Cippenham elect three new Life Members
Jacquie, Ken and Peter elected as Life Members
Cippenham Table Tennis Club has three new Life Members. The highlight of the Annual General Meeting was the election of Jacquie Lovell, Ken Phillips and Peter Hillier as Life Members of the Club. Club Founder and Chairman, Graham Trimming, the only other member to have been so honoured, read the citations and presented certificates to rapturous applause. Jacquie, Ken and Peter have all given wonderful service to the Club over a great many years in a variety of different capacities.
Jacquie Lovell joined the Club in 1984 and was briefly Venue Liaison Officer in 1991-2. However, she really came to the fore when the brand new Cippenham Table Tennis Centre was opened in 1996. Jacquie immediately became Social Officer and with it came the responsibility of running the catering service, which she undertook for more than thirteen years. Jacquie’s incredible effort and energy during that time is much missed today and the Club is a poorer place for her retirement. As well as running the catering, involving some forty or so weekend events each year and the cooking and preparation that went on ahead of those events, Jacquie also found time to be the Club’s Volunteer Champion, Welfare Officer for which she was responsible for writing and implementing the Club’s Child Protection Scheme, and much more besides. During this time she received three national awards: the ETTA PremierClub Volunteer of the Year award in 2004, the ETTA Merit Award in 2006 and the ETTA Volunteer Coordinator of the Year award in 2007.
Ken Phillips joined the Club in 1977 and the Management Committee in 1981 and had two spells as Coaching Officer between 1986 and 1993 then again between 1996 and 2006. Ken also became Deputy Chairman in 1987 and then in 1997 stepped up to Chairman, guiding the Club through the most important years of its development before relinquishing that position in 2004. Of course, it is in the coaching field that Ken has done the majority of his work and is renowned nationally. He has been Head Coach at Cippenham since 1986 during which time many hundreds of children have been introduced to the sport and seventeen of his pupils have represented England at one level or another. Awards have also come Ken’s way in great frequency: twice ETTA Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2000 and also NCF Coach of the Year in 2000 against coaches from all other sports. Ken was also a recipient of the ETTA Merit Award in 2002 and has won three honours at the Slough Borough Council’s Annual Sports Awards: Coach of the Year in 1994 and 2000 and Service to Sport in 2002. Incredibly, Ken also finds time to be organiser, referee and duty officer at many tournaments and events.
Peter Hillier is the longest serving of all. Peter joined the Club in 1974 and was Chairman for five years between 1975 and 1980. Then he started a 32-year stint as Treasurer that ended only recently. Peter also served as Bookings Officer from 2006 to 2012. Peter has received even greater recognition from the ETTA and is both Life Member and Vice-President following his ten-years stint as Treasurer of the national association. Peter is also an international umpire and qualified tournament organiser and referee. Unfortunately, Peter was unable to be present at the AGM to collect his award.
by Graham Trimming