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Moormead Pavilion has a new trustee – and he’s a Paralympian gold medal champion. Tim Prendergast joins us with big plans to help make the new building “truly inclusive”. He brings with him a wealth of experience, and plenty of passion.
“My two kids have grown up on this park,” Tim says. “They’ve participated in cricket, football and parkrun. We’ve got a fantastic opportunity to create an amazing community resource, not just for this generation, but for generations to come.” Tim represented New Zealand in four Paralympic games between 2000 and 2012. In 2004, he won gold in Athens. It was the realisation of a dream that was born not long after Tim discovered he had a degenerative eye condition, known as Stargardt.
He remembers first noticing a problem with his sight when he was eight. Tim was a sporty kid and the threat of losing 95% of his vision felt like a door shutting forever.
“It was an impressionable time in my life. I was very sporty. But I began to withdraw from sports. It seemed like all the things I enjoyed were ending,” Tim recalls.
But his supportive family pushed him not to give up. At a new school, he joined the athletics team and began to rebuild his confidence, one lap at a time.
“I was worried about being slow. About bumping into things. But slowly, I began to go from ‘Tim the young boy who couldn’t do things’ to ‘Tim the young man growing up with aspirations and a desire to achieve’.”
After standing on the podium in Athens, Tim began to fulfil a new desire: to help bring inclusive sport to communities around the world. He’s supported charities (like Youth Sport Trust), schools and the International Paralympic Committee. Tim now works at an international bank, helping it create an inclusive and vibrant culture.
The Prendergasts moved to St Margarets about a decade ago.
“We were fortunate to stumble across a little gem within the wonderful city of London,” Tim explains. “When we first landed, we lived centrally and didn’t talk to our neighbours for years. But I remember vividly how, when we moved to St Margarets, our neighbours were welcoming us with cake.”
For Tim, becoming a trustee is a way to give back to a community he feels deeply invested in. He’ll help keep the design for the new building accessible, and will offer valuable experience with fundraising. He hopes to connect with local organisations and schools, and to open up traditional sports – like football, cricket, tennis and running – to more people. He’s even thinking about introducing unique activities, like the Paralympian sport of Boccia, to Moormead.
“Tim will play a vital role,” says trustee Gariesh Sharma. “With his lived experience and oversight, he’ll really help us think about people who would love to use the park, but haven’t been able to. He’ll help steer the design, the way we communicate and even the operator we pick to manage the pavilion. In short, this is going to impact everything and we’re very excited to have him onboard.”
Help Tim and the rest of the trustees and volunteers make our pavilion inclusive and accessible. Join us, or share your ideas.