AGM 2019 Minutes-FINAL.Pdf

BATH RUGBY SUPPORTERS’ CLUB MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD IN THE RICOH SUITE, THE RECREATION GROUND ON 29 MAY 2019 AT 1930

Present:

Committee: Kevin Lawrence (Chairman) Erica Veiver (Treasurer) Anne Kirkham (Membership Secretary) Christine Knight (Committee Member) Ian Rooney (Committee Member) Christine Webb (Committee Member) Mike Carr (Committee Member) Nicola Curtis (Committee Member) Pat Lawrence (Committee Member)

Members:

Sue Andrew Craig Fenton Caroline Mahoney Raymond Preston Jean Bailey Jim Guymer Michael Mahoney David Rawlings John Bailey Terri Guymer Colin Master Andrew Read David Byrne Alan Hayward Sally Masters Terry Wagstaff Maureen Byrne Clive Hoskin Kate McCullough Keith White Fred Clayton Clive Johnston Steve Moore Clare White John Crouch Honor King Peter Phillips Dawn Woodland Jocelyn Dunning Chris Knight Mike Phillips Doug Wrigglesworth Phil Dunning Peter Legge Theresa Powell Mike Elliott Sheila Legge Phil Powell (38)

In attendance: Tarquin McDonald (Chief Executive, Bath Rugby)

Welcome Kevin Lawrence (Chairman) welcomed the members present

Speaker Tarquin began by thanking the AGM for the opportunity to speak to the BRSC members. He made special mention of the excellent working relationship with the BRSC Committee and thanked them for being so supportive to the Club. His focus would be based around 2 areas; Rugby and an update on the Stadium for Bath project. He firstly wanted to extend best wishes to, Tom Dunn, Elliott Stooke,

Beno Obano and Tom Ellis who had been selected for the England Squad to face the Barbarians at Twickenham on 2 June 19. Tarquin commented that the Club was delighted to finish the season with a qualifying place for next season’s European Champion’s Cup. Particularly pleasing was the player led fight backs to achieve bonus point wins in the final two games of the season but he acknowledged that they had not been wanting to be fighting for 6th place. He stated their ambition to be a dominant force in European Rugby and lifting trophies was undiminished. He explained that the intent was to grow the team from home grown players, interspersed with world class talent and for the players to have a passion in wearing the shirt. He commented that there had been a lot of talk about Saints and Gloucester this season but that the gulf between Saracens and Exeter and the rest of the Premiership was evident and that they had achieved such success by being greater than the sum of all their parts. He explained that in both business and rugby seismic change within erodes the essence that brings everything together. He explained that the Club had experienced this and that they were intent on constructing a system for us that delivers sustained success. The attributes required have been identified and Stuart Hooper is the right choice for Bath Rugby. He was identified as a potential leader while still playing and when Tabai Matson left the decision was made to focus on developing his potential. In management theory terms a person’s attributes fall into 3 areas; It – the task, long term plans; I – how I show up, values I hold; We – how I interrelate with people, how people interact, behaviour when things go wrong. These attributes are quite difficult to assess and are magnified in the high pressure world of sport, on camera and how you react to pressure and stress. In all of these areas, Stuart shows up incredibly well. The view of him has been tested with other notable people in the rugby world and with a leadership expert who considers Stuart one of the most exceptional leaders he has encountered. The players believe in him, he has huge integrity, is open to challenge and change and is an excellent strategic leader. People have asked if a Head Coach is needed in order to support Stuart, but Tarquin considered this to be slightly the wrong question and preferred what attributes do we need in our systems? He acknowledged that there had been questions about the oneness of our game and explained that they were not for or against a Head Coach; if we do decide to appoint one it will be the right person with the right attributes and either internal or external. Tarquin outlined how the Club are putting together the requisite systems and support based around Culture; Sports Science and Coaching. Katie Warriner is now on board and has assisted the Players to develop a set of values and has also addressed the fundamental aspect about how people ‘show up’ based around four key aspects; how we play; how we train; who we are and how we develop. This has now been cascaded across all the business areas of Bath Rugby. Three full days of coaches meetings have been held and a game model has been developed, using common language to talk about how we play and train. This model has been used really successfully by the Academy. Our recent recruitment has been aligned with this game model to develop a game comprising:

