Dear Members,
Salaam Alaikum
As we come to the end of another fantastic year for Stanmore Jafferys and look back on our achievements, we recognise just how different our activities and initiatives have been this year.
Set against a backdrop of lockdowns and uncertainty surrounding this unprecedented pandemic, we have had to think outside the box and come up with fresh ideas to keep the community engaged and active while being unable to hold our usual tournaments and festivals.
As a result, new memorable initiatives such as Khushalentines, Virtual Relay Marathon and March Teams Challenge have been born and have enabled us to continue to connect with communities around the world but via different activities.
Nevertheless, we have missed the likes of the Marhaba Rackets Festival, Great Netball Play-Offs and inter-Jamaat tournaments just as much as you have and we hope and pray that the pandemic situation eases in 2022 to enable us to bring some of these much loved events back to our members.
Furthermore, the strength and organisation of Stanmore Jafferys was once again exhibited through the safe and timely reopening of weekly sports from April and the implementation of strict Covid-19 guidelines to keep the community safe yet active. Alongside this, we were able to introduce not one, not two but three new sports in golf, cricket and volleyball which have all been great successes so far.
This round up exhibits the depth and number of activities SJ has been involved in this year and, as we reflected on the year, it is difficult to believe that we started it with lockdown for the first three months!
The club has now surpassed 550 female members between the ages of 4 and 75 consolidating our status as a club that caters for the whole community. The backbone of our setup are our dedicated and hardworking coordinators who run the weekly sessions and we would like to thank them for their hard work over the year. We would also like to thank our partners, sponsors and donors without whom it would not be possible to run a club of this size. Finally, we would like to thank you, our members, for your positive engagement and support over the year which has been the driving force behind our growth and ambition to provide you with more choices and opportunities.
The ever-growing nature of our club requires volunteers and assistance so if you would like to get involved in any capacity, please do not hesitate to contact any one of us and we would be more than happy to welcome you into the team be that in an EC, coordinator or coach role.
Equally, if you would like to partner with, sponsor or donate to the club, please get in touch with us. Your help will enable us to keep the club running and keep sport affordable for our members.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to ask for forgiveness for any shortcomings on our part and we wish you all a prosperous new year.
With Salaams & Duas,
SJ EC – Sabiha Chagpar, Samina Govani, Gulshan Walji, Fatemah Rajabali, Fatema Zahra Hassan, Burayha Lalji & Abbas Merali
