In 2017 Winter Guard United Kingdom introduced its own Hall of Fame as a way of honouring the “legends” of the UK Winter Guard activity ensuring they are remembered for the indelible impressions they have left on the UK activity.

Candidates were nominated and seconded before being discussed by the Hall of Fame assessment team and we are proud to announce that the successful candidates for 2021 are John & Ann Legon and Ivan Balchin.

Congratulations to these worthy “Legends” and there will be formal induction ceremony at a live WGUK event as soon as is possible.

JOHN & ANN LEGON
Both John and Ann have put so much time and effort into our activity not only as tabulators over decades, but in dedicating countless hours in producing endless sets of flags for pretty much the entire activity at some point over the whole of WGUK history. 

For many years, they were firmly part of the judging community, they simply displayed all of the qualities and attributes that the activity aspires to - dedication, expertise and inclusiveness.

On many occasions over the years, they have spent uncountable selfless hours making multiple sets of flags, and at times delivering them for FREE all the way from Brighton, across the country. Their input to this activity demonstrates selfless dedication to all the performers and groups, no matter who or where they are in the UK, it is rare to recall a show that they missed, even if they were not the tabulators that day. Both John and Ann have not only shown dedication to tabulate all over the UK but also in Europe and with our sister organisation DCUK. To so many judges and instructors over the years, they have been mentors, colleagues and, most importantly, friends.

WGUK cannot think of a better way to show how much we as an activity appreciate their selfless dedication by bestowing this accolade to John & Ann Legon.

The Hall of Fame Committee are proud to recognise John & Ann for their remarkable commitment to the Winter Guard Activity within the United Kingdom and induct them into the Hall of Fame.

IVAN BALCHIN
Ivan Balchin has been a constant name involved in the WGUK activity from its inception until today, and he has continued to contribute his judging skills at the highest levels.

Ivan began his guard career with the 2nd Brighton Scouts in his hometown of Brighton where he was responsible for teaching rifles, alongside his main instructor role of Visual Show Designer. However, most people became aware of him in the early 1980s when he began judging at Winterguard shows, along with also being appointed as the first WGUK Winterguard Judges Coordinator. Ivan has been virtually ever present over four decades, showing unrivalled levels of commitment as a judge in the activity. He is someone whose experience over these years means that his views are always highly valued and welcome.

Ivan has judged at shows across the country, as well as in Ireland and Europe, and it would be hard to find anyone from the judging community who has shown such commitment over an extended period, from those early days of Winterguard in the UK.

He goes out of his way to give guards more time than just a two minute critique. He is always willing to discuss shows, both in their early stages of development and as the season progresses. The benefit of this is that guards build a high level of trust with him because they believe his primary goal is for all groups to get better. 
Over the years, he has encouraged and worked with new judges and helped them to become part of a judging community which goes from strength to strength. He very much sees judging as a team effort and is always willing to contribute to all captions, providing flexibility within the judging panel. 

Ivan’s outstanding commitment to the activity and willingness to get involved at all levels over such a long period of time fully merits his inclusion in the WGUK Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame Committee are proud to recognise Ivan for his remarkable commitment to the Winter Guard Activity within the United Kingdom and specifically within the Judging community and induct him into the Hall of Fame.

More information regarding the WGUK Hall of Fame can be found at http://wguk.org.uk/wguk-hall-of-fame/