Use it or…
We’ve not had the best start to the season. As I write, we’re keeping our ‘friends’ Morecambe company just above the drop; we’re out of the League Cup and we’ve not even started well in the League Trophy. The grim realities of low gates from a town population that just isn’t that interested in supporting its own team, preferring instead to sully the streets wearing Burnley, Blackburn or even United shirts, are hard to ignore. I know it’s a vicious circle, low gates equal low income equal low pay equal poor performances equal low gates…but there is a whole generation in Accrington that has grown up with a triumphant Stanley, almost a quarter of a century of winning, and yet the gates still struggle to get above two thousand at times.
On a personal note, at a recent game I became unwell. No big surprise, I’m on my 75th orbit of the Sun and haven’t been brilliant for a couple of years, but as I stood on the Clayton End, I think the excitement of us being a goal up got to me and I felt faint. So I went down to one of the little group of stewards that work at the corner of the Eric Whalley Stand and asked if I could go and sit in the stand.
The steward was most helpful and even came to check up on me later to make sure I didn’t need anything, as did another steward later.
So often stewards are criticised for heavy-handedness or unsympathetic behaviour, but these two – and I’m sure they were only representative of all their colleagues – could not have been more helpful, and I made sure to contact the club when I got home, to praise them.
Everything about Stanley is aimed at giving the best footballing experience to all; the management, the players, the staff, the stewards, everyone at Stanley deserves the support of the residents of the town they represent on the national sporting stage.
Accrington is blessed to have a world-famous, well-run, League football club which, for about two dozen weekends a year, provides excellent entertaintment and has an incredibly high standard of refreshment facilities. If the townspeople don’t wake up soon and realise what they’ve got on Whalley Road, it will be too late; and no-one will be able to stand on the Clayton End, looking out over to the Coppice anymore.
Please enjoy reading the latest edition of the OASST Newsletter, I hope you will find some items of interest.
If you would like to comment on anything included here, or, even better, would like to contribute to future editions, please contact editor@onstanleyon.com
Mike Procter, editor.
Chairman’s Thoughts
by Peter Leatham
As yet another season dawns then it arrives with the eternal hope and expectations that inevitably is shared across all our fellow EFL clubs. The early results have unfortunately not gone our way but it always takes time for a new season’s squad to bed in and hopefully better results are just around the corner. We have seen glimpses of what can be done and it’s a question of delivering more consistency on the pitch whilst eliminating some basic errors which are so costly at League level.
Away from the pitch the Trust continues to thrive with many having already renewed their annual memberships, still a bargain at £5 for the season, so please do yours if you have not already done so. We are also having a renewed push with our Junior Redz section, again just £5, with some great benefits to our younger future fans. For more information on Junior Redz, please click here.
We were pleased to be instrumental in designing and delivering the new signage around the stadium which replaced the dated offerings that were in evidence. We were also indebted to local HBC & LCC councillors , Noordad Aziz, Munsif Dad, Lorraine Cox, Carole Haythornwaite & KimbWhitehead for their grant contributions as well as the Duchy of Lancaster.
We have a couple more exciting projects on the drawing board and have submitted grant applications to help move this forward, so watch this space.
Our AGM has been and gone with all the board recommendations approved on the night and the board elections completed inline with our rules.
We are also embarking on a project to embrace our disabled supporters with an initial meeting having taken place recently. This explored the challenges faced on matchdays with some suggestions as to how the overall experience can be improved which will be explored with the club in the coming weeks.
Our monthly Club1968 draw has seen an influx of new members and is a solid income stream for the Trust as well as rewarding our fans with £1500 of monthly prizes. Don’t forget you need to be in it to win it and all our prize winners are local fellow Stanley fans. So please if you aren’t in it then please sign up and, if you are in, then perhaps double your chances with a second number! Click here to sign up.
So, until next time, keep the faith, support our team and On Stanley On!
Membership
by Adrian Rudley
Membership runs annually from 1st July to 30th June and costs a paltry £5 if you’re planning on collecting your membership card and badge from our shop in the Arndale Centre, or £6.50 (UK) £8 (Worldwide), if you want us to post them out to you. By the way, if you’re feeling particularly flush, there’s an option to make a donation to OASST. All donations are gratefully received and they are all used for the benefit of the club. To join, click here.