An uncompromising forward pack – big players who are capable of providing a platform for attack Attack – performed at tempo, with multiple layers and more aggressive line speed. He commented that Ruaridh McConnochie had been unbelievable this season. He explained that we needed to increase game understanding, why the players are doing what they’re doing and then better decision making on the pitch should ensue. We also needed to tap sources of tries as Bath were placed bottom of the Premiership statistics in terms of Lineout and Turnover successes. Exeter had scored 50 maul tries in the 198-19 season and these were specific tangible areas to win games. Tarquin confirmed that the Coaching team fro 191-20 would be: Girvan Dempsey as the Attack and Backs Coach assisted by Ryan Davis Neal Hatley (who had already had a significant input to the pre-season planning in advance of his departure with England to the World Cup) as Forwards and Defence Coach assisted by Mark Lilley who will coaching technical areas around the scrum and maul and Luke Charteris had been appointed as a specialist Lineout Coach following his retirement from playing. He had spent 3 days in South Africa when the Lions had played the Crusaders learning the techniques required especially in the area of a move called ‘the vault’. Tarquin outlined there was significant work and potential recruitment going into all aspects of the playing environment and how we make best use of the time the Players are at Farleigh, their training, sleep, nutrition, data, sports science and ‘return to play’ processes to see if more can done to derive advantage for the on field performance. This work is being led by Greg Roe (Performance Manager) who has a PHD in training load and match induced fatigue. Andy Rock has switched role to become Performance Director and a new Strength and Conditioning expert, with emphasis on Conditioning, has been recruited but can not yet be announced. Management of Players over the forthcoming season will be key with a disrupted season due to the World Cup and the Premiership Cup due to start on 21 September 19. All of this activity is to derive advantage to make up ground on Saracens and Exeter. He confirmed that Bath Rugby would continue to invest up the Salary Cap limit. Tarquin turned to the vision for the Stadium and confirmed it was to give Supporters their seat of choice at a reasonable price. He explained that they had had extensive negotiations with Historic England and that they had reached an agreement about the height of the proposed new Stadium but had commented to the architects they would like a more ‘playful’ design. He further explained that the Stadium for Bath team had conducted a number of briefings to the Liberal Democrats prior to the Local Council Elections and these had been supportive. Emphasis had been placed on the work and funding the new stadium would generate to cover the gap in funding to help deprived youngsters in Bath. He explained that there will be another formal second pre-planning application in June 19, resulting in a final exhibition in July and a formal planning application in the summer of 2019. Based on this, construction will be between 2020-2022. Tarquin confirmed that playing matches on the outfield was

always going to be challenging and they will be looking at alternatives to achieve this. He confirmed that there would be further meetings and briefings to the Supporters Steering Group and commented that some BRSC Committee members were part of this group. He confirmed his commitment to have open discussions on pricing for seats in the new stadium. Kevin thanked Tarquin for finding time in his busy schedule to speak to the AGM.

1. The 2019 AGM - Welcome and Opening Remarks (Chairman) Kevin Lawrence welcomed everyone officially to the meeting and thanked them for coming. He stressed that AGM is an important meeting as BRSC belongs to all its Members and it was important that as many members as possible attended the AGM. He explained to the AGM that unfortunately BRSC Secretary Tom Sutton is unwell and unable to attend and that he and Membership Secretary Anne Kirkham would cover the areas of AGM business normally falling to the Secretary. He asked the meeting to remember those members who had sadly passed away during the year since the last meeting; Dr Brian Parkins and Mr Anthony White who would be much missed. Kevin Lawrence asked the Meeting whether members present were aware of any other members who had passed away this year; none were identified. 2. Notice Convening the Meeting (Secretary) Anne Kirkham read out the Notice convening the meeting. It was confirmed that in accordance with Paragraph 11 of the Constitution, the notice had been published on the Allez - Bath website within the stipulated timescales in advance of the meeting and in the local Press. Members had also been notified directly and notice of the meeting had appeared in the matchday programme for the Wasps game and on social media. Anne Kirkham confirmed that posts falling due for election this year were Secretary, Treasurer and 2 Committee Members, all to serve for a period of 2 years. 3. Apologies (Secretary) Written (emails and letters) and telephone apologies had been received from 31 members. (A full list of their names is attached at Annex A to these Minutes.) No further apologies were offered from the floor. 4. Minutes of the last AGM (Secretary) Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 30th May 2018 had been published on allez-bath on 8th July 2018. There were no questions or matters arising not covered during the business of the 2019 AGM. The Minutes of the 2018 AGM were approved by the meeting and signed by the Chairman. 5. Membership Secretary’s Report Anne Kirkham’s report is contained in full at Annex B to these Minutes. Anne took a slightly different approach in this year’s report and compared and contrasted the content of the 2019 Membership Secretary’s Report with the first one that she had delivered at the 2013 AGM. Anne started her report by noting that membership since 2013 had increased from 688 to 950; an increase of 38%. Anne was disappointed

that after the success in breaking the 1000 barrier last year, membership numbers were down by about 100. She explained that recruitment and in particular retention are subjects that we spend a lot of time on and once again welcomed any suggestions from members. 6. Anne reflected on the impact of changes such as the increase in on line renewal, the growth of electronic communications and the growth of social media, outlining the advantages and disadvantages of some of these changes. One notable success has been the increasingly visible matchday presence at the Gazebo, where we are now an integral part of the Bath Rugby “match day experience”. Anne also commented favourably on the good working relationships that we have established with Bath Rugby and highlighted the assistance that we have received in running very attractive competitions as part of the Membership. Anne finished by reminding members that Membership for 19/20 would open on 1st July. 7. A question was asked relating to the use of direct debits as a means of reducing Membership renewal workload and potentially aiding the retention of members for longer than one year. The observation was made that it seemed to work for others. Anne explained that we had encountered problems with standing orders in the past and were wary of encountering similar ones with direct debits, but would review the whole question in the context of the need to acquire some special to purpose membership software. This would not affect this year’s renewal round. 8. The AGM joined the Chairman in thanking Anne not just for this report but also for the tremendous amount of hard work that she has put in over a number of years in a role that is critical to BRSC.

