Volunteer & Coach of the Year Awards 2015

“The annual British Awards celebrate the countless ways our members contribute to the sport. The awards are for coaches and club volunteers, in recognition of how much they contribute to Rowing throughout England at club level. There are so many to choose from; coaches, umpires and race officials, our hard-working safety and welfare officers, tireless fund-raisers and committee members.

British Rowing is delighted that you are able to join us today allowing us to say thank you for giving so much to our sport through your time, commitment and expertise.”

Annamarie Phelps, Chairman

The Award Winners 2015

These citations are drawn from the nominations received for those volunteers and coaches who have either been selected by their Regions, or in the case of the Coach of the Year awards, by the National Coaching Committee panel, to receive the recognition of the sport for their huge contribution, dedication and inspiration to others.

EAST REGION

Coach of the Year Award Special Award - Lifetime Achievement Ian Bardrick Peterborough City Rowing Club Ian has been in club coaching for many years and, in particular, has been a powerful force in developing the club at Peterborough. He has been instrumental in obtaining significant funding for the club’s Explore Rowing programme which now benefits from around 20 stable and play boats. Ian has also promoted rowing in the retired community via the national University of the Third Age organisation, and through his efforts has enabled four para-rowers to compete at local level. He supports ’s Coaching Award Scheme by regularly assessing candidates, and has been an invaluable support to the Regional Coaching Commission over a great many years.

Coach of the Year Award Highly Commended – Club Performance Tom Copeland As Head of Women’s coaching at Cantabrigian Rowing Club, Tom has helped athletes to success right up to international level. He has also worked for many years with para-rower Claire Connon, who had a win at Henley Women’s Regatta this year as well as representing England at the Home International Regatta. Tom dedicates most of his free time to coaching. When not attending seven water outings per week, he is drawing up training plans, setting personal targets for each athlete, and studying every aspect of coaching from physiology to nutrition, to help every rower achieve their best. Tom is praised by those he coaches for imparting the same quality of coaching talent that they have experienced when working with the High Performance Squad Coaches. 1

Overall Regional Winner Volunteer Award Max Heron & Whitlingham Boathouses For several decades Norwich Rowing Club (NRC) had been seeking a new home capable of securing the long term future of rowing in the area. Max pulled together volunteers, commercial entities and other stakeholders to deliver a new community boathouse for the use of rowing and canoeing in Norwich, managing the boathouse fund-raising, design, construction and delivery of a £1.5million boathouse. He was on call 24 hours a day to answer queries from designers, contractors, club members and stakeholders and to ensure the smooth running of the project. He attended countless meetings, pulling together everybody's interests and driving the work relentlessly forward. Max has also given up his time to assist other clubs in their builds, often travelling the length of the country to share his experience and learning with other volunteer rowing club projects. He has motivated and inspired others to persevere despite many setbacks and his relentless pace ensured that funding was in place to deliver at the appropriate time. At the start of the project NRC had 60 to 80 active members. That has more than doubled, with significant growth in adult and junior membership, and a strong growth in adult beginners. The promise of world class facilities for members has been an essential element in attracting and securing increased participation levels and has been reflected in success on the water with the England Talent Pathway programme, the development of Steve Parsonage to full GB world representation, and national/Henley/European/world success across the club. The new facility, Whitlingham Boathouse, is now fully operational and was formally opened in October. Max’s modest and determined approach sets an example to others of the impact that volunteering can have. There is no-one who better demonstrates the attributes of the power of successful volunteering.

Regional Winner – Club Administration Category Volunteer Award Susannah Clements Susannah is Chair of the Rob Roy Boat Club Juniors Committee but this job title doesn't even begin to describe the full scope of the many and varied roles that she carries out. Susie has helped to establish Rob Roy as the "go-to" club for junior rowers in , no mean feat given the number of clubs in the area. Her commitment in hours and in energy has helped to build up the junior section of the club, including guiding it through a difficult transition a couple of years ago. The sheer number of Rob Roy junior boats competing, and winning, in events on the Cam and further afield is a testament to her commitment and drive (notably Peterborough but also at National events), She is present at almost all training sessions - often ending up coxing or coaching on top of generally organising the sessions, but 2

also spends hours on her computer and mobile phone coordinating plans and schedules, so that everything runs super smoothly, thus maximising the time on the water. Every parent with a junior at the club would agree that it is no exaggeration to say that lives here have been transformed by rowing, and much of this is simply down to Susie and her indefatigable approach to her role.

