Award for young Beccles rower

20 December 2007

THE efforts of a talented and hard working Beccles teenager to encourage more young people to take up the sport of rowing have been recognised with a community award from the town council.

Sixteen year-old Imogen Beedham, better known as Midge, was at the town hall on Tuesday evening to receive the Eileen Crisp Award from town mayor Jeff Harris.

The award is presented annually in memory of former mayor Mrs Crisp, who gave long service on the town and Waveney district councils and who, among many other activities, vigorously championed the needs of young people in the town.

Presenting the Sir John Leman High School student with her certificate, Mr Harris said she was an outstanding representative of the youth community.

She represented the junior members on the Beccles Rowing Club committee. She was an outstanding competitor, as cox or sculler, and had done some great fund raising for the club. She also found time to be a Brownie leader.

Academically talented, she was looking forward to being one of 24 Leman school students heading for a month-long expedition to Peru next year. In addition to exploring that spectacular country there would be time set aside for a community project.

Delighted by her award, Midge told the Journal: "I filled in a grant application for the Waveney District Council youth opportunities fund because we wanted to get more juniors involved in the sport of rowing. We had only three or four junior members and now we have 16.

"The money also went towards our new clubhouse that we have just had built."