9. Treasurer’s Report Erica Veiver’s full report is attached at Annex C to these Minutes. Erica was able to report to the AGM that once again, the past year had been one of financial stability. Erica explained some of the key aspects of the accounts including the money donated to charity (The Bath Rugby Foundation in18/19). Erica drew attention to the reasons for some year on year fluctuations; these were largely attributed to the one – off farewell event for Matt Banahan during last financial year and the delay by Minuteman in processing the printing and despatch of the latest Newsletter, which meant that the cost would roll over into FY 19/20. 10. Our bank balance as at the end of April is £11,456. Allowing for expenditure still to be processed, this leaves us with funds of £8,673. Erica recommended that the AGM should continue to regard this amount as a vital contingency reserve and as a safeguard against inevitable increased costs when Rec facilities are not available to BRSC for events during the Stadium for Bath construction phase.

11. A question from the floor was raised relating to the Newsletter and whether it was time to stop producing it in hard copy. The chairman indicated that he would like to address this later in the agenda.

12. The Chairman thanked Erica for yet another excellent report and stewardship of BRSC’s financial resources. Erica is standing down as Treasurer at the AGM; the Chairman thanked her for her many years of invaluable service during which she had played a key role in transforming BRSC finances into their current healthy state. The meeting unanimously agreed and formal thanks to Erica were recorded.

13 . Chairman’s Report Kevin Lawrence’s report is at Annex D to these Minutes. Kevin underlined some of the key aspects of the reports presented by the Membership Secretary and the Treasurer. He identified 5 “cornerstone activities” which all needed to come together for BRSC to grow. As well as Finance and Memberships, he identified and discussed some aspects of Communications and Events Delivery, reaffirming the intention to continue to deliver high quality events for BRSC Members at and accessible price. He also discussed some aspects of Influence and how BRSC exercises it and to what effect. Representing BRSC Members’ concerns is one of the fundamental tasks for BRSC and Kevin confirmed that we do it regularly (but not in the glare of social media) and that we are listened to. 14. In concluding, Kevin paid tribute to all the people who work very hard on behalf of BRSC Members. He repeated his thanks to Erica Veiver, which was warmly applauded. He also spoke at some length about the invaluable contribution of Tom Sutton who was standing down as Secretary at this AGM. Kevin thanked Tom for his support and laid particular emphasis on the work that Tom had done on establishing BRSC’s working relationship with Bath Rugby. The AGM wholeheartedly endorsed Kevin’s comments and applauded warmly. 15. Kevin returned to the earlier point about the difficulties around producing a hard copy Newsletter. The AGM’s view was that we should stop doing it and distribute it electronically as per the Newsflashes. Kevin indicated that the Committee would ask the Membership if they are content with this change, noting that we would need to retain a hard copy “safety net” for those unable to receive it electronically. 16. Kevin reminded the AGM that the Committee are still looking for a volunteer to take on the role of IT focal point. 17. Members had note how good a supporter of BRSC Todd Blackadder had been and a question was asked about Stuart Hooper and whether the same sort of supportive relationship would continue. Kevin responded that Stuart had always positively supported BRSC in the past and he saw no reason why that should change – but that Todd was special and that the relationship would inevitably feel different. 18. A suggestion was made that we might invite Dan Evans to plug BRSC in his What’s App activities. Kevin explained that we had a good relationship with Dan and would follow this up. 19. Membership Subscriptions Kevin Lawrence confirmed that no changes to subscription levels were proposed in 19/20 and the members present agreed.

