Certificates of Merit are awarded to individuals or teams of people who have provided exceptional service to the cause of Naturism. We have many volunteers who make enormous contributions, all worthy of praise, the Merit Awards recognise those who have gone beyond that either recently or over an extended period of time. Nominations came from both members and the EC, and four awards were made:
Tim Higgs and the Clover Spa Team
Tim has created a first-class Naturist facility, battling against criticism from the mainstream market and remaining true to his original dream. He has built a dedicated and professional team who encourage the Naturist lifestyle. He has used events including “Young Clover” weekends and couples weekends to create entry points for demographic groups often underrepresented in Naturism, often at the expense of an optimal business model. There are many testimonies of guests having their first experience of communal nudity at Clover Spa and becoming Naturists as a result.
Outside the business, he has actively promoted Naturism, on occasion putting himself on the line, through television appearances and appearances at various events. His contribution to Naturism overall was seen as exceptional.
Roy Nichols
Roy is a volunteer, which may come as a surprise to some, given the frequent use of the word “professional” to describe his contribution. He has been part of the events team for about five years, but even more importantly is part of the safeguarding team, and has been for at least three years. Typical of his contribution over that period was his work during Nudefest this year, when he was already about at 6.30am, and still around at 1am making sure everyone was OK and safely in bed. He was described as “always the last man standing”.
Roy has been instrumental in setting up ‘safe spaces’ at BN’s events and his care, support and diplomacy in managing incidents is exceptional. His contribution goes well beyond what might be expected of him in his role and is of invaluable benefit to those who attend events: even if they don’t see him, they are safe in the knowledge that Roy is there as part of the team who help look after them. For all those reasons Roy’s contribution has been exceptional.
Jon Williams
Jon has been vice-chair of the organisation for some three years, for most of that time being acting chair. His term coincided with some of the most difficult issues BN has had to deal with. He also, perhaps most visibly, accepted responsibility for the biggest project BN has ever taken on, namely the development and improvement of Sunfolk, something that he has approached with evident competence.
Overall, he has brought calmness and professionalism to the management of BN and especially the conduct of meetings, both of the EC and of the management team, bringing into play transferable skills from his business background. These achievements, alongside the fact that he was able to contribute so much to BN whilst employed full-time and enjoying his other non-professional interests – to say nothing of the various Naturist events that he has led such as the Highland walking weekends – makes his contribution exceptional.
Jon has committed to continue to manage the Sunfolk project into the next phase, reporting to the EC and the management team, and to manage our retail operations, but will be stepping down from the EC at the AGM, so now seems an apt time to award a certificate of merit.
Edwin Kilby
Edwin joined the British Naturism EC in 2018, taking up the post of International Director. Over years in which global politics have been fractious, Edwin elevated the influence of British Naturism and was instrumental in the evolution of the leadership of the INF itself. Edwin’s diplomacy overcame the partisan divides within the INF leadership and mediated an outcome that was beneficial to all. By doing so, Edwin has reinforced our position as a global influence for good and made close allies of many federations.
Edwin’s successes are equally evident at home. Edwin has gathered together a team of legally qualified volunteers so we now have expertise in a wide range of legal matters. The legal team of Peter and Christine Wright have been our most evident advocates in legal matters and Edwin has supported them so that their focussed and unmatched expertise has been backed up by professional advice where needed. Edwin has taken the lead in managing various legal challenges to the organisation that have arisen, thus protecting British Naturism, and has been responsible for much of the documentation that British Naturism relies on to act effectively and within the law.
What will be evident from this list, is that most of Edwin’s work has been done out of sight, despite being critical to the success of British Naturism. Therefore, it is the right time to recognise that work as he moves to do similar things for the INF.
Broader Recognition
Although we celebrate those recipients, it is important that we remember that there are many other names in the mix. They might not be receiving an award this year, but that takes nothing away from their achievements and in many cases they are at the start rather than the end of a period of influence. Therefore, we applaud all volunteers and know that we will see even more nominations next year.