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Mr President, Members, fellow Patrons and fellow Committee Members, welcome to the Barry Rugby Football Club Annual General Meeting 2021.

Before I begin my address, I will invite you all in a moment to please stand for a minute’s silence as I read to you the names of some of our absent rugby brothers who through their loyal service and commitment to Barry RFC thoroughly deserve the honour to be in our hearts and minds as we come together for this year’s AGM:

1. Mr Graham Kinson
2. Mr Robert Harding
3. Mr Derek Twigg
4. Mr John Saddler
5. Mr Dai James
6. Mr Glyn Williams
7. Mr Mike Grigg
8. Mr Gary Haigh
9. Mr Colin Knapman
10. Mr Trevor Rees
11. Mr Dave Lambeth

I would also ask you to pay your respects to our rugby brothers and sisters who have lost loved ones since our last AGM. Can we all now please stand to observe a minute’s silence.

Club History/Thanks to Volunteers

Just to give you all a flavour of our clubs long history; in 1884, that is 137 years ago, work began on the construction of the Barry Docks.  The construction of the docks along with the ensuing industrial revolution transformed Barry from a sleepy agricultural hollow into the thriving town that you see today.   Most importantly the associated boom in our town’s population gave rise to the birth of a number of rugby clubs in the Barry area.  These clubs adopted different names during the early years, such as:

1. Cadoxton Football Club
2. Cadoxton and Barry Football Club
3. Barry Rovers
4. Barry Stars
5. Barry Barbarians
6. Barry Bachelors
7. Barry Harlequins
8. Barry Parade
9. Barry Romilly Old Boys
10. Barry Romilly
11. Barry RFC

Our club has also been based at a number of different locations during those early years, pitches and clubhouses were sited at:

1. The Wenvoe Hotel Vere Street (The old Admiral)
2. The Witchell Hotel
3. The Barry Hotel
4. The Victoria Hotel (Holton Road)
5. Pitch behind the Witchell
6. Pitch at Holton Fields
7. Pitch at The Butts
8. Pitch at Alexandra Gardens
9. Romilly Park 

The first written record of our club’s formation appears in 1887 in the form of a match report from a game played by “Cadoxton Football Club” in the then “Cardiff League” The club was captained by a T. Howard Morgan and at that time our original club colours were blue and white.

On the 11^th of April 1951 Barry RFC moved to its new purpose-built Nissan Hut at the Reservoir Fields. The place we have called home for the past 70 years.  Please just think about that for a moment.  I would like you to think about the time and effort that has been selflessly given by previous players and volunteers to get this club to where it is today, some of whom we paid tribute to earlier. We owe them all a debt of gratitude!

In very simple terms our own story tells us that we simply cannot survive without the dedicated support and commitment of our players, volunteers and employees.  So on behalf of my fellow Directors and committee members we would like to sincerely thank you all for your past and continued service to Barry RFC.  It is credit to all our current volunteers that throughout this unprecedented pandemic your strength and determination to support and encourage our young players and senior players was and continues to be nothing short of phenomenal.

Work undertaken since last AGM

I would now briefly like to turn to some of my fellow directors and committee members.  Similarly, I would like to thank you all on behalf of our members for your effort, time and commitment over the past 18 months. 

Just to give you an insight into the work that has been going on behind the scenes for the past 15 months: 

1. We have transitioned to become a limited company.
2. We have completely restructured our management framework.
3. We have significantly amended our Constitution and Rules to accord with our incorporated status. 
4. We have undertaken, at significant cost to the club and by way of grant funding, the following refurbishments and improvements to our facilities:

• Replaced the roof to the changing room area.
• We have replaced the roof to the entrance porch and created a purpose built viewing platform for our coaching team that has enabled us to film and analyse games far more effectively.
• We have refurbished and created a new youth annex where the old trophy cabinet used to be.
• We have purchased new portable trophy cabinets the focus being on utilisation of space.
• We have completely overhauled the clubs electrical systems and renewed at considerable cost wiring and fuse boxes. 
• We have installed televisions and sockets in the new youth annex and throughout the club to enhance the membership and visitor experience.
• We have dismantled the old playground and created a new beer garden with modern tables and outdoor lighting.
• We have refurbished and constructed a new shop and storage facility for the sale of merchandise.
• We have installed a complete new boiler system ensuring continuous heat and powerful showers for our playing members.
• We have also completely refurbished the floor in the beer cellar.
• We have moved the 1^st team pitch to a more central location to the clubhouse, which necessitated the moving of the post barriers and the purchase of new rugby posts.
• We have replaced and fitted a new central heating boiler.
• We have replaced all facias, soffits and guttering to the front elevation of the club.

1. We have also worked tirelessly to reach out to our local MP’s, Councillors in our efforts to tailor a pathway to securing a new 99-year leases on our clubhouse and 1^st Team pitch. We have been in lengthy consultation with the Vale of Glamorgan since November of 2020 last year and I am now able to tell you that as a result of this ongoing consultation a report will be submitted to the Vale of Glamorgan Executive Cabinet in January of 2022 setting out the following proposals:

• To re-surface and line mark the existing tarmac carpark area, with capacity for designated disabled parking spaces.
• To create a new multi-purpose parking/Training area with low level floodlights to the western end of the new 1^st Team pitch.
• To construct a new footpath to the boundary of the Reservoir Field.
• To secure a 99 year lease on the new 1^st Team pitch and car parking/Training area.
• To secure a 99 year lease on the Clubhouse.
• To remove existing footpath rights of way
• To erect a secure fence with appropriate access gates around the 1^st Team Pitch and car park so to enclose the pitch in a secured new club ground, which equally enhances our identity as it does our security.

