Bob Aitken Service to Shooting Award

the Award

Following Bob Aitken’s death in October 2016, Scottish Target Shooting wanted to recognise the fantastic contribution which Bob made to the sport of Target Shooting in both Scotland and further afield. We have decided that a fitting celebration of Bob’s contribution to Target Shooting in Scotland would be to have an award in his name – the Bob Aitken Service to Shooting Award – in recognition of people who have served the sport over a number of years, just as Bob did.  We feel that this is a fitting way of remembering all Bob has done for our sport on a yearly basis and using this to also recognise the service of others.  The first presentation of the award was made in 2017. 

About Bob

Bob came to Edinburgh after a military career, he worked in Insurance for the Royal Bank and set about using his considerable administrative and leadership skills to the benefit of Scottish shooting. After leaving the Royal Bank, Bob was General Secretary of the Scottish Sports Association for over 10 years and it was entirely appropriate when he won the 1999 Scottish Sports Council award for Scottish Volunteer of the Year across all sports, beating Jim Telfer of rugby fame.

At club level, he was the East of Scotland Rifle club. He was Captain and Secretary for over 40 years. He negotiated tirelessly with police and military to retain target shooting for club members at Dreghorn and latterly Castlelaw Ranges to the south of Edinburgh. He produced rifles and ammunition for every evening shoot and his energy level was enormous. Every year he ran an open championship in September - most recently on the electronic targets of Blair Atholl range.

Bob was particularly supportive of young shooters and his advice and humour assisted many in the sport over the years – his immense pride at those who went on to represent county or country at the highest levels of competition was reward enough.

Passionate about all sports, Bob had been active in 5 favoured sports over time - athletics, football, hockey and basketball and only latterly target shooting.

Bob was a fine shot in his own right. He captained Scotland for 6 years, represented Scotland in the National Match on 26 occasions and in the MacKinnon on 21. He was a member of numerous Scottish teams touring abroad and he had an affinity with Canada and British Columbia. He was made a Vice President of the NRA and he captained a Great Britain team which toured to New Zealand in 2003 where he enjoyed some of his best competitive shooting - winning the Veterans gold medal and coming 4th overall. An experienced team coach – he loved to tell the story of how he started coaching in 1979 with his United Banks team in a long-range match at Bisley. The others were all smallbore shooters. They had one rifle between them - Bob's trusty P14. He scored a healthy 68 ex 75 but then coached the others to scores of 75, 75, 74, 73 and 72. His success was observed by the captain of the following year's Great Britain team to Canada and the next thing he knew has was on that Great Britain team as a coach!

But it was on the Scottish National target shooting scene that he most excelled. He was a founder member in 1965 of the Scottish Shooting Council which combined all the disciplines of target shooting for the first time. He was appointed the Target Shooting Facilities manager for the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh and worked tirelessly to find a suitable venue for the small-bore events.

During the Games he was travelling 200 miles a day between Barry Buddon for full-bore rifle; Kippen for shotgun and Musselburgh racecourse for the smallbore events. One of the teams turned up with a very large container which required a fork lift truck to move it. Inside were neatly packed pistols and a very large quantity of beer. The team withdrew because of apartheid issues but only the pistols got home.

Bob was a strong supporter of Commonwealth Games shooting and embraced the opportunity that it gave for the smaller countries to compete against the larger nation’s athletes on a level range. He twice went to the Commonwealth Games as part of the Scottish team management – including the 1994 games in Victoria, where the Scottish shooting team won a record 7 medals. Later, judging roles in the Manchester, Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne Games kept him on the move.

He was Chair of the Scottish Shooting Council/Scottish Target Shooting Federation between 1987 and 1995 and worked hard with all the disciplines - promoting strongly the ideal of a combined range for all target shooting disciplines. It is a matter of regret for his many Scottish shooting friends that this wish is only now in 2017 possibly about to become reality.

Bob is survived by the ever-supportive Margaret, a well-known figure to many at Bisley, and the five children of whom he was always immensely proud - Alan, Alison, Carol, Colin and David, all of whom enjoyed life with Bob on the ranges over the years.

