Wheelchair BowlsRound-up All the latest from the wheelchair bowls scene, by Ian Blackmore
Welcome to the wheelchair bowls round-up…
Welcome everyone, again, to the latest wheelchair bowls news. Since I last wrote, my time has been dominated by the continuing fight to save the bowls facility at the BWBA’s HQ. The host club, Stoke Mandeville IBC, is fighting the fight, too. A lot has happened in the past few months, most notably, the welcome intervention of Sport England. Read the details in an updated report of events in this section of wheelchair bowls news, right. On more routine matters, I have news of the National Wheelchair Bowls Championships which saw a strong showing by Welsh bowlers; BWBA president Terry Fitzgerald has held another successful President’s Day; and there is news of a win for the wheelies in a match against Foxhill IBC. David Rhys Jones has interviewed Essex’s Ron Rowden for this edition of the magazine. Ron is the ultimate traveller, particularly around his native Essex, but also wider afield, too.
Ian
Blackmore, chairman, BWBA
Useful Contacts:
British Wheelchair Bowls Association Tel: 07932 791519
E:
ianblackmore@bwba.org.uk www.bwba.org.uk
English Amputee and Les Autres Bowling Association Tel: 0121 355 861
E:
villabob44@hotmail.com
Cerebral Palsy Sport Tel: 0115 925 7027 E:
info@cpsport.org www.cpsport.org
Disability Bowls England Tel: 07968 254441
E:
keithernestbrenton@hotmail.com
English National Association of Visually Handicapped Bowlers Tel 01274 652742
http://lawnbowls.com/vis_impaired/england
The BWBA faces eviction following the decision to close Stoke Mandeville
Stoke Mandeville update: Sport England to intervene
I
an Blackmore, the chairman of the British Wheelchair Bowls Association, reports on the latest developments in the BWBA’s fight to prevent the closure of Stoke Mandeville Indoor Bowls Club… “Just in case you were not aware of what has happened, I will summarise the position so far as briefly as I can. WheelPower, British Wheelchair Sport, is the charity which is in charge of the multi- sport site in Stoke Mandeville, inextricably and historically linked with wheelchair sport since its origins in the 1940s, with the pioneering work of Sir Ludwig Guttmann. WheelPower want to close the bowls facility at the site. They say it is making a loss; the BWBA disagrees. If the closure went ahead, it would, at a stroke, close the local club Stoke Mandeville IBC (SMIBC) as well as depriving the BWBA of its traditional headquarters.
In the last edition of Nationwide Bowler, I wrote: “Whatever the outcome of the fight to save Stoke Mandeville IBC from closure, the BWBA is here to stay.” This, I am glad to reassure you, is still the case. The BWBA’s three demands in the face of the threatened closure were simple: 1. That WheelPower should enter into a process of full and genuine consultation; 2. That WheelPower should provide all the financial information required by us for independent analysis;
3. That WheelPower should immediately stop any on-going process to secure alternate use of the indoor bowls facility.
Failure to agree to those demands would mean that the BWBA would have no choice but to significantly widen the number of people involved in the matter. WheelPower, as expected, did not agree so we, the BWBA, ‘went public’. Having received official letters from the BWBA and from individual BWBA members, Sport England decided it wanted to formally review WheelPower’s decision.
At the time of writing, the BWBA has now done its major submissions to the review process. It shows that SMIBC can run at a surplus. Also, SMIBC officers have recommitted themselves to the future of their club.
Others parties involved in the Sport England review include WheelPower, SMIBC, the local authority, and the Bowls Development Alliance amongst others. The BWBA’s view is that there are two quite separate issues here. Firstly, there’s the actual decision that was made, which BWBA members are very unhappy about, because it would bring to an end a long- established connection between them and Stoke Mandeville. Secondly, there’s the way in which the decision was made, and the way in which it was communicated to the BWBA and SMIBC as a fait accomplit.
The BWBA very much welcomes Sport England’s intervention. The BWBA has a well-argued case and it is hoped that Sport England will recognise this. In the meantime, everyone awaits the result of the review.”
NationwideBowler 53
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84