Congratulation's Gillian and Mahmud

CITY OF STIRLING 'CLUBS FOREVER' VALUED VOLUNTEER AWARDS 2011

Greetings from the dimly lit closet where they keep ex-club presidents!

I know I no longer have the power to hold announcements, but I wanted to share some great news with you all. A little while ago I secretly submitted two nominations on behalf of the club (one for Gillian and one for Mahmud) to the City of Stirling for their 'valued volunteer' award which they hold each year. The award is for people who live or volunteer within the City of Stirling. After receiving my submission the three of us were invited to a small presentation of a certificate and thank you from the team at Clubs Forever (who have in the past granted us some sponsorship deals).

It is with much excitement that I can tell you that tonight Gillian and Mahmud were not only given their certificates but were BOTH nominated by the City of Stirling to go into the next round of awards. This means come July, they go in the running for a nice cash reward for their services! As well as the nomination they received a pool pass, movie tickets, $150 each and a few other assorted goodies... a nice surprise indeed!

Please join me in congratulating both Gillian and Mahmud for their massive efforts in making the club what it is today.
- Gary

For those of you who are interested, these were the two short bio's I submitted with the applications:

Mahmud
Cavaliers' fencing club was built around Mahmud, so-much-so if he ever were to leave we would need engineers to assess his load bearing rating before being moved. In his 30 odd years with the club he has hardly ever missed a session, in the early days as a keen fencer, to more recently as the coach to our 8-12 kids group. When not battling them, he battles the Cavaliers account books, which are at times scarier than a sword wielding child.

For several years in the 90's fencing experienced a heavy decline in volunteers. Mahmud single handedly held the club together through this tough period and many believe without his tireless efforts, Cavaliers (and perhaps even fencing in WA) would not exist today.

He has also contributed many years of work to developing fencing on a state and national level, much of which is unaccountable behind the scenes.


Gillian
The ancient texts say Gillian arrived on the scene as a mother to 3 fencers and was an active volunteer from the start. Sadly, her children have all moved on from the sport, but the mum instinct remained and she became the unofficial mother of the club. In-between her tireless duties of organising newsletters, emails, collecting fees, registrations AND organising the committee she can often be heard shouting at fencers to tuck their shirts in. At the club's peak Gillian was maintaining enrolments for 90-100 fencers, a job which for a long while, was done solely by herself. She also volunteered as Registrar for the state fencing body (WAFA) for 5-6 years.

As someone who has never actually fenced herself, I find her commitment to the sport amazing and I fear the day she finally leaves as the club will never find the 10 slaves needed to replace her.

Thank you, GARY BATES