20. Changes to the Constitution Kevin Lawrence confirmed that none were proposed at this AGM. 21. Pre-notified matters for discussion No items had been received under this heading for discussion at this meeting. 22. Nomination of Scrutineers As the posts to be elected were not contested, Anne Kirkham confirmed there was no need for the nomination of Scrutineers. 23. Election of the Committee a) Secretary Ian Rooney had been formally proposed and seconded as a candidate for the post of Secretary in accordance with the requirements of the BRSC Constitution. There were no other candidates and the AGM unanimously agreed Ian Rooney’s election as Secretary of Bath Rugby Supporters’ Club for a period of two years, effective immediately. The Chairman thanked Ian and welcomed him into his new role on behalf of the BRSC Membership. b) Treasurer Doug Wrigglesworth had been formally proposed and seconded as a candidate for the post of Treasurer in accordance with the requirements of the BRSC Constitution. There were no other candidates and the AGM unanimously agreed Doug Wrigglesworth’s election as Treasurer of Bath Rugby Supporters’ Club for a period of two years, effective immediately. The Chairman thanked Doug and welcomed him into his new role on behalf of the BRSC Membership. c) Committee members Valid nominations appropriately proposed and seconded had been received from the following and all were duly elected to serve on the Committee for a period of two years: Christine Knight, Nicola Curtis, Erica Veiver. 24. BRSC Charity Fundraising 2019-20 Anne Kirkham proposed the adoption of Bath Mind as the BRSC Charity for 19/20. It is a local charity established in 1998 working with people in the community to help prevent mental ill health. It is entirely supported by local fundraising and adoption by BRSC would help to make a significant difference. Further details are at Annex E to the minutes. Anne’s proposal was unanimously agreed. 25. Appointment of Auditors for 2019-20 Kevin Lawrence informed the AGM that Clive Hoskins, who has reviewed our accounts for many years, would be moving away in the next year and that we would need a volunteer to replace him in this important function. The AGM endorsed Kevin’s thanks to Clive for his valuable services over the years.

26. Any Other Business – notified in advance by the due date No items had been received. 27. Relevant Matters for further consideration of the Committee Kevin explained that we had not yet agreed a date with Bath Rugby for the 2019 Awards Supper. Ian Rooney confirmed that following further negotiations late that afternoon, the likely window was mid – late August. Kevin promised that we would publicise the date as soon as it is settled. No other points were raised. 28. Closing Remarks Kevin Lawrence again thanked everyone for their attendance and support, again reiterating the importance of as many members as possible attending the AGM. 29. Anne Kirkham invited the meeting to record a vote of thanks to Kevin for the huge amount of work that he does and the professional way that he does it. The AGM responded with a warm round of applause. PL.

SIGNED:

______

Kevin Lawrence (Chairman)

Annex A to AGM 2019 Minutes

APOLOGIES: AGM 2019

Barry Cleeve Clive Firkins Emma Sparks Jenny Cleeve Jenny Firkins Dave Stock Jamie Dawe David Harrington Tom Sutton Janey Dawe Susanne Laws Graham Teague Dorothy Dodd Adrian Laws Denise Thomas Stephen Dodd Jerry Musselwhite Jan Warrington Jan Drew Andrew Sharpe Mike Warrington Glyn Edwards David Smith Alec Weaver Lesley Wilcox (25)

None From the Floor

Annex B to AGM 2019 Minutes

Membership Secretary’s Report

Six years ago, on May 23rd 2013, I stood here with some trepidation, to deliver my first Membership Secretary’s report: Bath Rugby had just finished 7th in the premiership with a squad that included Stephen Donald, Ben Skirving and Sam Vesty and BRSC had a membership of 688. Looking back over the six Membership Secretary reports that I have delivered so far it is interesting to reflect on what has changed and what has remained pretty much the same. Just as the team’s progress on the field has had its ups and downs, so too has BRSC’s efforts to grow our membership.

So what has changed? • Our membership has increased by 38%; whilst not following a linear pattern the general trend is still upwards. After our success at breaking the 1000 barrier last season it is disappointing but perhaps understandable to report that we closed the membership on 30th April 2019 with 950 members, just about 100 fewer than last season. Maybe the nature of the team’s results plus the announcement of the shake up in the coaching team had an effect. • Methods of joining BRSC or renewing membership. In 2013 some membership fees were paid by bank transfer, but the vast majority were paid by cheque or cash, either by post to the membership secretary or at the BRSC table using a paper membership application form. This season 80% of our members paid using our on-line shop. Even those joining at our gazebo can now pay by card (Wi-Fi permitting) • The use of IT to communicate with our members. Electronic communications have allowed us to interact with members in a more immediate and regular way. This has allowed us to involve members in Try of the Month voting and to advertise our events more easily. It also allows us to publish and distribute our e-newsletter, Newsflash on a regular basis. • The growth of social media platforms has allowed BRSC to reach out to a much wider audience of supporters. Our Twitter account has over 3500 followers, our Facebook Page has over 2000 followers and we are building a following on Instagram. We have also benefitted from exposure on other social media platforms run by and for supporters of Bath Rugby. • The advent of electronic communications has also had its down side. We have lost the opportunity to include BRSC flyers in the Bath Rugby Season Ticket Renewal packs as the majority of that process is now done electronically. It has proved much harder to persuade Bath Rugby to include BRSC information in their electronic communications. The old paper flyers would routinely bring in 40 or so new members.