We also now have a free members draw each month in which the winner will receive £40 in Accrington Stanley Vouchers. The vouchers are for use in the club shop at the Wham Stadium.
All members and Life Members are entered into the free draw.
August 2024 Winner: Ray Parkinson
September 2024 Winner: Ronnie Entwistle
We are currently in the process of getting the vouchers to the September winner.
I would like to take the opportunity to ask that if any member have moved address or changed any details, such as email address, please let us know.
This means that we can get important information to you all regarding the OASST and ensure that we have the correct details should you win a prize.
Many thanks
On Stanley On
Give Me Some Kind Of Sign…
Signage around the ground had definitely seen better days, and, according to feedback from home fans and visitors alike, wasn’t as helpful as it could be. So, new designs were commissioned, with colour-coding to make navigation around the stadium quicker and easier.
One sign has been placed at the top of the Crown steps (above), another at the bottom (shown below), and a third is positioned at the Coppice entrance.
We are delighted to have been assisted in providing these signs with a variety of funding from Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council and the Duchy of Lancaster. In all, £2450 was granted towards a total of £3300, with the club paying the balance. For more details, see chairman, Peter Leatham’s, report above.
AGM 2024
by Robert Houseman, Secretary
22nd August 2024 7:30pm
People Present: P. Warburton , R. Houseman, P. Leatham, J Macintosh, Sh O’Shaughnessy, St O’Shaughnessy, A Rudley, Y Wilson, D Lorretti, E Yates, S Davis, S Wiseman, A Savage, A Buckel, P Taylor, D Phillips, A Holden, J Windle, J Bryan, D Vernon, L Trotter, A Trotter, G Ford, M Lonsdale, A Scarborough, M Isherwood, V Booth, A Crook, E Carroll, J Cheverton
Welcome
Moment of reflection to remember those members/fans who have passed this year.
Apologies
K Jefferson, K Clarke, J Graham, D Barnett, G Jones-Boast, M Procter, J Boast, D You
Chair’s report
The undoubted highlight of the last 12 months was the news that we had been awarded with a King’s Award for Voluntary Service, which we were presented with in January.
This was in recognition of our efforts to support our local community with over 6500 annual volunteer hours which is really quite staggering.
This is not your boards award, it’s our award as a trust and each and every member has helped play a part. so thank you to all, and it’s not just an award for 12 months it’s for life so we can display the KA logo alongside ours for many years to come.
In common with John’s playing squad we have also had a reshuffle in our board personnel.
Joanne Butterworth and Joshua Adcroft resigned from the board on the course of the year and Ken Jefferson decided to step down from his vice chair role but will remain on the board.
These changes enabled us to identify some gaps in the range of skill sets and following an invitation to members we were delighted to co-opt Alwyn Savage, Yvonne Wilson, Alex Crook and Adrian Rudley to the board.
We always welcome supporters who feel they can positively contribute to the safe and successful running of the Supporters Trust.
So our current line up now sees PW as Vice chair and finance lead, supported by Eugene Carroll and Andy Buckel.
Robert Houseman has stepped into the Secretary role combined with safeguarding and rules and is assisted by Alwyn. Memberships are now being handled by the Alex and Adrian dream team and Andy Buckel is our new H&S lead, which is especially relevant given the new Arndale Shop.
Ken and Adam continue to oversee all our away travel and Jodie is now looking after our Junior Redz and also is the HGT ambassador Debra continues as our ST chaplain and Yvonne is ensuring the memorial garden is kept in pristine condition. Gary Jones- Boast is in charge of fundraising and will be organising the annual Jack Barrett memorial walk in October, with options to walk from both Deepdale and Ewood Park back to the Wham Stadium. Gary is assisted by Yvonne and Andy.
Mike Procter does a great job as our webmaster and editor and the quarterly members newsletter which drops straight to your inbox and Eugene is our lead into our community activity as well as providing copy to the regular Acorn news features.
One of the large bits of work that Mike has undertaken was to rescue the now defunct The club that wouldn’t die website and rebuild it back into our Onstanleyon site.
