We have mentioned previously that the directors have been exploring a number of support mechanisms and possible new sources of income to help us navigate through these difficult times and look to the future. This week we had positive news on several of these opportunities and hope to be able to report on some confirmed successes in the next few weeks. We would also like to spotlight our academy staff, who have continued working to deliver an educational programme to our existing students and have been developing ways to assess candidates and recruit next season's students.
The limited re-opening of our 3G pitch this week has proved a success so far and users have been observing the quite detailed rules and guidelines that we put in place. We are also starting to get enquiries about hiring our social facilities for next year and we have put similar rules and processes in place for safely showing our facilities to prospective clients.
Many thanks to the volunteers who have been helping to clear weeds from around the stadium and preparing the stadium for use under Covid19 conditions. We even had saplings starting to grow through the 3G surface to the sides of the actual pitch, so it is important that we keep on top of these tasks.
Finally, congratulations to all of our end-of-season awards winners and thank you to SUFCtv for putting together the show that went live on Wednesday. This is a good opportunity for the Board to put on record our thanks and appreciation to our Clubman of the Year, our Club Treasurer Rob Oakes. Some of you reading this will know Rob and how hard he works, but we have developed into a business that now regularly turns over significantly more than £1 million per annum and the amount of invoicing and transactions needing to be processed has grown into a cottage industry, which Rob diligently manages in his “spare” time after his normal 9-5 job as well as throwing himself into numerous other club tasks. Congratulations Rob, well deserved !
Even though there has been some relaxation of the restrictions that we have all had to become accustomed to, please remember that everything is not back to normal.
Stay Safe and please follow the Government's rules and guidelines on social distancing and don't forget to help others.
#inittogether #unitedwestand
Dave Farebrother
Chairman, Board of Directors