Monday 17th December was a fantastic day for all concerned and a pivotal occasion for ECF. My MP Vera Baird had sent out an invitation to our young stars to visit her in Parliament. Our party probably about one hundred, heard some historical facts about Parliament and in particular about the room we were using, Vera also touched on the manner of decision making in Government and how every MP has a responsibility to their constituency.
The second speaker was Dennis Skinner who promised his support to ensure that when our young people represent England in World and European events they should not have to pay such a large share of the costs.
The third speaker was Minister for Sport Gerry Sutcliffe who was presented with the first pieces of our promised 250,000 chess sets by Fergus Christie. Peter Wilson I am sure will agree that this ceremony went off very well indeed and was appreciated by the Company. The Minister expressed his thanks for the sponsorship and went on to speak about his hopes for the future of ECF and the talented players who had come to The House.
The fourth speaker was Charles Clarke who confirmed his view that Chess and indeed all other Mind Sports should receive full recognition from HM Government. He also agreed to attend the Official opening of our Library in Hastings next Year.
The fifth speaker was Dr Evan Harris who has been a committed supporter of our campaign for many years, he repeated his call to Government that recognition should be granted as soon as possible.
The sixth was Michael Foster from Hastings who promised to email every MP in Parliament to ask them to find out from the schools in their constituency if they would need any chess sets
Gerry Walsh
