NORTHWICH’S Ben Rigby is vowing not to rest on his laurels after scooping a prestigious prize in front of Warren Gatland and Sir Ben Ainslie during the UK Coaching Awards at Marble Arch on Tuesday.

He claimed the Gillette Community Coach of the Year Award at the glittering ceremony in the presence of the British & Irish Lions head coach and four-time Olympic champion.

He set up Cheshire-based not-for-profit company Sporting Communities 18 months ago which works with schools, young people and adults to increase participation in sport.

Rigby, of Appleton Street, admits it has been quite a journey since co-founding the organisation but believes there is a lot more to come.

“It’s been quite overwhelming,” he said.

“We’ve been lucky that we have volunteer directors who are passionate about the work we do as well.

“We’ve got an ethos saying ‘you’re only as good as your last day’s work’, so every day we go out we deliver top quality and meet the needs of people we’re working with.

“People have taken a shine to what we’ve been doing and they want us to come back and do more.

“It’s just going from strength to strength.

“It’s nice to have the recognition but ultimately if this means we can do more good for the people we’re working with, that’s what it’s all about. To win was a shock, but it was also fantastic.”

Rigby was among the nominees for one of a dozen categories at the ceremony, supported by Gillette, as achievements in developing sport in the wider community over the past year were recognised.

* The 2013 Gillette Great Starts’ campaign celebrates community coaches and inspires the next generation of trainers by providing them with grants to fund their development. Applications for coaching grants available through the scheme will reopen in 2014, visit www.facebook/com/GilletteUK for more details