Firstly, can I say thank you to those who have made me feel so welcome in the early stages of my career with Table Tennis England. It is a privilege to be your Chief Executive and I very much look forward to working alongside the Board, our staff, our Members, and our partners to grow table tennis.

There will undoubtedly be challenges ahead, and we must tackle those as they arise, but equally we will celebrate the many successes that I hope we will enjoy.

This communication will become a regular feature of our attempts to keep you better informed of the work we do. It will not be an exhaustive list and it will provide brief snippets as opposed to lengthy reporting, but it will keep you regularly updated of the key matters.

Financial
As we continue to recover from the pandemic and do so against a backdrop of financial stability and resilience, it has been necessary for the Board to consider a range of measures to arrive at a budget neutral position for the coming financial year.

Like many households and businesses, Table Tennis England is facing some significant rises in costs but static public funding. However, the Board is committed to keeping costs under constant review throughout the year while minimising the impact on the game.

Safeguarding
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and as part of our ongoing commitment to ensure everyone is safe in our sport, the Safeguarding Team at Table Tennis England offer free, virtual safeguarding training sessions to any of our affiliated clubs, coaches & workforce. To book a one-hour free session please email [email protected] for more information.

Mark Bates Ltd National Championships
Our flagship domestic event successfully took place 25-27 March at the University of Nottingham, with new men’s and women’s national champions emerging from three days of competition and nine finals – Tsaptsinos and Jarvis take the Nationals singles titles – Table Tennis England.

You can watch all nine finals along with other live-streamed full matches throughout the weekend on our YouTube channel.

I would like to say a huge thank you to the fantastic staff, officials, and event volunteers for making this event so successful.

We are 100 years old!
Following the finals of the Mark Bates Ltd National Championships, just under 300 guests celebrated Table Tennis England’s Centenary at our Gala Dinner.

A fabulous evening included the Pride of Table Tennis Awards which recognised the Male and Female Young Volunteer of the Year and Male and Female Volunteer of the Year.

The evening culminated with 10 past and current players being inducted into the Centenary Hall of Fame.

Thank you to the generosity of so many, the Gala Dinner also raised circa £4,000 for the Centenary Legacy Fund.

The successful publication of The Book, which charts the evolution of Table Tennis England over 100 years, has been well received. We have just 66 copies of the special edition left, and 360 of the official editions remaining. Anyone wishing to buy a copy can do so by ordering online through the Centenary Celebration pages on our website.

Thank you to everyone who played their part in making this an evening to remember.

Strategy Review
We will shortly begin to review Table Tennis England’s Purpose, Vision, and long-term strategy. I will confirm a timeline for this with the Board over the coming weeks and I look forward to
hearing the views of the Members, as well as other stakeholders and partners, as we set about planning for the future of table tennis in England. I will share the timeline, and process for consultation, in due course.

Sport England Investment
We were delighted to be announce our funding from Sport England this month, which will support the future development of the sport. Read about it here.

We are recruiting
Do you know anyone who could help to shape the future of table tennis? We are recruiting for four exciting roles to support our work with women and girls, young people in schools, competition and events and the upcoming Commonwealth Games. Visit our Careers page for more information.

International Women’s Day Celebrations
On the 8th March we joined organisations and individuals globally to celebrate International Women’s Day, making public our commitment to creating gender parity in table tennis.

Our Members and wider audience engaged well with our IWD email campaign, website, and social media takeovers; 17 women and girls took up our discounted Level 1 Session Coach
qualification and our new Women in Table Tennis Facebook group launched, now with over 150 members. For more information about our work in this area click here.

TT Kidz
A total of 25 clubs are now halfway through their 8 week TT Kidz programmes which commenced in late February/March, with 245 young players taking part. This takes us to over 50
clubs delivering TT Kidz this season engaging over 750 brand new 7-to-11-year-olds to the sport.

Indications from programmes that took place in October show that just over 60% of players have stayed at their clubs after the 8 weeks has finished.

Level the Table
The Level the Table grant schemes have now closed with 165 applications received for funding, with 55 projects being supported, committing nearly £55,000. It has been almost 6 months since the launch of the Level the Table strategy and a six-month report will be published soon.

Coaching
There are currently 14 Level 1 and Level 2 courses online and with an amazing 26 people booked on to a recent course in Sussex – places are going fast.

If you know anyone who would like to start or continue your coaching journey, please encourage them to look at our courses. There is funding available for some people through the Charlie Childs Coaching grant. To check eligibility, click here.

Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
Tuesday 19th April marks 100 days to go until the start of the Commonwealth Games! Please visit our website and social channels for exciting news and content in the lead up to the games. We will start the countdown timer on our home page at 100 days to go, so we can all enjoy the build up together.

Table Tennis England Website
Thank you for your feedback since we launched our new website on the 15th February. Please continue to provide feedback as it helps to make our website better and user experience is always at the forefront of our minds.

A big summer ahead for Performance
The obvious focus for the team is the Commonwealth Games which promises to be a huge event. Over the coming months a number of major events involving English players of all ages will be taking place which gives a fantastic opportunity for them to challenge and compete with the best players from across Europe and the World. Here’s what is coming up:

· 16th to 19th June: Europe Under 13 Challenge, Podgorica, Montenegro;
· 6th to 15th July: European Youth Championships, Belgrade, Serbia;
· 28th July to 8th August: Commonwealth Games, Birmingham;
· 13th to 21st August: European Individual Championships, Munich.

With more World Table Tennis events as well, expect to see more English players in action in the coming months!

Governance
Annual Returns/Electoral Register Over the past 6 weeks leagues have been completing their annual returns which goes towards their voting rights not just at the AGM for upcoming resolutions but also for Member Elected Director vacancies. The new Elector Register for the new year starting the 1st April 2022 is now on the website with 178 leagues completing their Annual Return in the allocated timeframe.
The other element that supports voting rights for leagues and counties is having a company member, so if your league or County has ** in column E by it then there is currently no company member, so your committee need to complete the LRCM Application and Appointment form.

Code for Sports Governance
Full review of the new Code of Sports Governance has been undertaken and several meetings have been held with Sport England’s Governance team to ensure our interpretation of the Code is correct. The action plan can be found on page 6 in this document.

This was approved by the Board at the March meeting and the Resolutions for the AGM reflect the requirements we need to meet.

National Council
During this period, we have had a National Council Meeting where constructive discussions were held on Resolutions for this year’s AGM and our requirements under the new Code of Sports Governance. Feedback from this meeting reflect the final Resolutions which have been agreed by the Board and will be shared in due course.

Best wishes,
Adrian Christy