About

Philip Wright was a much-loved member of the local bowling community who tragically lost his life in a car accident in July 2009.  It is our aim, as his family and friends, to promote the Philip Wright Crown Green Bowling Academy in his memory.

The Academy was founded in 2012 through a grant from Sport England and has since grown from strength to strength, with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers. In 2014, the Academy was offered the opportunity to relocate our operations to two unused bowling greens at Alkincoats Park in Colne, and we haven’t looked back since. Taking over the full maintenance of the greens, and surrounding areas, the team of volunteers have progressed what we do well beyond our wildest expectations, to become one of the driving forces within bowls development anywhere within the UK.

In 2020, the Philip Wright Crown Green Bowling Academy became a UK Registered Charity (1188582) from our work to support the growth of the sport. In addition to this, the Academy has also been awarded with both the ‘Pride of Pendle’ and Active Lancashire’s ‘Contribution to Active Communities’ awards during the last 10 years.

The underlying objective of the Academy is to promote community participation in healthy recreation, for the benefit of the inhabitants of Colne and the surrounding areas, by the provision of facilities to participate in Crown Green Bowling.

Having already done a great deal of work with both clinical commissioning groups and charities, such as the Stroke Association, in July 2022 we were approached to enquire if we could support individuals with additional needs to play bowls. This enquiry very quickly became the ‘Fun at Bowls’ Community Group Community Group. There is more information on the ‘Fun at Bowls’ Initiative and the inclusive work we undertake on this website