8:59am Tuesday 22nd December 2009
By Alana Lewis
The memory of much-loved former Chippenham Sports Club chairman Tim Waycott, who died last year, lived on with a weekend of activities held in his honour.
Mr Waycott, 44, of Kington Langley, died last December just two weeks after being diagnosed with cancer, and hundreds of members of the sports club turned out at the weekend to take part in sports games, quizzes and bingo to raise money for a trust fund in his name.
Organiser Elizabeth Thatcher said: “From the weekend we managed to raise £700, which will go to the Tim Waycott Trust for youth sport in the area, and had about 250 people pass through the club.
“We were very pleased with that as it was the weekend before Christmas.
“The skittles night raised the most amount of money with all the competitors paying fines on the score they achieved.
“The atmosphere was really positive and we even had a boy jump on the pool table to break dance to Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminals to boost the fundraising.”
Other activities included a steak night and live band, jazz lunch, table tennis competition and children's fun run.
The event was held to mark the anniversary of Mr Waycott’s funeral, and it is hoped some of the funds raised will be put towards a lasting memorial at the sports club.
Miss Thatcher said: “I would like to thank all those who helped out this weekend and those who attended and helped us raise so much money for a good cause.
“We wanted to do something because Tim was so close to everyone’s hearts.
“We knew this was the anniversary of his funeral and we wanted to put on a weekend of activities to celebrate his life and the legacy he left behind.”
Mr Waycott joined the club in 1979, became a member of its committee and eventually its chairman in 1996.
He was the driving force behind the building of a new clubhouse and helped bid for funding for the new Air Dome, which was secured on the day of his funeral and opened last month.
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