Jayne Torvill OBE
Jayne Torvill was born in Clifton, Nottingham, on the 7th October 1957. Jayne went to a local grammar school, leaving at 16. Her first job was as a clerk at a Nottingham insurance company. She was introduced to skating at the age of 8 during a school trip to the old Nottingham Ice Stadium. This led to an immediate interest in the sport and she began attending skating lessons with local teachers Thelma Perry and Norma Bowmar, before and after school hours.
As a Pairs Skater, together with her teenage partner Michael Hutchinson, she won gold at the British championship in 1971 and silver in 1970 and 1972. After this flurry of success, the pair split and Jayne continued to skate on her own.
Jayne began skating with Christopher Dean in 1975, having been paired up by coach Janet Sawbridge at the Nottingham Ice Stadium. They enjoyed success in several national and international competitions, winning in Oberstdorf and coming third in the British Championships in 1977.
In 1979, they switched coaches to Betty Callaway. The progress they had made as a dancing pair was confirmed by a fifth place finish in the Winter Olympics of 1980 at Lake Placid, USA. They were placed fourth in the World Championships and won their first British Championships in late 1980, a feat that they would achieve for six successive years. Their greatest moment came at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Performing their now legendary Bolero routine on Valentines Day of that year, the pair stunned a British audience of over 24 million with a magnificent combination of artistic movement and athletic prowess, earning fullmarks from all nine judges and a gold medal. 1998 was the year of their official retirement.
They were awarded OBE’s in 2000 for their outstanding contributions to skating and to British sport. In 2006, they were asked to star in Dancing on Ice, the ITV series which is now in its fifth year. For the last four years, they have taken the show on a national tour following the series. It was at this time that Jayne accepted our invitation to become a Patron of Swale Youth Development Fund. Knowing of the support that Jayne and Christopher had received from Nottingham Council in their early skating careers was a key factor in Richard and Rose Moreton’s minds when they thought about setting up the Fund. Therefore, the Trustees were delighted when Jayne became a Patron in March 2006 and we were delighted to see her again at the Celebratory Lunch held at Hempstead House in September 2011 as the Fund’s 25th Anniversary Celebrations drew to a close.
Jayne lives in Sussex with her husband Phil Christensen whom she married in 1990. They have two children, Kieran and Jessica.
Honorary Alderman William Boggia
Honorary Alderman William Boggia, a Wiltshire Moonraker by birth, has lived in Graveney since 1940. He was educated at Rochester Tech Civil Engineering, then Kent Farm Institute studying Agricultural and Fruit Growing.
Bill, as he likes to be known, married his wife Alfreda in 1960 living at Boughton House, Graveney, the family home. Sadly, Alfreda passed away in 2000. There are two children. Clare, a Senior Matron with East Kent Health Trust, and Graham who is now MD of the family company.
In the early ’60’s it was decided to expand the holiday business which grew and eventually became known as Coast and Country Caravans.
Bill was elected to Swale Rural Council in 1966 and then elected in 1976 to the Swale Borough Council serving until 1992.
He was Chairman of several committees. He was Deputy Mayor 1983/84 and Mayor 1984/85. He was created an Honorary Alderman of Swale Borough Council in 1992 for long and dedicated service.
Bill served on Canterbury Health Authority and many other bodies. He is a past National Chairman of Parks Section NCC. He served on St Mary’s Restoration Committee 1984 for 21 years. He has held many offices from Secretary of the Village Hall, Charity Groups, PCC etc to his interest in the Canine World. He was Treasurer of the Ashford & Faversham Canine Society for 19 years and is now its President. In October 2009 Bill became the second Patron of the Swale Youth Development Fund.
Remarried to Chris in May 2010, they live happily in what he calls semi-retirement, still at Graveney.
Steve Brown
TV presenter and wheelchair rugby champion Steve Brown became the third patron of the Swale Youth Development Fund in February 2018.
The former Borden Grammar School pupil is the grandson of the late Rose Moreton, Life President and co-founder of the charity with her late husband Richard.
Steve, who captained the GB Paralympic team at the London 2012 Games is now a TV presenter with regular appearances on BBC programmes Springwatch, The One Show, Truth or Scare, and Countryfile. He is also a sports commentator being involved with events such as The London Marathon and The Invictus Games. He joins Olympic ice-skater Jayne Torvill OBE and Swale Honorary Alderman Bill Boggia as patrons of the Fund.
Steve said, “The Fund was a big part of my Nan’s life for so many years and I am delighted to carry on the charity’s work, supporting the ambitions of many of the talented young people in the district.”