On Tuesday March 10th the Love Fisher Brown 2019 runners up award, a national competition sponsored by Para Handy and Drakes Pride, was presented to Kempston Park Indoor Bowls Club. This award, named after the remarkable and inspiring Commonwealth Games achievements of Bob Love, David Fisher and Paul Brown, showcases the excellent work being undertaken by clubs with disabled bowlers around the country, and provides a benchmark for other clubs to aspire to.
The club in Hillgrounds Road Kempston, received the runners up award for the work they have been doing each week with a group of disabled wheelchair bowlers who use the clubs specially adapted wheelchairs, plus a group of four downs syndrome boys from Zebra House and around 25 dementia sufferers from the Tibbs Dementia group. Volunteer bowling members from the club gather every Tuesday to teach the various disability groups, whilst the various groups carers can enjoy a relaxing well-earned break over lunch at the club, happy in the knowledge their charges are being cared for and enjoying their experiences of bowling in a safe and community inclusive environment.
The award was created to recognise clubs that provide disabled participation opportunities for their bowlers. Kempston Park have for the past 28 years been running the weekly bowling sessions for their Wheelstars group and for the past four years for the Tibbs Dementia group with the Zebra house boys joining two years ago. In the early days of the Tibbs group there were just four members, now it stands at around thirty.
The Disability Steering Group panel, comprised of representatives from the Activity Alliance, Bowls Development Alliance, Bowls England, Disability Bowls England and English Indoor Bowling Association, assessed each of the 12 strong nominations, the results were very close with only a point or two between the winner and the two clubs who were awarded as runners up.
Following a warm welcome by the KPIBC chairwoman, Mrs Rita Clifford-Pendleton, Stephen Rodwell (English Indoor Bowls Association) on behalf of the Disability steering group panel, then made the award witnessed by Carl Meader the Kempston Town Mayor who on his first visit to the club was impressed by the work being done at the club. Sarah Russel the CEO of the Tibbs Dementia group and around a hundred guests from the various disabled groups, some of the clubs key volunteers and members of both the Clubs management team and the Clubs bowls committee were served a lovely buffet lunch by the clubs chef with lots of chatter and celebrations being enjoyed by all.
Kempston Park Indoor Bowling Club remains committed to offering a broad and inclusive welcome to all within the local community and using its facilities as an opportunity to help improve the lives both able and disabled people living locally.
