Visually impaired bowler can strike as well as anyone else!

A blind ten-pin bowling enthusiast was today planning to share her passion for the sport with other sight-impaired people through a series of training sessions in Cambridge.Jo Dixon, who is a member of a blind ten-pin bowling team, claims the sport has turned her life around.

The devoted bowler competes in tournaments in the UK and overseas and volunteers with British Blind Sports, a charity that encourages visually impaired people to get involved in sports.Ms Dixon, along with other members of a bowling team from British Blind Sports, has joined forces with charity Cam Sight to run ten-pin bowling sessions for sight-impaired people in Cambridge on January 10 and January 11.

Cam Sight is hoping to hold regular sessions with the aim of forming a team to compete in ten-pin bowling leagues.British Blind Sports encourages blind and partially sighted people to participate in sport at every level, from grassroots to the Paralympics. The charity believes sport can offer numerous benefits to blind people including improved health and mobility, the opportunity to make new friends and greater independence.Ms Dixon said: "Ten-pin bowling gets me out of the house. I meet people, and I have friends all over the country."I am treated the same as everybody else. I compete on an even playing field, and actually I just like to socialise."

Pam Buckridge, from Cam Sight, said the charity has seen a flurry of interest in the bowling sessions, with around 25 people signing up.Ms Buckridge said: "We are hoping to get our members into league competitions, and for it to change their lives as it has changed Jo's."Isolation and lack of social contact is the greatest issue affecting visually impaired people, and we have found that our members, like the rest of the community, really appreciate the opportunity to take part in sports."