Kevin Aitchison, former chair GBWR is recognized by HM the Queen with the award of an MBE
Congratulations to Kevin Aitchison who became an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for services to GB Wheelchair Rugby and disabled people. It is a fitting recognition for Kevin who first became interested in the sport when he attended the Paralympic Games in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2006. He joined the board as a trustee in 2009 before taking over from Justin Frishberg to become chair in 2010.
A great deal of a chair’s work goes on ‘under the radar’ of most of the membership but Kevin can be credited with bringing together a set of independent board members with the critical skills necessary to run what has become a national charity and a company registered with Companies House. This has been hugely important as it has meant that we have secured the confidence of grant providers such as Sport England and UK Sport, and we have met all of the legal requirements associated with being a recognised charity and limited company. It has also given our fundraisers the confidence that the money they raise will be used for the purposes it was meant. In the ten years of Kevin’s chairmanship the demands of governance, safeguarding, financial probity and other compliance and regulatory requirements have grown considerably and it’s to his credit that he has led a highly effective board which has met all of these challenges. All of our board members are volunteers and all give a great deal of their time freely to the sport. The demands on the chair are significant and on a daily basis he has been involved in supporting the chief executive to deliver the sport and manage the business. In particular he has always insisted that the sport is much more that the GB Team, and has always ensured a strong board focus on the grassroots game.
Kevin has been the driving force for ensuring that the board and the chief executive are completely focused on delivering the aims of the charity to build creative, vibrant opportunities which enhance the lives of all those who play the game and who support it as volunteers. He is an exceptional leader who has given many hours of his time and expertise with enormous enthusiasm. This has often been at great personal sacrifice as he has balanced a busy career as a CEO of a prestigious real estate company based in London and overseas, along with supporting his own family.
Overall Kevin can look back at his time as chair and be proud of the enormous impact he has had in leading a Paralympic sport and delivering significant organisational change to ensure that more and more disabled people can become part of wheelchair rugby communities. He is hugely respected in the sport both in this country and overseas where GBWR is seen as a model of how to grow the game and ensure it is more inclusive and we are hugely pleased that he has been recognized with this award.