Winner 2024 - Ian Thomson mbe

Charles Ian Howie Thomson (“Ian”) has been involved with target shooting mainly, but not exclusively, in disciplines involving 0.22 target rifle, since he took up the sport at the age of 14 with the George Watson’s Combined Cadet Force. Although he is a keen competitor, his influence on the sport has been more to do with his organisational and coaching skills, and to his enthusiasm to see the sport – and its participants – develop and move on to greater things!

He developed his shooting skills quite rapidly and soon began passing his knowledge on to incoming members of the school club. The school team developed into a very successful unit, and Ian carried his enthusiasm and abilities over to his time at Heriot-Watt University where he built a very keen, expert team of shooters from the remnants of a rather run down club. During his time at University he went back to George Watson’s College to shoot with the Watsonian’s F.P. Club

At Watsonians he soon found his organisational and coaching skills were much in demand, so he developed a “Junior” Rifle Club (G.W.T.R.C.) to take the place of the – by now – defunct Cadet Force. Over the years he has, with a few years gap due to work commitments, continued to work with the club and has developed a very effective and efficient system of teaching new shooters to coach the next contingent. The senior and junior clubs together have become recognised throughout Scotland and the UK as examples of excellence in the sport: in recent years they produced around 10% of the total entry at the NSRA Scottish Meeting!

In addition to his commitment to the school club Ian has, for many years, been the lead coach for the Scottish Junior Squad. Many of his proteges have gone on to represent Scotland and Great Britain successfully at international level (European Championships, Commonwealth Games) and have even been in contention for Olympic selection!

As organiser for the Scottish Schools Postal Team, Ian has brought together talented shooters from many schools from the length and breadth of Scotland. In some cases seeking out and identifying candidates from several school clubs who had not recently been involved in shooting outwith their own clubs.

Underlying his work as a County Coach and Junior Coach has been Ian’s commitment to the organisation and development of shooting sports.

As chairman of the Scottish Small-bore Rifle Association (S.S.R.A.) he brought together a committee and team of individuals which ran and provided guidance for our sport over many years. This included discussions and negotiations with various bodies – such as sportscotland, the National Small-bore Rifle Association, Police – all for the benefit and development of target shooting.

When it became apparent that major changes were necessary in order to provide continuing organisation and funding of target shooting in Scotland, Ian took on the task of investigating the necessary criteria and was a key figure in negotiations for development of a new body, Scottish Target Shooting (STS), which became an umbrella organisation bringing together various target shooting sports so that development and funding could continue, and so that resources could be shared. 

As Vice-Chairman of the newly formed STS, he made sure everyone involved had a chance to hear about the changes first hand, and hopefully to understand the reasons for and implications of the changes. To this end, he regularly attended committee meetings and AGMs for each discipline (Target Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun, Field Target) to bring each of these separate groups up to date, and to address their concerns about the changes. 

As part of his role with STS, he is involved in many aspects of target shooting sports in Scotland – attending regular meetings with Police Scotland, a crucial role when the Police force were overwhelmed by applications for the newly introduce air weapons firearms certificates a few years ago. He also leads applications for funding and helps to guide future development of target shooting sports in Scotland – in the meantime maintaining his involvement with “grassroots” coaching!

Winner 2023 - Billy Crawford

Billy joined Alloa & District Rifle Club  from Callander Rifle Club  in 1995. In his twenty seven years as a member of Alloa & District Rifle Club Billy has given the club enormous support in all its activities.

Billy is part of the club’s coaching team and has assisted in running shooting sessions for local Scout groups so Scouts can obtain their marksman badge. He was also involved with the club’s work with shooting for the disabled.

It was Billy who designed, manufactured and installed the new firing points so that the club could shoot 3P and air guns and adapted the firing point to make it accessible for wheelchairs.

It was also Billy who gave up his free time to design and manufacture a mobile 10 meter air gun system so that the club’s coach could safely run air gun shooting at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital spinal injury unit in Glasgow.

Nothing has been too much trouble to Billy - the work that he has done in the indoor range is a very long list from installing a false ceiling and putting in insulation to making new target boards and frames, manufacturing tables so that the some members can shoot bench rest.

