Joe Peplow wants to win Commonwealth Games gold for all the people who have helped him along the way.

The 66-year-old will make his first Commonwealth appearance this summer, when he represents England in para bowls at Glasgow 2026.

It is the summit of a decade-long bowls journey that started after a friend invited him down to his local bowls club. The Malvern bowler lost both his legs and shattered his pelvis in a road traffic accident in 2009 but has since found a new lease of life on the greens.

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And now Peplow wants to thank all those who have helped him on his journey by coming back from Glasgow with a gold medal.

“I am very excited,” he said. “It’s more than I could hope for. I have been bowling for 10 years and I have won quite a few things but this is the big one. This is the one I really wanted to push for because I don’t play outdoors.

“I don’t think I could ever have done it when I had legs. I didn’t have the temperament for it. My attitude to the Games is to go and win. It is going to be hard work for the next three or four months and then we will have a look at it. It would be absolutely amazing. I would be amazed if I don’t cry.”

Peplow, who plays at Malvern Indoor Bowls Club, paid particular tribute to partner Kim and son Ben in helping him get to the point where he can represent his country.

“A lot of it is to do with my partner and my son, without them I don’t know where I would be,” he added. “They have just helped me so much, being there for me.

“My son was 12 when the accident happened so he had to grow up really quickly.”

Peplow is part of a 14-strong bowls and para bowls team set to represent England in Glasgow. He will compete in the men’s B6-8 classification alongside Kieran Rollings, who won bronze at the Birmingham 2022 Games.

Peplow is 40 years Rollings’ senior but believes he will bring a competitive spirit honed by 30 years as a lorry driver.

“I was always competitive but it was always pool and darts, that sort of thing,” he said. “I worked long hours to provide for my family. I was selling the frozen goods to Chinese restaurants and takeaways.

“I had to be number one in the sales team so I would go out and work silly hours.”

Now retired, Peplow is ready to put in the hours practising in order to win a Commonwealth medal having initially believed bowls might not be for him.

“My friend said if I fancied going for a roll up and I didn’t think it was me. I kept going and met a group who just played socially,” he added.

“Slowly but surely I got better and better and started playing with better people. It’s just amazing to get where I am today.”

Team England are Ready to Win at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Keep up to date on https://teamengland.org/