Disabled people across Lancashire encouraged to think about taking up curling

Disabled people across Lancashire are being encouraged to think about taking up curling after a wheelchair club in the county was given a cash boost to help it fund the cost of training sessions.

The Preston Wheelchair Curling Club has been handed a £1,500 grant from Lancashire County Council, which the chairperson of the 12-strong group says will make “an incredible difference” to how it operates.

Paul Simmons told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the security of the funding will ensure a set amount of time can be spent on the ice – and enable the club to welcome new members, which it is “crying out for”.

“We can also dedicate time to those newer players,” he explained.

It is people who have yet to take up the sport – but might be tempted to do so – that Paul hopes will be inspired to join a club which regularly proves that anything is possible.

Since it was established in 2018, the wheelchair club – which trains once a week at the Olympic-sized curling rink at the Flower Bowl in Barton – has seen four of its members play for England.  

“My message would be to come and give it a try. Your first session is free and there are people there to welcome you and there’s the equipment [you need].

“You never know – I turned up in 2018 and then, 18 months later, I was playing in the World Championships in Finland,” Paul says.

He puts that success down to curling being an unusually easy sport to start playing from scratch – combined with the training on offer at the club.   

Sessions are structured both to develop skills and enhance competitive performance – focusing on the likes of delivery technique, accuracy, weight control, sweeping tactics, communication, and game strategy.   There are warm-ups, targeted drills,and match-play scenarios so players can apply what they have learned in a realistic competitive environment.   

However, Paul would not want the rigour of the training sessions to put anybody off  joining a group of mixed abilities and ages, whose oldest current player is 78.

He says curling is perfect for those who also just want “a little bit of exercise” – and reveals that wheelchair curling is also open to people who rely on mobility scooters, which can be taken onto the ice.

The club also offers much more than just the potential for sporting success.  

 “There’s the social aspect of it,” explains Paul, who is also president of Preston’s 155-year-old able-bodied curling club.

“We meet about half an hour before training each week and have a cup of coffee together and a chat – and every couple of months we do a social thing, like going to the casino or bingo.

“The good thing is, when you’re amongst people that are in a similar situation to yourself,  you pick up little tips and tricks about life and getting around

“So if you’re sat there in your living room now [considering curling] and thinking, ‘I can’t’, come along – and you’ll probably find out ‘I can.’”  

The county council funding came in the form of an award issued by the authority’s ‘champion’ for disabled people, County Cllr Gaynor Hargreaves.

Each of the county council’s six champions have access to a £10,000 annual budget for their various remits.  In its bid for a share of the disabled champion’s pot, Preston Wheelchair Curling Club said that the money would support the “essential” weekly training needed to “build muscle memory, improve consistency, and develop teamwork over time” – as well as allowing the club “to train consistently without placing additional financial pressure on its players”.