Brighton Table Tennis Club. Wow

Ever wondered what community sport looks like in action? This week Tom Williams and I visited some brilliant examples.

Tim Holtam and the team at Brighton Table Tennis Club are doing really impactful work. His TEDx talk gets right to the heart of how community sport can change the world.

It was great to attend the ribbon-cutting event of the club’s second venue, alongside local community, sports leaders, athletes and organisations. We came together to celebrate an organisation that has helped, inspired and united so many people, from so many backgrounds, through sport.

We were struck by the way Tim works with organisations such as Sanctuary Runners, founded by Graham Clifford, to join forces across sports. Exactly what we hope to help with around the world.

We also saw first-hand the power of table tennis to positively impact the health and wellbeing of people in prison, through Brighton Table Tennis Club’s outreach programme. I'll link below to an article that is a cracking read on how it can reduce reoffending.

Finally for this week, a massive thank you to: Matt Rogan co-founder of Two Circles; two time Olympian Liz Yelling; Martin Yelling (PhD) who founded Stormbreak; and four time Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington OBE for their advice and support on building our organisation.  Our ‘community bench’ grows!

Next week, we look forward to digging into the academic principles underpinning community sport for development and diplomacy. We might even formally launch our organisation’s name!

Photo: Tim at the launch of BTTC’s new Moulsecoomb venue. Credit Caleb Yule