• The nature of the BRSC membership is changing. When I took over this role there was a core of loyal, longstanding members who renewed their membership regularly: many new members joined this core and so the membership grew. Over the past few seasons I have noticed a change; new members often join for 1 or 2 years and then drop away. • Matchday presence. We now have a far more visible presence at the Rec for every home game, no matter how cold, wet or windy. Our BRSC gazebo is situated in the ‘Supporter’s’ Village’ and is an important part of our promotion. It is often the first indication to supporters that we exist.. We are always happy to chat to supporters of both Bath and visiting teams and to answer any questions that they may have. This season 114 members either joined or renewed at the gazebo. • Honorary Life Memberships and Honorary Annual Memberships. In 2013 there were 4 Honorary Life Members but there was no clear process for nomination or criteria for this award.. “Bath Rugby Supporters’ Club Award of Honorary Memberships” which is posted on our website sets out a clear framework to guide the award of Honorary Membership. Currently we have 7 Honorary Life Members; Sue Andrew, Kelvin Brunton, Bob Calleja, Penny Dale, Tony Spreadbury, Jan Warrington and Mike Warrington. • The committee have recently agreed to award Honorary Life Membership to Dave Stock from the 1st July 2019. This is in recognition of his long standing membership of BRSC and his contribution as Quizmaster Extraordinaire at our annual charity quizzes helping us raise hundreds of pounds for our nominated charities over the years.

Honorary Annual Membership recognises the contribution made by BRSC members of their professional skill and expertise free of charge for the benefit of BRSC. This season Clive Hoskin who audits our accounts and Alan Thomas, who produces the artwork for our membership card & badge, are holders of this award. Honorary Annual memberships are reviewed each year. A copy of the “Bath Rugby Supporters’ Club Award of Honorary Memberships” document and a list of current Honorary Members is displayed on the board at the back of the room. • Support from Bath Rugby. Since 2013 BRSC has worked hard to further develop our working relationship with Bath Rugby to the level that we currently enjoy. Tarquin has been very supportive of BRSC and we have established good relations with the playing side of the club which has resulted in players being made available for various events during the year. For the last three years Todd Blackadder has been a paid up member of BRSC and will continue to be so from overseas. Todd has been a great supporter of

and ambassador for BRSC and really gets what being a Bath Rugby supporter means. • Competitions: Each year we have run a members only competition in order to encourage old members to renew and new members to join. This year we were able to offer three great prizes. Two lucky winners (Michael Helyar and Patricia Knight) won a visit to Farleigh House where they were given a tour of the training facilities and watched the squad training. A third winner (Lindsey Neale) won a hospitality package for two people. Thanks to Bath Rugby, especially Rachael Risdale, for making these fantastic prizes available. This season we have also been able to offer an incentive for members to vote in our Try of the Month competition. If you vote for the eventual winner, you have the opportunity to win the honour of presenting the award in person at either the captain’s run or at Farleigh House.

So what hasn’t changed very much?

• Recruitment and Retention. Every season from 2013 to 2019 we have successfully recruited new members. This season we recruited 198 new members but 298 members failed to renew their membership, a drop off rate of 28%.Many of these non-renewals are members who had joined up within the last couple of years whilst some were longstanding members. Reminder emails have little effect and with the recent GDPR restrictions there is a limit to how many times we can contact them. Initial renewals and new memberships were encouraging, keeping pace with last season; however numbers fell behind in November / December and never recovered. Each year we have asked ourselves what more can we do to retain our members. Are we not living up to expectations? Are we not providing the events, opportunities or interactions that they expected? Maybe there isn’t any more that we can do and we have to accept that a 25% drop off in renewals is just a fact of life. Each year I ask for any bright ideas from the floor …… I’m still waiting! Just to return to the 2013 season … there are four members of that playing squad who will be running out in BB&W next season: Ross Batty, Nathan Catt, Chris Cook and Francois Louw. There are still three members of the 2013 committee working on behalf of BRSC: Kevin Lawrence, Erica Veiver and me! Membership for the 2019-2020 season will open on 1st July so look out for notification emails. The new badges have arrived already and the new cards are on their way. No matter how hard we work to promote BRSC and the benefits of membership you, the members, can play your part in recruiting

new members. By working together let’s see whether we can boost our membership over the 1000 target once again Thank you for listening.

Annex C to AGM 2019 Minutes Treasurer’s Report

This year has been a year of financial stability. We managed to break-even. I would like to thank the following for helping us out this season: Bath Rugby. They have been very supportive. As well as those mentioned by Anne we have also enjoyed: • The hire of the Clubhouse and Ricoh Suite at zero cost for the Awards Supper and the AGM • Free food for players at our Awards Supper

I would like to thank our sponsor of the Awards Supper - John Titcombe Jewellery. Sponsorship has been key in providing a quality Awards Supper that BRSC can be proud of, for a ticket price that is still affordable and very good value for money. Also, Mowbray Woodward continue to sponsor the ‘MW Award for Services to Bath Rugby’.

