Meeting of 25th Jan

[Dobber]

We welcomed back a tanned secretary after his winter trip to Australia.

Points of note.

we have sufficient funds to pay the latest segment of the players funds. A payment at the Welling game will mean we have paid £20,000 with one to go.

We have agreed to use Osbournes of London as our auditors for this years accounts. The fee is £500.

Trust will run the raffle until the end of year with the agreement of the club

We accepted gratefully the cheque from the OBE's, and will soon contact all of their members, so we can accurately add them to our database and keep them as a sub section of the Trust. The amount given was £1636.27 and we will be using £150 to help David Hando source a new club flag.

Membership

We are starting renewals and a large amount of work is being done by Tina sending out forms and stamped addressed envelopes. We are asking for people to take up standing orders, and update their information with e-mail addresses ,so can reach them with newsletters. etc.

Others

We discussed our contribution to the playing funds for next season and it was agreed that we would be able to support 7 segments for next season (£35000) as long as current fund raising continued and membership grew. One of those segments would come in the form of a "supporters/trust/club" innitiative to make an improvement to the supporters experience at matchdays.

Meet the Manager night was arranged and planned.

Arrangements will be made to continue contact with Newport Rugby club supporters Trust, who have recently contacted us regarding closer liaison over the progression of senior sport in Newport.

It was decided to contact the BBC and clarify their policy on coverage of our club next season should we progress to the premier division.

There will be a Race night held in March

Next meeting 23/feb

[George Guest]

Just a suggestion. Paying an auditor £500 seems a waste of funds. I'm sure someone would be prepared to do an effective job on an honorary basis.

[big baz]

£500 is a good fee considering all the due diligence and form filling that needs to be done before any figures get looked at. Unless we had a member who was a registered auditor with a current practicing certificate with a few days spare I'd say we are getting a bargain

[Dobber]

Don't worry we shopped around. Two firms in Newport gave us special rates of £1000 and £1300 with apologies because the law is so onerous, that even the simplest of assessments takes hours and there are so many legal hoops to be jumped through.

Osbournes is the chosen auditors for Supporters Direct, and the owner is on the Trust of Leyton Orient, hence his benevolent rates.

However if we do discover an auditor amongst our ranks, then happy days.

Regards Nigel