Regional Winner – Event Administration Category Volunteer Award Will Everitt Will has been nominated in recognition of all that he has done for Bedford Rowing Club over the last 15 years, and in particular for his work as Entries Secretary, as a member of the Organising Committee and the Executive Committee for Bedford’s many Heads and Regattas. Will has created and continues to maintain and update a suite of head race and regatta management software. He has had a major impact on the events that Bedford RC runs as the club relies on his software and expertise gained from running and attending other events. His expertise and knowledge of the best way to manage boat types and racing orders is key in being able to accommodate over 400 boats split into up to nine divisions, during one day's racing on Bedford RC’s 2km stretch of river. The club is extremely proud of the fact that through Will’s efforts they are able to run to time and maximise the number of competitors in a safe and efficient way. Visiting clubs from a wide area are frequently full of praise for the club’s ability to run on time and the speed of our results. The ability to produce results quickly and have them on the screen in the clubhouse bar before the next division starts means that Will's software has been sought out and is now used by many other clubs and events. Will also provides race management software for Bedford Amateur Regatta which was one of the first events to automatically tweet results. He is a great source of advice and guidance often suggesting alternative events to allow maximum racing opportunities for the athletes.

Regional Winner - Open Category Volunteer Award Hugo van Kempen Hugo has volunteered at Broxbourne RC for many years. He has enthusiastically arranged Explore Rowing events at the club for the last two years, enabling and encouraging recreational rowers and those on learn to row courses from several local clubs to enjoy an evening of light-hearted rowing competition and a meal. As well as helping with the recreational rowers, Hugo has helped run learn to row courses for juniors, enabling many more young people to get involved and row regularly. However, the main contribution he has made is in all the hours he has spent repairing and improving the 3

boats at the club. He regularly spends the whole of Wednesday repairing or refurbishing club boats before helping with the junior session in the early evening and this is on top of time spent at the weekends. Hugo has made a significant difference to the club who want him to know how much he is appreciated for all the time he has volunteered. The club is delighted that his efforts are to be recognised through the Volunteer Award.

EAST MIDLANDS REGION

Coach of the Year Award Highly Commended – Education Development Rebecca Gill Nottingham Trent University Rowing Club Rebecca started coaching at Nottingham Trent University as Head Novice Coach and returned after graduation to take up the role of Senior Women’s Coach. For the first year she was also completing a two-year scholarship position with British Rowing, as a Henley Stewards Charitable Trust Coach for Boston and Lincoln, where she increased junior participation by 200%. She firmly believes that all her athletes should enjoy rowing and this philosophy has helped her to create a squad of 35 at NTU. They have achieved wins at numerous local regattas, and three of her crews have qualified for Henley Women’s Regatta. Such is Rebecca’s dedication that, in spite of now having a full-time job, she still manages to clock up over 20 coaching hours per week.

Overall Regional Winner Volunteer Award Paula and Tim Walton The input that these two people give to the sport is immense. Their combined roles cover aspects of rowing all the way from Head timing to Race Committee Chairman and Head of Registration at Leicester Rowing Club. They have a huge involvement with a range of events that include the Schools’ Head, Lincoln head, British Rowing Masters’ Championships, BUCS, Nottingham City, National Schools’ Regatta, and nearly every other regatta regional and national. Tim and Paula are involved in making nearly every event held at the National Water Sport Centre at Holme Pierrepont and around the East Midlands run efficiently and without their time and experience many events would suffer.

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As volunteers the Waltons have a vast impact on the world of rowing, with Tim being part of many committees and holding a number of roles within British Rowing and Paula being the queen of registration. Not much in the world of British Rowing would be possible without the help of both of these two brilliant and dedicated volunteers.

NORTH WEST REGION

Coach of the Year Award Joint Winners – Club Performance John McQuillian and Richard Sinnott Richard has been described as the ‘king pin’ and John as a ‘devout supporter’ of Warrington Rowing Club. Over many years, they have each spent around 15 hours per week coaching at the club and have achieved outstanding results with their Junior squad. A double win at the Pairs Head and first-time qualification for are just two of their notable successes, this season. Their star sculler Lucy Glover, won gold at National Schools Regatta, Henley Women’s Regatta, the GB/France Match, and Coupe de la Jeunesse.

Coach of the Year Award Winner – Education Development Peter Webster North Staffordshire Rowing Club Peter devotes an ever-increasing number of hours to coaching rowing at Keele University, supporting all their crews from Novice to Senior. Through his dedication to improving technical ability and cohesion in the boats, he has started to produce winning crews at both BUCS and a number of other British Rowing events. As well as these achievements, he has ensured a focus on the novice rowers and, with the help of Learn to Row, has quickly brought them to the point at which they could integrate with the club’s more experienced rowers. He was a key player in establishing the club and the steady increase in membership is attributed to his hard work, passion and enthusiasm.

