Marcus van Irsel - Student From 1973-1979

One of my strongest memories from my time at St Thomas’ is to do with the school fair.

The big wheel always used to attract lots of attention, and my father was one of those who dressed up in clown suits selling numbers for the next spin.

Dad was one of those that always was willing to help out. He was a football referee for many, many years and received an award for his contribution to junior football in Canterbury for this.

He also coached a junior football team that one of my other brothers played in and did some volunteer work for the Red Cross.

It was only natural that I would follow in his footsteps.

As well as playing for the school 1st XI from 1977 to 79, I became a junior football referee at the age of 14 and carried on doing this into my mid-twenties. By this stage I was coaching both senior and junior football teams and on the club’s executive (I can’t remember which role, as there were quite a few over the years).

After a five-year spell selling cars, which curtailed my involvement in football, I returned to the game as I was also starting a family. It didn’t take long before I got the call again to help coach. My oldest son was still too young to play, but they were willing to turn a blind eye if it meant I would help.

This time I became even more involved, shortly after running the entire junior section of the club, which was one of the largest and most successful in Canterbury. It culminated in my being made a life member of the club around 20 years ago.

It didn’t stop there though, as I ended up on the local primary school PTA before becoming a scout leader. I was already too busy as it was, but the current leaders were leaving scouts as their sons were now too old. A special meeting was held, which I was forbidden to attend by my wife as she knew I would end up volunteering. Instead, she went along to the meeting, where another parent got up and said he knew of the perfect person for the job and put my name forward. As it was, two other parents said they would help me if I was prepared to do it; they just didn’t want to be the one at the front running the meetings.

This brings me to my involvement in Toastmasters, an organization I joined 30 years ago. Because of the skills I’d developed during my membership, this was a no-brainer. I’d already made multiple presentations and so fronting a group of scouts was a breeze.

You may wonder what there still is to develop after 30 years in Toastmasters and that is one of the constant challenges I face; putting myself outside of my comfort zone. For me that has included taking part in contests at which I have reached a national level. But the real reason I remain is that now I can pass on my knowledge and experience onto others and mentor new members as they begin their journey.

When I think of all the unpaid hours I have committed to helping others, I suppose the biggest question to answer is has it been worth it all? Undoubtedly yes, due to the number of wonderful people I have been able to work with during this time and all the fun that has gone with it. If you make it enjoyable, it makes it worthwhile!