SALTBURN resident Mr Alan Whiley was honoured at this month’s meeting of Saltburn, Marske and New Marske Parish Council.

Presenting him with the Community Service Award, Cllr Norah Cooney, leader of the Council, spoke of his decades of voluntary work in the town.

A noted Rotarian and the 75th local president, Alan has been involved with the club’s community work, organizing events and fundraising for local groups.

Alan was the founder and one of the leading lights of the Saltburn Victorian Footballers. The group has organised musicals, the annual Duck Derby, family fun days and activities for children for thirty years, raising thousands of pounds for charities and good causes in the parish. The main focus has been aiding young people with new and replacement equipment for groups and clubs, help with funding shortfalls and money for computers. In addition they have provided individual support for talented young people in all fields, from sports to the arts, enabling them to attend specialist schools and training to further their careers.

Alan was the inspiration behind last June’s football match on Saltburn beach to commemorate the 1914 Christmas truce. Two years in the planning, the event attracted world-wide attention with press coverage from Chicago to Canberra and it raised more than three thousand pounds for the British Legion and the Saltburn War Memorial fund.

Accepting his award, Alan thanked all the people who had supported the Footballers over the years. He praised Barclays Bank who provided matched funding for so many projects, doubling the money raised. He also had a special thanks for the Parish Council.

‘I came to you for a grant 30 years ago, to start the Victorian Footballers,’ he said. ‘It was your first contribution that led to all the money we have raised over the years. I’ve come back for help many times and you have never turned me down. For that I thank you.’