Oswestry Olympians are celebrating having two members of the club were recognised for their commitment to the sport by England Athletics.

Club chairman Dave Newton was nominated by club members for the 'Services to Athletics & Running Award' in recognition of his commitment to Oswestry Olympians for over 26 years.

Junior member Kate Hotchkiss was nominated by the Shropshire Athletics Association secretary for the ‘Newcomer to Volunteering’ award for the work she has done over the past few years within the club, county and across the Midlands.

Dave and Kate were delighted to hear that they have both been shortlisted for the West Midlands Regional Volunteer Awards and have been invited to a ceremony in Birmingham organised by England Athletics & the West Midlands Regional Council.

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Dave has been a competitive runner for more than 30 years and served Oswestry Olympians in many roles for over 26 years.

He is currently club chairman and head coach of the seniors but still finds time to coach the juniors, leading twice weekly sessions for both.

When the club hosts cross country races, Dave leads the team setting up the course and clearing everything away afterwards, often participating in the race in between.

These are some of the many tasks, often unseen, that Dave carries out.

In his citation he was described as “making an enormous and consistent contribution to the nuts and bolts of running Oswestry Olympians”.

It was therefore no surprise that when club members were asked to contribute to a video for the awards evening there was no shortage of volunteers, each highlighting a different aspect of Dave’s significant contributions.

Kate, who like Dave was delighted to be shortlisted, was shocked to hear that she had been nominated as it had been sent in, unknown to her, by Margaret Afford, the secretary of the Shropshire Athletic Association.

Margaret is also a top national official who was the chief timekeeper at the recent Diamond League meeting in London.

Margaret had seen Kate assisting at a range of events in Shropshire, and further afield.

At Manchester she had assisted with the issue of accreditation to coaches and athletes at the UK Championships.

Among those she met were Linford Christie and ex-Oswestry Olympian and British shot put champion Adele Nicoll.

Kate had helped at the warm up track the English Schools Championships in Birmingham and in the call room at the England Age group Championships.

Within two days of reaching her 16th birthday Kate qualified as a level 1 Field Judge and recently officiated at the British Masters Championships at Derby amongst other meetings.

In Shropshire, Kate assists in various roles at cross country, Sportshall and track and field events, sometime also competing herself.

In Oswestry, Kate particularly enjoys helping the younger members of Oswestry Olympians and, when time permits, volunteers at the Henley Wood Parkrun.