Simon Vickers - President
Nick Stainton - Chairman
Mike Hughes - Treasurer
John Ashfield - Non-Executive Director
Emma Canter - Non-Executive Director
Stewart Yates - Non-Executive Director

Simon and Nick have produced the following update from the meeting:

Simon Vickers - President, Chinnor RFC Thame
I would like to congratulate Nick Stainton on his election as Chairperson at the AGM last Thursday evening. We addressed the Members and discussed the past year's performance as well as the challenges and opportunities going forward.

There was certainly much to discuss. We gave John Ashfield our sincere thanks as he became past President, and he handed the baton back to me. John originally agreed to do it for two or three years some eight years ago, and now he has quite rightly insisted he stand down. The Members unanimously awarded him Honorary Life Membership for his decades of support and assistance for the Club, and on behalf of the Board I would like to thank him for his substantive service over the years. The good news is he has agreed to remain on the Board for a little while longer and we look forward to welcoming John and Anne for the foreseeable future.

I am very gratified to see Nick taking over the Chair's role. He has proven how capable an administrator he is with also vision and his care for the whole Club. I am certain we are in safe hands, and I am sure we will all give him our full support.

I do hope that like me you are all looking forward to a full programme of rugby and events starting shortly.

I will now hand over to Nick to provide a full report on the business of the AGM.

Nick Stainton - Chairman, Chinnor RFC Thame
Thank you to all members who attended the AGM. I am thrilled and honoured to take up the reigns as Chair and I will endeavour to work tirelessly, along with the other Board members, to continue our ambitions of improving standards on and off the pitch.

First and foremost, we are a rugby and members club. These two points will be at the core of our decision-making aligned to inevitable commercial responsibilities. I hope that my experience over the last 15 years at Chinnor; as a parent, player, volunteer coach, fundraiser, Mini and Junior Chair, and Club Director, will provide the relevant insight into making well balanced decisions on behalf and to the benefit of all our members.

Summaries for Men’s Semi-Professional, Men & Women’s Amateur Senior and Youth rugby were provided by Simon, Fran Ronan and I. Some key highlights included:

The success and promotion of our Kites into Level 4 of English Women’s rugby. An incredible achievement in their first full season and you can view their 2022/23 fixtures by clicking HERE.
Our Men’s First XV's home triumphs against Rosslyn Park and Rams stand out with so many members and friends in attendance. They finished a credible seventh in National 1 and you can access the 2022/23 fixtures by clicking HERE.
Our Wildboys extending their winning streak to 61 games, and they were finally awarded promotion to Level 7. Congratulations to all involved and you can view their 2022/23 fixtures by clicking HERE.
Our Falcons' last kick win against the RAF, which was played under lights and live streamed on YouTube.
Several senior playing members representing Oxfordshire and winning the Division 3 County Championship, with a late 7-5 victory over Berkshire.
Our Outlaws maintaining a motivated and improving squad to achieve fourth place in BBO Div 3 North. This was a significant achievement compared to where we were four years ago when we were struggling for players. You can view their 2022/23 fixtures by clicking HERE.
Our Vets reaching the Floodlit County Cup final and frequented Paris on tour in June.
Our Boys and Girls age groups going from strength-to-strength, with the girls section alone growing to nearly 70 players. In addition, 25 players in our older junior age groups gained county honours.
Our Minis Festival once again delivered a tremendous experience for our young players, but also the local clubs in our community.
Minis & Juniors attendance at several other successful festivals topped off a successful season.
Plus, all the other rugby activities throughout the season, including The Touch Union on a Friday night, the Holiday camps and work in local schools starting to pick up again now that Junior Fatialofa is leading our Community Department, which is powered by Community Group.

Financially, we were impacted by the December/January Covid restrictions. Despite this we hosted many successful events that made a real positive contribution, but we did make an overall loss due to higher operational costs. Moving forward, I am pleased to confirm the appointment of our new General Manager, Tom Dean, who will have operational responsibility, and is already making a valuable impact with his hospitality and leisure background.

A critical element of our success is the role our volunteers and sponsors play. The volunteer group forms the backbone of the Club and we are extremely grateful to them - from the excitement of the minis and junior players throughout the season they are in good hands. Thank you to the coaches, first-aiders and team admins, Friday Club, bid writers, fundraisers and everyone who made last season happen. A thank you to our sponsors for their continued support and I look forward to meeting more of them throughout the season and understanding how we can continue to develop our partnership.

At the AGM, we recognised some outstanding contributions from volunteers and that included the presentation of our Club Awards. Congratulations and thank you to our Club Members of the Season; Stephen Fairfax (Minis), Lisa Fincken (Juniors) and Angus Galbraith (Club).

Also on the agenda was infrastructure improvements. In addition to the new borehole installation and floodlights on Pitch 2 to improve training space in the 2021/22 season, we displayed designs for projects in the 2022/23 off-season for attendees to view and discuss. These projects were focused on extending our changing facilities with a balcony above, as well as a covered stand. A fundraising project is now underway to raise the necessary £125,000 and, while the project is significantly more than this, we have been allocated some Section 106 money, plus we have an agreement to match fund the total raised. More information will be announced to our members in due course.

I am also delighted to announce that Emma Canter - formerly our Youth Secretary - will join the Board as a Non-Executive Director. Emma was unanimously voted by the members present at the AGM and brings a wealth of HR, leadership, mentoring and coaching experience, and will support player career development, employee performance, HR and continue in a fundraising capacity.

Lastly, Chinnor is a member’s club and therefore, throughout the year we would appreciate your input. To this end, we have a new e-mail address for you to provide your feedback about any particular aspect of the Club, your experience or something missing. Please use feedback@chinnor-rfc.com and all I would ask is to offer some solutions to any problems you encounter.

I am sure everyone is looking forward to getting back into the rugby season in full and we also have the Picnic Ball (September 24) and Bavarian Beerfest (October 8) coming up. Until then, have an enjoyable summer and soak up that Vitamin D.

Yours sincerely,

Nick