The old site was excellent detailing all the playing records , season by season, and it seemed a great loss and one where we felt we had to step in and both preserve and then enhance the details and make it available to our fanbase.
Our Club1968 needed some care and attention and having finally managed to move our bank we set out to move everyone across to the new gocardless system which points at our Lloyds account and we have managed to move all bar about 25 across.
It’s important that we do this as it negates much of our administration and enables all the funds to be available to spend on our football club.
We also had another membership drive and managed to sign up an additional 50 monthly players which means we now have just under 280 regular players. If we can get to 300 then the monthly prize pot gets enhanced as we undertook to do for every 50 new players above the 250 base.
Jason and Eugene are now in charge with Jason as our new draw master which can be seen on our Facebook page. For just the equivalent of £2.50 per week we would love more to sign up for a chance of winning one of our monthly prizes in our £1500 prize pot. Every month one lucky Stanley fan wins £1000, this is our draw, for our fans and our football club.
It’s important that where we can we have succession planning and have some one to step in to key roles as and when necessary.
As we continue to thrive we have some exciting plans for the future including a large project on the drawing board to help preserve the rich heritage of our football club whilst making it accessible to as many fans as possible. We are in the process of scoping the project and a possible Lottery funded grant to help us realise our ambition.
We have recently seen the unveiling of new signage around the stadium to assist fans on matchdays, both home and away, and this was very much of our doing with the old boards in need of both renewal and modernisation.
We have once again assisted the club with a variety of projects including the GPS vests that are so prevalent in today’s game, both in training and match play.
We meet with the club at least quarterly and take any issues or concerns raised by fans to the ckub. These can always be raised via the website or on our tables on the Fanzone and in Coleys on matchdays.
Talking Balls continues to flourish on the last Thursday of every month with Seamus Conneely leading the sessions and a variety of guest regaling us with tales of their experiences with Stanley. All welcome and it’s free! The children’s free Xmas party was once again a sell out and no doubt will be the same this December.
I can’t finish without mentioning the relocation of our town centre shop from the Market Hall and into the Arndale centre.
This wasn’t without its challenges but we successfully secured a deal and the premises that were best suited to our needs and overall, it’s been a success and I must that particularly PW who did much of the leg work with the Market Hall and the council to ensure we transferred across with minimum disruption to trade and our customers. The shop now forms a significant part of our turnover and if you have a few hours to spare we always welcome additions to our volunteer lists to man the shop. In conclusion I would like to thank all our board members for giving so freely of their time and ensure the smooth running of the Supporters Trust and also to you, our membership, for entrusting us with the responsibility of assisting our wonderful football club.
Presentation Of Annual Accounts by the Treasurer – Peter Warburton
Official Accrington Stanley Supporters Trust
Balance Sheet As of June 30, 2024
| Total | |
| Fixed Asset | |
| Total Fixed Asset | |
| Cash at bank and in hand | |
| 1000 Santander | 68.94 |
| 1001 Cash on hand | 200.00 |
| 1003 PayPal | 1,612.76 |
| 1005 Savings | 3,482.51 |
| 1006 Lloyds Bank Treasureres Account | 26,923.33 |
