You will have seen that a consultation paper was circulated in May in connection with membership fees for 2023/24. That highlighted that, after many years of substantial and invaluable support, the HigginsGroup plc is unfortunately unable to continue with its annual sponsorship next season.

Since then members of the management committee have been starting the process of trying to find new sponsors for the club. So far we have had little response from members but are still hoping that members with fundraising or sponsorship experience will volunteer to help in this vital task and of course introduce sponsors themselves. If we cannot replace the sponsorship then we may not be able to provide the same level of coaching and playing facilities as we all now enjoy.

Inevitably this also has an impact on membership fees. These will need to be increased not only in line with inflation but also towards covering the reduced sponsorship revenue. The revised membership fees are set out in the membership report attached to the AGM notice but, in brief Adult membership will be £450 next season, Youth membership will be £350 and Mini membership from £175 to £240 depending on the age group. This still represents excellent value compared to our main competitors and in particular when compared to rates for other sports or even childcare.

To assist with fundraising we are also introducing a new special category of membership as a Patrons membership (to be called Platinum Membership). This is specifically aimed at helping us support our professional coaches and the improvement in goals, dug outs, signage et cetera. This will also be used to support members who may otherwise temporarily be unable to play as a result of hardship.

Patrons will pay an additional £150 a season for Platinum Membership and will be shown as Patrons in match day programmes and on the website. We are looking at additional ways of rewarding this support using a Platinum membership card. We hope as many members as possible who can afford to do so will support this initiative and introduce supporters as Patrons as well.

Platinum Membership will be available as a Payment Product and please ask Anita or John to allocate that to you or your child if you care willing to help.