Without these sponsors and Bath Rugby’s assistance, running BRSC would have been more difficult. And now the Accounts for the year ending 30 April 2019:

Bath Rugby Supporters’ Club 2018/192013 Annual General Meeting Accounts

Accounts for the Year Ending 30 April 2013

Income

2018/19 2017/18 Variance

Membership 8,098.50 8,934.50 (836.00) Events 3,855.00 4,375.00 (520.00) Charity Collection 1,225.12 2,340.36 (1,115.24) Merchandise 56.94 121.89 (64.95) Miscellaneous 25.02 35.48 (10.46)

13,260.58 15,807.23 (2,546.65)

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Income • Membership subscription income was down by £836 vs last year • Events: Event income was down by £520 due to the cancelled Back in the Box event over Easter • Charity collections: Down by £1115 - due to the Farewell to Banners event last season • Merchandise: Down by £65

• Miscellaneous: This is mainly postage and packing income from online merchandise purchases.

2018/19 Accounts

Expenditure

2018/19 2017/18 Variance

Membership 1,881.34 2,042.86 161.52 Events 5,328.53 5,158.70 (169.83) Printing, Postage & Stationery 1,714.79 2,993.71 1,278.92 Equipment 150.76 638.98 488.22 Presentations 830.99 614.75 (216.24) Web 900.22 1,023.24 123.02 Merchandise - 275.00 275.00 Charity Expenditure - - - Charity Donations 1,225.12 2,340.36 1,115.24 Miscellaneous 24.54 10.00 (14.54)

12,056.29 15,097.60 3,041.31

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Expenditure • Membership: Costs are down slightly caused by a reduction in postage due to a reduction in membership - we ordered a similar number of cards and badges as last year. • Events costs are slightly up despite an event similar to Farewell to Banners not taking place. This is due to our decision to pay for a quality sound system for our RFU Discipline event and the Stadium for Bath event. Also the Quiz Night room hire was considerably more expensive than last year. All this is offset by the cancelled Back in the Box and a cheaper European welcome. • Printing, Postage & Stationery: The newsletter inc postage has cost us £2,332 last year for 2 newsletters. This year's second newsletter has missed the April cut-off point • Equipment: We purchased 2 display boards. • Presentations: Bath Aqua Glass mementos presented this year at the BRSC Player Awards and Long Service Awards to the coaches. Te increase is due to the coaches leaving • Web: Costs have decreased due to a reduction in memberships • Merchandise: We did not invest in additional merchandise this season • Charity Expenditure: £0 • Charity Donations: will be discussed on the next slide

2018/19 Accounts

Donations to Charity

Bath Rugby Foundation

- Awards Supper raffle 612.50 - Quiz Night entry fee and raffle 420.30 - Leinster Welcome Brunch - bucket collection 139.33 - Prior Seasons Badges 49.99 - Other 3.00

Total Charitable Donations 1,225.12

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Charitable Donations This year we have collected £1,225 for charity (a decrease of £1115 over last year). These donations came from our members and other rugby supporters. The reduction in monies collected is due to last season's Farewell to Banners event. The players sold raffle tickets at our Awards Supper to the amount of £612. We charged an entry fee as well as sold raffle tickets for our Charity Christmas Quiz. The Leinster supporters were very generous and our Leinster Welcome Brunch bucket collection amassed £139. We sold prior season's badges for £50 - mainly via the gazebo. Other one-off donations came to £3.

Web Presence Our online shop has now been in place for 6 years. 80% of membership subscriptions are now paid online (last year 73%) and a similar percentage of our event tickets are also sold in this way. The online shop uses the shopping cart software from Ecwid - which is used by more than 1 million sellers in 175 countries. We use PayPal as our online payments processor - payment can be made by PayPal account or people can pay by credit / debit card.

2018/19 Accounts

Summary

2018/19 2017/18 Variance

Income 13,260.58 15,807.23 (2,546.65)

Expenditure 12,056.29 15,097.60 3,041.31

Surplus / (Loss) 1,204.29 709.63 494.66

Bank Balance at 30 April 11,456.15 10,750.93

Available funds 8,673.73 7,469.44

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Annex D to AGM 2019 Minutes

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Introduction.

Once again, many thanks for attending the AGM tonight. I know I keep repeating this, but I can’t over - emphasise the importance of this meeting, certainly so far as my Committee colleagues and I are concerned.

We’re very conscious very conscious of the trust that you place in us to manage BRSC on your behalf to the best of our ability and it’s important that we account to you and the AGM and the whole BRSC Membership for the way in which we’ve managed the Club on your behalf during the past year.

Just as importantly, although we work very hard at being accessible and are constantly striving to improve our internal communications, this is really the only opportunity to engage in a structured way with a group of Members about how we see BRSC growing in the future, particularly against the background of very significant challenges that are likely to come our way in the near future. Trust me – although we enjoy meeting people at the gazebo on match days, after two hours in the pouring rain on a Friday night it’s not the best time to be having constructive conversations about complex topics!

The good news tonight is that I’m going to try to keep my presentation reasonably short and focused and try to give you an overview of how we as a Committee see BRSC at the moment, highlight some of the things that have gone well during the year or where we feel there is room for improvement, and gaze into the crystal ball a little to see what opportunities or challenges we may be faced with. I’ll also talk a little bit about influencing and how we act to represent issues raised by members at the appropriate level within the Bath Rugby.

