On the last Wednesday before Christmas, CLASS (Community Living and Support Services) clients and staff visited the Kingscote Bowling Club, which has just received a makeover with the resurfaced green and renovated clubrooms.
Waiting for one of the members of the group was a very special Christmas surprise! Peter Forster, a local KI identity, was thrilled to be presented with a new ‘bowling assistance’ frame that had been made for him by club member Rob Potter.
Past President Greg Davis and Rob Potter, a retired electronics engineer, were aware of Peter’s desire to play bowls and made many inquires all over Australia, and around the world, to see if anyone was making anything to aid mobility restricted people to play bowls. Their search only turned up someone located in Victoria, who had designed an aid to assist ten pin bowling players. Rob basically had to start from scratch.
“CLASS are truly grateful to the Kingscote Bowling Club for making the facility available for us to visit on a monthly basis,” says Mark Kulinski, CLASS Chief Executive. “And of course a big thank you to Rob and Greg for their time and effort in designing and building the aid for Peter. This is a tremendous example of people working together to assist people with disabilities be actively involved in their community.”
With his new aid, Peter can adjust his line and through height adjustment, can vary the length of his shots. After some fine tuning he was repeatedly matching Greg’s shots in a game that they played on the day. Rob is now working on a new and improved version with electronic features that will make it easier for Peter to adjust the height himself during a game.
Peter is thrilled with his gift and is extremely grateful to Rob and Greg for their efforts to enable him to bowl again.
CLASS is a not-for-profit, non-government community based organisation that supports people with disabilities, the frail aged and socially isolated to become more involved in their community. Formed in 1983 by a group of families seeking funding to run activities for their children with disabilities, CLASS now employ over 150 staff, providing services throughout the Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula, Southern Metropolitan, Murraylands and Riverland regions, as well as Kangaroo Island.
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