Awards and Grants

February 2006- Clubmark Certificate Presented

Tony Mooney and Geoff Brook attended the English National Table Tennis Championships at Sheffield on 5th February 2006 where they were presented with the certificate for Clubmark by Alex Murdock, Chairman of the ETTA.

Tony is on the left with Geoff on the right

August 2005- Club Awarded Clubmark

Our club has been awarded Sport England Clubmark status - the first table tennis club in the Eastern Region to achieve this. It is recognition that we are meeting the criteria on issues such as child protection, coaching and competition, ethics and club management. As a result, we are seen as having a safe environment for children but also it recognises our sound management. The Sport England’s Clubmark scheme has now achieved over 1,000 fully accredited clubs in 20 different sports. It means that the scheme is rapidly becoming the established quality standard for all sports clubs in the country.

We are very proud of this achievement and hope that it sends a strong message to all that we are a club that is trusted and one that looks after its members and is a good club to join!

2004- Grant from the National Lottery

We have been very fortunate to be awarded another grant, our third, under the National Lottery's "Awards for All" programme. This is to be used to build on the work we started with a small group of people with learning difficulties in 2002. We now want to broaden this to cater for all ages and categories of disability. To get this off the ground we are running a special weekend on 6/7 March 2004 - see the page for the disabled.

The intention is to set up a new club as a section of Stowmarket Table Tennis Club specifically for the disabled. Ultimately, we want to have as many as possible taking part in the same sessions as the able-bodied but only when they have the confidence and want to have a go. The new club, hopefully, will provide the basic table tennis skills and the confidence to move on to the main sessions.

2003- Recognition for our Director of Coaching

Peter Avenell, Director of Coaching for the club and Suffolk County coach, was recognised for his work over a number of years by being named as runner up in the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) national Coach of the Year awards. He was second only to Bradley Billington, an international player and coach with the England national team. It is, therefore, a great honour and another feather in the cap of Stowmarket Table Tennis Club. The presentation was carried out by Stellan Bengston, one of the great Swedish and world players of the past, at the annual training conference held at the Lilleshall national sports centre. Well done, Peter!

Peter Avenell (left) pictured receiving his award from Stellan Bengston

2002- Two more prestigious awards for the club

Stowmarket Table Tennis Club is the winner for the Eastern Region PremierClub Awards at Participation level; but even better, we are joint winners of the award for the whole of England. We share this distinction with the Waterside Table Tennis Club in Southampton. Our congratulations go to them as well!

In its citation the English Table Tennis Association said,

"Forward planning - using the PremierClub action plan template - and good organisation have been the bedrock of Stowmarket Table Tennis Club. In recent years the club has acquired dedicated facilities on a school site and developed very strong school links using a professional coach. A key feature of the club's success has been the communication with members including regular newsletters and a club website. New innovations include a ten parent rota to help the junior club, training for young leaders, adjustable height tables and permanent concrete outdoor tables."

The club's Director of Coaching, Peter Avenell (on the right) pictured receiving the awards from Alan Ransome, Chairman of the ETTA

Grant from the National Lottery

Stowmarket Table Tennis Club has received a grant of £4,260 from the National Lottery's "Awards for All" programme. The grant will allow the club to run a series of six coaching courses for children aged 7-12 years in the Stowmarket area plus one for the disabled. The six courses are to be held at Stowmarket Middle School starting in January 2002 and the disabled course is to be held at our County Table Tennis Centre at Stowupland High School Sports Centre in July 2002.

In addition, the grant will be used to acquire coaching equipment and to enable training to take place for coaches, volunteers and for first aid. In all it is anticipated that 70-80 people will directly benefit and many more indirectly. Tony Mooney, Club Development Officer said, " We are very pleased to have received this award which will enable us to build on the great deal of work we have done with young people in the Stowmarket area. This is our second award through this scheme. The first was used to acquire tables which could be adjusted to the height of the child and many of these are in use in local primary schools. We intend to use this grant to extend the use of these by running coaching courses."

2001- Club Receives Two National Awards

Stowmarket Table Tennis Club has received recognition for two of its key volunteers - Tony Mooney and Geoff Brook. Tony Mooney is the National Table Tennis Development Officer of the Year ahead of a very strong field. The award took place at the National Sports Centre, Lilleshall during the English Table Tennis Association's annual conference awards' dinner. The certificate and Crystal decanter was presented by Paul Day of Turners of Soham. Paul is a former international table tennis player and his company sponsored this award along with many others.

Tony Mooney was recognised for his development work with the Stowmarket Table Tennis Club over the last 10 years during which the club has grown from a small club in a church hall in Stowmarket to having its own County Table Tennis Centre at Stowupland High School Sports Centre. The club membership has increased from about a dozen to, at one point, in excess of 150. The membership currently stands at about 120 and is the largest table tennis Club in Suffolk. As a result of applications made by Tony, on behalf of the club, many awards have been obtained resulting in the acquisition of equipment. One was for the purchase of tables that could be adjusted in height to cater for young children and many of these are being put to good use in primary schools in the Stowmarket area.

The latest project is a national pilot scheme on behalf of the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) in conjunction with the Department of Education and Skills. Tony Mooney is acting as the local delivery manager. The resulting grant has been used to provide seven tables for two schools, Bacton Middle and Stowupland High, along with concrete outdoor tables, thought to be a first in the UK but which is common on the continent.

Tony Mooney receiving his award from Paul Day, former English international player

Geoff Brook has made a considerable contribution over the last ten years and this has also been recognised by the ETTA with the Maurice Goldstein Merit Award. He has over a number of years contributed much to table tennis in Suffolk. Over the last four years he has held the very onerous posts of Secretary for the Stowmarket Table Tennis Club, Stowmarket & District Table Tennis League and Suffolk County Table Tennis Association all at the same time. In addition, he is a coach and has been involved on a regular basis in coaching beginners and intermediate level youngsters. He is very popular with the children who respond to his enthusiastic and fun approach and the many innovative games he produces for them to make it even more fun.

In recent years he has suffered from ill health but despite this he has maintained a high level of involvement. He has this year stood down from all the posts of secretary but has taken on two other posts which are only slightly less demanding!

Geoff Brook shown after receiving the Maurice Goldstein Merit Award presented to him by the English Table Tennis Association in recognition of his considerable services to table tennis in Suffolk