Last weekend, Bowls England hosted the first Disability Open Day of 2026, facilitated brilliantly by West End Bowls Club in Stockton-on-Tees.

The effort the club put into making the day special was a huge part in it being a roaring success.

A wide range of people came to give bowls a go, including children with learning difficulties, adults with physical difficulties and also people who are hard of hearing and suffer from deafness.

With support from the club coaches and the Bowls England team, everyone in attendance had an extremely enjoyable experience.

The event also attracted the attention of Sue Waller, winner of the inaugural Junior Development Programme of the Year Award at the 2025 Bowls England Awards in February.

Sue found the day to be very informative and explained her ambition to make good use of what she learned in her club, ‘That’s How We Roll 24 BC’.

Also in attendance were Brian Bell and Elizabeth Vuyk from Bowls England’s current Club of the Year, Crawford Park BC.

They also found the session useful and intend to develop a lot of the ideas discussed on the day back to their club.

Dee Worger, and advocate for Disability Bowls, got her hands on a USB Launcher delivery aid and found it so helpful that she ended up using it during the Celebration Match that took place in the afternoon.

The match featured players with disabilities from Leicestershire, Durham, Lancashire and Warwickshire who represented Bowls England against representatives from West End BC.

West End scored a narrow 71-66 victory in a competitive match played with perfect spirit, with the highest winning rink for the Bows England team coming from Godfrey Keefe, Pamela Kennedy and Steve Beamish.

Colin Wagstaff, who spent the day showing coaches and club officials how to use adaptive equipment, ended the day by presenting West End with a Bowls England Celebration Match Pennant to mark the occasion.

The club kindly returned favour by presenting Helen Lewis-Wall, the Bowls England Disability Officer, with a special plaque to say thank you.

The first Disability Open Day of the season was nothing short of a resounding success and an important part of Bowls’ Big Summer.

Discover more about Bowling with a Disability by visiting the page on our website.

Want to host a Celebration Match in the future? Click here for more information.