Andrew McMillan, Chairman of the Fletchers Trust and I, were lucky enough to be invited by Archery GB as VIP guests to attend the Final of the National Tour Championships on 30/31 August at Wolverton Hall, Nottingham. This event is the culmination of a series of eliminations held around the country over the last months. Able bodied archers shot against each other, in the hope that their efforts made it to the Final. The event is held every year. 

There were six categories: Compound Men; Compound Women; Barebow Men; Barebow Women; Recurve Men and Recurve Women. In all there were 40 archers competing. The event started with the 4 bronze medal matches leading to the silver and gold in each category. Some of the archers themselves were World, International, Olympic and National status including previous winners of the National Tour Final.  Some attended Paris 2024. and before. One of the archers was Finlay Clark, a Trust supported archer, shooting in the compound men category. 

The weather was at times challenging with wind gusts of up to 80km/h and the inevitable heavy rain, all of which was endured and did not stop shooting. 

We engaged with board members and officials of Archery GB, and shared each other’s stories. I myself was invited to hand out the cheques and the like in the final event, to the recurve women, won by Holly Linfield, someone who I had not come across before.  

Archery GB will put the Event on their website, if anyone is interested to read the story or watch the shooting. 

Past Master, Chris Brown 

Congratulations to the 650 Trophy prize winners in the National Disability Championships Men's Open Recurve, pictured here with the chair of the Fletchers' Trust, Past Master Chris Brown.

1st prize (with the relevant part of the 650 trophy) David Phillips; 2nd Cameron Radigan; 3rd Paul Brown

Well done to all. The WCF wishes you all the best in your future competitions.

Our congratulations to Phoebe Paterson Pine who has been awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours List for services to archery.

Phoebe won the gold medal in the Compound Women's competition at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

We were delighted to be able to support Phoebe's preparations through The Fletchers Trust.

Our congratulations to Phoebe Paterson Pine who has been awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours List for services to archery.

Phoebe won the gold medal in the Compound Women's competition at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

We were delighted to be able to support Phoebe's preparations through The Fletchers Trust.

On 30 September 2021, Archery GB held their Club and Volunteer Awards evening in Lilleshall where the Fletchers’ Trust was awarded the prestigious Gussy Trophy as this year’s Disability Award. The award is made to anyone who has advocated, supported, developed, competed, or represented in the area of disability archery.  PM Andrew McMillan, a Trustee, and Hilda Gibson, the Almoner, received the Trophy on behalf of the Trust.

The trophy, colloquially known as the Gussy trophy. was donated by Michael Bentine in memory of his son Stuart ‘Gus’ Bentine who died in 1971 in a light aircraft crash.  The trophy was inscribed and originally awarded to “The Wheelchair Archer of the Year” and the first winner inscribed was dated 1972.  As far as we could tell 2021 was the first time that the trophy was not awarded to an individual – let alone a livery charity.

In accepting the award Andrew thanked, in particular, Chris Brown for his leadership of the Trust over many years and Michael Holden for his years as Almoner. 

The ceremony was accessible by a live ArcheryGB YouTube link ( YouTube Channel ) with our award starting at 22 mins.

Hot off the press today (27 August 2021) from our Liveryman Hilda Gibson in Tokyo.

'We have now completed training and today, the Ranking Round.  It was HOT!  34.9 degrees C with 64% humidity.  No less than 9 Paralympic records were broken, one of them by Jess Stretton.  

See the following link for more details  https://worldarchery.sport/news/200444/nine-nine-new-paralympic-records-set-during-qualification-tokyo

Congratulations to Hazel Chaisty - for her first arrow and the first arrow shot on the field in the Paralympics.

Here's a photo of the  GB team taken at the end of their training camp before going into the Village – lots of happy smiles

You can follow results at https://www.ianseo.net/Details.php?toId=9088, including using the ‘Infosystem’ tab in the top right to follow individual matches arrow by arrow.'

Congratulations to archer John Stubbs MBE who was chosen alongside swimmer Ellie Simmonds to carry the Team GB flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympics on 24 August 2021.

John has won four world titles, as well as Gold in the Individual Compound at Beijng in 2008 and silver in the Mixed Team Compound at Rio in 2016. The Games were of course postponed from 2020 but the fact they were rescheduled, in John's view, 'gave everyone with a disability aspiring to be on the team a meaning for life'. 

The Chair of the Fletchers' Trust, PM Chris Brown, congratulated John on behalf of us all. In reply he expressed his appreciation for all the WCF had done 'to get us all this far'.

The Company extends its very best wishes to the whole Paralympic archery team as the Games get underway, and also to our liveryman Hilda Gibson who is in Tokyo training the volunteers in Tokyo supporting the archers.

The development of disability archery has a positive future as Archery GB, the Worshipful Company of Fletchers and Fletchers’ Trust embark on a new initiative for the next four years.

The Worhshipful Company of Fletchers is a long-term supporter of disability archery and this new programme will continue through to 2024.

There is a need to rebuild the sport following the damage of Covid-19, and archery needs to be far more inclusive than ever before. This initiative will strengthen the partnership between Archery GB and the Worshipful Company of Fletchers. It will ensure the pathway from club- to international events is clear, robust and above all diverse.

Work will focus on four main areas:

• Participation – Working to explore the set up and long-term sustainability of archery sessions and support existing clubs and organisations.
• Training – Support for the volunteer workforce to recognise good practice and to be welcoming to disabled people. It will include building on the successful adaptive equipment pilot courses.
• Competition – Creation of regional inclusive competitions/opportunities, leading into the annual Disability Championships.
• Classification – Whilst international classifications can only take place at international events, screenings will take place at the regional inclusive competitions. National classification assessments will take place at the Disability Championships.

Arran Coggan, Acting Director of Participation, said: “Archery GB is extremely indebted to the Worshipful Company of Fletchers, who have been supporting disability archery for a long time.

“This award will help ensure that access to archery is fair and equal and avoids marginalising disabled archers. Archery is inclusive and welcoming, but there’s work still to be done, especially in the current climate. These programmes will build on the fantastic work by the many volunteers who have, over the years, devoted their time to disability archery.”

The funding is very timely as the Activity Alliance release their annual survey. It showed that twice as many disabled people felt that coronavirus greatly reduced their ability to do sport or physical activity compared to non-disabled people.

Michael Holden, Honorary Almoner of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers, said: “The Fletchers helped both Paralympians and other disabled archers to buy equipment. In addition, the Company donates funds for training both grass roots and elite archers. This support ensures there is a clear path to success for potential Paralympians.”

The Worshipful Company of Fletchers has backed previous Archery GB inclusion programmes. The Fletchers’ also support Blind Veterans Archery section, archery schools set up for disabled children and to the British Wheelchair Archery Association and British Blind Sport.

Republished with thanks from the AcheryGB article 5th Feb 2021 https://www.archerygb.org/archery-gb-secures-disability-funding-from-worshipful-company-of-fletchers/