Physiotherapy Centre

St Helens Autism

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ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS

Notice Awaits

AGM

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SUBSCRIPTIONS  

 Please send your subscription to Andrew Harrison

Membership Secretary .

Contact Details and

Membership Form

Admission to First Team matches: £3 including programme. Club members must produce a valid membership card to gain free  admission

MEMBER DATABASE

Please confirm with the club Membership Secretary, Andrew Harrison, that your membership details are entered on the club’s GMS database. This will ensure you will be kept up to date on all information circulated by the club.

Email: Andrew Harrison, dazzaharrison53@msn.com

Dear Friends

As you will know, along with the rest of the country, we have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 virus. We have written to update you on the impact of the pandemic on the club and how any issues are being addressed. However, before we do that, we would first of all like to pass on our warmest wishes on behalf of all of the club and hope the pandemic and it’s impact is not too burdensome for you and your loved ones. As a members club, we would like to hear of any ways we can support our valued members who may be feeling particular hardship at this time. Please do feel free to contact us if we can offer support or if you have any ideas of how we can support.

From the 17th March, the club has been shut and all playing or coaching activities have been suspended. The main impact has been on the ability to play rugby and the corresponding finances.

In terms of rugby, players are linked in through various social media platforms and the coaches are maintaining personal contact; checking on welfare, encouraging training etc. to ensure we are ready to return to training as soon as we are allowed to -more below.

The financial impact on the club is potentially significant. Almost immediately, the Exec Committee (who continue to meet virtually) set about addressing all areas of discretionary spend. The austerity measures implemented over the last few years have left us well placed to manage on limited income streams. In addition, we have succeeded in obtaining government funding to address the impact on clubs like ours. These collective measures mean that we should not be any further financially disadvantaged as we head towards the end of summer. However, we have obviously had a number of key income generating cancellations and we will need to develop more robust contingencies should national isolation measures continue into the new season.

Whilst social distancing presents obvious challenges we are using the opportunity to get ahead where we can for next season. Rugby management are continuing to plan for an autumn return at the latest with a key focus being player retention and the rebuilding of our 3rd team. The minis and juniors remain in contact as we continue to build on our playing numbers. Off the pitch we will be reviewing our strategies for communications and sponsorship and we are also seeking a replacement to our Treasurer. If any members have any interest or expertise in this or any other areas we would very much welcome a discussion.

We hope this brief update has been of interest and please do feedback any comments. We plan to produce regular updates as we move through spring and into summer.

Yours in rugby

Ray French (President),  Tom Jackson (Chairman)

 

LSH COVID Update no. 1 - AGM

Dear Friend

Further to our letter of 4th May regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the functioning of the club, this update is specifically to address the timing of the 2020 Annual General Meeting. The AGM is normally scheduled to be held before the end of July but, as I am sure you will appreciate, it will not be possible to deliver a physical AGM in the short term.

Additionally, we understand that some of our members are not in a position to access the technology needed to participate in a ‘virtual’ AGM. We are, therefore, proposing that the AGM be postponed until Autumn, hopefully the start of the new season. We realise that our constitution prescribes an AGM before the end of July but government guidelines override our constitution.

Another development that we would need to alter is the constitution, we need to be able to establish on-line banking, which, of course, was undreamed of when the constitution was written. The constitution does, however, allow the Executive “to pass such resolutions as necessary for the better management and administration of the club”. The executive feel that, under the present exceptional circumstances, acquiring the facility of on-line banking satisfies the criterion of securing “the better management and administration of the club,” so we are going to proceed with setting up on-line banking on a temporary basis. Everyone will have the chance to vote to make it permanent at the AGM when it is finally held.

A cash flow issue for the club is likely to arise if subscriptions are not recovered in the normal time frames so we will be in touch shortly with details for the new season.

Tom Jackson

Chairman