November Newsletter

Well it’s November and we are back in lockdown, we have gone back to Stage A of the return to rugby, contact rugby is looking as far away as ever and Bonfire night was cancelled which could lead you to be quite gloomy. I however am seeing some positives.

Firstly the Chiefs what a result and what a team! Many congratulations to them and also a big thank you they brought a great deal of joy and happiness at a difficult time.

Secondly financially we are in an okay place at the moment, we have cut our running costs significantly but they are still too high primarily because of the utilities contracts and we are working on that. We have paid back £20k of the £40k loan that we have with 2 club members and because we have done that they have waived much of the interest accrued.

Our major source of ongoing revenue is the bar (Thank you again Chiefs) and the juniors bacon butties at the moment. The central plank of our strategy to enable us to pay off all of our debts and secure our financial future is to make the bar a great place to drink and socialise and the food from our kitchen something everyone wants to enjoy. Therefore we are looking to raise the money needed to change the look and feel of the place so the building has a sense of history, like the feel of your favourite old boots cozy, warm and comfortable. The sort of place that just makes you feel good when you are in it. You might have noticed the couches in the main bar they have either been donated or we have picked them up 2nd hand for a fraction of the cost. We are exploring putting a wood-burner into the club as a focal point for people to gather round on cold winter nights this is being sponsored. We are in the process of establishing a crowd funder to support this, we will be sharing the details shortly.

Thanks to a generous sponsor who wishes to remain nameless, we have fenced in the 1st XV pitch which we be able to fill with sponsorship boards giving us a recurring revenue stream for the future. Chris Bentley (Bentos) of Chiefs fame and a parent in the u10s is taking the lead on generating sponsorship for the club so if you want to support us and raise your profile at the same time please contact Chris - chris@smithkinbaker.com

I am sure you all know our website has not been properly updated in months and its confusing. We had a very positive meeting last Thursday evening and we are going to revamp that with the skills of people in the club, Sophie Kukor, Ayan and Faye Bentley are leading on this. We want to make this our communication hub for the club, the go to place to run your teams and to find out what is going on.

We all need to remain vigilant to the costs of running the club and as coaches in particular you can have an impact in 2 ways. 1. Only switch the floodlights on you are going to train under and switch them off afterwards. 2. Care for the grounds by playing on different areas and if you don’t need to be on a pitch then train off it so we can cause the least damage possible as we don’t have an alternative winter training option this year.

Fundraising – We have some great news the Co-op has selected us to be one of the 3 local charities that is supporting this year until 23 Oct 20. What does this mean? If you spend money in the Co-op and you have a Co-op card you can help raise funds for the club to buy a

waste management system to enable us to have camping at the club in the summer which if we can do it could seriously alleviate our financial challenges on an ongoing basis.

Lastly volunteering. We are a volunteer run club and that isn’t going to change in the near future for obvious reasons. There are a few people I need to thank Sam Cochrane has done a brilliant job in terms of simplifying, organising and improving the bar, cellar, the kitchen and the clubhouse in general, Brian Hibberd thanks for the all the pies those have been brilliant half time fillers, May Hibberd for the cleaning you have done, to all of the volunteers who have worked behind the bar or as waiters, Doug Newman, Michael Bowley, Sophie Kukor, Ayan, Chris, Tim Edbrooke, Gemma and a few more who I have missed I must say a big thank you we could not have had such great events in the bar without you. We are opening the bar (if we are allowed) for Autumn series and Chiefs games and we will need more people to come forward to help out as waiters to make these sessions viable. Every time you volunteer you are saving the club £10 an hour think about that. Its also good fun and you get to meet new people what’s not to love! Please contact either Sam Cochrane clubhouse@topshamrugby.co.uk or Sophie Kukor secretary@tophsamrugby.co.uk.

Work has continued on the ground and the Major tractor mowers have been invaluable in maintaining the grounds. Both pitches have been reseeded , fertiliser applied and vertidrained. Now we have moved into the winter and the darker evenings it is even more important to manage ground usage under the floodlights. Could I please ask that the original training area and the area between the two pitches be used , the lights might not be as good but we need to manage ground use across all groups in the club.
I would also like to thank Dave Jones for the hard work he put into construction of the fencing between the pitches and also the additional fencing in front of the changing rooms and tractor shed.

We’re so proud of past junior players, coaches & parents from the Topsham RFC family who have played their part in the amazing Double Exeter Chiefs have achieved this season; European & Premiership Rugby Champions! What a journey up the divisions; 10 years ago RFU Championship Champions & now 2019/20 European Champions Cup Champions & Premiership Champions!!! We are so lucky to have our local club, Exeter Chiefs, who epitomise England Rugby’s values of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship so well and make the game so special for us all who enjoy the ethos and culture they create and what, as junior players, we all aspire to be like, play like & want to be part of, Go Chiefs!!!! It’s been great to have been training on Sunday mornings at Bonfire Fields. The Juniors have adapted well to new routines & expectations whilst developing their rugby skills. The Coffee Hut & BBQ have been busy and run by our volunteer parents each week & supported well whilst raising valuable funds for the club too. A huge thank you to Bryony & William Vandenberg (Mum & player in the U9s) who have raised such a great amount of money for the club with their Neal’s Yard stall commission & raffle. The raffle ‘spin the wheel’ was held live on Sunday evening on Facebook, well done to the lucky winners. Bryony and William have raised over £375 for the club, what an amazing effort! Spoonbill Coffee have been serving up their speciality coffee from their van each week, it’s great to support a local start-up business and everyone is enjoying a flat white or coffee of their choice whilst watching the Juniors training on a Sunday morning. It was great to host the Exeter Chiefs ‘Train like a Chief’ camp in half term, which was a sell out & attended by many of our junior players.