A Brighton youth club founder has been nominated for a national award as an outstanding individual.
Tim Holtam, who set up Brighton Table Tennis Club, has been shortlisted in the sport category of this year’s National Lottery Awards for his community efforts.
The club was started in 2007 by Mr Holtam, Harry McCarney and Wen Wei Xu. It brings together 1,500 people from a variety of backgrounds to participate in 70 weekly sessions.
And it helped train a Paralympic gold medallist as well as national champions.
As a “grass-roots” sports club, it has also created a Food Hub and expanded its work to include young refugees, former prisoners, pensioners, schoolchildren and people with learning difficulties.
The awards celebrate National Lottery funding recipients – individuals and organisations – doing extraordinary things with the help of its grants.
Mr Holtam said: “It’s a real honour to be nominated for a National Lottery Award and a bit of a shock if I’m honest!
“Sport can be used to engage people from all walks of life. It can truly transform and enhance their world – bringing everyone together.
“That’s what we try to achieve every day at the club. It doesn’t matter where you come from or how old you are, the common ground is just to have fun and play table tennis. It’s about feeling a sense of belonging, through sport.
“Support from the National Lottery has been invaluable. It has enabled us to massively expand our reach and impact working with people who would otherwise not be able to afford to access the best coaching and all of the opportunities that come with it.
“It has also given us the tools to be able to share with others how to build grassroots community clubs from the ground up.
“More people should be doing things like this. Without the help from organisations like the National Lottery, it’s a long and very difficult road.”
Mr Holtam was a former junior table tennis champion. He moved to Brighton in 2005 but found no youth club for the sport so he secured a free room at Brighton Youth Centre and two worn-out tables.
Today, the training programme includes those with Down syndrome, former prisoners and people living with long-term health conditions as well as high-performance players.
The club became Britain’s first Club of Sanctuary in 2016, recognising its work with refugees and asylum-seekers, providing lessons for 80 unaccompanied refugee children from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan, Algeria and Vietnam.
Hoang Nguyen, a teenage refugee from Vietnam, went on to become the first of many qualified table tennis coaches from the group.
This year, 3,780 people and projects have been nominated for the National Lottery Awards and a panel will decide the winners in each of the individual categories.
Winners will be revealed in the autumn and will receive a £5,000 cash prize for their organisation and a National Lottery Awards trophy.
Jonathan Tuchner, from the National Lottery, said: “The National Lottery Awards honour those who have stepped up and have gone the extra mile to make a difference in their communities.”
A public vote will also be held online to find the National Lottery’s UK Project of the Year.
To find out more about Brighton Table Tennis Club, click here.
Tim is a legend.
Totally agree, he has built an incredible club which reflects the best in humanity and community
As a member of the homeless community I can’t thank Tim and his colleagues enough for the wonderful community asset that he has built up over the years.
When I first started using the Fitzherbert Hub/Café (The Real Junk Food Project) that is attached to the club I was so impressed about the wonderful diverse and welcoming atmosphere that I encountered. Compared with say day centres that I have attended over the years (Bear in mind this is not actually a day centre but a community hub)
I used to use the ill fated and notorious St. Anne’s for a while but was always aware of the very uncomfortable and dark underbelly of major drugs dealing and violence (some of us older guys and girls are not into that scene believe it or not?)
What Tim and his colleagues epitomise is the wonder tolerant, welcoming and diverse atmosphere that is Brighton in general.
There are some brilliant projects that are hosted care of Tim and the table tennis club.
Paul and Murray with the Café and the Junk food project, voices in exile and Deb’s with the new community garden project which I’ve got involved in.
I so look forward to going there when they are open and am a fervent advocate of how well run this community asset is.
Oh yes! Must not forget to mention one of Tim’s trusted lieutenant’s the inimitable Harry.
Thank you for what you do and long may this project continue to thrive and be a beacon of hope for the Kemp Town community.
Great to read thes comments – Tim is indeed a great community champion, and the Table Tennis Club & Fitzherbert Hub are both wonderful assets for the local community & the city as a whole. He thoroughly deserves any awards which come his way!