BRSC: How Do We Stand? In my view there are 4 key management elements all of which have to be in place an functioning effectively if we are to sustain BRSC, grow it in line with Bath Rugby’s aspirations and deliver benefits of Membership which current Members value and which new Members want. These are:

BRSC CORNERSTONES

RESILIENT FINANCIAL BASE

a. Resilient financial base which comprises an operating budget which is adequate for our in-year operations and the accumulation of a contingency fund to keep us in business, even if something catastrophic happened to our cashflow. And we need to achieve that at a Membership subscription that makes BRSC accessible to as many people as possible. As you’ve heard from Erica, we’ve got that but I would emphasise that our current sound financial status is the result of three things: o Prudent financial management o Hard nosed negotiating when necessary o Positive working relationship with Bath Rugby and others which allows us to deliver good quality events at a price which is affordable and accessible to as many supporters as possible. This means active management of our financial resources rather than just accounting for them. The costs of delivery of our events during the Stadium for Bath construction phase (when the Rec facilities aren’t available) are unpredictable and whilst we’ve built up a prudent contingency reserve to see us through this time, we’re going to have to be extra rigorous in sustaining financial resilience whilst keeping costs of membership and individual events at an accessible level.

BRSC CORNERSTONES

ROBUST Resilient MEMBERSHIP Financial Base NUMBERS

b. Robust membership numbers. Like any organisation we plan to increase our membership year on year, but for a number of reasons we don’t always manage to achieve that. As you know, for the last couple of years we’ve conducted active recruiting and retention campaigns. This year’s was “Try BRSC” based on a marketing strategy suggested by one of our members and supported by Bath Rugby with some very attractive prizes through the year. Despite our best efforts, as you’ve heard from Anne, disappointingly our Membership numbers were a bit down on last year’s. Again as Anne’s said, one aspect that we’ll be looking at is retention – how to keep more people in BRSC year on year. To be honest, although we missed a membership target that we worked very hard to achieve, I’m personally not too worried about our numbers this year against the background of frustrating performances on the pitch – but if it becomes a trend then that’s a different story. We still have a very strong membership base – we are the largest independent supporters club around – and we will continue to strive to build on that solid foundation. A good season in the Premiership and an equally good run in Europe will help!

BRSC CORNERSTONES

Finance

COMMUNICATIONS Membership

c. Communications This is an area that we’ve put a great deal of effort into this year. Christine Knight has worked very hard at pulling together the Newsflashes and Newsletters and we’ve tried to include articles written specifically for BRSC to give our members something special that isn’t available elsewhere. Nicola Curtis has spearheaded our efforts to better exploit the opportunities of the various social media platforms and you will have noticed that we’ve been a lot more active on twitter as well as Facebook. Moreover, the media regularly come to BRSC for a supporters’ perspective on matters relating to Bath Rugby. We’re on speed dial for the BBC, 2 or 3 local radio stations and of course, Dan Evans at the Chronicle! The Newsletters are very resource intensive to produce. The traditional method of stuffing around 650 envelopes, addressing them and transporting them to a post office all by hand takes a huge amount of time and effort. For that reason we’ve tried outsourcing the whole printing and despatch function for this latest Newsletter – we’ll review how successful that’s been during the Summer. However, the key question is whether we should continue with a hard copy newsletter at all or whether we should follow the same process as for the Newsflashes and send them out electronically with a hard copy safety net for those who can’t receive them by email. We haven’t reached a decision yet, but we feel that the time is right to conduct a preference exercise and ask all members what they think.

Of course, the best means of communication is face to face and I’d like to thank all the Committee members for their work in staffing the gazebo on matchdays, often in appalling weather. I know that it’s frustrating if you come to see us as we’re packing up but by that time we’ll already have been there for over two hours and shutting up shop 30 mins before kick off is the only way that we can guarantee to get to our seats on time!

BRSC CORNERSTONES

Finance

EVENTS Membership

Communications

d. Events delivery There are a number of core events that have become synonymous with BRSC such as the Awards Supper, Ask the Ref with Spreaders and our Annual Quiz Night with Stocky. We value these and will keep on delivering them to the best of our ability, but we’re also constantly on the lookout for something different. This year we added an exclusive Stadium for Bath briefing to the agenda and in keeping with our efforts to provide special events for BRSC Members we were delighted to host a “discipline evening” with Dave Barnes, Duncan Bell and Dave Guyan. Next season we hope to add a session on the Academy pathway to the programme and we’ll continue to search for new opportunities. Of course, none of this happens without a tremendous amount of work. We all chip in, but Chrissy Web has acted as our events coordinator over the last year and has done a terrific job. Well done Chrissy. I’d also like to say a word about our Try of the Month competition, which Ian Rooney has managed this season. It’s important because it gives us the final list for our Try of the Year vote but more than that, I can tell you how much the players value it and are delighted to receive it. Please vote when you get the emails. Not only will you stand a chance of awarding the certificate yourself and having a photo opportunity with the winning player, but this season we were able to offer some additional opportunities to the person who’s name came out of the hat at Farleigh courtesy of Bath Rugby.

