Chairman’s salute for Shrews stalwart Alton
Chairman Simon Jenkins paid tribute to Shrewsbury Rugby Club committee member Giles Alton after he was honoured with a volunteer award.
The Sundorne Castle stalwart balances two key roles, secretary and membership secretary, at the club.
And retired police officer Alton, a former Shrewsbury player, was recognised at the North Midlands Volunteer Awards held at Dudley Kingswinford.
Former chairman Alton, who stepped down from the role for Jenkins in 2017, was described as a ‘lovely, level-headed guy’, who is a ‘pleasure to work with’.
Jenkins explained how club volunteers give hundreds of hours of their time during the season and summer, not for reward, but to see the club continue to prosper.
“He’s been a member of the club for a long time, having played before moving on to the committee,” said Jenkins.
“He continued as a member of the executive committee when he stepped down as chairman and was happy to fulfil both of those roles.
“As a volunteer you’re doing it to get people playing, you’re not doing it for a reward.
“You’d like to think in the summer we’d be able to put our feet up a little, but there are always issues to solve within the club for the different roles.
“He comes to the North Midlands monthly meetings and annual general meeting and the Shropshire county AGM.
“It’s probably five hours a week’s work in the close season and probably 25 during the season.
“The passion probably falls away a little bit – thinking ‘do I have to deal with this?’
“It can put a lot of pressure on with individual responsibilities, we all go through that.”
Alton moved to Shropshire and now lives in Shrewsbury. His dad John was chief executive and a director at Morris Lubricants – the club’s main sponsor.
He was handed his trophy by North Midlands president Rob Bray.
Chairman Jenkins continued: “He’s a lovely guy, a pleasure to work with and someone you can really rely on.
“Giles is always prepared to discuss things and has a level head to have a reasonable conversation.”
Meanwhile, Shrewsbury’s first-team under the guidance of coach Simon Evitts have returned to fitness training.
They are preparing for life in Midlands 2 West (North) after a stunning 100 per cent season where they won every match on the way to the Midlands 3 West (North) title.
“It will be a tough step up for us. It’s about expectations and managing those,” said Jenkins.
“We’ll be trying to get through next season as a competitive force and stay in the division, which is the primary objective.”
