Hello and Welcome to the first official blog for the east region.
I would like to use this first edition as an opportunity to formally introduce myself as the new Area Manager for the east at Table Tennis England.
I am excited to be taking on this role moving forwards and look forward to developing a variety of different projects that lead to an increase in table tennis participation across a range of different audiences within the partnership area.
A bit about me in terms of my background – I have worked in the sports development sector for just over 15 years now, working for local authorities, further education colleges, private leisure contractors, active partnerships, community interest companies and national governing bodies. I graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in 2008 with a 2:1 in BSc (Hons) Sport Development with Coaching.
I have moved into this role from England Hockey where I worked as a national Development Officer. I live in a small market town in Cambridgeshire called St Neots, which will hopefully make travel around the partnership area very accessible.
It is my intention to make the role as visible as possible across the first few months of my time with Table Tennis England and I am encouraged by the willingness across the partnership area from the Table Tennis community to reach out and invite me along to their club or event and in general, just to have a chat. Since my time in the role, I have held meetings with:
- Ewa Foskett (St Neots & Cambourne Table Tennis Club)
- Faustina Yang (Peterborough Mums)
- Chris Turner (Nottingham Table Tennis Centre)
At the time of writing of this blog (Monday 4th December), I have also been invited to attend the following events with partners across the east between now and Christmas (with many further opportunities pencilled in for the new year):
- Herts Sport & Physical Activity Partnership Annual Conference (Wednesday 6th December)
- Cambridge Ping Pong Parlour (Thursday 7th December)
- St Neots Table Tennis Club (Friday 8th December)
- Topstar 1* Women & Girls Event, Carlton-le-Willows TT Centre (Sunday 10th December)
- Stilton Table Tennis Club Christmas Meal (Friday 15th December)
If you wish to reach out and connect with me, please feel free to drop me a message on [email protected] and we can look to put a date in the diary.
In the next blog, I hope to be able to provide a bit more information on progress being made on the development of the Community Table Tennis Partnerships identified in the east region as part of Table Tennis United (TTE’s Strategic Plan).
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a restful Christmas and New Year break and I look forward to working with you all in 2024.
Kind Regards
Chris