BRSC CORNERSTONES

Finance

INFLUENCE Members

Events Comms

Influence I said that I’d say a little bit about this since representing our members’ views is high on the list of things that BRSC exists to do in our Constitution. We do this all the time. Through a lot of hard work we have established a network of contacts at all levels of Bath Rugby whom we can call on to represent issues that are brought to our attention. Sometimes they are easily fixed – a quick email to the Operations Department will usually result in either positive action to resolve a problem, or an explanation as to why it can’t be immediately fixed. We also engage actively with Bath Rugby on bigger issues, for example we have been an integral part of the consultation process for the Stadium for Bath, striving to ensure that the supporters’ interests and wishes are known and understood. We also represented Members’ views on the number of Friday night games, the need for a change to the season ticket renewal window to give ST holders clarity on the new coaching structure prior to renewal and also issues around the re-scheduled Gloucester Premiership Cup game. We are reasonably successful, but we do what we do on the basis of a relationship of trust. We achieve more by straightforward one to one contact than we would by doing everything in the social media spotlight. We would rather quietly just get on with the job. We are listened to.

BRSC CORNERSTONES

Finance

Influence Members

Events Comms

PEOPLE

PEOPLE Underpinning all of this are people. My job as Chairman isn’t always easy but it would be impossible if it wasn’t for the tremendous efforts put in by all of the Members of your Committee. You see us on matchdays, at events and on evenings such as this, but like all voluntary organisations that’s only the tip of the iceberg and without all the Committee Members who give freely of their time and expertise BRSC would not exist. Moreover, we wouldn’t be continuing to lead the way as an Independent Supporters’ Club, not only in numbers and activities but also in terms of positive relationships with, and access to, senior levels of management within the Rugby Club.

Two of the Committee Members who have worked unstintingly to achieve all that are standing down from their current roles on this occasion.

Tom Sutton has been the Secretary for 7 years and has contributed a huge amount to BRSC during that time. As many of you will know, Tom isn’t in the best of health at the moment and has taken the difficult decision to step down this year. I’d like to place on record our thanks for all his work and to send him all our very best wishes.

In Tom’s absence a lot of the Secretary functions, including the preparations for the AGM, have fallen to Pat Lawrence who’s done a terrific job. She’ll be thoroughly embarrassed that I’ve mentioned it. Well done Pat.

Erica Veiver has been the BRSC Treasurer for even longer. It’s fair to say that when she took office BRSC’s financial position was fragile to say the least and Erica has played a key role in turning that around and creating our current sound financial basis. Erica has also acted as our IT focal point as well as playing a full part in all BRSC activities. Again, I’d like to place on record the AGM’s appreciation for all her work in both roles.

We’re delighted that Erica has opted to put herself forward as a Committee Member this time around and as you will hear, we have a volunteer to take on the Treasurer role. We’re still looking for someone to step forward as our IT focal point – I’ve written to all members about this without success, but please help if you can. It’s not a formal committee role and a lot of the role can be conducted remotely so please let us know if you think you might be able to help.

I would also like to express my personal thanks to everybody who has served on the Committee and given me and the Club such great support. And we mustn’t to thank the “unofficials” who also give a huge amount of time to help us out, especially Honor King and Mike Phillips who has produced brilliant photographs for us this year. I’m sure you would wish to join me in thanking them.

And finally, thanks to you and all the membership for your support.

Thank you for your attention; are there any questions?

Annex E to AGM 2019 Minutes

BRSC CHARITY FOR 19/20: BATH MIND

Proposed BRSC Charity for 2019-2020

Established in 1998 by a group of local people who wanted to provide information and activities for people in the community. Have contact with over 3,400 people annually to improve, prevent and maintain mental health and wellbeing. Affiliated to national Mind, but receive no direct funding from them. They are a self – sustaining, independent locally run charity.

LIVE LEARN SHARE

LIVE A registered care home Supported living accommodation in Bath & Chippenham Community Support Service

LEARN Mental Health First Aid Wellbeing in the Workplace Mental Health Awareness in sport Work with young people to raise awareness of the importance of mental health

LIVE LEARN SHARE

SHARE: A range of activities and projects across their service as well as collaborative wellbeing projects in the community • Food for thought • Greenlinks • Friends in Need • Stitch Friday • Photography groups at Foxhill & Keynsham • Midsomer Norton Wellbeing Group

Proposed BRSC Charity for 2019-2020

£10 £300 will provide refreshments for two will give creative groups materials for sessions. 6 sessions and 60 people

£30 £450 will provide materials, activities or a will deliver an 8 week cooking course facilitated session for 10 people who need support for their recovery £100 £1000 will facilitate an outdoor cookery will deliver training in horticulture or session for 6 people on the Greenlinks food hygiene for up to 8 participants allotment project • .