Why bowel charity will benefit when world basketball stars visit Hastings

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National charity Bowel Research UK has teamed up with the Hastings-based World Club Basketball Tournament to increase awareness of bowel cancer and other bowel diseases and raise much needed funds for research.

The World Club Basketball Tournament was founded by Eric Douglin in 2015 with the aim of enabling players of all abilities to compete against teams from other countries while also raising funds for charity.

Since then, it has raised over £6,000 for good causes.

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This year’s tournament will be held in Hastings in September and will include teams from USA, Poland, Japan and Lithuania, as well as the UK.

Eric Douglin, CEO of World Club Basketball Tournament, centre. is again bringing top basketball stars to Hastings | Contributed pictureEric Douglin, CEO of World Club Basketball Tournament, centre. is again bringing top basketball stars to Hastings | Contributed picture
Eric Douglin, CEO of World Club Basketball Tournament, centre. is again bringing top basketball stars to Hastings | Contributed picture

Eric has chosen to support Bowel Research UK, which funds medical research into all bowel diseases, as it is a charity he is connected to – having needed emergency surgery in 2020 when he developed sepsis from undiagnosed diverticulitis, a common bowel disease.

A section of his bowel had to be removed, and he was given a colostomy.

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After his initial operation, Eric found it very difficult to talk about his stoma, even among close family and friends. However, he found solace discussing it with people online and realised his physical recovery and mental health depended on him sharing his experience and challenging social taboos.

Lynn Dunne, CEO of Bowel Research UK, said: “We are delighted to team up with the World Club Basketball Tournament and working with Eric and the young players, their families and friends.

"We want everyone involved with the tournament to feel comfortable talking about their bowels and breaking a social taboo that often prevents people from getting timely medical treatment.

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"Bowel Research UK plays a vital role in early career bowel research and all funds raised from this tournament will go towards more vital research in pursuit of cures, better treatments and improved diagnoses.”

Douglin, CEO of the World Club Basketball Tournament, said: “I really enjoy working with Bowel Research UK having started supporting the charity by blogging about my bowel health over a year ago.”

For more on the World Club Basketball Tournament visit www.worldclubbasketballtournament.com