To commemorate the late Professor Lawrie Challis who did so much to preserve and restore the mill, the Trust will award the ‘Challis Chalice’ to the volunteer who has contributed the most hours in a calendar year.
As Lawrie was, in effect, the first ‘volunteer’ when he started the campaign to save the windmill in the late 1970s, it is fitting that this award will carry his name. As well as awarding the Challis Chalice to the 2017 winner, the Trust has awarded it retrospectively to all the volunteers who would have received it dating back to the first full year of the Trust – 2013.
At a ceremony during the Green’s Mill Christmas Party, all four previous winners were announced to much fanfare and joviality. They were all in attendance and received a certificate to mark their efforts and their names are engraved upon the chalice. Dave Pitt was then announced as the 2017 winner. Dave also received a certificate and gets to keep the Challis Chalice for a year, after which it will be handed to the 2018 winner. Here is the list of winners and how many hours they contributed:
2013 Shaun Hughes 232 hours
2014 Leigh Evans 451 hours
2015 Ellie Powner 269 hours
2016 Peter Fowles 270 hours
2017 Dave Pitt 353 hours
It should be remembered however that without all of the Green’s Windmill volunteer team the mill would struggle to remain open. In total volunteers contributed about 5,000 hours in 2017, an amazing feat.