Commonwealth Games medallist 'gutted' at missing world championships

Craig Bowler's life has changed for the better and he loves spending time with his wife Abby and their two children

A Commonwealth Games medallist has withdrawn from a world championship tournament due to a lack of funding.

Craig Bowler, from Buckinghamshire, represented England in para bowling at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

He said playing at the International Bowls for the Disabled (IBD) World Championships would cost him about £3,000.

Disability Bowls England (DBE) said funding a team at next month's tournament would "bankrupt" it.

Mr Bowler, 45, from Olney, near Milton Keynes, was selected to play at the competition in South Africa between 18 and 31 May.

He said he was "gutted" he could not go but he refused to pay when he could use the money for his family instead.

"I am a good bowler, and it is frustrating because I know I could do well. We should be taking the best out there, not just people who can afford it," he said.

"DBE is a charity and they can't afford it. For some people, bowls is all they have, and without DBE that support would not be there."

Craig Bowler said he was "gutted" he could not go to South Africa

Mr Bowler lost both his legs and an arm when he tried to take his own life.

When he woke up from a coma, he said he was "just happy I didn't die".

He later married his physiotherapist's assistant, who he now has two children with.

"After my accident I was told it would take three and a half years to walk again. I did it in six weeks," he said.

'Change lives'

"I was determined. I knew it would be difficult but I had a second chance at life, so I turned every negative into a positive."

A friend's father invited him to a bowls club and after two hours he was hooked, despite initially thinking it was an "old man's game".

Craig Bowler started to play bowls after he lost his limbs

Eight years later, Mr Bowler won a bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Steve Watson, DBE chairperson, said the charity received no funding from the government or the sports governing body.

"All our funding to help change the lives of people with a disability comes from personal donations, charity foundation grants and the support of family, friends and fellow bowlers," he said.

"Every penny raised has been used to change the lives of many with a disability and enabled them to play bowls over the past 40 years."

The Watford and District Bowling Association and the Disability Bowls England squads pose for a match photo

He added that DBE had made the "very difficult decision" to continue to run a programme for the 2023/24 indoor season and the outdoor season until the end of September 2024.

That meant it could not fund the DBE team going to the world championships "as this would have made us bankrupt".

A team of 16 and their managers have self-funded the trip, which was later reduced to £2,500 per person following a reduction in flight costs.