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Regional Winner – Club Administration Volunteer Award Fiona Marley-Paterson Lakeland Rowing Club Without Fiona, the southern branch of the Lakeland Rowing Club would not exist. She has worked tirelessly to set up the club, doing everything from fundraising for boats, applying for funds for the building of a boat house and sourcing its first boats. She has sought out sponsorship, found a base for the club to row from, set up a Facebook group for new members, and encouraged local schools to get involved. As well as being busy with social media, press and publicity, and organising logistics and lifts for members for each club session. The result is the formation of a club, committee, and lots of new and enthusiastic members, a waiting list for learn to row courses, shiny new boats, a club house to be built at the new site, social events, 'Learn to Row' course graduates, and entering the club’s first rowing races.....all in the space of a year! Fiona is rowing and teaching almost every night, around a busy personal life and full time job, Prior to the formation of Lakeland RC, some members had to travel over four hours by bus to the nearest club, At every session she is calm, friendly, and welcoming, making the whole process look simple even though she works late into the night to keep things ticking over. Now members are beginning to organise sessions and aiming to become coaches and coxes so that Fiona can get back to rowing for pleasure herself. The club would simply not exist without her relentless energy and determination to make it happen for the rest of us. In one of the most beautiful areas of the country with numerous lakes perfect for rowing there were no clubs anywhere nearby. Now there are currently around 80 people waiting to learn to row.

Regional Winner – Open Category Volunteer Award Gill Laidlaw Warrington Rowing Club The club had not run any learn to row courses for a number of years but recognised that it was important for these to be offered as a means of recruiting new members. Gill stepped up and has successfully run three courses over the last 12 months, galvanising other club members to help out when they could. The club now has 20 complete novices who can scull and have enjoyed themselves so much that they have stayed to form the club’s newly reincorporated recreational rowing group. Some have progressed through to the senior competitive rowing squads, ensuring fresh blood into the club and more competition for places! Club membership has increased by approximately 15% from these new members. There is now a clear route for new rowers to learn, to row recreationally in explorer boats or to row 6

competitively. This also allows members to move between the groups as they wish and we expect will play a key part in maintaining member numbers in the future. The club has also had members return who used to row recreationally but had drifted away. As a result Warrington has also been playing an active part in the new inter-regional competition for recreational rowers and has hosted two events this year. Gill has been heavily involved with these too and given many of the participants the confidence to compete and subsequently enjoy the event. WRC now has a waiting list for courses as word has spread and expects this to continue to have a positive effect upon membership growth in the coming years. Gill is also women’s captain and as such also has to organise the senior rowers in training and competition in addition to her other roles. This also means she is a fully active member of WRC’s committee and is always available to help out with events and other club activities.

Regional Winner – Young Volunteer Volunteer Award Ellen Preece , Northwich Heads & Regatta Without Ellie as organiser and coach the following achievements at Northwich RC would not have been possible; significantly higher retention rates for the transition from learn to row through to the Masters rowing programmes at the club; mixed ability groups able to train and compete at their own level; cohesion between both senior men’s and women’s squads leading to more mixed racing over the season; the largest cohort of learn to row participants in one year (since the programme began in 2006). Ellie is also responsible for the organisation of corporate ‘come and try it’ sessions, the co- ordination of Friday evening ‘paddle and a pint’ sessions, fundraising for both the club and for charity, creating strong links with local Tesco supermarket, the coordination of all volunteers at both heads of the river and the annual regatta, a masters women’s crew attending the Women’s Head of the River for their first Tideway experience, seeing to the trailer logistics of getting to and from the countless events that the club attends throughout the season In spite of her young age, Ellie is a vital part of the running of the club, well respected by all members due to her passion for the sport which sees her spending hours working on club logistics for attending events. Since becoming Vice-Captain, Ellie has taken on the added responsibility of being the ‘go to’ person for anyone wanting to come and try the sport at the club. She has also dedicated her time to ensuring learn to row graduates have a route to continue in the sport. Ellie joined the club as a junior through the Project Oarsome scheme and has stayed local to the area. In spite of there being very few other members in her age group at the club, her passion for the sport and NRC are evident through her hours of dedication. “I hope that in nominating Ellie for this award, she will recognise how much her hard work and dedication are appreciated”.

