BTTAD Ltd TRADING AS BRITISH PARA TABLE TENNIS Company Number 09044357 Charity N

BTTAD Ltd TRADING AS BRITISH PARA TABLE TENNIS Company Number 09044357 Charity Number 1162647 ANNUAL REPORT 2016

General

In a momentous year on many fronts, there was a decision by Board to rename the trading style of the company to British Para Table Tennis while retaining the company name. This change announced at All Parliamentary Sports Committee by our Chairman was well received by stakeholders and will be the centre of a rebranding during 2017.

The Annual General Meeting 2016 was held on March 5 2016 at Grantham with 13 members present. The Annual Report for 2015 was accepted. One change to the Articles was approved. Robert Geary wasre- elected as Treasurer/ Financial Director ( 2016-2020) and Jackie Sheldon was elected as a Board member ( 2016-2020).

Board met 3 times -Karen Tonge MBE -3, Robert Geary -2, Charlie Childs -3, Olivia Coady -3 , Jackie Sheldon – 1. Mike Smith( Company Secretary) attended 3. All attended the AGM. The Board benefited greatly from the minutes and administrative support provided by Laura Hayward –the WCP Operations Co-ordinator. Each of the 5 Sub- Committees – Finance ( Chair – Robert Geary; Secretary -Laura Hayward) , Governance ( Chair- Charlie Childs, Secretary- Mike Smith) , Membership Services( Chair- Shaun Newcomb, Secretary -Mike Smith) , Performance Monitoring ( Chair- Roger Hales, Secretary Laura Hayward) , Selection ( Chair- Shaun Newcomb , Secretary – Laura Hayward) met and reported to Board. Due to her role as Mayor of Hastings, Judy Rogers was unable to act as Secretary to Membership Servicesbut remained Assistant Secretary.

Governance

Governance Committee has met 3 times and even within limited resources,has been active within its terms of reference. Progress has been made in creating and developing a Risk Register process involving sub committees input monitored by Governance Committee reporting to Board, Policy Reviews ,Skills Analysis for Board Members and subsequent Board development. As part of their ongoing governance activity work with BPTT,the Committee completed the UK Sport Self Assurance Audit before presenting it to Board for consideration and approval ; issues were highlighted for further consideration over the years. Board accepted the Code for Sports Governance issued by UK Sport and Sport England as all funded sports have to adhere to it to be eligible to receive government funding. While BPTT is already generally compliant, Governance Committee is working on an Action Plan -meeting the requirements of the Code.

Finance

Robert Geary (Treasurer/ Financial Director) has completed the Statement of Accounts for the membership side of the organisation for the 2016 Financial Year and these have been circulated. The overall position for the BPTT Non- Restricted and RestrictedAccounts is shown with the result not as good as the previous year but still with an overall surplus reported . The deficit on the Nationals was considerably lower than the previous year due to increased income through more entries as well as reduced costs. Generous donations were received. Finance Committee met 3 times.

The funding from UK Sport for the World Class Programme is not shown in these accounts as they are held in a Table Tennis England account under a Service Level Agreement; they are recorded on that account on a Financial Year ending March 31, 2016 within the audited accounts of Table Tennis England which were accepted by its AGM in July 2016. Thanks are due to Brian Skinner and his successor Sam Garey at Table Tennis England for their work on behalf of BPTT and to our sponsors notably Butterfly for clothing and equipment for the Performance Programme.

Membership Services

Shaun Newcomb and his colleagues met and covered the next 4 topics

Communications

Michael Loveder has reported that BPTT continues to look to improve the quality of communication , the co-ordination of regular information to stake holders and initiatives to maximise media coverage . The main priority this year has been to seek to provide a well informed and topical website. Plans are currently underway to redevelop the website working in partnership with Table Tennis England ; it is hoped that these will be fulfilled during 2017 even though within limited resources. The website is dependent once more on the valued contributions from volunteers notably Dave Cochrane. Social media use continued with Twitter, Flickr and Facebook. The Performance Programme is covered by Fran Bullock’s contracted activity across all media which was highly successful and much appreciated especially in Paralympic Year.

