At the Brigg Town Council Meeting on Monday, the Policy Committee recommendation that the Joseph J. Magrath O.B.E. Award for Public Voluntary Service to the Community of Brigg, should be given to Mrs. Vanessa McErlain-Naylor, of Scawby Brook, near Brigg, was ratified.
The award is given to Vanessa in recognition of her tireless commitment to the Brigg and District Netball Club, which provides the opportunity for countless children and young people to be involved in a positive activity, access coaching, and compete in netball matches, regardless of their level of ability.
Together with the support of an equally dedicated team of helpers, Vanessa continually strives to deliver her ethos that Brigg and District Netball Club is, and will always remain, a ‘local club for local children’.
The following citation leaves the reader in no doubt why Vanessa has been chosen to receive this award.
We all live very active lives today - some more than others. Holding down a full time job as a key accounts manager for a national company which involves travelling around the country and occasionally staying away overnight, transporting her son (who is a Great Britain Judo International) to training sessions throughout the country, and running a home with all that that entails would, for most people, be considered as ‘fully occupied’.
Not Vanessa, she packs more into the 168 hour week than most people do in a month.
Around 13/14 years ago, Vanessa started coaching netball part time at a local primary school, just to help them out, but the word spread and she was asked to help at other schools within the area. From this Vanessa (with the help of another young lady) started Brigg Junior Netball Club.
The popularity of the club soon grew, and with more and more young girls leaving Secondary School and those starting sixth form wanting to join, so in April 2000 the club changed its name but not its ethos to the present Brigg and District Netball Club.
Any club with more than 80 regular members, that fields 16 teams in local, county and regional leagues does not run itself. It requires a great deal of hard work and commitment, and the success of the Brigg and District Netball Club, therefore, relies heavily upon a small yet dedicated band of helpers. However, they all agree that without Vanessa’s drive, enthusiasm and hard work, the club would not be the success that it is today.
All England affiliation, insurance, organising training venues, fixtures, transport, sourcing and purchasing kit and equipment, are all tasks that Vanessa deals with year on year in order for the club to function. In addition, she is also heavily involved in work for All England Netball, East Midland Netball and Yorkshire Netball in various capacities from talent camps to umpiring and coaching.
Not satisfied with that workload, Vanessa adds to it by arranging for the children to compete on tour in places like Barbados, Malta, the Isle of Man, Wales and Torquay, as well as organising the club’s own annual tournament in Brigg; which started as a single week-end tournament 11 years ago, but is now is spread over three week-ends due to the number of clubs that want to attend.
The club also hosts a number of social evenings through out the year, both for fundraising purposes and to present prizes and awards, and Vanessa is always there at the forefront working for the club and its members.
If you meet Vanessa and talk to her, it will not be long before she steers the conversation around to her beloved netball club; so much so that her husband and her son soon realised that the only way to see her was to become involved in netball. They are now both qualified umpires, and Mark is a qualified coach !
If this was not enough, until August 2010 “in her spare time” she also assisted with the administration duties and pre-training warm ups for the juniors at Glanford Kodakan Judo club once or twice a week !
Vanessa truly believes that the club benefits all of its members, but it is particularly beneficial for young people as it provides them with a healthy and active place to socialise, and build confidence and character.
The Town Mayor and Members of Brigg Town Council are fully aware of Vanessa’s unfailing dedication and commitment to the Brigg and District Netball Club, and the time and effort she gives to ensure that young people can enjoy participating in netball.
The Town Council is, therefore, delighted to be given this opportunity to recognise the work she does for the benefit of others and the Town, and it was unanimously agreed that she is a most worthy recipient of the Joseph J. Magrath O.B.E. Award for Public Voluntary Service 2010, which will be presented at the Town Mayor’s Civic Charity Dinner and Auction, on Saturday 19th March at the Angel Suite, Brigg.
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