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NORTHERN REGION

Regional Overall Winner Volunteer Award Mike Dodd Talkin Tarn Amateur Rowing Club Mike is in his sixtieth year as a member of Talkin Tarn ARC. During this time he has set club records, achieved great results as a rower and coach and whilst Chairman negotiated the raising of funds and building of a new boathouse. Mike joined as a member in 1956. After winning his Novice race at Tarn regatta in 1961 he went on to a very successful rowing career. He has coached at Tarn since 1973 and has taken on several officer roles; Captain for five years in the 1980s and Chairman for 16 years before standing down in November last year. As Chairman he led a campaign to build a new boathouse and under his guidance Sir Matt Pinsett was recruited as Project Patron and club members were motivated to raise funds, grants were applied for and over £320k was raised. The boathouse was built in 2011. Mike still retains a place on the club Committee and continues to offer his years of experience and expertise. He organises the regatta volunteers, racing schedules and other commitments throughout the day to ensure the smooth running of the regatta which is the club’s major fund-raising event. Mike is an inspiration to other rowers. He still gets out on the Tarn and his effortless style is admired by all. He uses knowledge from a life-time of rowing to develop the next generation of rowers. He has also set-up and now runs a Recreational Rowing group on Thursday afternoons, a committed group of rowers who enjoy the opportunity to get on the water but also the social tea and chat afterwards. Mike’s vision to introduce this type of rowing and his good easy manner with the group has made rowing available to a wider spectrum of Cumbrians than would traditionally have been within the club. Since the completion of the new boathouse the membership of Tarn has more than doubled from 41 to over 100. The club now has a gym enabling members to train in dry conditions during the winter months when the Tarn is frozen or it is too windy. The club of TTARC, its magnificent boathouse, the thriving and growing membership and the quality and range of rowing are due to Mike’s direct input or influence. Taking from Sir Christopher Wren’s epithaph ‘If you seek the impact of his contribution – look around you’.

The photographer for the presentations is Simon Way. Please email [email protected] if you would like copies of his photographs.

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Regional Winner – Open Category Volunteer Award Ian Stonehouse St Leonard’s School Boat Club Almost ten years ago the future of St Leonard’s School Boat Club was in huge doubt due to the departure of two key coaches and members of staff, as well as the boathouse roof being condemned. Ian took up the role of ‘teacher-in-charge’ and has since overseen a revival of the school’s boat club. He has been willing to take a back seat in terms of coaching and has allowed a handful of coaches and parents to nurture the older, competitive rowers. Meanawhile Ian has focussed on recruiting new members and has spent countless hours in the ergo room and along the towpath making sure the club’s numbers have remained healthy. As a technology teacher and a former rower he has found himself most at home when repairing boats. Wear and tear is very common in a cramped and unlit boathouse and he has dedicated a lot of time in both the boathouse and technology rooms at school repairing various pieces of essential equipment. In recent times the club has had only a handful of rowers that would be deemed competitive on the national stage. Despite this Ian has towed boats to Nottingham numerous times with only one or two crews competing. He has also been one of two main trailer drivers over the last 5-6 years, towing all over the north of England to events. St Leonard’s School is a voluntary aided school and so any funding for the boat club must be done by pupils and other volunteers. Ian has taken a leading role in fundraising for the club in recent times. In the last year or so the club has taken delivery of a new Wintech quad, double and single. He has helped to establish links with the Mayor of Durham’s charity as well as with local supermarkets where regular bag packs take place on New Year’s Eve and other times in the year. All of this has been done alongside his job as an assistant headteacher at the school and following his retirement in July 2015 he is hugely missed.

THAMES REGION

Coach of the Year Award Special Award - Lifetime Achievement Chris Williams The panel received a number of nominations in Chris’s name, and with over 20 years’ experience as a coach and an average of 30 coaching hours per week, he has achieved an enormous amount for our sport. Chris has built a very successful programme for juniors at Tideway Sculler School, starting them off in small boats, encouraging their competitive spirit, and honing technique to enable them to reach their full potential.

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Impressive results at all levels nationally, plus the selection of Lucas Rodd to row at the Junior World Championships in Rio this year, are proof positive that the programme is effective, as is the queue of young people applying to join the club each year.

Coach of the Year Award Winner – Team Award Mark Abbott, David Clark, Mostyn Field, David Reed, Derek Riches, Carlos Scovell, Bob Simpson, Wolfgang Weis Ardingly Rowing Club The Ardingly Junior Coaching Team works with rowers at all levels and has succeeded in building a squad of 60, drawn from 24 educational establishments in the area. Some members of the team bring over 20 years’ experience to the club and all contribute around eight hours on average, each week, to the coaching effort. In addition to wins at local regattas, successes at national level include the selection of eleven young athletes for the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta and a fifth place in the Victor Ludorum at The Ball Cup. All this has been achieved with a limited number of boats, and beginner and development sessions are run right through the weekend, as well as weekday afternoons and evenings, and during school holidays.

