TWO local table tennis clubs, Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, have been awarded the prestigious Clubmark status.

TWO local table tennis clubs, Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, have been awarded the prestigious Clubmark status. Representatives of both Clubs, Peter Fordham and Tim Jolly for Bury with Tony Mooney and Geoff Brook for Stowmarket, travelled up to Sheffield where the English Table Tennis Finals were being played.

As well as seeing some exciting table tennis the clubs were presented with their certificates by Alex Murdoch, the ETTA Chairman. These two Clubs are the first Table Tennis Clubs in Suffolk to attain Clubmark status and there is only one other in the whole of the Eastern Region.

Sport England Clubmark is an accreditation scheme that sets the standard for high quality junior sports clubs. Clubs of all sizes that exhibit good practice and meet a range of criteria considered to demonstrate the virtues of a quality club can be awarded Clubmark status. The scheme is administered by Sport England and in this case, the English Table Tennis Association. Both clubs have successfully met those criteria. Clubmark recognises junior sports clubs that are safe, child friendly and working towards the overall benefit of the sport and its participants.

It offers parents and guardians reassurance that their child is getting the most from their sporting involvement. For sports clubs, working through the various criteria outlined in Clubmark can be beneficial in identifying areas of strength and areas that need to be improved and developed.

Terry McEntee from Suffolk Sport "said this is a tremendous achievement and an official recognition of the hard work that has been put into ensuring that the clubs provides a safe environment in which young people can develop their sporting skills".

Tony Mooney, Chairman of Stowmarket Table Tennis Club, said "This is very welcome recognition of the hard work that the club has put in over a number of years to ensure that we provide a good safe environment to develop youngsters in table tennis. Many parents assist in the running of our Friday coaching sessions and are able to see first hand that it is a well run club".