips and outings in the Moree community – no-one is idle here,” she smiled.