Overall Regional Winner Volunteer Award Chris Williams Tideway Scullers School To precis his 32 nominations for this award, Chris is cited as being quite simply the heart and soul of Tideway Scullers. Safety adviser, coach, vice chairman, trustee, organiser of membership subscriptions, development, trailer driver, boat mender, supporter, in fact the go-to person for all the club administration having been a member for over thirty years. He plays a vital role in ensuring that the club has a good safety record and will turn his hand to tasks as diverse as co-ordinating the architect plans for the new clubhouse to fixing broken boats or shelves on walls. It is clear that Chris's influence on junior rowing at the club has gone far beyond his excellent technical ability as a rowing coach. He is able to pitch his demands of the squad at a level that is challenging but achievable. His intolerance of those failing to make effort is matched by his encouragement of those who are striving to maximise their achievements, however talented or otherwise each individual rower might be. Chris's dedication to the club is extraordinary. Chris himself is an active veteran rower, competing at Henley and British Rowing Masters. In between he manages to find time to run

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the club. Without him Tideway Scullers would simply struggle to function: he mends boats; drives the trailer to regattas; unblocks sinks, toilets, shower drains; manages building maintenance; manages the finances; Chris thanks people and that is lovely. He is always there taking the lead - someone needs to - and Chris does it without fail. He is absolutely reliable. If a job needs doing Chris does it. His folk hero status, claims one of his nominations, is enhanced by “volume of person and much hair on face”! He drives laden trailers the length of the country and is first to arrive and last to leave at any regatta. He is the man you need in a crisis and the man behind many solved problems at the club. The huge support from his club means that Chris received nominations in several categories of the 2015 awards!

Overall Winner - Young Volunteer Volunteer Award Maks Orzel Royal Holloway Boat Club Although a young volunteer Maks has already held many roles in rowing. He has served as President of Royal Holloway Boat Club, Lead Coach of Auriol Kensington Men's squad, he is the Chairman's Assistant for the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta, Equipment Officer for the Thames Regional Rowing Council and University Representative for Thames Upriver (TRRC) Maks has competed at various levels over the last seven years and qualified as a UKCC Level 2 Coach some four years ago. He has put that to best use at both AK and RHBC and during his time as President he has helped RHBC to develop its rowing and has been instrumental in assisting it to develop its facilities with a new boathouse in the offing. For the first time this year both the Men’s and Women’s squads at RHBC were able to compete at BUCS and Maks was instrumental in convincing the club to use financial support to benefit all members who wanted to row - not just the top squad and thus a larger RHBC contingent than ever was able to attend the BUCS regatta. Likewise due to his diligence and perseverance in checking the accounts Maks was able to determine that due to clerical errors the club was not receiving its correct grants from the Student Union and so the rowers are set to benefit from a large lump sum correction As well as serving as the Equipment officer for the Thames Region and University Representative Upper on the Regional Council he joined British Rowing’s Young Persons’ Panel and the Committee of the JIRR. He is a young man who has already given much to the sport and it is hoped that he has very much more to give. He is also a natural substitute within the Thames region for British Rowing Council and has now attended on a number of occasions.

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Regional Winner - Event Administration Category Volunteer Award Clare Doubleday and Marcus Nurton & Head Marcus and his partner, Clare Doubleday, work tirelessly for the club. Marcus has overseen the construction of its new gym and with Clare he heads up the highly praised organisation of the Abingdon Head in April. Their achievements are just astonishing, the two of them have worked tirelessly to extend the club building, overseeing and arranging the construction of the shell and the funding of same and then both giving absurd amounts of time and energy to creating doorways, fitting doors, plumbing and central heating. All the ground works were carried out personally by the two of them and then the fitting. Marcus and Clare do everything for the Head race, from buoying the course, organising the marshalling and umpire rotas, start equipment, radios, boats - the list goes on and on and they do all this without any fuss or moaning. This superhuman pair have now set about repairing the river bank next to the landing stage where the bank has been badly eroded, bringing in diggers, concrete, sand bags etc and already the change is evident. In addition they have constructed five large picnic tables so that everyone can enjoy a coffee between outings. They've resurfaced the car park, sorted out the drainage to reduce the risk of flooding and trimmed boundary hedges to increase the parking area. They have constructed new racking for the boats as well as trestles and Clare oversees the tea tent at the Abingdon Head - the two of them have seen to it that many now regard the Abingdon Head event as amongst the best managed and most enjoyable in the region. These two young people really do deserve recognition for their extraordinary selfless hard work for the good of the club. They are like a resident unpaid maintenance, construction and organisational team. Marcus and Clare are brilliant!