Billy also helps with the running of open competitions where he is the scorer and drafts up the result sheets. He is the type of person who is the back bone of a good club. Nothing is too much trouble and he is the first to volunteer to help new members when they have queries about their position or their equipment. Billy always has the right answer, a kind word and gives up his own shooting time to ensure that all members and not just the new ones have the benefit of his vast experience of small-bore target shooting.

All of this is done without a thought given to his own challenges. In his teens, due to a motor bike accident, Billy had the lower part of his right leg amputated. In recent years Billy was diagnosed with cancer, after some treatment sadly Billy had an operation to remove a kidney. Although this has had an enormous effect on Billy's health, he still gives 100% to the club and coaching the juniors.

Billy is the epitome of an invaluable club member who gives his all to the club and sport, not only keeping it running but helping to bring on the next generation. The second winner of this award from the Alloa & District Rifle Club, Billy is a deserving winner of the Bob Aitken Service to Shooting Award for 2023.

Winner 2022 - Gavin Walker

Gavin started shooting smallbore rifle in 1987 at St Andrews University, where he got a Half Blue for shooting in his final year.  After a year at Southampton University, where he shot for the Hampshire County team, he took up 3P and Air Rifle.  From 1992 to 1998, while in Lincoln, he shot at Springfield Rifle and Pistol Club and Falcon RC.   He got his only Scottish Cap in 1994 as part of the 3x40 team at the National meeting at Bisley.  When he moved back North, he shot with EU Alumni from 1998 to 2004.  He stopped shooting 3P and Air Rifle around 2000. In 2004, he moved to Balerno & Currie Rifle Club, where he shoots prone rifle.  He has shot for Lothian County most years since 2000 and since University has also shot in Shoulder to Shoulder teams.

In 2010 Gavin started helping with the electronic targets and now help to organize all the 50m Rifle, 10m Air Rifle and Pistol events which STS run.

In 2011, he did his  first judges course and is now an ISSF A License Judge and a WSPS B License Judge.

Winner 2021 - Sheena Sharp

Sheena Sharp started shooting at Huntly Small-bore Rifle Club when she was just 11 years old until she left school. Due to work and raising her family it would be some 23 years later when her family left home that she would return.

At the beginning of 2001 her goals were to become part of the SSRA Scotland Squad by 2002 and the GB Squad the following year 2003. She was invited into both the GB Squad and the Scotland Squad for Women’s Prone in September of 2001.

Her first International competition for the GB Squad was the World Championships (which are the highest level of competition for Women’s Prone) in Lahti, Finland where she finished with a world ranking of 35th.

Unlike Men’s Prone, Women’s Prone is not an Olympic event although it was, very briefly at one point, therefore the highest level women can compete are the World Championships. Her second International competition was as part of the Scotland Squad at the Manchester Commonwealth Games (the highest level of competition under the Scotland banner) where, with her pairs partner, she won the silver medal for the Women’s 50m Prone match.

Sheena has competed in several competitions under the GB banner including the World Championships and European Championships on more than one occasion. She was a member of the Scotland Squad for 13 consecutive years from 2001 until 2014, competing in the 2002 Commonwealth Games and also 2006 Commonwealth Games where she won gold in both the 50m Prone Pairs and the Women’s 50m Prone.

She has been in many countries competing under both GB and Scotland banners, some several times and some every year except 2011 when she lost her son suddenly whilst he was running in the local Inverurie charity marathon. Some of the countries she has competed in include Isle of Man, France, Spain, Germany, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Croatia, Czech Republic, USA and Australia as well as all over the UK.

To date Sheena holds the record of having 154 Scotland Caps (and counting!) for shooting. She also has the honour of having been ranked No1 in Scotland and No2 in GB for Women’s Prone back in 2014.

Amongst the various titles she has achieved over the years, some several times are:

• Women’s Pairs 50m Prone Commonwealth Champion (2002)

• Woman’s Individual 50m Prone Commonwealth Champion (2006)

• Women’s Pairs 50m Prone Commonwealth Champion 2006 (runner-up 2002)

• Commonwealth Shooting Federation Champion (European Division)

• British Long-Range Champion & Roberts Trophy 2008 (runner-up by 1 point 2014). She is only the 2nd female to win this title and trophy since the competition began in circa 1924.

