Rugeley Rifle Club Chairman Martyn Buttery has been appointed as Chair of the NSRA Rifle Committee – the NSRA group responsible for smallbore competitions and rules. Martyn has been a member of the Rifle Committee for several years and takes over from Mike Chapman.
Rugeley Rifle Club was honoured to host the Lord Lieutenant for Staffordshire, Sir Ian Dudson KCVO CBE on Friday 28th March at our annual prizegiving. Accompanied by local councillors and Josh Newbury MP, Sir Ian visited to present the King’s Award for Voluntary Service, gazetted in November. Whilst visiting, he presented a number of awards and trophies and toured the club, viewing the ranges and learning about the club’s volunteering and charitable activities.
A £500 cheque was also presented to Rugeley and District Community First Responders, and £350 was presented to Staffordshire & Shropshire 4×4 Response – two of the club’s chosen charities. RADCFR maintain the defibrillator hosted on the outside of the club. This lifesaving piece of equipment was installed in 2019. Since then it has been activated six times, and used at least twice. SAS 4×4 Response provide charitable event support and transport for workers such as nurses during extreme weather.
The Lord Lieutenant was accompanied by Cllr Phil Hewitt (Chair, Staffordshire County Council), Cllr Steve Thornley (Chair, Cannock Chase District Council), Cllr David Williams, Josh Newbury MP and the Rt Hon Dame Amanda Milling.
Rugeley shooters have had a very successful weekend at the British Open Airgun Championships at Bisley.
Kicking off on Thursday, Abbi Beech took bronze in the Sporter Rifle championship.
On Friday, Pippa Waterson qualified fourth in the Junior Women’s Air Pistol, improving to bronze medal position in the final, whilst Oliver Hill qualified as the youngest finallist in the Junior Men’s Air Rifle, improving from seventh to fifth place.
Olivia Beech took bronze in the Women’s Air Rifle and silver in the University Championship. Megan Bamsey also qualified for the Women’s Final, finishing fifth.
In the Seniors, Paul Watkiss qualified for the Men’s Air Pistol final in 6th position, unluckily finishing just out of the medals in fourth place after a strong final.
Paul Barker won the SH1 Air Rifle, and placed third in the SH1 Prone Rifle.
All photos courtesy Eleanor Shorey, nsratheshorey.com
Congratulations to Rugeley’s Competition Secretary Dave Glover, who has been appointed Adjutant to the GB Wakefield Match Team. The two year appointment will run for the 2025 and 2026 years, and normally leads to a two year appointment as Captain.
The Lord Wakefield Monument Trophy Match is an international postal match held in September, originally between Great Britain and Sweden. In 1985 Sweden was unable to raise a team and the match went in abeyance until 1991 when it resumed with a new field of competitors including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA. The course of fire is an “English Match” – 60 shots at 50metres on NSRA/ISSF targets, using integer scoring. Competitors shoot on their home ranges, under supervision of a qualified witness.
Five of the ten team members are selected based on performance at the NSRA National Meeting at Bisley, with the other 5 taken from the top individuals in NSRA Comp 103 and 303 (10-metre postal leagues).
With great pleasure and excitement, the Committee can announce that Rugeley Rifle Club has been honoured with The King’s Award for Voluntary Service. Gazetted this morning, the King’s Award is the highest honour a voluntary group can receive in the UK, equivalent to an MBE. Rugeley is the first shooting sports club to ever receive this award.
This award is a testament to all our volunteers, including the property team, coaches and administrators; but in particular recognises the work the club has done outside it’s own membership and the positive impact it has had on the wider local community. Over the past 10 years the club has worked with the Staffordshire Council of Voluntary Youth Services and Vysions Youth Service of Brereton, providing summer camps for local young people in association with Burntwood Target Sprint. Participants have completed volunteer work at the club including a mural on the outside of the range, and in return learned to shoot Olympic Air Rifle and Air Pistol.
In 2019, the club fundraised for a Public Access Defibrillator, which saw the adoption of Rugeley and District Community First Responders (RADCFR) as a supported charity and the more recent installation of an emergency Bleed Control Kit. RADCFR themselves were honoured with the Queen’s Award in 2018.
In 2022, the Club supported British Shooting in bringing the National Finals of the Schools Pistol and Rifle Championships to Cannock Leisure Centre, with Rugeley members volunteering as Range Officers and supporting match administration during the competition. British Shooting have returned to Cannock every year since. The Club has also supported the BS Target Sprint Series, the West Midlands leg being hosted at Burntwood Target Sprint.