Regional Winner - Club Administration Category Volunteer Award Andy Ciecierski Despite a demanding professional life, Andy still finds the time and energy to ensure that more young people are able to access rowing at the level they choose. He ensures that all the junior members at the club are treated as individuals, allowing them to progress at their own speed and be able to enter races that best suits them. This can sometimes mean that groups can be at different events on the same day. Andy organises all the entries, boats and equipment and trailering for these events as well as seeking out and engaging coaches for the junior rowers and coaching himself. Andy has been Head Coach for the squad for many years and its growing numbers are only maintained by his willingness to put so many hours in voluntarily. He also sits on the Equipment Replacement Committee, overseeing and advising on purchases from cox boxes to 8's. He will often be found in the boathouse doing minor repairs or setting up blades and 12

boats for juniors. Andy is passionate about the sport and his quiet and assertive manner with the junior squad has meant there is huge respect from this large group. It is not one particular success, but continued success at all levels for a large number of young rowers that prompted the club to nominate Andy Ciecierski for this award. He is 'unwavering' in his commitment to the juniors. There is a real sense of belonging and team effort and the rowers thrive under his leadership. The club has a real 'buzz' about it now and their achievements speak volumes. He has a massive impact and influence on the club with his relentless energy to keep it growing and thriving. The junior squad has grown hugely since his involvement and he is its lynchpin. Andy makes the club a proud, supportive place to go to. His organisation and the discipline he instils in the juniors in how to behave and how to work co-cooperatively and to strive to work to the best of their ability is hugely impressive.

Regional Winner – Safety Category Volunteer Award Antony Reynolds Crabtree Rowing Club Tony Reynolds is the Regional Water Safety Adviser for the Thames Region and over the last few years has given outstanding service to the whole rowing community in that role. However this year has seen him go over and above the call of duty, even though the previous year had brought its own challenges and had seen him turn up at events from as far afield as Gravesend and Shiplake. He has recently had some serious and traumatic incidents within the Thames Region and he has dealt with these situations in his normal calm and efficient manner and this is whilst also undertaking the major review of the Tideway Code (3rd edition) with the PLA. Tony is also a qualified umpire and coaches regularly but it in his role as RWSA that he has been nominated for the Safety award. He has shown a completely professional approach to all he undertakes in the name of safety within the Thames region, going into schools and clubs indicating where they need to improve their game and showing them how where there is a definite need and demand for improvement Tony ensures that everyone takes on board the lessons that need to be learned from any incident that occurs and has made sure that where the clubs need to improve their processes this also has been done. Tony cannot be praised too highly for all he has done for the Thames Region. He has been commended for his actions and commitment by some very senior personnel at the top of the sport and to win the national award would set the seal and more importantly be a huge thank you for a job well done!

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WAGS REGION

Regional Overall Winner – Open Category Volunteer Award Antony Constantinidi When Antony became ACRC President, the Club was emerging from a difficult time when membership had stagnated and new leadership was badly needed. This he has provided, leading the project to replace the worn out 100-year-old boathouses with modern facilities. When he embarked on the Boathouse project, many considered it a job that couldn't be done. The need was clear: the 100 year old corrugated buildings were cramped and right at the end of their lifetime. The changing rooms were primitive and the showers non-existent. Modern facilities were clearly needed. Bristol University wanted a new boathouse too, and local school Monkton Combe wished to base their top crews at Saltford to gain access to the prime stretch of river for their performance crews. Forming a coalition was the easy bit. Antony spent endless, often frustrating, hours confronting and solving every single issue and problem that presented itself. At times it appeared the project was doomed to fail and would founder because interminable details could not be agreed. Antony was having none of it though and because of his will power and sheer determination (qualities honed upon the river), the project was agreed and the new boathouses delivered on time and on budget. Now, everyone is delighted. ACRC has unprecedented numbers rowing all year round including some with spectacular racing successes. The three entities - a community Rowing Club, a University and a School - all with long rowing traditions, perfectly complement each other and are working happily together. Quite simply, the completion of the Boathouse Project is ACRC's biggest achievement since its founding 150 years ago in 1865. Without Antony it would never have happened.

Regional Winner - Event Administration Category Volunteer Award Julian Bewick Monkton Bluefriars Boat Club Julian embodies Monkton rowing and thanks to his long involvement he is completely entwined with the club. But his involvement reaches beyond the club to other areas of the sport and this award acknowledges his huge involvement in running the Bluefriars Head race almost single-handedly until recently, and his services to that event. His contribution, both of time and through his financial support, has enabled rowing at Monkton to continue and flourish. Julian has backed all the decisions from the Bluefriars committee enabling numerous projects in rowing to work. 14

Dealing with health problems has not prevented his involvement and he remains influential in arranging the school training camp every year to Nantes, a trip that has taken place over the last 26 years, giving thousands of students a life-long love of the sport. Monkton Bluefriars is a small club with an impressive alumni who have between them won five Olympic rowing medals; Mike Lapage (silver in eights at London 1948), Rowley Douglas (gold in eights at Sydney 2000), Alex Partridge (silver in eights at Beijing 2008) and Steve Williams (gold in coxless fours at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008). It is a legacy in which his commitment and dedication to the club and particularly to the Bluefriars Head Race has played a huge part.

