Newsletter No. 1/2008



As most of you will know Mr. Secretary (aka Dominic Hopwood) relinquished his post at the November, 2007 A.G.M. bowing to the ever increasing demands of his job.

As no-one else has (so far) volunteered to take the job on it has fallen to me to “fill the gap” again. As was said at the A.G.M. one of the conditions of the League is that every club has a secretary. We seriously NEED people to get involved not just by turning up on a Saturday/ Sunday to play cricket, but also to help out in fund-raising and organisation and with the junior teams as helpers/chauffeurs…and so on.

On Monday of this week I called a meeting at the Club and declared it an Emergency General Meeting so that we could vote on certain matters which needed to be discussed and decided upon.

There were about 20 members present by the end and much good work was done. Up to that meeting I had been unable to inform the Ribblesdale League whether we would be entering junior teams at any of the age groups due to a lack of volunteer managers. I couln’t tell them who was to be Captain of our 2nd XI. By the end of the evening(after a later telephone call) I am pleased to confirm the following “appointments”.

2nd XI Captain for 2008 Andy Allen

Manager U 18 Richard Turner
Manager U 15 Lee Denton
Manager U 13 Andrew Jackson
Manager U 11 Dave Fielding

This just leaves us with a vacancy for the U 9 as Morgan Currey is unable to carry on. Anyone interested???? There is no formal fixture list for the U 9’s this season. A mix of mutually arranged games in the evenings and also the addition of “mini-festivals” organised by the clubs with the bigger grounds. The format would be an invitation to up to 3 guest teams to play each other on a Sunday.

It was agreed that a working party would be organised for a weekend just before the start of the season (which is on 19th April!!) to clean out and organise the scorebox and whatever else is needed. We should by then have the fully refurbished roller back in commission and volunteers would be appreciated to spend time ( weather and ground conditions permitting) rolling the square to attempt to get it back to somewhere near it’s earlier good state.

The question of providing teas was discussed and we were thankful that Mrs. Turner has agreed to do Sunday’s for the season but neither she nor Mrs. Fielding could do Saturdays. Enter a “knight in shining armour”. One of our newer members (a non-playing one at that) volunteered to do the Saturday teas for the 26 weeks of the season. Dermot Gallagher (alias Shaun??) has also recently been on the course and will be our Deputy Welfare Officer as required by the LCB. I’d better add that Amedeo D also took the course and is also a DWO.

Our Treasurer, Fred Kenyon, gave a brief financial report to the meeting
and went on to discuss annual subscription and match-day fees. Bills were already coming in and so far no income had been generated for 2008. One of the outgoings is for a plastic square cover to replace the one left outside and fired by the local yobbery. NOT to be repeated. We are still lobbying for the Trustees to organise a proper secure area for large equipment. As a start albeit somewhat temporary, the Chairman of the Trustees is providing some metal fencing panels to utilise at the side of the dressing rooms which may or may not be suitable for certain items and even sitescreens if we were to get some. Our logistics/transport person Richard Turner is to arrange for their collection and delivery

In 2007 every adult playing member payed £45 subs and a match fee of £7. There were the usual reductions for students and unemployed. Juniors paid £15 and no match fees. Discussion took place as to whether an increase in either figure was either desirable or justified. It was mentioned that expences for every game had gone up (umpires fee increase etc). In the end it was decided to leave the match fees alone but to increase the annual subscription for both senior and junior members by £5 to £50 and £20 respectively. Still cheap!!! These figures were put to the meeting and unanimously agreed.

All members are reminded that this new amount can be offset by £5 for EACH and EVERY sponsor signed up (ie obtain 3 sponsors- deduct £15 from your subscription)

The question of fundraising was the next item. Our club has to survive on sponsorship which I accept is more difficult each year..BUT try we must if we are to continue to play cricket at Feni. The number of senior players last season who actually put their mind to it and actually got a sponsor was disappointing. But for the efforts of Mr. Secretary and a (very) few others we would have struggled.

Our main sponsor for the past two seasons is still considering his options but it may well be that we need a new main or joint sponsor for 2008. Everyone present was handed a form and encouraged to find a sponsor for either a ball at £25 or a match at £50. If any members reading this newsletter who were not at the meeting and could find a sponsor please get in touch. We can e-mail a copy form to anyone or hand one over for those snail-mailers. Since the meeting I have had confirmation that our 2008 main sponsor (or maybe joint sponsor) will be Ewood Foods. Both offers are down to cricket members approaching their bosses. There may be others!! I am also in negotiations with another local firm who are interested in a similar deal and two other possibilities are being explored.

Ideas for alternative fund-raising events were sought and a race evening and another car boot sale were mooted as ideas for later in the season. Have YOU any ideas on fundraising?? If so let me know please.

By now an appeal should have been published in the Lancashire Telegraph appealing for new players. It’s certainly been posted on the paper’s website and has engendered comment!!!

Skippy Mk.2 ,Paul Snape, reported on progress he had made with regard to new kit for the club. He had made contact with two firms who could provide what we need. One which could do both adult and junior gear is expensive but used “brand named” clothing. The other cheaper option who would put our badge, the League logo and their own logo on items, were not forthcoming about which brand kit they would use or whether they could/would do junior gear. Do we want names and/or squad numbers?