So firstly and most importantly, I wanted to re-confirm that our Clubs finances are in a positive place at the moment considering the circumstances. I am in the process of finalising the 2019-2020 Accounts and will share headlines are soon as I have them back.

Despite the Corona virus, we have continued to manage our revenue, and together with our careful handling of all income and outgoings, we did not need to ask and nor would we have qualified, for assistance. We have not applied for financial support from the RFU or indeed applied for any other loan on behalf of the Club. We will leave the funds that are available from the RFU / Essex to those that are in greater need.

However, we have taken advantage of some of the financial measures offered that made sense. This has included deferring our April loan payment to the RFF and making use of a Loan Break on our biggest outgoing the Mortgage. Both of these will resume being paid as of September. Whilst the last 2-3 months of the season would have usually been a profitable period, with large turn-outs for final home games, presentation nights, etc. we have had no need to pay-out for large brewery orders or staff and the use of utilities has been minimal. We temporarily closed off the Water and put the Electricity and Gas on hold. All of these have been re-activated from 1st June onwards. The new Heating & Boiler system that was installed late last year will hopefully come into its own as we approach the winter months & Laura has looked to re-stock the Bar for when we can open safely.

I promised at last years AGM that we would pay our Bondholders a % back to thank them for their support over the years and I am pleased to say that this happened with a few of the smaller Bondholders being paid off in full. Therefore reducing the overall debt that the Club has.

Despite the Club being closed since March, a large amount of work has been going on in the background to ensure we can keep all of our Members Safe and Secure.

A new sink has been installed outside of the club at the far end of the Clubhouse for hand washing before entering the premises and for use as needed. We have worked hard to ensure that the clubhouse is supplied with new signage about social distancing and lots of hand sanitiser stations have been placed throughout. The Clubhouse has been fully cleaned and the Bar has been given a new lick of paint. A big Thank You to Laura Tynan, Liam Moore and Nicky Worthington on this.

With the grounds, we have spent money to ensure that the pitches continue to look as good as they can and we continue to make full use of the Tractor we bought last year to mow the pitches. Thank you again to all of the Volunteers that continued to cut the grass and look after the grounds during lockdown aka the Socially distanced Friday Club.

We have started to undertake work for next season and this has involved the digging of trenches and laying of cable around some of the pitches to support the 2 x Brand New Floodlights which have been purchased and will aid training in the darker months. A Big Thank You to Bill Worthington, Rob Petrie & Steve Barfoot for getting this to happen.

The biggest project we are undertaking is the relocation of the kitchen to a new area of the Clubhouse and the movement of the Groundsman Store to a fantastic new Garage. Thank You to Woody for laying the new concrete base and the arrival of the Garage is expected imminently so we can begin with Phase 1. The plans for the new kitchen are being finalised as we speak and Lee & I look forward to sharing more of that detail with you in the upcoming months.

Finally a BIG Thank You to all of the Members that have continued to support the Club whilst in lockdown, rest assure we are doing as much as we can to improve the facilities.

Here’s hoping we can return to Rugby very soon.

Nicola Williams - Treasurer