• Scottish Long Range Champion & Earl Haig Trophy (2010)

• Scottish 50m Women’s Prone Champion (4 times in 6 years, having missed 1 year due to being at the European Championships)

• National County Champion of Champions

• Women’s British Short Range Champion

• Daily Record Short Range Champion

• SSRA Prone GP Champion (2014)

• SSRA 3P GP Champion (2007, 2009 and 2014)

• Aberdeen & District League Champion of Champions

• World Championships (2002 - ranked 35th and 2006 - ranked 23rd)

• Nordic Championship (2004 - Bronze medal)

• Member of GB Pershing Team competing at the USA Pershing Match Championships in America (2005)

• At one time she held seven of the eight possible Scottish Individual records for Senior Women’s Prone

• She had the pleasure of being Adjutant for two years (2009, 2010) then Captain (2011, 2012) for the Ladies Randle Team which, in the shooting world is equivalent to the Ladies Solheim Cup in golf

• Scottish Long Range Champion & Earl Haig Trophy (2017)

• Commonwealth Games 75th Annual awards - Scottish Sports Person of the Year Awards 2006 - runner-up for Lonsdale Trophy

• Aberdeen Sports Council - Amateur Female Sports Person of the year

• Aberdeenshire Sports Council - Female Sports Person of the Year

• Aberdeen Evening Express - Sports Champion Award (runner-up).

Apart from travelling the world competing, Sheena has had some wonderful invitations and visited some really interesting places.  She has presented prizes at The Gordon Schools, Huntly Annual prize-giving, the Scottish Federation Model Boat Club National Regatta and The Scottish Property awards. She has met many interesting and famous people. 2006 was a fantastic year ending with an invitation from Her Majesty the Queen to attend a reception at Buckingham Palace where she met both the Queen and Prince Philip and Sheena was also invited to the Queen’s more recent Garden Party held at Balmoral.

Although she has had many enquiries as to whether she would retire from International level shooting after winning her two Gold medals in Melbourne 2006 she continued and achieved so much more. She only had one thing on her mind though and that was to promote sport, not just her favoured sport of shooting which truly is a sport for all ages, abilities even, the blind and visually impaired but sport in general.

Sheena was a coach with the Scottish Junior Squad for many years, alongside Ian Thomson. Initially she only coached Prone but the coaches came to the decision to introduce 10m Air Rifle as part of training. Some of the Juniors were not happy as they found it too hard. Sheena focussed on the Air Rifle training and her positive manner and enthusiasm soon converted the non-believers. Air Rifle is now a compulsory part of Junior Squad training and enjoyment thanks to the initial motivation by Sheena.

Now that she is no longer a member of the Scotland Squad and will not be travelling the world to compete in International competitions, she focusses on National and local competition. She spends time coaching, passing on her experience and knowledge gained over the years.  Apart from being a committee member at her Club, Huntly Small-bore Rifle Club, where she is Chairperson after a record stint of 25 years as Secretary, she assists with the coaching of a wide range of shooters from beginners to seasoned internationals.

Winner 2020 - Tim Kidner

Tim has been involved in shooting for almost 60 years, having been taken by his elder brother to shoot full-bore rifle at Bisley at a tender age in the early 60’s with a rifle hired from the NRA. From then his passion has been full bore rifle, despite being an exceptionally proficient small-bore shot. However, it is not only in shooting that he excels, as he has used his senior management expertise in his role of chairman of the full-bore rifle AMG in STS and before that for many years as chairman of the Scottish Rifle Association, the full-bore rifle organisation prior to joining STS.

Born in Surrey, Tim was schooled and attended university in England before moving to Scotland in 1970 and has been in Aberdeen ever since, apart from secondments to Fort William for three years and a couple of years in Buckinghamshire. His prowess in small-bore started to shine through when he became the University Athletic Union Small-Bore Champion in 1970 and since then he has been a prominent member of the Bon Accord club in Aberdeen, shooting regularly for the Scottish team in the New Zealand postal match, achieving the maximum score of 400 on 2 occasions. Tim has won the Scottish Small Bore Indoor Winter Championships and was runner up twice in the GB Smallbore Indoor Championships. It is certain that with his skill he could have progressed much further in small-bore, but of course as soon as the clocks change to announce the denouement of winter, outdoor full-bore shooting takes over every year, even in the sometimes questionable Scottish Spring weather.  