Regional Winner - Club Administration Category Volunteer Award Jane Giddins Coming from a business background, Jane appreciates the importance of being customer- focused and has applied this approach when catering for new rowers at the club. She has been able to provide rowing sessions tailored to the needs of her participants while integrating them within the wider club, and all the time providing value for money for both participants and club alike. While Jane doesn’t have an official role in the club it is only fair to say that she is the major and most consistent fundraiser and motivator for the vet women…without Jane Minerva wouldn’t be where it is to today. She was a major driver in the club’s ‘spend a penny’ campaign to raise funds for much needed loos. After initial funding had been secured the club needed to raise another £60k to be able to build the loos. Jane applied to around 35 trusts/companies (that she had identified as suitable from 100s to begin with) to raise around £25k from eight donors. Not only has she raised these funds herself but with her endless energy and persuasion skills (it is not easy to say no to Jane!) she has inspired others into the spirit of fundraising. When Jane joined the club she was one of very few vet women. There is now a thriving vet women’s squad again that trains regularly and keeps pushing their boundaries, aiming for more competitive races. Bringing the vet women back means that the club not only has a much more balanced membership in relation to age and gender but it has also been an inspiration for more senior rowers from our learn to row courses. It also brings back an enormous amount of rowing knowledge into the club. Again a thriving social life is massively important for clubs…it bonds people and creates a fun and supportive atmosphere. All in all over the past six or so years Jane has had a great, positive impact on the club and club life on so many different levels. She is one of those volunteers that is often beavering away in the background as she has no official role and certainly doesn’t get the credit she deserves because of that!

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WEST REGION

Coach of the Year Award Winner – Club Development Robin Mills Castle Dore Rowing Club During his five years coaching juniors at Castle Dore Rowing Club, Robin has raised standards across the board. He regularly runs Learn to Row courses at the club and in a very short time has coached the WJ18 2x- from non-rowers to winners. He has also created a successful Women’s Four, and by actually joining the Men’s Novice 4x, has taken them from strength to strength and shared in their success at regattas. His athletes say that during races they imagine his voice ringing in their ears and he certainly gives unstinting support to his rowers, one of whom decided to ‘row the Channel’ on an ergo. From setting a training programme to the event itself, Robin is on hand at all times.

Overall Regional Winner Volunteer Award Mark Eastman River Teign Rowing Club (Teign Scullers) Teign Scullers was founded as a small independent club in 2005. Since then it has grown to a club of about 50 members and has joined forces with the other types of rowing on the river Teign to form the River Teign Rowing Club. Mark was club captain from 2006-2010 and has been its head coach from 2010. He has helped the club acquire an organised structure with regular outings and participation in regattas. He has organised the sessions, done much of the coaching, persuading people to form crews and running the club’s website. For a time he also acted as club secretary. After 2010 he was able to leave some of this work to others, but continued to do most of the technical coaching, encouraging and organising of men's fine boat crews for regattas, and regularly running weekend and midweek outings aimed at beginners to the sport. On these occasions he has usually personally coached many beginners. He also plays a key role in maintaining the boat fleet and acquiring new boats. Mark has been pivotal in keeping the club together. Teign Scullers is a small club boating from the car park of a pub on the tidal stretch of the River Teign in Devon. So Mark has to arrange outings not only to suit the high tides and weather but also the rowers’ work and family commitments! Although not a qualified coach he has an excellent manner when teaching and is so enthusiastic. He still works but always finds time to attend to straightforward repairs to the boats and oars, making sure that the equipment is safe and ready for use. 16

WEST MIDLANDS REGION

Overall Regional Winner – Event Administration Volunteer Award Chris Anton & Birmingham Regatta Chris is a well-known figure across the rowing community, being a regular fixture on the regatta circuit as a FISA umpire and regatta organiser supremo! He regularly gives up his free time to not only help Birmingham Rowing Club (where he is the current Treasurer and Director of the club), but other events (including those for local clubs and national events such as BUCS and British Masters), making trips all over the country (and abroad) giving up his evenings and weekends. Without Chris Birmingham would not have an event! Anyone who has been to Birmingham Regatta over the past couple of years will know that it has to deal with some challenging weather conditions (including hail, wind squalls, completely different climate at one end of the reservoir to the other). But Chris keeps calm and always has a solution to a problem, whether it be to suspend racing or switch the course around. Without Chris the event would not run as smoothly, and he is always looking for new ways to improve the racing experience for an event that is for many people their first taste of racing. Chris is one of the unsung heroes of British Rowing. “I am sure there are many other areas that he is involved in that I don't know about because he is the kind of person that just gets on and does it for no recognition, but for the love of the sport”.

