“Such has been the overwhelming impact of the Covid 19 outbreak that it is sometimes difficult to remember a time when the virus did not dominate our everyday lives. “
So reads the opening from my statement at our last AGM back in July 2019. Little did we know it would be still be as pertinent today, some eight months later. The Government’s response to the virus has turned everyone’s life upside down, and Chester Rugby Club has clearly not been exempt from the turmoil of the last year.
Once it became clear that business as usual was to be suspended indefinitely, there was no question that the Exec’s overriding responsibility would be to protect our cash position. As the cash in bank figure within the accounts illustrates, I'm pleased (and indeed relieved)to confirm that we were able to do that.
In fact overall the accounts for 2019/20 read very positively, particularly given that the last quarter of the year was effectively a non event.
As we moved into the new financial year the main focus continued to be cash in hand, and again I can confirm we’ve been able to move things on positively since the beginning of July 2019. We have taken advantage of the Government’s Covid related grants and we’ll look very carefully at the possibility of receiving the Restart Grant announced in the recent budget. Doubtless you’re aware the RFU have recently been allocated £23 million of Government assistance for clubs like ourselves, and as a result we have applied for a grant via this Winter Survival Package.
Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of this year’s cash input however has been the amount raised from membership subscriptions. I’m delighted to say that the vast majority of our members paid their subs for 2019/20, despite knowing full well that the chances of a full/normal season were highly unlikely.
On behalf of the exec committee I would like to earnestly thank our members for their support during this extremely challenging time. Make no mistake, many clubs across the country have been engaged in a battle for survival due to the prevailing situation, and there are many whose future looks far more precarious than ours - and that is in no small way thanks to the contribution of our members. Hopefully, given the recent Return to Rugby update, we will be able to see some action at Hare Lane before too long.
Another huge vote of thanks must go to the sponsors who have also supported us this year, particularly as they have had precious little back in return. Again, on behalf of the Exec I thank them sincerely and I shall be writing to them individually to endorse our thanks.
It has been extremely gratifying to witness the contributions from our members and sponsors. Hopefully this is an indication of their approval of what we are about as a club, our general direction of travel and our contribution to both Rugby Union and the general sporting vitality of the area.
In terms of what’s going on now, improvement work continues on the squash court building, aided by a Sport England grant. However, we’re falling just short of the total funding required so Squash Chairman Ian Walton will be launching a fund raiser in the near future in an attempt to bridge that gap, so please watch this space and help if you can.
On the other side of the ground it’s been great to see the opening of the new nursery. There’s still a little tidying up to be done but the building itself is fantastic, the rent/lease from which will make a significant contribution to the club’s coffers for many years to come. I would like to publicly thank Martin Huber for his efforts in this regard, as he has played an “absolute blinder” throughout the entire nursery project and we should acknowledge the huge amount of effort and expertise he’s brought to this program.
As for the future, we all of course hope and pray for normality to return to our everyday and rugby lives during the next few months. We would dearly love to spend some of the cash we’ve accumulated as we have a number of capital projects we would like to move forward – improvements to the drainage on the car park, smartening up the area in front of the clubhouse, new floodlights for pitch 2 and also a children’s’ play area, with the help of sponsorship and (hopefully) crowd funding.
However we’re still a little nervous to commit at the moment, for obvious reasons, but our intention is to press ahead with these projects as soon as the time is right.
In conclusion I think we’re as pleased as we could realistically dare to be with our overall financial position at this time. It would be remiss of me not to thank Darren Burbedge for his diligence and attention to detail in putting the accounts together, as well as his skill and patience when dealing with our auditors!
Finally, let’s all hope that the onset of summer not only brings good weather but more importantly a return to living life as normal human beings, with all the implications that will have for a return to normality for our game and our club.