Dear Table Tennis friends,

On Saturday 15^th March at the LRF awards ceremony I was awarded the:-

LEUKEMIA RESEARCH FUND - CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

In recognition of special and exception services to the fund.

I am very proud of this award and would like to extend my thanks to all those who have helped me on the Bikeathon Events over the last 13 years which have helped raise over £650,000, without the help of volunteers like you, none of this would have been possible and I would have not won this award.

Please find attached the awards speech along with two photos on of the award being presented to me and one of the award itself.

AWARD SPEECH

We come to the part of the evening that s an incredible honour for me. Every three years, a Leukaemia Research Branch can nominate one member from their committee to receive a certificate of merit. This is a huge accolade within the Fund, in fact it is the highest accolade, the most credited award for anyone to receive. Being chosen for a certificate of merit is based on outstanding services to Leukaemia Research.

The person that has been chosen for this award is more than worthy of this and their hard work and support is wholey recognised by every member of the committee. It is such a prestigious award, that this is only the 5^th certificate of merit awarded within the Branch, since it started in 1975.

This person was driven by their determination to put back something in return for their own treatment, which saved their life and enabled them to watch their own children grow. This person has been an absolute tower of strength for the Bikeathon committee; managing the Waitrose checkpoints every year and taking on the role of database expert by entering every rider’s details onto the database, Over the tears, other responsibilities include covering the check-ins, presenting the medals to the riders and looking after the t shirts and refreshments. Theses roles are an extremely important part of running a successful Bikeathon, and the Bikeathon really would not run to the smooth precision as it does now, if it were not for the dedication of this one individual. We are all tremendously grateful for their exceptional contribution.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I present the certificate of merit on behalf of the Southend Branch and Leukaemia Research to Mr George Reeves.