'Incredible boost' to wheelchair curling club
· Yahoo Sports
Disabled people across Lancashire are being encouraged to think about taking up curling after a wheelchair club was given a cash boost to help it fund the cost of training sessions.
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The Preston Wheelchair Curling Club has been handed a £1,500 grant from Lancashire County Council that people involved in the sport said would make "an incredible difference".
Since it was formed in 2018, the club – which trains once a week at the Olympic-sized curling rink at the Flower Bowl in Barton – has seen four of its members go on to play for England.
Chairman Paul Simmons said the money will enable the club to welcome new members, which it is "crying out for".
Simmons said: "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 never know – I turned up in 2018 and then, 18 months later, I was playing in the World Championships in Finland."
He puts that success down to curling being an unusually easy sport to start playing from scratch, as well as the training on offer at the club.
He said the group have mixed abilities and are of all ages, with the oldest current player aged 78.
Curling is perfect for those who also just want "a little bit of exercise" and is also open to people who rely on mobility scooters, which can be taken on to the ice, he said.
The county council funding was given by the authority's champion for disabled people, county councillor Gaynor Hargreaves, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
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".
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