| Total Cash at bank and in hand | £ 32,287.54 |
| Debtors | |
| Debtors | 0.00 |
| Total Debtors | £ 0.00 |
| Current Assets | |
| 1002 Stock Asset | 1,575.00 |
| 1004 Undeposited Funds | 0.00 |
| Corporation tax | 199.98 |
| Total Current Assets | £ 1,774.98 |
| Net current assets | £ 34,062.52 |
| Creditors: amounts falling due within one year | |
| Trade Creditors | |
| Creditors | 5.50 |
| Total Trade Creditors | £ 5.50 |
| Current Liabilities | |
| 2000 ASFC Re-Charges | 1,988.50 |
| 2001 ASFC Shirts Sold Abroad | -1.08 |
| Accruals and Deferred Income | 480.00 |
| Total Current Liabilities | £ 2,467.42 |
| Total Creditors: amounts falling due within one year | £ 2,472.92 |
| Net current assets (liabilities) | £ 31,589.60 |
| Total assets less current liabilities | £ 31,589.60 |
| Total net assets (liabilities) | £ 31,589.60 |
| Charity funds | |
| 6000 Ordinary shares | 509.00 |
| 6001 Retained Earnings | -1,555.38 |
| 6002 Opening Balance Equity | 32,774.18 |
| Surplus/(Deficit) | -138.20 |
| Total Charity funds | £ 31,589.60 |
Official Accrington Stanley Supporters Trust
Profit and Loss July 2023 - June 2024
| Income | Total | Cost of Sales | Net Profit | ||
| 3000 Coach Travel | 18,610.00 | 4000 Coach Hire | 15,835.00 | 2,775.00 | Note 1 |
| 3001 Match Badges | 5,676.46 | 4001 Match Badges COS | 4,496.40 | 1,180.06 | |
| 3002 Membership | 2,607.30 | 4002 Membership Badges and Cards | 40.00 | 2,567.30 | |
| 3003 Club 1968 Income | 26,012.00 | 4003 Club 1968 Prizes and Expenses | 18,514.61 | 7,497.39 | |
| 3004 OASST Merchandise | 1,577.11 | 4004 OASST Merchandise Costs | 204.00 | 1,373.11 | |
| 3005 Garden Plaques | 260.00 | 4005 Garden Plaques COS | 231.00 | 29.00 | |
| 3007 Resale Books | 307.50 | 307.50 | |||
| 3009 Golf Day Income | 141.00 | 4009 Golf Day Costs | 4,271.82 | -4,130.82 | Note 2 |
| 3010 Slate Goods | 8.00 | 8.00 | |||
| 3011 RBL Poppy Badges | 303.99 | 4011 RBL Poppy Badges COS | 306.00 | -2.01 | |
| 3013 Xmas Raffle | 2,031.00 | 4013 Xmas Raffle Prizes | 1,000.00 | 1,031.00 | |
| 3014 Other Raffles and Competitions | 268.00 | 4014 Other Raffle and Competition Prizes | -32.00 | 300.00 | |
| 3015 Wham Resales | 9,492.71 | 9,492.71 | |||
| 3016 Donated Programmes and Books | 177.12 | 177.12 | |||
| 3017 Memorial Garden Donations | 50.00 | 4017 Memorial Garden Costs | 924.16 | -874.16 | Note 3 |
| 3018 Donations Other | 1,605.32 | 1,605.32 | |||
| 3019 Miscellaneous Income | 54.99 | 54.99 | |||
| 3020 Xmas Cards | 30.00 | 30.00 | |||
| 3025 Stanley Ultras T-Shirts | 5.00 | 5.00 | |||
| 3027 Carrier Bags | 3.70 | 4027 Carrier Bags COS | -0.20 | 3.90 | |
| 3031 Phone Covers | 24.37 | 4031 Phone Covers COS | 14.20 | 10.17 | |
| 3099 SC Testimonial Income | 19,894.40 | 2002 SC Testimonial Costs | 19,894.40 | 0.00 | Note 4 |
| Total Income | £ 89,139.97 | Total Cost of Sales | £ 65,699.39 | £ 23,440.58 | |
| Total | £ 23,440.58 | ||||
| Expenditures | |||||
| 5001 Printing, Postage and Stationery | 1,731.57 | ||||
| 5003 Player Awards | 1,143.19 | ||||
| 5004 Meeting Room Costs | 389.00 | ||||
| 5010 Interest Payable | 521.18 | ||||
| 5017 KAVS | 1,425.55 | Note 5 | |||
| Accountancy | 455.00 | ||||
| Computer Costs | 754.38 | ||||
| Office/General Administrative Expenses | 232.71 | ||||
| Phone Costs | 5.50 | ||||
| Total Expenditures | £ 6,658.08 | ||||
| Net Operating Income | £ 16,782.50 | ||||
| Other Income | |||||
| 3024 Interest earned | 29.40 | ||||
| Total Other Income | £ 29.40 | ||||
| Other Expenditures | |||||
| 5000 Football Ground Projects | 9,488.20 | Note 6 | |||
| 5002 Members Monthly Draw | 200.00 | ||||
| 5005 Xmas Party and Raffle Costs | 86.00 | ||||
| 5007 Donations | 1,839.99 | Note 7 | |||
| 5009 Miscellaneous Expenses | 3,500.34 | Note 8 | |||
| 5011 IT Costs | 62.40 | ||||
| 5012 Shop and Storeroom Costs | 2,519.94 | Note 9 | |||
| 5015 Her Game Too Expenses | 354.24 | ||||
| 5016 Relocation Expenses | -1,101.01 | ||||
