Volunteer of the Month award winners

Our first two winners of the Cricket Shropshire Volunteer of the Month awards this Summer have received their certificates.

The recipients are Shaun Astley from Wem CC and Robert Price from Chelmarsh CC.

Cricket Shropshire Chair Adrian Collins, who presented the awards, said: “We are delighted to recognise some of the brilliant volunteers we have at clubs across Shropshire, and Shaun and Robert are certainly two of those.

“We were very impressed by the quality of the entries we received for these awards, highlighting the great work that is going on at clubs in Shropshire.

“We are looking forward to hearing about more of volunteers who are the lifeblood of clubs across the county as we move through the rest of the season.”

The citation for Shaun Astley said: “From chair to groundsman, there’s not much at Wem CC that Shaun doesn’t do! He puts in countless hours to ensure our club runs smoothly and that we maintain one of the best grounds in Shropshire! 

“Shaun works hard in other areas such as lending a hand behind the bar, drumming up sponsorship and seeing our club run on a day to day basis. You can guarantee that when you walk or drive past the club, Shaun will be there working away! 

“Shaun has been with Wem CC and played for our club as boy and man in all three senior sides, and his legacy continues with his three sons now playing from juniors through to 1st XI and his daughter-in-law playing for the ladies and his two granddaughters involved with our All Stars programme. 

“There really isn’t anything he wouldn’t do for Wem CC and everyone at the club is continually grateful for his hard work and dedication.”

The citation for Robert at Chelmarsh said: “After a tough few months since January 2024, the club’s future was a little uncertain after a mass player exodus. Once the committee got together and sorted out what we wanted to achieve going forward, Robert took everything on board and sorted everything out with the Shropshire Cricket League.  

 “Robert dealt with all this whilst at the same time moving house. 

“At our AGM, he decided to take on the captaincy for our 1st team – previously he was 2nd team captain. He felt it best to be 1st team captain in Division 7 as a way of helping developing our new 13-year-old players coming through and also helping people that have come back to the game.

“Although we couldn’t commit to the Allstars/Dynamos programmes in 2024, Robert decided to put himself forward to become a level 2 coach to organise junior coaching. 

“He selflessly organises both cricket teams on a weekend, messaging everyone for availability.  He feels that if he does it, it would be easier than going through two or three people all the time.  

“He also goes to the ground on Thursday nights to help out where possible with two or three others. 

“Our ground has not been in the best state this year due to the weather, so whether it is working on the ground, or building benches for our shower room and changing rooms, he is always doing something. 

“With regards fund raising, Robert is the one that does all the donkey work in putting things on both for the cricket Club and occasionally the aocial club whether this be race nights, quiz night or gameshow nights.  

“The energy and effort he puts in is second to none. He has a lot of family ties with Chelmarsh CC and would do anything to ensure the club survives.”

We will be announcing the Volunteer of the Month winner for June soon.

If anyone has any queries about the Volunteer of the Month awards they can contact admin@shropshirecricketboard.co.uk

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