As Chairman of Bury Town Community Football Club, it gives me great pride to present this years end of season report.
I would like to take this opportunity to firstly thank you all for being a part of this season and recognise your contribution to making the success we have seen both on and off the pitch which has been remarkable. Thank you!
We say a fond farewell to those that are moving on to pastures new and we wish you all the very best for the future.
This season has been a roaring success and a reaffirmation of our core values of Inclusion, Development and Ambition.
On the pitch
Our teams continued to thrive on the pitch this season with several standout performances along with league success across all age groups. It has been particularly rewarding to see the growth and development of our players which is testament to the quality of our coaching staff and the dedication of the players.
Here are just some of our teams’ achievements:
U15 Girls – League Cup runners up and runners up in the League
U13 Girls – Plate winners
U12 Girls – League winners
U16 Rams – League Cup runners up
U15 Lions – League runners up
U14 Colts – League Cup winners
U10 Royals – League Cup runners up
Adult Disability team – 3rd place in regional tournament
We held our first ever whole Club Presentation day at Ram Meadow in May as a joint event with the Family Fun Day which was a huge success and we will be looking to do something similar again this year which we hope will be attended by even more teams and families.
Volunteers, Service Awards & Garry Barker Trophy
As a Charitable organisation we are heavily reliant on the voluntary contributions made by our members and this year we had a record 81 registered volunteers which have helped us to achieve our charitable aims.
I am pleased to announce that George Gearing joins us on the Committee as Vice Chair to ensure continuity with the leadership and governance of the Club. George had this message:
I am incredibly proud to be joining the committee and supporting Ben to achieve the ambitious plans for our community club. This is a really exciting time to be involved with Bury Town Community Football Club as we strive to become more engaged in our community through our charity affiliations, financial support programme, website and community events.
Most importantly, none of this is possible without the fantastic support of all our volunteers, parents and players and I extend my ‘Thanks’ to each and every one of you for all you do. I look forward to working with you to build the long-term sustainability of our club, from the Youth Teams through to the Women’s Team and Adult Disability Team, ‘the future is bright, the future is BLUE!’.
It’s extremely important that we continue to recognise our volunteers and I’m delighted to announce that this season we will have our first ever service recognition awards to mark key milestones for individuals that have displayed incredible dedication and loyalty to the Club.
This years Garry Barker award was claimed by Tom Lockwood voted for by you for outstanding contribution to the Club. Well done to Tom and his work with our girls teams in particular has been remarkable. I’m sure you will all join me in congratulating him and thanking him.
Community Engagement
We held our annual Community and Sponsors day at Ram Meadow in April and for another season we saw a crowd of over 1,000 witness our players parade around the pitch with flags and we had some excellent photos of teams and supporters alike enjoying this special occasion.
We were joined by our Charity Partner Suffolk Families Together who had a stand set up to raise awareness of the great work that they do in our local community and we will continue to work with them this year to generate funds and raise awareness.
Our Youth Disability centre and increased number of teams/age groups will make this season even more accessible and links will be strengthened with local schools to ensure that we are reaching families from all areas of our local community.
Charitable Aims & Blues Community Support Scheme
As a not-for-profit organisation we ensure that every penny goes towards our charitable aims and this season we managed to use surplus funds to develop our new facility at The Vinefields with over £20,000 to date being committed for new goals, pitch improvements and storage. This facility provides more pitches which will enable more teams and more players to participate each week.
Our Blues Community Support Scheme supported five families this season providing £600 worth of funding towards registration fees and kit for those that need it most. To date this Scheme has provided over £5,000 worth of financial support to families which we are extremely proud of.
We have made £500 in donations this year to local charities and contributed £1,500 towards dugouts for a local school which will be of community benefit.
We had over 350 registered players this season and we will be looking to increase this number and our contribution towards the Suffolk FA Benevolent Fund which assists injured youth and adult players.
Strategic Partnerships
We have formed a partnership with Norwich City FC and their academy to help us with recruitment, player development, professional development and to provide opportunities to progress through a tier 1 academy system. This is one of many initiatives we have put in place to support our volunteers and we continue to build on our professional relationships with outside organisations and professional clubs in the region tp provide the best opportunities to our members.
Finances
We submitted our 2023/24 accounts to the Charity Commission which were externally audited and verified and we are extremely fortunate to be in a strong financial position heading into the new season.
The Club continues to face external financial pressures and most notably the costs associated with hire of training and match pitches. We are actively having conversations with key stakeholders on this matter and we will continue to look for opportunities for an interest in our own facility should this arise.
We are pleased to announce that the registration fees will not be increasing for the majority of our members and news on this will be announced very soon through coaches.
Looking ahead
We recognise that the coming season will present new challenges on and off the pitch and we will continue to support our Coaches with financial support towards any further training and we will also continue with our Blues Community Support Scheme.
There are exciting improvements coming with a new website and Club shop that will be announced soon and we are hopeful of adding additional teams to the ranks to continue our male and female football pathways.
Our Community Club continues to grow but it is important we don’t lose sight of our charitable aims and ensure that we are continuing to create a fun, positive and inclusive environment for everyone.
Enjoy your Summer break and we look forward to seeing you all next season!
