Notes from the Chair – Dates for your diary
There are definite signs of life returning to The Meadow this week and I am delighted to be able to share a couple of dates with you when you will be able to come along and see all the hard work that has gone on from our volunteers to improve the appearance of the ground.
Next Saturday lunchtime, 4th July, we are celebrating the re-opening of pubs by opening up our facilities to all supporters, their friends and families to come along and share a drink and a bite to eat on the terraces. The Chess Suite will be all set up for safety and social-distancing and we will be serving the usual chips, sausages and burgers for everyone to enjoy on the terraces.
I am pleased to say that our management duo of James Duncan and Michael Murray will also be joining us between midday and 1.00pm and will be very happy to chat with supporters about preparations for the season ahead – All from a safe distance of course. Craig the groundsman has also very kindly agreed to set up four 5-a-side pitches on the main pitch to allow the kids to come along, in their trainers (no boots) and have a kick-around whilst parents have a long overdue catch-up.
Next Saturday will be a dress rehearsal for the following weekend, Saturday 11th July, when we look forward to welcoming everyone along for our delayed annual End of Season Awards presentation, taking place between 1pm and 4pm. A huge amount of work is going on behind the scenes to ensure this can go ahead safely, so please do come along and join us in celebrating what was a superb season on the pitch, even if we did not get to see it through to what was surely destined to be an exciting finale.
Elsewhere we continue to work hard engaging with the local business community to get a feel for how we will be able to budget for sponsorship for the forthcoming season. We are obviously very keen to work with local businesses to offer them genuine value for money from their support of the club, and we are happy to have conversations about paying in instalments throughout the year to make sponsorship accessible to all.
In return I feel we offer excellent publicity to our sponsors with a widening audience through the many and varied activities that take place at the club, please do take note of who our sponsors are and look to support them whenever you can. Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor can contact myself directly at chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk or email commercial@cheshamunited.co.uk.
Finally I would like to once again thank all the volunteers that have been giving up their time to do work around the ground, and also the team that operate the clubhouse facilities for the work that has been going on behind the scenes to get us ready for our two upcoming social events. We are very lucky to have such a committed following at the club, and your efforts are appreciated. I would also like to thank the Supporters’ Trust who have kindly contributed £500 towards paint and materials for the work carried out around the ground.
Thank you for your support, I do appreciate the kind words and messages that I have received since becoming chairman, it’s a new role that I am enjoying, but could not do without the efforts of those around me. This week I did however manage to do one thing that does now make me feel like a proper Chairman – I went out and bought myself a replacement new car! I now look forward to driving to all the games when the season does get underway, hopefully in early September.
Stay safe and thank you once again for your ongoing support.
Peter Brown, Chairman
Chesham United Football Club