1. We have instigated and forged a strong collaborative good working relationship with The Boys & Girls clubs of Wales and the Cardiff Blues Community Team and we are between us jointly funding the salary of a new Hub Officer who is already employed and working at Pencoedtre High School.  He will be based between the Club and Pencoedtre High. Our new youth club project will be formerly up and running in January 2022, subject of course to any further Covid restrictions.  The Youth Club project will be based at the club on a Wednesday evening.  

Our Plans for the Future

We have a very precious history to maintain and above all else be thankful for.  If you have had a look at our Club’s Mission Statement and listened carefully to what I have said today you will probably have worked out that we are already on the road to securing the long term future of the club for future generations. 

Times have changed and we are reliably informed that current levels of funding from the WRU will remain frozen for the foreseeable future.  So we cannot sit back and expect to survive on bar takings and membership subscriptions. We have had to think outside the box.

Put simply the club needs to be able to be independently financially sustainable.

How do we achieve this?

Well, our long term goal is to turn our clubhouse into a Community Hub where local residents, leisure groups, charitable organisations, Youth organisations, other sport groups can use our facilities and in doing so create additional income streams. For example, we have ambition to secure leases on all the pitches at Reservoir Field and perhaps create a centre of sporting/Rugby excellence.  Our new youth club is one of the first stepping stones on the road to financial sustainability along with our recent collaboration with “Butty Bach at Barry RFC”

However, our immediate goals have already been identified and they are outlined in a 5 year refurbishment and improvement plan, which will be publicised on our website following today’s AGM.

Just to briefly give you some insight into this plan, it is structured with goals set at 1 year, 2years and 5 years:

Year 1:

• Refurbishment of main bar and café including new floor covering, new suspended ceilings, new lights, new sound system, new skirtings’’’, architraves and complete redecoration.
• Re-designed new porch entrance.
• New entrance door to café from a newly constructed external veranda area.
• Secure new leases on 1^st Team Pitch, car park and clubhouse.
• Construct new car park/training area and low level flood lights

Year 2:

• 2 storey semi-permanent extension to existing beer garden area to incorporate large ground floor function room training area and 1^st floor to incorporate separate office space and small function rooms.

Year 5:

• Permanent 2 storey extension running length of existing club footprint.  You will hear from Jon shortly in more detail about the 5 year target plan.

So exciting and challenging times lie ahead, which will no doubt give rise to some major fundraising from both internal fund raising and undoubtedly from applications for major grant funding from sources that we have already identified.

Rugby

I am going to move on now to talk to you briefly about our Rugby aspirations as a club.  I will leave our newly appointed Director of Rugby, Mr Liam Scott to bring you up to speed with our new Rugby Committee and Senior Team objectives. 

Please be under no illusion that we have the absolute drive and ambition to take the club to the highest possible level. This has been recently incentivised by the announcement from the WRU that there will be two Championship Leagues instead of one commencing season 2023 – 2024, and they will receive the same level of funding as we do.  This will open up a clear pathway of ambition for clubs such as ourselves who have the drive and commitment to progress to play at the highest possible standard of competitive rugby.

We now have a thriving female rugby section, “The Islanders”.  We are extremely pleased to see so many young girls playing rugby. Rugby is truly a sport for all. The female section is thriving this year and long may it continue.

I can only give you my assurance on behalf of my fellow directors that we will do all in our power to support financially, professionally and technically our coaches, senior players and age grade players to develop and become the best they can be.

We are “one club” and please be under no illusion that we will not aspire to where we want to be without our age grade players.  This year being a prime example.  In fact if you look at our 1^st Team squad a considerable number of those players came through our age grade set up.  More than ever before our ambitions to play at the highest level as a club is, now more than ever before, truly reliant on a through put of young talented players.  I mean this wholeheartedly when I say our age grade players are the life blood of this club and they are the custodians of our hopes and dreams for the future of this club.

End of Address

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Thanks in Conclusion (Close of AGM)

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to 2 individuals who have been central to this clubs survival and plans for the future:

Firstly I would like to thank our club treasurer and fellow Director Mr Colin Morris.  Colin has been our Treasurer for what feels like an eternity.  His financial acumen is second to none and we are extremely lucky to have him watching over our purse strings. In particular Colin has worked tirelessly for the past 19 months throughout these times of extreme turbulence.  He has maintained a watchful eye on the club’s finances and his efforts to secure loan funding, grant funding and all other forms of financial support have impacted massively on the healthy state of the club’s finances to date. 

I would also like to give a huge pat on the back to my good friend and fellow director, and our club secretary, Mr Joh Venners.  Jon has been a committee member at the club for many years.  His visionary perception is well known amongst all of his fellow committee members.  Jon is also the driving force in sponsorship funding.  There is no door that he will not knock on and in conclusion Jon’s extreme levels of commitment to the club never seize to amaze me. 

Jon and Colin you are a key part of this club and I thank you both on behalf of our members for your loyal and tireless service.

I would respectfully suggest to you all that as a management group our intent for the future of Barry RFC is clear and unquestionable.  We have already clearly demonstrated our intent and if anybody has any  shadow of doubt or is unclear about the journey we are all on then please take time to have a peep at the club website and take a quick look at our Mission Statement.

Many thanks to you all and I wish each and every one of you a merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year.