The 4th annual PRO-ACTIVE London Awards for Community Sport and Physical Activity took place last Thursday night at City Hall. Over 150 special guests were invited to the award ceremony that saw the heroes of community sport honoured for their tireless work providing sporting opportunities for everyone. Whether it is a volunteer turning up week in week out to provide coaching opportunities for young people at their local sports club; a coach who provides opportunities in the local community or a sports club or organisation as a whole, the awards recognised and rewarded people's commitment to sport and physical activity during the last year. These awards are the only awards that celebrate community sport on a London scale.

Damien Williams of Mitcham Rugby Club was awarded the Volunteer of the Year award. He has been a hard working member of the club for 9 years. Over this time he has been a jack of all trades and master of many. He has been pavilion manager, web master, a dedicated rugby coach, festival coordinator, fixture secretary, school Liaison and volunteer coordinator. It is no exaggeration to state that Damien has helped hundreds of young people to access rugby.

As a coach Damien started with the ‘mini’s’ and is now also involved with coaching the youth team. He coordinated the Clubs Mini’s Rugby festival which is one of the largest events in Surrey with more than 1000 children and 72 teams taking part in over 150 games. In addition to all of this, he is currently organising two tag rugby festivals for the local Cubs which is planned to be launched across Surrey next year.

Justin Webb, Partnership Manager for PRO-ACTIVE South London said “Volunteers are the lifeblood of sport in London and also the Country. Without people like Damien, Londoners would not have the opportunity to take part in the sports that they love. Damien’s commitment to Mitcham Rugby Club makes him a worth winner of this award.”

Richard Sumray, Chair of the London 2012 forum compered the awards evening which was also attended by the Mayors Commissioner for Sport, MP Kate Hoey, Mike Diaper - the Executive Director of Youth and Communities for Sport England. Sporting stars, Richard Wigglesworth from Saracens Rugby Club, David Clarke - the England Blind Football Team captain and Rob Powell, the Harlequins Rugby League manager were on hand to present the awards to the worthy winners.

Over 350 nominations were made for eight awards. Independent panels reviewed each award before deciding on the winners.

Based on information supplied by Justin Webb.