On Saturday 28 October, the 2023 Recognition Awards, held at Lilleshall National Sports and Conferencing Centre, celebrated the individuals and organisations who make our sport so special.
Across the 13 awards, Archery GB received over 120 nominations which made the shortlisting and selection no easy task. Here are the winners and the highly commended runner ups.
Winner: Griffin Archers
Highly commended: Bowmen of Pendle and Samlesbury and Kirton in Lindsey Archery Club
Winner: Redhill Archers
"Thank you to everybody at Redhill that supports the junior club. [...] We have coaches, we have parents and we couldn't do it without the volunteers that we have." 
Highly commended: Perth Archery Club and Wellingborough Open Archery Club
Winner: Thirsk Bowmen
"Thirsk Bowmen is a Performance club that thrives by providing the space for its members to perform at their best. It doesn't happen by accident, but through a comprehensive approach to understanding individual needs and aspirations. Then planning and delivering high-quality coaching to the archer in front of us." 
Highly commended: Wallingford Castle Archers and Bowmen of Rutland
Winner: The Audco Archers
"We have a very strong club, over 180 members, and we really believe in reaching out to the community. [...] We are a great club, we do enjoy it and we are very thankful for being recognised for our efforts." 
Highly commended: Kirton in Lindsey Archery Club and Stockton Archers
Winner: TaAF (Together an Active Future) and Active Lancashire
"We've been working very closely with Yvonne (NCAS RDO), and I'd like to thank Together an Active Future and Active Lancashire for all the support they've put into the Active Madrassah project. It's been an honour to be here and thank you very much for giving us this opportunity." 
Highly commended: Archery for Everyone and Leicestershire and Rutland Archery Association Development Team
Winner: Perriswood Bowmen
Highly commended: Coventry University Archery Club and Northern Counties Archery Society
Winner: Tony Barclay
"They said to be this evening, 'Have you prepared your speech?' and I said absolutely not, I'm not going to pick anything up as I've only been shooting since February. I don't know how or why you nominated me or why I'm deserving of this, but I am genuinely grateful. If I can use this to promote archery more to more disabled and able-bodied people, then I will." 
Highly commended: Angie Berkley and Steve Prowse
Winner: Jasmine Simpson
"I've amassed around 500 volunteering hours in the last academic year, and around 400 of those were dedicated to archery. So I really do have to say a big thank you to my three biggest cheerleaders: Sophie from the Students Union (who gets at least one email a week from me), Andrew Stanford and Robert Potts." 
Highly commended: Archie Bromley and Aaron Craig
Winner: Richard Radigan
Highly commended: Richard Anderson and Hazel Campbell
Winner: Deb Horn
Highly commended: Martin Oakley and Helen Woodcock
Winner: Philippa Lowe
"Thank you to everybody who supports me in my coaching journey - Stuart and Gaynor, the other nominees, are very much part of that team. I would also like to thank my very patient family because I'm never available for family events, and to my mentors. [...] Coaching is part of a team and I count myself extremely lucky to be part the AGB coaching teams. It's something I'm passionate about, so this award is for all of us really, because we all work together to support the athletes."
Highly commended: Stuart Taylor and Gaynor Hutchinson
Winner: Gareth Beeby
Highly commended: Shannon Russell-Cowan and Chris Battersby
Congratulations to all of our winners and shortlisted nominees. Volunteers are the heartbeat of our sport. Without each and every one of you, the sport we love would not be possible. From all at Archery GB we would like to say a huge thank you for your hard work.
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