Published: 6th April 2021
Huddersfield Giants Community Trust have appointed Jasbir Singh Athwal DL as their new Chairman replacing the outgoing Mike Farrar MBE and have also recently welcomed Jane Iveson and Jenny Bowers to the board of trustees.
Huddersfield Giants Managing Director and Community Trust board member Richard Thewlis paid tribute to the outgoing Farrar whilst welcoming the new Chairman on board. “This is a tremendously exciting and transformational time in the development of the Trust as we look to exit what has been an incredibly difficult time for us. The work that Mike Farrar has done for us as our Chairman voluntarily over the years has been simply outstanding and it was with great disappointment that the board of Trustees accepted a while back his view that after 10 years it was time for him to step back and concentrate on other matters. The timing unfortunately coincided with the onset of the Covid 19 Pandemic and Mike has absolutely been at the forefront of the countries response and action with his NHS hat on which understandably has occupied all his time. In the few small snippets of information I’ve gleaned in this last dreadfully difficult year it was humbling at times to hear of the work Mike was involved in and frankly reassuring to know that we had a man with his integrity, compassion and ability helping to beat this Pandemic. The Trust will miss Mikes leadership and guidance but we know that he will always be on the end of the phone to assist the transition to Jasbir chairing the board and like me I know that he is incredibly confident in the team who work at the Trust to continue to deliver wonderful services to the community at large.
In turning then to Jasbir (Jas) he is very well known in Rugby League circles and personally I was delighted when he agreed to join us. The process involved all trustees and he received unanimous acceptance at our last formal meeting albeit being online as seems to be the way of the world at the moment. The business of the Trust has changed due to the Pandemic and will continue to evolve fairly rapidly I believe as we work through the roadmap to exit lockdown. The Zone is a key facet of the delivery of services to the community with the key message of “Get fit have fun” always in the forefront of our minds and we hope to soon re-open the doors there. In addition, we have an exciting new project close to fruition that the Trust will play a major role in and is one that I know Jas is very keen to press on with if at all possible.”
Mike Farrar MBE said “I am so delighted to have been able to serve as the Chair of the Trust, as it represents all that is good about people providing great facilities to all sections of the community. I would like to pay tribute to Ken Davy, for his commitment to the Trust over all these years, to my fellow Trustees for all their service, and to the executives, in particular Lisa and Richard, who have been outstanding. Finally, I have great confidence that under the expert chairmanship of Jas, the Trust will go on from strength to strength, and I wish him and them all the best for the future,”
Jas Athwal said “I’m absolutely delighted and honoured to have been asked by Ken Davy and the Huddersfield Giants Community Trust to Chair the Board of Trustees. I’d like to offer my sincere thanks to Mike for all the hard work he’s put in over the last 10 years. The trust is in a great place under his leadership, I am hopeful that I can carry on the great work that Mike started with the rest of the team at the Huddersfield Giants Community Trust. I am passionate about rugby league and looking forward to working with the team.
The current board of the Huddersfield Giants Community Trust (registered charity No: 1117768) is as follows:
Jas Athwal (Chair), Jason Whitworth, Tina Vink, Helen Stevens, Richard Thewlis, Jane Iveson and Jenny Bowers and the charity is run by Chief Executive Officer Lisa Darwin.
