News & EventsLatest NewsCalendar
Chairman's Update – 18th October 2017

Chairman's Update – 18th October 2017

Richard Ordidge18 Oct 2017 - 09:36
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.horshamrufc.com/ne

Update from the Chairman

Dear Club Members

Now that the 2017 / 2018 season is well and truly underway I felt it was an opportune moment to update everyone on where we are with the various developments that are underway across the club to improve our facilities and the experience of people coming to our club.

Changing Rooms

You will no doubt be aware that we have formally taken over the new changing room block from the contractors Sports Clubhouses Limited. The official opening ceremony will be held on 28th October at the Vice Presidents lunch before the league fixture with Pulborough. I am pleased to advise that the final cost of the development will be £455k against an original budget of £450k. The reason for the increases are additional costs associated with site clearance, provision of a new improved water supply and some improvements to the original design recommended by the RFU architects offset by savings achieved by the project team.

There is a 12 month period during which any identified defects will be corrected by the contractor and will be funded against the monetary retentions from the agreed contract price. If you see something you think needs fixing whilst using the changing rooms please do raise it with a myself or a member of the Management Committee.
I would like to formally place on record my personal thanks to the project team led by Chris Wright who have brought this 4 year project to a successful conclusion.

Artificial Grass Pitch (AGP)

Since I last sent out a formal communication towards the end of last season a lot has happened with regards the installation of a new AGP at the club. Firstly I should say that the RFU have confirmed that we will be getting a new AGP and that it will be the maximum size available. Unfortunately as part of the planning approvals a number of additional reports were required and also there were a number of environmental questions raised very late in the day. These queries have all been responded to and the Council have now confirmed that the development can proceed. However, the consequence to all this delay is that work would not have been able to start much before the end of October with a scheduled completion date of the end of January. The impact to us as a club was that we would have been reduced to operating only 2 pitches, the roadside pitch and the FoD and in addition we would have also lost the use of a fairly large area of our car park for vehicles, equipment and supplies. For those who frequent the club on a Sunday morning this would have been a major issue. After consulting with M&J Chairman, Jon Pratt, the club made the decision to postpone the commencement of construction until after the M&J Festival on 18th March. With the agreement of the RFU construction will now commence week commencing 19th March 2018.

Clubhouse Development

As one phase of our development plans comes to an end another begins to ramp up. I hope that you have all had the opportunity to review the plans for the internal redevelopment of the clubhouse currently on display and that you all have responded to the online survey. The intention is that the responses will be co-ordinated and a final decision placed before the Management Committee as soon as possible. The major benefit of all of the options presented is that they can be completed in phases each being independent of each other allowing us to raise funds on a phase by phase basis. Whatever option is ultimately chosen we will all need to continue to fundraise / obtain grants as the options range from £100k - £300k. Thanks should go to Alex Ross, Robert Plinston and the development team for the work they have undertaken thus far. I encourage all club members who have a wish to get involved please contact myself and I will put you in touch with the development team as they move forward with delivering the agreed solution to our social space needs. In the meantime fundraising continues and is being ring fenced towards this the next phase of our facilities development.

Bonfire Night

In the context of fund raising our major fund raising night is rapidly approaching on 4th November – last year the team raised a profit in excess of £20k and we’re hoping to achieve a similar amount this year. I encourage everyone to attend and bring their friends. Tickets can be purchased at a number of outlets around the town and in the clubhouse ( see the posters for details).

Reminder

Finally I would like to remind members that whilst we are a sports and rugby club and a certain amount of “banter” is to be expected we should all please recognise that such “banter” can at times reach levels that are unacceptable and becomes foul and abusive. We are an RFU accredited club which means we provide a safe and nurturing environment for children whenever they are present. Additionally as a fully inclusive club we encourage ladies to be present on nearly every occasion. Levels of foul and abusive language cannot and will not be tolerated from whatever source and will be dealt with under the various disciplinary options available to us under the RFU rules.

Alan Croucher
Chairman
Alan.croucher@britishcouncil.org
07787 126 768

Further reading