From Isle of Wight council estate to honour from King
THE winner of Guernsey’s first Commonwealth Games medal in 28 years and a European bowls champion has been awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list.
Lucy Beere moved from being back page to front page news as the woman of the hour in the island over the summer after her historic silver medal, which she said has put Guernsey on the map for quite some time.
But that only scratches the surface of what she has achieved over the years.
Born into a family on a council estate in the Isle of Wight 40 years ago, bowls brought her to Guernsey, where she has earned more than 250 international ‘caps’ for Bowls Guernsey, while juggling a full-time job at law firm Ferbrache & Farrell in conveyance coordination.
Miss Beere said she thought it was a wind-up when she heard the news she had been nominated for the prestigious award.
‘I had just finished the parkrun and was sweating and not really with it. I thought “who is stitching me up?” then gradually as we got into it I realised it was actually real.’
Ironically, after her success at the Commonwealth Games, she had joked to work colleagues about getting an MBE.
‘I hope they realise I was joking, I didn’t know I was getting one. It is an absolute honour and it is still a bit surreal, all I have done is play a hobby and do something I enjoy. I look at nurses and feel like I have cheated it,’ said Miss Beere.
She said she has found a balance between bowls, work, and her personal life, which changed when her partner, who she met playing junior bowls, had a cardiac arrest 18 months ago.
‘My day starts at 5am, I get to work at 7am, then I leave at 1pm and work from home. I finish at 4.45pm then I’m bowling by 7pm. I don’t have a lot of “me” time, but I tend to have Saturday mornings to myself to take part in the parkrun.’
After years of working her way to the top, Miss Beere said she avoids practising wherever possible.
‘I am not an avid practiser. I use league matches as competition practice, unless I feel that something isn’t right. I have done with the days of bowling 12 times a week, now I play Tuesday to Thursday nights. I feel for the newer members because they can get caught up in it, but you can play too much.
‘I get comments about me being a natural player, and others needing to work as it, but when it starts to feel like a chore something needs to change.’
When Covid put the brakes on sporting events, Miss Beere said it was a huge favour to her.
‘I had to do what was right for me and that made me one step higher than everyone else. I know now not to get sucked into the wrong things and think what I really need to do to keep up to standard.’
With family still living back home in the Isle of Wight, and others in Somerset, she said she wishes she had more time to see them.
‘It was my choice to move to Guernsey. But especially during five-and-a-half months of bowls in summer, I miss out on engagements with the family and it is quite hard seeing the pictures and not seeing us in them.’
But she did say she would have her family to answer to if she was to give up.
It was her grandparents who got her into bowls as a youngster.
‘I grew up in an area which people would see as rough. I grew up on a council estate, for a long time with a single parent, then when I started to see my dad more, I started to see my grandparents more.
‘For someone from the Pan Estate to win an MBE, anyone who doesn’t think they can do something, can,’ said Miss Beere.
