The powerhouse behind Milton Keynes athletics awarded BEM in New Year Honours List

Chair of Marshall Milton Keynes Athletics Club helped develop Olympic champion Greg Rutherford
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Mick Bromilow, the face and voice of Milton Keynes athletics, has been awarded a BEM for services to Athletics in Buckinghamshire.

He has provided first-rate facilities and coaching for athletes to compete locally, regionally and nationally and developing young athletes to world class standard including Olympic Gold Medal winner Greg Rutherford, Mervyn Luckwell and Craig Pickering.

Mr Bromilow, chair of Marshall Milton Keynes Athletics Club, has through his leadership, passion and commitment to athletics and the Milton Keynes community, transformed Wolverton AC (founded 1885) from a small local organisation with less than 50 members in the 1970s, into Marshall Milton Keynes AC, with a membership of nearly 700.

Mick Bromilow, awarded a BEM for his contribution to athletics in Milton KeynesMick Bromilow, awarded a BEM for his contribution to athletics in Milton Keynes
Mick Bromilow, awarded a BEM for his contribution to athletics in Milton Keynes

This is one of the largest (by membership) athletic clubs in the country.

Mr Bromilow, 72, of Milton Keynes, dedicated most of his spare time outside his career with the Open University, first lecturer and then Head of the Dept of Mathematics and Statistic, to the development of the club.

As such the club is recognised as a true community organisation with membership across all ages (nine-90 years) and drawn from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds (approaching 30% from BAME communities).

In addition he has raised funds of well over £750,000 to develop the athletics facility, which is now the club’s HQ in Milton Keynes, developing strong partnerships with other organisations, local and national bodies.

Mr Bromilow was Secretary of the Southern Athletic League for the last 10 years and founded the Milton Keynes Festival of Running, which attracts over 4,000 runners to the city every year, and he continues as a key member of the organisational team, started in 2003.

His administrative and project management skills are exemplary, and he has been an influential member of many county and regional athletics bodies for years including the Chiltern League, National Youth Development League, East Midlands Road Running Grand Prix Series and British Athletics League.

Mr Bromilow was at the centre of the Bucks and Milton Keynes Schools Partnership programme, which funded a PE teacher/athletics coach to work with infants/junior schools in Milton Keynes to promote athletics and identify talent.

In recognition of the strong volunteer commitment he inspires among members, the club was awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Services in 2020.