Volunteers have always played a vital part in amateur sport and without them, most activity simply wouldn’t happen. It is important that volunteers feel recognised and acknowledged as without those who are willing to freely donate their time, skills and passion, our club could not exist. Volunteers matter and make a difference; their good will has a profound and lasting impact on our club.

In order to maintain what we have at London Irish and be in a position to grow, more volunteers are required to help, especially with off field activities. In furtherance of acknowledging and rewarding volunteers, the club hosted a volunteers’ lunch at Hazelwood in October prior to a Wild Geese fixture and 100 club volunteers attended.

Our constituent body, Surrey RFU, kindly donated a prize of dinner for two at the Shard which was won by Trevor Burns, a long-standing London Irish Amateur RFC coach.

Volunteers are very much appreciated and near the end of the season six outstanding volunteers were identified and recognised for their commitment to London Irish Amateur RFC.

Our club President presented certificates to:

Neil Sapsed- Mini Rugby

Simon Platt - Youth Rugby

Andrea Webb - Girls’ rugby

Katie Watts - Women’s rugby

Willy Bifield – Men’s rugby

Malcolm Wilson - Vets’ rugby

From the six volunteers, one exceptional volunteer was selected to receive the inaugural Mark Griffiths Memorial trophy.

Mark Griffiths was an outstanding volunteer at London Irish Amateur RFC, helping with youth teams and officiating as a referee. His tales of weekends spent trying to control a pumped-up group of under-14s rampaging after the ball were in turn hilarious, insightful, and terrifying - but always told with warmth and love.

Last September Mark sadly passed away aged 50 after losing a brave battle with cancer.
One of Mark’s colleagues at Johnson & Johnson, Mark Watt, contacted the club and explained he was keen to commemorate Mark by helping to subscribe to a trophy in his memory to be awarded to a volunteer at London Irish.

He described knowing Mark and a desire to celebrate him in a way that reflects the person he was, and the values he lived by. Mark was all about the people, a fiercely loyal friend, mentor and confidant.

Mark was no different in his spare time; he was still all about the people. He consistently and generously gave his time to benefit others, and his colleagues at Johnson & Johnson wanted to celebrate that through his abiding passion and support for rugby.

So, in that spirit they wanted to fund an annual Volunteer of the Year trophy for a volunteer at London Irish rugby, to be presented in his name.

Great people step up to make sure the things they love happen, and in doing so help those who love those same things. That was Mark Griffiths.

His colleagues at Johnson & Johnson contributed a substantial donation which facilitated the acquisition of a perpetual and an individual trophy and on 30th April, Mark’s wife Zoe and son Barney join us at Hazelwood and presented the Mark Griffiths Memorial trophy to Youth rugby volunteer of the season, Simon Platt.

It is intended to present the trophy annually to an outstanding volunteer at London Irish Amateur rugby club.