Regional Winner – Club Administration Volunteer Award Sarah Gregory Birmingham Rowing Club Sarah is now serving her second stint as club captain. In the first Sarah reorganised the club's coaching structure and then she went off to be a school coach in Australia for 12 months. On returning she was elected captain again and had been instrumental in getting the club's Club Mark reaccredited. In the last year she has also been instrumental in leading the club to complete a planning application for a new boathouse. The funding has been provided by Sport England but Sarah has put in an immense amount of work in meeting the planners and city officials as well as liaising with Sport England in bringing the project to completion. Without Sarah's contribution the project would never have got to the current stage where the planning application is awaiting a decision and fund raising is about to begin.

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Regional Winner – Safety Category Volunteer Award Chris Llewellyn Birmingham Rowing Club Chris (or Roddy as he is known to club members) gives up a lot of his free time to ensure the water safety of the club in his role as Rowing Safety Adviser, and to keep the club committee in check in his role as Chairman. He is also heavily involved in the B-Row initiative. Without Chris Birmingham Rowing Club wouldn't be able to get to competitions, as he is our chief trailer driver! He gives up so much of his free time to ensure that procedures and policies are in place to ensure that the club runs smoothly and safely. He ensures that all of the club’s equipment and safety checks are up to scratch, and carries it out comprehensively and without complaint. Chris is also heavily involved throughout the British Rowing community as an umpire and former member of the Competition Commission. He gives up so much of his time for rowing, not just for Birmingham Rowing Club but also for the wider sport as a whole, and although he does not look for recognition, he certainly deserves to be formally recognised for his input.

YORKSHIRE REGION

Overall Regional Winner Volunteer Award Phil Jones Phil has been a loyal servant to the club for more than 30 years and has been involved with both its management and promoting the sport of rowing consistently over this period. He assumed the role of secretary for the York Small Boats Head when the event was in its infancy. It had run on a small scale for several years but when Phil took it over he developed it to the point where it is today, one of the most popular events in the country, regularly attracting 400 entries. It always delivers good quality racing to competitors of all levels. Phil has just stepped down from organising the event and has handed over a highly successful race. Phil’s contribution to rowing in the York area cannot be under-estimated. He has competed himself as an elite oarsman and has then spent many years investing huge amounts of time and effort to ensure that others can get the same enjoyment from the sport that he has. It is considered however that Phil’s most significant input to the club is his work with the juniors. He has transformed this section to the extent that there are over 60 active junior members at any time competing at all age groups and standards. Phil has also had great success with encouraging juniors from difficult backgrounds to succeed and continue in the sport of rowing. He has helped mentor several juniors who would otherwise have ‘gone off the rails’.

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This year Phil was instrumental in helping Sally Downing achieve her ambition of rowing for Great Britain at the Junior World Championships. He has guided Sally from those initial steps in a training single to the highest levels junior rowing. She was the first junior from the club to compete at the Junior World Championships and this was in no small part to his skill and ability to recognise and develop raw talent.

Regional Winner – Club Administration Category Volunteer Award Alex Foyle Hull University Boat Club Hull University BC lost its boathouse because of vandalism and the Athletic Union would not allow the students to row from that site anymore. Alex worked relentlessly over the summer last year to find the rowers a new host club after having been President of the club for only a few weeks. He found a host club, Doncaster RC, and arranged for travel expenses to be paid for rowers throughout the first year. His efforts effectively saved Hull University Boat Club from being disbanded. Without Alex the rowers of HUBC wouldn't have been able to continue rowing or socialising in the club; this would have devastated the many committed members that the club had built up over the year and destroyed part of their university experience. Rowing is a huge integral part of HUBC's members’ life at university and the club says that they owe it all to him that they can now continue to develop in the sport.

Regional Winner – Young Volunteer Category Volunteer Award Ceri Armit Sheffield University Rowing Club Ceri has lead the club to win Club of the Year at the university, having never been acknowledged in the sports awards before. The size of the rowing club has never been as big, with more types of memberships and more people involved. This can be seen with the great performances coming out of the club, recently shown at Henley Women’s Regatta. Ceri has also worked tirelessly to involve and reunite the club’s Alumni. There is no better example of this than SURC’s 50th anniversary celebrations when over 45 alumni attended the meal. This year the club received £5700 of alumni donations, and there is no doubt that this is largely due to the relationship Ceri has built with the alumni and founding members. Alongside side this Ceri has greatly increased the amount of volunteering the club does. She devised a 12 days of Charity initiative, has organised and run countless sessions with Brownies and other after school clubs and has help arrange two ergathons in Sheffield city centre. To date the club has raised nearly £4700 for charity, more than any other year in its recent history. The club’s membership also expanded to almost 100 members over the academic year, in part due to Ceri's drive for increased inclusion and introducing recreational and indoor rowers’ membership for those that don't wish to compete and simply want to get fit. 19