Minutes of a Meeting of Sefton RUFC Board: Tuesday 24Th November 2015

Minutes of a meeting of Sefton RUFC Board: Tuesday 24th November 2015

Venue Sefton RUFC Change Room 4

Present WFJ, RS, AC, ASt, Asp, PR (minutes, late), GP, AW (later!)

Apologies None

1. Matters / Actions Arising from the Previous Meeting (20th October)

AW: Regarding unsupervised children in and around the clubhouse on Training nights, it was raised at the Junior committee meeting as well as with parents. Its seems that the children are becoming more controlled. Action AW: To draft appropriate wording for proposed “Keep Out” signs, directed at parents, and forward for review.

ASt / AC / JF: All teams have been made aware of the Club’s position and stand on red cards (the re-introduction of an internal formal disciplinary hearing and the player contributing the £40 fine). There have been no further incidents.

AC: The proposed Colts night game on Friday, 27/11, was not fulfilled, Collegiate did not want the date / time.

AC: Informed specific Junior Coaches about appropriate and respectful use of Alan Webster in catering.

AW: There are still some individuals within the club that have expired CRB. GP: There is an RFU requirement for all coaches to have DBS disclosure. Action AC: To contact those individuals who have let their CRB expire and stress the implications.

Action AC / AW: To review the ‘look and feel’ of the Sefton website, discuss findings.

Bank Account Scam. 23/10/2015 emails sent from “WFJ” to RS, requesting £9670 to TSB Account (Name: “Bill Jones”). 16/11/2015 email from Steve Winman (RFU Head of Club Development) to all Clubs (cc: Dave Southern). Regarding the fraudulent activity by email requesting funds. 17/11/2015 WFJ email to Dave Crone. Asking advice. WFJ has also updated the Police Website.

Sefton Key Register. 16/11/2015 AC. Emailed everyone a register of Sefton Key Holders (27 sets).

2. Financial Matters RS Notes: Finance report 24th November 2015. 1. Current Bank balance 2. Recent significant Payments include: a) £391.20 to Pulse Cashflow. Annual fee for key holding services. (Select Security) b) We have also paid smaller annual sums for the TV licence and to Connect Internet Solutions for hosting our domain name and emails. c) We’ve also paid out for a further coach hire to Hull for Sefton Ladies. I have reimbursed Nicola the £475 she paid out of her own account. Since my last report I have emailed Andrew Soutar (Merseyside RDO) with a series of questions about travel expenses. He has acknowledged my email, but as yet I have heard nothing more. (ongoing). 3. Building Insurance. Our clubhouse building insurance is due for renewal on the 26th November. We have in recent years dealt through a company (broker), Club Insure Ltd. Who specialise in finding the best insurance for clubs such as ours. Our current insurer is not renewing this year, so they have found us cover with AXA. I have elected (after consultation with Directors) to go for a 3 year fixed price deal. The premium is £2,006.03 (if paid in one lump sum).

This is less than we paid last year, and there has also been an increase in Government Insurance Premium Tax to 9.5% from 1/11/15.

4. World Cup Tickets. All money paid out has now been repaid. Unfortunately, because of the high initial ticket price this was an unsuccessful attempt to raise funds for the club. Thanks to those members who took part in the scheme!

5. Bar trading. This remained ‘encouraging’ through the second half of the world cup, together with some ‘big’ Saturday home games. There are 3 events booked in for December, including a Club Christmas part, which is being organised by John Hoy. This will be an all ticket event with food and entertainment provided.

6. CASC Self-Assessment Checklist. We have received a letter from HMRC which asks us to confirm that our Club still meets the conditions for CASC status.

We must respond to this by 1st April 2016 or we will be deregistered (and then may be charged an exit fee?).

The checklist contains 9 tick box questions (Y/N). Two of them relate to the turnover of the Club, and I may have to consult with JH for a definitive answer. Although addressed to the Club Secretary, I’m happy to oversee completion of the checklist.

Action RS: Ensure CASC Self Assessment form is returned before 01/04/2016.

3. Membership Strategy

PR: Meeting at Sefton on Tuesday 01/12, to discuss the Membership and address the numbers of Sefton People. To invite Ned Bohl and JF.

4. Adult and Junior Section Rugby Reports

Adult ASt: Gave summaries of the Senior Teams standing at this time of the season. Sefton Panthers won their first game, have very healthy numbers. Looking to get into a league. Meeting with Rachel Turner (re sponsorship, etc) next week. Sefton Ladies are also winning. There are 78 Women Members, they train twice a week. There is a possibility of getting a men’s Vets team into the Lancashire pool of occasional player’s league. Action ASt: To organise a meeting to assess the senior men’s numbers and skill levels, with a view for a Vets team.

Junior AC: Summarised the recent Junior Committee Meeting. Robin Poll (Junior Coaching Coordinator) is organising a Volunteers Meeting, with a view of getting more parents involved. Attended the RFU Meeting at LSH discussing 16-23 years old Player Retention. Details forthcoming. The Under 16s are struggling with the 2 coached having work commitments. ASt suggest the U16 train with the Colts, with Stu Bailey. RS suggests seeking advice from Kevin Greaves, possibly with some student involvement. Action AC: To highlight to KG the urgency and importance of keeping that U16 team together. Action ASt: To look for a potential U16 coach within Senior players. Action PR: To approach Jamie Luck (former First Team captain) for the vacant U16 coaching position. AC: Martin Jones has requested Sefton to fund the use of Cardinal Heenan pitchs for December, January and February. This is only for the under 7s, 8s, and 9s. This is an ongoing consideration. Action AC: To organise a meeting for Club Accreditation. Include RDO, Andrew Souter.

5. Safeguarding AW: Sunday’s (22/11) U12 game against Wigan went perfectly. AC says there were lots of volunteers and support, who performed admirably. WJF stressed that the parking in Thornhead Lane was very restrictive. Action RS: To consider signage within Thornhead Lane for Parking Restrictions. AW: The U16s have some discipline issues (fighting during games). Action AC: To highlight the U16 diciplinary concern with Jim Fairclough and Bob Marnell AW: Requests notification of any internal safeguarding activities / incidents, no matter how insignificant.

6. Other Urgent and Essential Items

VAT Grant on Pitch Drainage. WFJ in discussions with Sport England. This is an ongoing situation.

Sefton Newsletter. WFJ: Requested in early November, to be produced on a quarterly basis. Coordinated by Jo Spencer. Asp: Requested inclusion of a note concerning Juniors coming into the club in dirty training gear.

Volunteers. WJF: Requested a list of jobs for volunteers. Action ??: Compile a list of jobs for Volunteers.

RS: Sefton Panthers have proposed a number of promotional and fund raising ideas.

AC/AW: No dogs allowed on Junior Match days (Sundays). Action AW: To ask Rose Moffatt to publish “No Dogs” with the Fixtures.

AW: Junior Christmas Party is on the 13/12/2015.

LJMU Sport Business project (Valerie Gorman). There is a proposal from LJMU to get some of their students involved with Sefton, to discuss a Business Plan, based around Social Media, Marketing and Sponsorship. Action ASt: to organise a meeting with the LJMU Sports Business representatives and include Tom Fletcher.

Date of next meeting Not confirmed!!