Competitions

Dave Cochrane continued to seek to develop the Competitions programme ; however all the one day BPTT Grand Prix events were cancelled due to lack of entries in contrast to the successes of 2015 . An initiative linking a camp and a competition will be tested in 2017 .BPTT supported the events organised by other bodies eg Sportsable and Greenbank. The Butterfly Michael Hawkesworth National Championships held at Grantham in March attracted more players than the previous year with 70 playing ; the great support from local club, council and officials was much appreciated. Issues relating to classification for Class 11 led to a clear competition split between classified and awaiting classification; these issues are being addressed nationally with BPA and other sports. Links with Downs Syndrome and Special Olympics are being developed.

There was a major development through the decision of Table Tennis England to include each year Para events in its Senior National Championships as against exhibition matches. 4 categories were covered and 16 players invited. With a large attendance and television coverage, this event showcased para table tennis and athletes. Overall it was considered a major success.

Development

Despite a vacancy on Membership Services,there was continuing liaison with the Home Nations notably through the work being undertaken by Shaun Marples in developing Pathway players .

Membership Jennie Bouron took on the role of Membership Secretary; the membership at the end of 2016 was 121 .

Performance

Roger Hales and his committee colleagues on Performance Monitoring Group continued to monitor the Performance Programme.

The highlight of a successful yearwas undoubtedly the Paralympic Games in Rio. 12 players – WillBayley, Jane Campbell, Paul Davies, Rob Davies,Kim Daybell, Sue Gilroy MBE, Sara Head, Jack Hunter- Spivey, Paul Karabardak,Aaron McKibbin, David Wetherill, Ross Wilson – qualified to play and Ashley Facey Thompson also qualified following the withdrawal of Russian athletes. So a total of 13 players out of the 14 World Class Performance Squad were able to experience the Paralympics.

The medals outcome was 2 Golds in the Singles– Rob Davies in Class 1 and Will Bayley in Class 7- and a Bronze in the Team Class 6-8 for Aaron McKibbin, Ross Wilson and Will Bayley- beating China ; Sue Gilroy narrowly lost in the Bronze medal play-off in Class 4 Singles. Eight players made it out of their group. There were some truly memorable performances along the way – eg the nail- biting last match victory by Aaron in the Bronze play-off , Paul Davies clawing back to win in the group, Kim Daybell beating the World number 2-and of course Will's iconic celebration on top of the table . While the target from UK Sport was narrowly missed, the colour of the medals made up for this; it has been a very long time since there was a Gold for GB- and there were two! GB finished 4th equal in the overall medal table.

The WCP players competed in Factor 40 events in Italy , Slovenia and Slovakia plus Factor 20 events Spain, Rumania and USA while Pathway and Development squad played mainly in Factor 20 . New players are being drafted into Pathway and Development squads as they progress and all players are continually assessed against targets. Training continues to be centred in Sheffield and it is self evident how vital it is to have as many players as possible permanently in one location. At the end of 2016 , 9 players were in top ten and all 14 WCP players plus 3 Pathway in top twenty.

The programme led by Gorazd Vecko and supported by Head Coach Greg Baker , Pathway Coach Shaun Marples , National Coaches Matt Kenny and Neil Robinson MBE and Performance Operations Co-ordinator Laura Hayward -as well as by the sports science support staff from English Institute of Sport is well regarded by UK Sport who have been very supportive to this dedicated and professional group in the planning towards the Tokyo cycle culminating in an increased award.

Selection

Shaun Newcomb and his colleagues met once to determine the selections for the new cycle

Representation

Karen Tonge MBE continues to serve on the National Paralympic Committee and has represented BPTT at meetings and events at UK Sport, Sport and Recreation Alliance ,British Paralympic Association and Table Tennis England; she attended Rio to support the squad. Mike Smith also represented as required and was elected to the European Paralympic Committee.

BPTT was saddened by the loss of Deborah Davies and Beryl Jarvis ;it thanks all its members and partners for their support during the year , congratulates Will Bayley and Rob Davies on the award of the MBE in recognition of their achievements and looks to build on the successes of 2016 over the next years.