His successes in the full-bore discipline have been many and cover not only target rifle, but also match rifle, which is shot with telescopic sights at the very long distances of 1000/1100/1200 yards. Individual successes include the Grand Aggregate at Bisley in 2004, as well as several of the other major trophies for both target rifle and match rifle. However, his personal shooting skills also ensured his regular selection for Scottish teams over several decades and he is one of few who has shot for Scotland in winning teams for the three major home country matches at Bisley, the National, Mackinnon and Elcho. He has also toured with Scottish teams to Canada, South Africa and New Zealand, and with GB (under Bob Aitken’s captaincy) to New Zealand, as well as Australia with the GB team in 2010 for the match rifle Woomera match, where he set the then match record score of 224 out of 225.

This vast wealth of shooting experience together with his recognised organisational and managerial capabilities resulted, unsurprisingly, in his selection as a full-bore rifle juror in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and Chairman of the Jury for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. Tim was appointed Captain of the GB Match Rifle Team for the Woomera Match against Australia at Bisley in 2019 which was won by a margin of 56 points. However, it is for his past and ongoing services to Scottish full-bore shooting that make Tim a deserved winner of the Bob Aitken Award, something for which it is sure that Bob himself would have very much approved, as he knew Tim well and saw even several years ago the significant contribution that Tim was already making to the sport.

Winner 2019 - Willie McAulay

Willie has always put the needs of the club and shooting before all else including his personal life. He has served as Treasurer and Secretary of Alloa & District Rifle Club for 30 years, he coaches both the rifle and air weapon shooters and in recent years, working with STS, he has been leading the way with disabled shooting working with the spinal injury unit at the new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, coaching those with spinal injuries, and resulting in some of them taking up the sport when leaving hospital. On the back of this involvement, Willie has also been coaching the dwarf shooters that visit the range monthly for training and have had considerable success at their competitions they attend.

Willie shows a never-ending passion for the sport and has done a lot to help young people in and around Clackmannanshire and Alloa (and further afield!), working with different Scout groups to help them achieve their badges and have a go at the sport.

Willie is not only confined to the premises of the club, he was a big help to STS when running a session on Princes Street during the Rio Olympics and much more recently, he is also now working with Sports Development team in Clackmannanshire to get out into the local community and introduce the sport to people yet to give it a go.

He will be the first to admit that his shooting has declined because he doesn’t have the time but gets a lot of satisfaction from helping others. In addition to his numerous shooting trophies over the years, his tireless efforts have resulted in him winning services to sport awards from SALSC and the local area for all he does for shooting, but also sport in the area.

As his own club members say: “I don’t know how he manages it all but I don’t know anybody else that puts as much into shooting as Willie does.”

A truly deserving winner for everything he does for grassroots shooting and Alloa and District Rifle Club, the 2019 recipient of the Bob Aitken Service to Shooting Award is Willie McAulay.

Winner 2018 - Donald McIntosh

Donald McIntosh is a true great in the world of shooting, with medal success as an international competitor for Scotland and now a renowned coach of athletes involved at Commonwealth, World and Olympic level.

Donald has been involved in this sport for nearly 40 years taking up shooting in 1978 and becoming a prominent member of EU Rifle Club while at the University of Edinburgh, gaining a Half-Blue in 1986/87 and a Full Blue in 1987/88. In 1988 he won the British Universities’ 3P Individual Championship. He later helped to form the EU Alumni Rifle Club.

He won his first international cap in 1989 and went on to be capped 59 times in his competitive career, ranking him 7th in the all-time list of Scottish caps.

He represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Championships in 1997, 1999 and 2001 as well as the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002. At the Commonwealth Championships in 1999 and again in 2001, he was a Gold medallist in the 50m Rifle 3P Pairs event. He has also been the Scottish Champion in 10m Air Rifle, 50m 3P, and 50m Prone events. Donald was inducted into the Scottish Smallbore Rifle Hall of Fame in 2007 in recognition of his shooting performances. However, this is where Donald’s story starts rather than ends.

Following his competitive career, he began coaching in 2003 and is now a pre-eminent force in the success of Scottish and British shooting. Athletes with whom he has worked have won numerous medals at the European Championships, the U21 World Championships, World Cups, the Commonwealth Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

He was a coach for Team GB at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Team Manager for Scotland’s shooters at the Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. He has also been the Shooting Performance Manager for twelve years and, over the course of the last three Commonwealth Games, has been responsible for nineteen medals for Scotland in shooting. There is no doubt that over the time Donald has been involved in the programme, athletes in the sport of shooting are now better funded and better supported than ever before, and it is largely thanks to all his hard work and dedication.

Donald has always seen his roles representing Scotland, whether as an athlete or behind the scenes, as a privilege and his desire to see Scotland medal on the world stage is not just driven by a professional desire to succeed, but a deep routed pride and passion for his country.

However, clearly one of Donald (and his wife Shirley’s) greatest and proudest achievements are their daughters, Jennifer and Seonaid. They have followed Donald and Shirley into the sport and have been coached by Donald with great success. In 2014, Jennifer succeeded her mum Shirley as Scotland’s most decorated Commonwealth Games athlete with a total of 5 medals. Not to be left behind, Seonaid has followed suit and at the recent Games in the Gold Coast, she came home with two bronze medals to open her Commonwealth Games medal account. In 2017 they came home with three Gold medals between them from the 2017 European Championships in the 3P, Prone and Team Rifle competitions, a first for Scotland.

At the end of April, Donald is stepping down as the Performance Programme Manager having guided Scotland’s shooters through twelve incredible years and a further six medals at the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast. Shooting is in Donald’s blood and there is no doubt he will still be involved in the sport in some capacity but we felt this was a suitable time to recognise all Donald has done for the sport, both in Scotland and on the world stage by presenting him with the Bob Aitken Service to Shooting Award in 2018.

Winner 2017 - Colin McEachran

Colin’s involvement in shooting began over 50 years ago at Glenalmond College and continue at Oxford University where he shot in the Chancellors Match (Target Rifle) against Cambridge in 1960 and 1961.  In the 1960s he also shot .22 smallbore rifle for Scotland.  In 1966 he was second in the Bisley Grand Aggregate and in 1974 he shot fullbore rifle in the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch New Zealand winning a Silver Medal.

He has represented Great Britain on numerous occasions including six GB tours to Canada and was Vice Captain in 1984 and Captain in 1990.  He shot in the Empire Match (now called Australia Match) in 1974 and three times in the Palma Match and 5 times in the Kolapore Match and was Captain of the GB Kolapore Team in 1995.

He has shot regularly for Scotland in the National Match -- starting in 1961 he shot 24 times and 20 times in the MacKinnon Match. He was Captain of the Scotland Team from 1991 to 1993.   He also shot for Scotland in the Elcho Match (Match Rifle) in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 2002.

Colin was Chairman of the Scottish Rifle Association for 10 years from 1981 to 1990. He was also heavily involved with the organisation of Commonwealth Games shooting events and was Director of Shooting for the 1986 Edinburgh Games and was Team Manager for the Scottish team for the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

He was legal advisor to the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland and held the position of Vice Chair in 1991 and then Chairman for 4 years from 1995.

He has been heavily involved in the organisation of Scottish shooting, he was the secretary and treasurer of the newly formed Scottish Shooting Council in 1966 and was instrumental in bringing together the primary disciplines together to form the Scottish Target Shooting Federation, an organisation he was to chair between 2002 and 2006, so that Government could communicate with shooting and hear the response 'with one voice'. Nowhere was this more important and evident than in our most recent plans to create a National Shooting Centre and discussions had with the then Minister for Sport, Shona Robison who made it clear just how important it was for shooting to speak with ‘one voice’. The message had got through, largely due to Colin’s unstinting efforts.