Supporting Learning Disabilities Bowls in England

Opening video courtesy of Jamie Pugsley

We are raising funds to support and continue the great work our group of dedicated volunteers and members of the Learning (Intellectual) Disability (LDs) section of Disability Bowls England (DBE) who are a very special group of people, who enjoy being with likeminded people to play the sport of bowls that come from all different levels of the learning spectrum which has been fully integrated into the vision and objectives of DBE to make bowls a truly inclusive sport across England.

All the funds raised will allow us to continue to introduce the various Leaning Disabilities groups to the sport of bowls by holding Taster & Disability Awareness days across England for group leaders, volunteers, coaches, and new players. We will also be expanding our program of events to include more friendly social fixtures, events and specialist coaching and support for the membership.

Learning Disabilities Bowls do not feature in the Commonwealth Games or Bowls World Championships, but instead the more competitive members play in the annual Learning Disabilities Indoor Bowls International Series against Scotland & Wales which for the past few years has been self-funded by players & there support families. This year England will be hosting the event in April at the York & District indoor bowls club, and we are looking to raise enough funds to send a team of 20 players and support staff to cover travel, accommodation, and food cost.

Chris Gray from Northamptonshire

Thirty six year old Chris has had an exceptional year’s bowls with Disability Bowls England (DBE). Chris is Autistic and despite this competes at a high standard for his club and county. In the past 12 months Chris has collected a number of DBE trophies and is a member of the England Learning Disability team and has competed in the Munro Cup, in 2022 against Scotland & Wales and won a team silver medal and hopes to go one better in this season’s competitions held at York Indoor Bowls Club in April.

His dad Ray says "bowls has become a huge part of the whole family’s life, and now they all play. Hs parents first became concerned that Chris may have an issue when he was two, as in their words ‘ he was in a world of his own and didn’t mix with other children’. It was then he was diagnosed with Autism, after many struggles they found that Chris coped best with a structed regular life with timetables he could follow, He was keen on 10 pin bowling and when he was 22 his family saw an advert at a local bowls club which ran a disability group and thought he may enjoy it, although reluctant at first Chris soon showed potential and a coach from the group asked to coach Chris at his own club, for us, bowls came at the right time and Chris has now found something he really enjoys and a sport that has developed his social skills tremendously. The freedom and independence this sport has brought to Chris’s life has been invaluable. Through bowls, we have met many people over the years, throughout the length of the country and lots of which remain very close friends to this day. The opportunities that have presented themselves to Chris thus far, have far exceeded our expectations of where we thought this would initially go. However, we look forward to what Chris can continue to achieve through this sport that he enjoys so much and is now such a big part of his life."

Sally Darby from Buckinghamshire

Thank you so much for all your support and all your help you have given to me and my family. Its very much appreciated so much, it’s fantastic that I joined the DBE family they are really great people and brilliant, we love it, and I am looking forward to some more brilliant times ahead.

It has really changed my life

Daniel Adams from Essex

Daniel has Asperger’s Syndrome and has represented England in the Learning Disability Home International series, he says his proudest moment was drawing the winning bowl to get gold for England in 2019, the same year he won Sports Personality of the Year for Harlow. No one that meets him can fail to be impressed by his dedication to the group and bowls in general and all of us at Disability Bowls England are proud to have him as a member

On most Saturday mornings you will find an enthusiastic group of young people learning and playing bowls at Griffin Bowls Club Youngsters/All Ability Group, Essex under the watchful eye of DBE member and Coach Bowls Level 2 Coach Daniel.

Through its inclusivity and open mindedness Griffin has benefited from new members who come up through the ranks from this group, members, who without it they may not have ever met. The support from other club members has been integral to its success, Daniel would be the first to admit he couldn’t do it on his own, he became involved in group from the start as he says ‘ I wanted to give back to bowls and the community because bowls has been a big part of my life and I want to inspire a lot more people to get involved and play bowls’.

We are raising money for a charitable cause that is very important to us all, so please donate and help us reach our target in aid of Disability Bowls England. Anything you can contribute towards helping us achieve my target will be massively appreciated or if you can offer a prize we can raffle or auction off please contact [email protected]

Thank you.

“We are Stronger Together”