Footie chums,
I hope that you are all well.
We had our regular CCWFC committee meeting yesterday and as usual I thought it would be helpful to share a flavour of what was discussed /agreed.
I have added a PDF attachment for folks that prefer that format to an e mail and this can be found un the committee section of the website ?
The key messages from our committee meeting are: –
1. Financials
Terry provided a financial update.
The net income year to date is £734.15, we are forecasting a positive net income year end of £774.15
Our current net assets (allowing for the pitch hire and other accruals) are £3163.45.
Our finances are where we expect them to be.
Our 20/21 final accounts and monthly accounts are available to members on request.
2. Social activities
I provided an update on social activities.
The ‘Gunrunner’ social for the Friday 29th October 2021 remains well subscribed, with c105 tickets reserved (70 club members ,25 Gunrunner following and 10 CCFC guests).
I will be asking you of your cash in Sept !! ? . We will run a raffle again and raise money for the UK Prostate Cancer charity. I will ask for raffle prize donations shortly.
I had agreed with Steve Shore that CCWFC members would benefit again from a ‘ CCFC season ticket for a fiver’. To date, 25 members have taken up the offer. The offer remains open.
The first home game is Chelmsford City v Maidstone United 15.00 kick off. You can collect your season tickets from the club, remember to take you proof of purchase.
We will reintroduce the ‘pie and a pint’ sessions once a month starting September.
We have also arranged for a bar after the o70’ tournament on the 12/8.
3. Playing – Essex Walking Football League / WFA cup competitions / development
We discussed our performances to date and noted our league positions.
We noted our narrow defeat to Eastwood Falcons in the first round of the WFA o60’ cup (losing in a penalty shoot-out) . This of course rubbed salt in the wound
inflicted by Italy in similar circumstances , not 36 hours before.
The o65’ will be playing away at Norwich in the 2nd round of the WFA o65’ cup on the 16th August.
We discussed team management , and I am very pleased to share that Ray Barry will be taking responsibility for managing the o65’ Blues for the remainder of the season.
I am also pleased to share that Steve Shoosmith will similarly be taking responsibility as team manager for the o60’ blues.
Thank you to both Ray and Steve for stepping up to these leadership roles.
We noted Colin Haydon’ success in being selected as England o65’ captain. It is a great credit to the club ( and the individuals) that we now have both the o60’ and o65’ England Walking Football captains.
We also noted the arrival of the very experienced Pete Sarfas.
We are determined to feed the younger end of the club and add competitive players so that we achieve the balance between recreational football and competitive ambition.
We have now established the ‘working group’ (referred to in my last update) who will focus on how we achieve this.
The ‘working group’ is the CCWFC committee plus Spencer Pratten , Colin Haydon , David Gregory , Barry White, Ray Barry and Stuart Lomax. We will meet on the 14/9 and do some prep work in advance.
The primary focus of the work is to examine the issues and propose action to (a) attract more 50 – early 60’ year olds (b) attract capability (3) do this whilst maintaining our commitment to being an open door to all o50’.
Once there is a proposed action plan, we will share it with the broader membership for comment / feedback.
I would reiterate that 2021 is a transition year, strengthening our position for 2022.
We also noted the continuing support of our volunteers for our EWFL ‘hosting responsibilities ‘. Many thanks to Ray R , John G , Geoff S , Gerry who continue to do a very valuable job.
Our hosting responsibilities for the remainder of the season are –
Tuesday 24/8/21
Tuesday 26/10/21
I will be writing separately, to seek support from volunteers to support our hosting of the o60’ on 24/8.
4. Playing administration
We have had several occasions in recent times when the 3G pitch gate and /or toilets have not been unlocked on time.
I have written to Sarah Adkins at the council to set out a range of service issues.
Peter and I are meeting with Sarah on the 10/8 to progress an improvement in service.
5. ‘Stepping into the future’ action plan – update
I gave a further update on club development.
5.1 Marketing – growing the membership
Our ad continues to be aired on Chelmer Radio (thank you to David Baker) and I have continued with slots on Chelmsford Community Radio.
John Green and David Gregory have restarted the ‘leaflet drops’ – thank you. David has also persuaded Asda’ to display one of our posters
and is working on Sainsbury’ to get the same there. Handing out leaflets at CCFC home games will start soon.
We have put a reprint of our existing marketing material on hold , pending decisions at the ‘working group’. It is likely that we
will need to differentiate our materials to appeal to a broader spectrum of o50 year olds.
We also had a conversation about improving the currency and impact of our website. I am pleased to say that Bob has committed
to take this on – thank you Bob.
I have had a conversation with CCFC about getting a prominent advertising board located at the club, this is work in progress.
Our goal is to grow our membership to 100 by Sept 2022, this means adding c34 new members over 18 months.
To date we have added 13 new members since the 1/3.
5.2 Reaching into the community
We continue to directly appeal to the wider Chelmsford community through our relationships with the Essex Chronicle, Chelmer Radio, Chelmsford Community Radio and regional TV.
We continue to work with ‘Provide’ and ‘Active Essex’ to offer channels for folks seeking to rebuild health or seeking social inclusion.
5.3 Over 70’ invitation tournament
The inaugural tournament will take place on the 12th of August.
There will be 2 Chelmsford teams, Southend , Billericay and Leyton Orient.
It will be a round robin league , so each team will play 4 x20min, refereed games.
There will be a trophy for the winners and medals for all participants.
41% of our club membership is o70 , this is a celebration of the footballing passion (and skill) that exists amongst our most senior group.
5.4 Coaching programme
There has been great progress on the coaching manual & supporting video material – thank you Bob & Spence.
It is currently under review and will undoubtedly be added to prior to sharing with the coaching community for comment / feedback.
Our goal is to create a ‘library’ of coaching materials that enable us to develop a consistent approach to ‘how we play walking football around here’
There will be a rich vein of material for coaches and members to access. We expect this to be available during September.
5.6 Sponsorship
We have received the 36 new kits promised by Steve , he was pleased that we are happy with them.
We discussed how we use the new kit and have agreed that it will be handed out , but this will be to players regularly representing the club in league and cup competitions.
Gary is starting this process over the next week. Gary has also created a set of numbered bibs , so that a player is issued with a numbered kit and corresponding numbered bib.
This will make it extremely easy for us in competitions where there is a clash of colours (but numbers have to still be visible).
The new kit was one part of the sponsorship case that I submitted to CCFC, I am still pursuing the training equipment and advertising at the club ground elements.
6. Welfare
We noted Gerry’ hard work on the welfare front and that practical first aid training is now arranged for two dates later in August.– thank you Gerry.
I maintain contact with many of our members who may be absent for various reasons, if anyone wants an update (and you can’t contact them yourself) , just ask.
On that note it was great to see Smudge pay a visit on Tuesday, clearly making good progress.
7. Governance
We are now due an AGM and we have agreed the date of the 21st September 12.45 – 14.00 (approx.).
This will be face to face at the CCFC clubhouse.
Peter will be writing out in due course with the formal invitation and agenda.
8. General
I hope that this summary keeps you connected to what is going on in the club and gives you a real sense of what we are doing to sustain and develop the club.
If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to talk to Terry, Peter, Bob, Gary, Gerry or myself.
The agreed minutes of the last Committee meeting (6/7) will be uploaded onto our website shortly. Our next meeting is on the 7th Sept 2021.
Best wishes
Chris
Chairman
On behalf of the CCWFC Committee
