The Llandudno Bay Hotel was the venue for for the Sub-Aqua Association’s 2019 Annual General Meeting on Saturday 6th April.
Once the formal business of the Annual General Meeting was concluded, (minutes of which will be provided to all club secretaries in due course), it was time for the Association to honour it’s members. Awards were presented by Mark Berrill, SAA Vice-chair, to individuals in recognition of their achievements over the last 12 months, as well as the much-desired Golden Club award.
The Kenn Tyler Award for Instruction
This award was given to an SAA Instructor, who has been very active in respect of in-house training for his club over the past eight years. He has also been instrumental in keeping the club running as one of the most active training clubs within the SAA. In the past year he has attended training in the clubhouse and pool on a weekly basis, and been active in open water training and assessments. He has also been involved in the development of SAA members in the Midlands, Yorkshire & Humberside and other areas of the country. He has participated as an instructor on several courses over a number of regions. All this done, whilst also holding the position of SAA Chair.
L-R Mark Berrill & Dennis Tammadge
Dennis Tammadge a member of Mansfield & District Scuba Diving Club SAA no. 942 was the well deserved winner of the Kenn Tyler Award. His passion, enthusiasm and commitment is truly appreciated.
The Zanelli Charlton Award
The recipients of this award are any SAA Regional Representative or Co-ordinator. It is nominated by members of the National Executive and is given in recognition of the winner’s commitment to the association. This year the winner was Stefan Heathfield, the Regional Representative for South-East.
Stefan has been a Regional rep. Since 2011, during which time he has worked tirelessly for the regional members. He has organised numerous courses and dedicated many weekends to the continued development of members in his region.
The Albert Cartwright Award
The Albert Cartwright Award is a new award which was created in memory of one of the SAA’s earliest & proactive member.
Members are asked to submit 1 entry on a monthly basis. The winning entry to be used as the cover picture on the SAA newsletter. From these winning entries an overall winner is picked by the SAA Executive. The 1st recipient of this award goes to Chris Brown-Needham from Ilkeston & Kimberley SAC. His entry featured on the cover of the March edition of the SAA newsletter. Unfortunately Chris was unable to attend the AGM, but his award was received by a member of his club Steve Hardy
SAA Silver Award
In recognition of her outstanding services on behalf of the SAA, Claire Mortimer was awarded the SAA Silver Award. Claire has helped raise the profile of the SAA over the last three years, during which time she was instrumental in the design and implementation of the new SAA website. She was also very active on the SAA Facebook posting informative and interesting articles. We appreciate the support given and also her continued advice re the promotion of the SAA.
L-R Mark Berrill & Claire Mortimer Certificate of Appreciation
Nominations for this award can be made be any SAA member or club for someone who:
• Has positively contributed to the running of a club, over a number of years.
• May have been active in the running of the club and committee level, or made a long standing contribution to the club.
There was no doubt that Cherie Winnard of Mansfield & District Scuba Diving Club, SAA no. 942 thoroughly deserved this award. She has been Diving Officer of the club for more than eight years. During this time she has been proactive in helping the club to move forward, encouraging members to extend their development by attending SAA courses. She is also active in the training of new members within the club. Cherie has also been O2/EDFA Co-ordinator & Y&H rep for the last 2 years but unfortunately has had to retire from these positions due to ill health. Cherie was unable to attend the AGM, but her award was received by a member of her club Chris Kean.
The Golden Club Award
There were 2 very strong candidates for the Golden Club Award this year: – Mansfield & District SAC & Ilkeston & Kimberly SAC. After much deliberation the recipients of this award were Ilkeston & Kimberley SAC.
There was a total of 643 club dives logged by IKSAC last year, which has shown an increase on the previous year, so each year the club is managing to do more dives. They maintain a high profile through regular Facebook posts & have recently developed and launched a brand new website design.
The club has many instructors who not only train and develop at club level, but are also very active in regional training.
They encourage special interest groups, young persons, Scouts, Guides, Disabled or Disadvantaged individuals to take up the sport. One of the juniors completed two elements of his Duke of Edinburgh award scheme through the club.
One of their members, who works in a school in a deprived area, does a full topic called ‘Under the Sea’. This includes learning about scuba diving, an introduction to underwater photography and writing imaginary dive logs. Over the past six years Gary Lampon (their then Diving Officer) has made biennial trips to the school. He comes to class to introduce the children to scuba diving and show them his diving kit & photos. The children have a Q & A session with him too. This is due to run again this year.
In the year 2018 IKSAC promoted two charity events. They organised the sale of a range of kindly donated kit from two local divers. They specifically wanted to help new divers, by providing them with the opportunity to bag a bargain and get set on their own diving adventures, without it breaking the bank. They had an auction night within the club and sold the remainder via e-bay. This raised £433.66, which was presented to the Macmillan Cancer support, as per the donor’s wishes. Further to this, they held a charity night to raise funds for St. Abbs Lifeboat appeal. This included an auction, raffle, live entertainment, buffet and so on. From this event, they raised £1018.81. Due to its great success, the committee have decided that they will adopt a charity every year and not just arrange one night of fund raising but a variety of events throughout the year. This year they plan to raise money for the Air Ambulance Appeal. 
After the awards were presented, Steve Orange, National Diving Officer stepped up to present certificates to those members who had achieved the highest diving/instructor grades within the SAA.
Martin Burns was presented with his Regional Instructor qualification, Lee Poxon was presented with his National Instructor qualification. Mark Berrill, Chris Ryan & Stefan Heathfield were presented with their National Diver qualification.
L-R Steve Orange & Martin Burns
L-R Steve Orange & Lee Poxon
L-R Steve Orange & Mark Berrill
L-R Steve Orange & Stefan Heathfield
L-R Steve Orange & Chris Ryan
Steve Orange thanked all of the recipients for their hard work & commitment that was needed to attain these qualifications. Instructors are the backbone of the SAA and their input is greatly appreciated
Winners all together
Leaving Gifts
Dennis Tammadge stood down as a member of the Executive committee. During his 4 year tenure he has taken on the roles of Vice-chair and then Chair. He was presented with a Cigar Humidor in recognition of the work and commitment he has given to the SAA – he will be missed.
L-R Dennis Tammadge & Mark Berrill
Cherie Winnard was given a Bronze diver as a thank you for the services that she has given to the SAA, both as O2/EDFA co-ordinator & Y&H regional rep. Cherie was unable to attend the AGM, but her gift was accepted by a member of her club – Chris Kean. 
L-R Mark Berrill & Chris Kean
