Paralympic table tennis star Will Bayley presents Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's Sport & Culture Passport winners with prizes

Winners of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's Sport & Culture Passport were announced at a ceremony in the Assembly Hall Theatre on Friday 19 October.

Introduced by Councillor John Cunningham, the winners were presented with their prizes by Paralympian and table tennis champion, Will Bayley, a silver medal winner at the 2012 Games.

The Sport & Culture Passport awards were very much a family affair as the Overall Champion was 7-year-old Luke Forte of Royal Tunbridge Wells. 

Luke's mum, Anne Forte, took the award for Cultural Champion and his sister Rebecca, who is 9, got the family's hat trick by winning Young Persons' Cultural Champion.

After the ceremony Anne said: 'Luke had no idea that he was the overall champion.  He was hoping for a medal so he couldn't believe how many prizes he was given when he went up to receive his award.  We thought it was a fantastic scheme – it's just a shame we can't do it every year!'

It was a family affair too for the Sporting Champion award which was won jointly by Glenn and Katherine Hougham of Royal Tunbridge Wells. 

In commenting on the passport competition Glenn said: 'It has really opened my eyes to not only new events and activities but also to parts of the town I would never have otherwise seen. I love Tunbridge Wells, it's projects like this that remind me how great this wonderful town is.'

Young Persons' Sporting Champion was 7-year-old Archie Bunch who lives in Benenden. Archie described all the new activities he experienced as 'like a mini Olympics'.

Gold medal winners who were runners up in the competition were:

Lauren Grey    Gus Minister    Emilia Sanders

Edward Sanders    Oscar Sanders    Nicholas Sanders

Caitlin Lloyd    Hazel Lloyd    Jenny Lloyd

Leon Hoey          

The Sport & Culture Passport was launched in January as part of the council's 2012 Year of Celebrations. The passport gave residents of the borough the opportunity to find out about the fantastic activities that are available in Tunbridge Wells and to try them free of charge. There were 21 sporting and 21 cultural activities available to try.

The passport was also a competition, with people trying to attend as many activities as possible. Natalie Coode the council's 2012 and sports lead officer said: 'We had a lot of passports entered, meaning the competition was tough.

'Throughout the project we received very positive feedback from participants and organisers of the taster sessions. Tunbridge Wells Fencing Club started a new class as there was so much interest generated through the passport. The cultural activities proved very popular and some people attended all 21 cultural activities – an amazing achievement!

Activities on offer included sailing, canoeing, crafts, dance, literature, music, curling and athletics.

Prizes for the Sport & Culture Passport were kindly donated Asda Tunbridge Wells, Cotswold Outdoor, Fusion Lifestyle, Redbox Cameras, Running Free magazine, Friends of Tunbridge Wells Museum, Library & Art Gallery, Assembly Hall Theatre and Trinity Theatre.