Club Awards

I think it is extremely important to acknowledge the contribution of our own club members towards the long term running and survival of the club.

We at the Keymer Club are so proud.

The first two awards illustrate how club members have contributed towards the development of this club on a significant scale.

EFDSS Gold Award

The EFDSS Gold Badge (a national award) is awarded to special people who have made a specific contribution to the development of folk activities either regional, nationally or in a specific area. Up until 2024 there have only been 210 such badges awarded. You can read more about the badge and other recipients here https://www.efdss.org/about-us/our-history/gold-badge-awards  and we are sure you will recognise some of the names.

On 9th March 2024, Sean Goddard Chairperson and main caller of our Keymer Folk Dance Club was awarded the English Folk Dance and Song Society’s Gold Badge.

The Keymer Folk Dance Club hosted a day to mark the occasion and 250 people attended. There was an afternoon of celebration followed by an evening of dancing. The entertainment included a Morris Dance displays by the Brighton Morris Men, and the Chanctonbury Ring Morris Men and the Copper Family from Rottingdean (who are also Gold Badge holders) sang Old Sussex Songs. The Gold Badge was ‘pinned on’ by Professor Theresa Buckland, Emeritus Professor of Dance History and Ethnography at the University of Roehampton.

Other members of Keymer Folk Dance Club who have also received this prestigious award are

  • Beryl Marriott – 2009(she was also a club band member)
  • John Bacon – 2018
  • Prof Theresa Buckland – 2024 (for services to dance in academia and dance research)

Do contact Sean, that’s him in the photograph for further details at s.p.goddard@sussex.ac.uk

Scan Tester Award

The Scan Tester Award (a national award) is awarded by the Sussex Folk Association (and its previous incarnation the Sussex District of the English Folk Dance and Song Society)  to people who live in Sussex who have given a  significant contribution towards the development of folk in Sussex. It was first awarded in 1983.
Other members of the club who have received this award are

  • Sean Goddard
  • Bob Weddell
  • Edward Kendall
  • Hal and Joyce Wallis
  • John Goddard
  • Michael Bell

Sally Course was the most recent Club member to have been awarded it in 2025.

The Elsie Whiteman Award (renamed the Whiteman-Bliss Award)

This award is Sussex specific awarded by the Sussex Folk Association (SusFA). It is a monetary award given to a young person for a specific purpose, such as getting extra musical instrument lessons from an expert.
This was awarded to Chris Jewell and Sean Goddard in 1983 and 1984, respectively, when they were 22 years old. 

Honorary Membership

A few club members have been awarded this for giving outstanding support to the Keymer Club. It is extremely important to acknowledge the contribution of our own club members towards the long term running and survival of our club. 

  • Edward Kendall – before 1992
  • Hal Wallis – before 1995
  • Joyce Wallis – before 1995
  • John Goddard – before 1995
  • David Jewell – 2000
  • Gwyn Goddard – 2001
  • Shirley Jewell – 2001
  • Mary Butler – 2009
  • John Butler – 2009
  • Brenda Farr – 2012
  • Janet Avery – 2015
  • Trixie Rodaway – 2015
  • Sean Goddard – 2021

“While some see the awards above as ‘Old People Awards’, I don’t. They are recognition of work done, and the expectation they will do more.” Sean Goddard Chairperson. “Keymer is a very small club which has not strived to seek the lime-light, but has quietly gone about the business of providing enjoyment for the local community. Yet, we have helped develop these people. It is rather good”.