17 members and guests of the New Milton Table Tennis club attended their annual Christmas Party at the Carpenters Arms on Friday 14th December. Club Secretary Bev Scott-Johns gave a report of the activities of the club which appears in full below:-

First of all I would like to welcome you and say thank you to everyone for coming to our Christmas Party tonight. I would also like to thank Lynn for organising this event on our behalf. The previous Christmas Party was held exactly a year ago on the 15^th December. The last twelve months have been a mixture of sadness and some success for our club.

We were saddened to learn of the death of Mrs Sue Daish in August. All seven of Sue’s children had been playing members of the New Milton Table Tennis Club from about 1995 until the present day. Sue regularly transported the children to our various club night activities from their house in Lymington to our club venues at Mudeford Wood, the Grange School and Sway Village Hall. Several current and former club members were among those who attended the funeral at St. Thomas’s Church, Lymington on the 31^st August. We were also sorry to learn of the death of Malcolm Elliott in January. Malcolm played league table tennis for New Milton TTC for 55 years up to the end of the 2010/2011 season when he retired from the sport. The first time that Malcolm played for New Milton was during the 1955/56 Season.

Turning to the activities of the New Milton Table Tennis Club. Mudeford Wood Community Centre has been our primary table tennis venue since 2004. We are in our fifth season at the Grange School, Christchurch. Attendances continue to hold up well at the Sunday night club sessions. We frequently have guest visitors from other local clubs who come from as far away as Broadstone.

I am pleased to report that at the conclusion of the 2017/2018 season two teams, New Milton G and L both won promotion to the 2^nd and 4^th Divisions having secured the “Runners-Up” spot in Divisions 3 and 5 respectively; In the Times & Directory Handicap competition New Milton J won the Final of the T & D Cup event and New Milton M were “Runners-Up” in the Final of the T & D Plate. In the BDTTA Individual Tournaments held during March New Milton players won six titles and were the runners-up in a further singles event. Brian Bickell won all four veteran’s titles for which he received a standing ovation at the BDTTA Presentation Evening in May. Sadly Brian is unable to be with us tonight as he is playing in a Veteran’s Tournament this weekend.

New Milton TTC was only able to enter 10 teams in the Bournemouth League this season because of a continuing problem with injuries although we have 51 registered players. At this point in the season the highest placed team is New Milton H who are in 3^rd place in Division 4.

At the start of the current season The Bournemouth & District Table Tennis Association reduced the number of divisions from six to five. Three of the divisions (1, 2 & 4) contain 11 teams each, the Premier contains 10 teams and Division 3 contains 12 teams.

Club Chairman, Steve Hemmings had to stand down from the Committee in January because of health issues. Steve oversaw the migration of the New Milton Table Tennis Club from Sway Village Hall and Arnewood School to the Grange in 2014 achieved with minimal disruption to our club night activities. Steve successfully negotiated the terms of the new lease. I am pleased to report that Steve has recovered and has returned to playing table tennis in the Premier Division.

Club Treasurer Malcolm Floyd stood down from the committee at the 2018 Annual General Meeting after over 12 years’ service in that role. Malcolm afforded me considerable support by recording the minutes of our regular committee meetings. We will miss his weekly report of our club’s activities in the New Milton Advertiser and his postings on the New Milton TTC web site. A few years ago Malcolm was jointly awarded the “Press Officer of the Year” Award by the ETTA. In the spring of 2017 Malcolm undertook a considerable amount of work to enable the club to achieve its present ClubMark rating.

I was honoured and proud to be nominated by Malcolm to receive the prestigious Torch Trophy Trust Award for Outstanding Service to Sport, presented by HRH the Duke of Gloucester. The Awards Ceremony was held on the 7^th March and took place at the Army and Navy Club, Pall Mall, London SW1. I was accompanied to the ceremony by Malcolm, Shaun and Simon Golding, who kindly arranged the transport.

My citation was read out by Sir Trevor Brooking, CBE, former England and West Ham player and the award presented by the HRH Duke of Gloucester. There were 21 recipients who were successfully nominated for this award in both able bodied and disability sports. Each recipient received a handbook, a certificate signed by Sir Bobby Charlton, CBE and Paul Dimond, CBE together with an engraved glass trophy contained in a blue presentation box. It was a wonderful and memorable day.                                                               

We have entered two teams in the Dorset Pairs League. This event is played at the Grange School venue on Wednesday evenings.

It only remains for me to wish everybody a happy and peaceful Christmas and extend my best wishes for the New Year.

Bev Scott-Johns