An amazing four awards

Cippenham Table Tennis Club scooped an unprecedented four awards when the English Table Tennis Association presented its Volunteer and Coach of the Year awards at Lilleshall National Sports Centre last Saturday.

Winning titles on the table and awards off it are nothing new for the go-ahead club based in Slough. Seven such national volunteering and coaching awards have come before over the past decade but to clinch four in one evening was remarkable and emphasises the standing that the club enjoys nationally and the amount of great work that the club’s incredible band of volunteers puts in day in day out and how it has been sustained over the years. Club Chairman, Graham Trimming, himself one of the recipients, said “it is fantastic for the club and individuals to be recognized in this way. Each of the volunteers at the club, and there are a great many of them, gives his or her time without any thought that there may be rewards to follow. They offer their services solely to help the club deliver its range of services in the best way it can. However, when awards like this do come along, it is very special”.

Graham Trimming, the founder of Cippenham Table Tennis Club back in 1973, was awarded the PremierClub National Volunteer of the Year for his all-round contribution. Graham has been Secretary ever since 1973 and is now also Chairman, Press Secretary, Newsletter Editor, Webmaster, Development Coordinator and much else besides. The citation read by ETTA National Development Manager Diccon Gray at the presentation focussed on the quality as well as quantity of his work. He follows Jan Chapman and Jacquie Lovell as recipients of this award in the past three years.

Those two remarkable ladies also featured again this year. Jacquie Lovell won the award for Volunteer Coordinator of the Year. The recruitment, training, retention and rewarding of volunteers is fundamental to any amateur sports club. Jacquie has been the Club’s Social Officer ever since the purpose-built Cippenham Table Tennis Centre opened in 1976. Her friendly personality, plus her ability to organize and get the best out of other people, made her a natural choice for Volunteer Coordinator when this role was introduced at Cippenham several years ago. Jacquie also combines this with her roles as the club’s Welfare Officer, Child Protection Officer and Minutes Secretary.

Jan Chapman’s award was Female Coach of the Year. Jan has for many years supported Ken Phillips, Cippenham’s highly successful Head Coach, both at the club up to three times a week and in some schools. She has assisted the progress made by several of the club’s top junior players with her one to one coaching. In addition to this, Jan has been a committee member for the Maidenhead Association for more than twenty years and Chairman for the last seven.

Stephanie Mitchell completed the quartet of those honoured when she won the Young Volunteer of the Year. This award is open for nominees up to twenty-five years of age, yet Steph is only fifteen and has to juggle her table tennis commitments around the burdens of school homework. Steph was nominated by Cippenham because she is the ever willing helper. She is often to be found assisting in the servery at weekend events and these can be extremely busy times as over a hundred people need to be fed and watered.