Alongside these major events, the club has enjoyed hosting guest nights for diverse community groups, running an air rifle range at Brereton Carnival and serving as a venue for local groups including Viking re-enactors and 4×4 response.
In competition, the club’s Air Rifle A-Team won Division 1 of the National League three consecutive years from 2018-2020, and again in 2022. Members have represented England, Wales and Great Britain, with recent sporting highlights including:
Rugeley Rifle Club is just one of 262 local charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the prestigious award this year. The work of these organisations reminds us of all the ways fantastic volunteers are contributing to their local communities and working to make life better for those around them.
The King’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by local volunteer groups to benefit their communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee and, following his accession, His Majesty The King emphasised his desire to continue the Award.
Representatives from the club will receive the award crystal and certificate from Ian Dudson, Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire later this year. In addition, two volunteers from Rugeley Rifle Club will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in summer 2025, along with other recipients of this year’s Award.
Club Chairman Martyn Buttery said: “To be nominated for such a prestigious award as The Kings Award for Voluntary Service is an honour in itself but to actually win is such an incredible achievement. It goes to show what can be done and achieved with a positive attitude.“
Club President Olivia Lyons said: “I am was absolutely delighted to hear that Rugeley Rifle Club had been awarded a King’s Award, it is a real testament to the Club’s Committee and the volunteers who work tirelessly to make it such a success. The Club is a real asset and hive of activity within our local community, supporting a number of local voluntary groups, hosting youth programs and nurturing the talent of the many Club members. The award is such a fantastic achievement, which will be shared and celebrated with our whole community.”
Izzy Ward and Bill Clark competed at Aldersley this weekend in the NSRA West Midlands Airgun Open. In the B-Class Air Rifle Championship, Izzy took Gold and Bill Silver. Bill shot two days and also claimed Gold in the B-Class Aggregate.
Congratulations to Rugeley Rifle Club Chairman Martyn Buttery, who has been appointed Adjutant for the GB Dewar Team in 2025 and 2026. The Adjutant is an assistant to the Team Captain, and typically takes on the Captaincy following their term as Adjutant.
Rugeley members represented at the NSRA’s National Smallbore Meeting this year, winning County and Home Country selections.
Six members shot the Weekend Aggregate, spanning Classes X to D.
Martyn Buttery finished 42nd in the X-Class Grand Aggregate and represented Hampshire. Martyn won Silver with the County Sextette, and Bronze in the County 50Metre match.
Richard Hemingway was selected for Wales, placing third in the Home Countries International.
Richard and Liz both qualified for the Eley Postal Final, with Richard placing 17th in A, and Liz taking 3rd in E.
Paul Watkiss placed 9th in A-Class in the Benchrest Weekend Aggregate. John Passey placed 11th.
Rugeley Rifle Club repeated its 2023 success at the Staffordshire Smallbore Rifle Association’s Championships, held at Baldwin’s Gate near Keele.
Richard Hemingway again led the charge, retaining his title as Staffordshire Long Range Champion, winning A-Class in the process. He also won the County 50Metre Championship.
Dave Glover won B-Class, was highest scoring Veteran and also earned the NSRA County Silver Medal – awarded to the highest scorer who hasn’t won it before.
Graham Delaney won C-Class and the R.W. De Nicolas Memorial Trophy for the top C, D or Junior shooter. Graham won D-Class last year. Vic Tyne was runner-up in C-Class and Helen Robinson placed sixth.
Paul Watkiss won D-Class.
Olivia Beech was selected to represent England in the Home Countries match on Saturday at the British 50Metre Rifle Championships. Shooting on the difficult Malcolm Cooper Range at the NSRA Lord Roberts Centre in Surrey, Olivia scored 555/600, placing her fourth overall and between team mates Wes Cann on 565 and Lloyd Collins-Page on 532. In a tight-fought match England placed second with 1652/1800, just three points behind Wales on 1655.
Having comfortably qualified for the final, she held her nerve to win Silver, making her top female competitor.
Olivia’s performance comes after her GB selection to the Junior team attending the Nordic Championships in August. Hosted in Denmark this year, Olivia will be competing in the Junior Women’s Three-Position Rifle and the Mixed Team event alongside Louis Norman.
