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Chairmans September Update

Chairmans September Update

Sean Morgan19 Sep 2016 - 17:44
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It has been great to see Senior squad players working with juniors of all age groups on a Sunday and our 'One Club' ethos.

I would like to advise you that our club will soon be visited by Jason Leonard the former England prop and RFU President...please keep November 5th free in your diary as this will be a “whole club” event.
- Bob "Buzz" Lightyear, Chair EGRFC

Chairman’s September Update

On May 13th, day one for the new management team we set a number of goals, as far as our Rugby went we said:

• We want our senior team to be in "Top 3 of London 3 in 3 Years" and our season has started well with a very convincing wins over Uckfield and Eastbourne.
• We wanted to have a strong commitment from all players to training and this has been very well supported on Tuesdays and Thursdays with Senior team members from all three teams and our new ladies squad. We have also seen a number of the older Colts and Intermediates at these training sessions which is great as they get to know senior squad members and build friendships much earlier than before. Congratulations to the U17s on their cricket score this weekend!
• The 2s are crucial to the long term campaign where we have depth of talent in the senior squad. I understand there is often little to separate players in the 1s from the 2s. The 2's have had a very convincing start to the season. Winning Sussex Intermediate in 2 years’ boys – another goal to add to our list ?
• Suzi Funnel and Matt Mariott with Nikki Ward’s support have done a great job in bring the vision of community rugby to life. We now have our first two complete families playing rugby with Dad, Mum and the boys all training regularly! While it's early days this is a clear area of focus and we are delighted to see a regular turnout each week.
• We wanted to continue to put out three teams whenever possible and this last weekend we had three squads playing team from across Sussex.
• We wanted closer connections between Senior and Junior players and it has been great to see Senior squad players working with juniors of all age groups on a Sunday. This supports the governing boards ethos of “One Club” and it is apparent that we are getting better at integrating all sections of the club and a lovely choice the senior players are making.
• Consistent, club supported coaching, building a common style of Rugby across the whole club with the introduction of plans originally drawn up by Richard Dewing and now being implemented by Rhodri and his team of coaches.
We believe that we are well on the way to achieving and maintaining these goals for the long term.

Moving away from the Rugby side for a moment I would like to thank everyone who over the last four months has worked so hard to get our facility looking better than it has for many years, we have completed significant repairs and refurbishments, brought the pitches up to a very high standard (thanks Nick), rebuilt our relationships with suppliers and importantly brought on board many new sponsors. We will publish details about our sponsors separately. There is still a lot to do and Paul Templeman would appreciate any help you can give us, we have a job list that covers some internal painting, carpentry and electrics, if you can help please contact Paul or come up and see me at the club on a Friday.

I would also like to thank Sean and Martyn for all of their hard work on the website and club database. We still have a way to go not least because we have to be very careful not to break VAT rules etc. on the difference between subscriptions and donations, but that said we will progress to being as “online” as possible and our website traffic is increasing all the time. Importantly this is your website where you can find out what is happening. Many thanks to all the Team Administrators and Managers across the club who are bringing this project to life.

We wish to present some resolutions which will allow us to move forward in the absence of some financial information from just before the last AGM. These will be communicated by the Club Secretary separately but in brief the Resolution for inclusion are:
1. That the members agree to the shortening of the accounting year 15/16, the year-end reverting to 30th April.
2. That the members agree to the waiving of the audit requirement for the accounting periods ended 31st July 2014, 31st July 2015 and 30th April 2016.
3. That the members agree to the reappointment of Alexandra Durrant &Co, Chartered Accountants, as auditors for the accounting year commencing 1st May 16 and ending 30th April 2017

As many of you know the club awards the “Townsend Trophy” to members who have provided the club with their assistance and help to a level that is often extraordinary. I am very pleased to announce that this year the club awarded the Townsend Trophy to Rita Russell for all of the work she has put into the club for many years not only as membership secretary but also for her role in maintaining the community board and its functions during difficult times. Unusually the award was presented by Harry Townsend the benefactor that originally sponsored this award.

Recently we have been securing discounts and benefits for club members on presentation of their club membership card at various restaurants and other service provides around the East Grinstead area we will publish more on this shortly.

The directors of the club have recently co-opted Gary Haycock-West a local businessman, entrepreneur and club member onto the board. Gary played for the club for many years and has been a long-time supporter of EGRFC, in his new role as Commercial Director Gary will be leading the efforts to secure long term sponsorship and the funding for a 3G pitch at EGRFC.

To close I would like to advise you that our club will soon be visited by Jason Leonard the former England prop and RFU President. Arrangements are being finalised for the day but please keep November 5th free in your diary as this will be a “whole club” event. As we expect it to be very busy car sharing would be appreciated.

Please remember that we have pre match lunches at all home games, they are open to all members and non-members at every level in the club. They are becoming more successful than ever before so please book early tickets can be purchase through Tim Chapman timmy.chapman@virgin.net and Derek Hughes dhagencies@btinternet.com

Onwards!

Bob Marsh,
Chair EGRFC

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