| Total Other Expenditures | £ 16,950.10 | ||||
| Net Other Income | -£ 16,920.70 | ||||
| Net Income/(Expenditure) | -£ 138.20 |
Note 1 Travel costs understated as awaiting two invoices from Supplier will be paid in following year | Note 2 Golf Day costs relate to 2023 Income recognised in 2023 expense in 2024 | Note 3 Memorial Garden Costs – £750 Garden Monthly Maint. Book of Remembrence Plants | Note 4 SCTestimonial Both testimonial commitees used Trust Card reader therefore Income equals expenditure | Note 5 Kavs Badges and Crystal London Trip Presentation Dinner | Note 6 QR Code Boards Player GPS Vests Pop Up Banners Bangor Sticks | Note 7 Donations Legends Football Match Hyndburn Food Pantry Testimonials Ladies Day event | Note 8 Miscellaneous Expenses Display boards around ground Snug Experience x 2 HGT Hygiene products and Shirts Car Park Meeting Rooms and refreshments | Note 9 Cellar Rent in Market Lease rent in Arndale New Shutter Door Water rates Broadband costs Health and Safety Equipment Keys for Staff
Proposer: Dorothy Vernon, Seconder: Yvonne Wilson
Resignation of Board Members
There are two members that wish to resign: Joshua Adcroft and Joanna Buttereworth
Andrew Buckel has retired in line with Trust rules and is seeking re-election, whilst Eugene Carroll and Gary Jones-Boast , who were both co-opted onto the board during the financial year, are both seeking re-election to the board which will bring the board up to its maximum 12 members.
Proposer: Alex Crook, Seconder: Olwyn Savage
Proposal
From the Trust Board to disallow the requirement for a full audit in line with section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
Proposer: Peter Warburton, Seconder: Dorothy Vernon
There being no other business, the meeting ended at 8:00pm
Annual Jack Barrett Memorial Walk for Charity
This year’s Annual Sponsored Walk for local charity will take place on
Saturday 5th October
The walk will start at the home of Preston North End, Deepdale, progress to Ewood Park, home of Blackburn Rovers, and finish at the Wham Stadium.
Walkers will be able to start at either Deepdale or Ewood Park, depending on how much stamina they have!
Please keep an eye on our Social Media for more details of how to join us and how to donate.
Bromley FC
Whilst editing The Club That Wouldn’t Die, adding 2024-25 fixtures, a notable absence was discovered: Bromley FC didn’t feature in the list of Stanley’s opponents since we rose from the ashes in 1968. Despite have been around since 1892, Bromley FC had never had the honour of playing against Accrington. So the coming season is an exciting one for them!
In fact, this will be the first season in their history that they’ve played in League football, never having risen above Conference South before 2015, finally winning the National League (Conference) playoffs last season after coming third.
JUNIOR REDZ RELAUNCH
Our Junior Redz programme has now relaunched and if you are under 16 you can sign up for just £5
£5 membership includes:
• Welcome message
• Autographed photo of chosen player
• Personalised membership certificate, personally signed by John Dolan
• A personalised recorded birthday message from your favourite Stanley player
• Discount on away travel
• Free Christmas party invite and priority access
Sign up from the club shop, market shop or online at https://onstanleyon.com/junior-redz/
Away Travel
by Adam Scarborough
Firstly, a massive thank you to all those that have travelled on the OASST coaches this season so far. The season started with a full coach heading over to Yorkshire to see Stanley take on Doncaster. This was followed by a very wet trip to the Wirral (via the Mersey Tunnel) which saw a loss in the League Cup to Tranmere.
We then had a long journey to South Wales to play Newport. Heavy traffic saw us arrive at Rodney Parade at 14:55 just in time for kick off. After a loss down there we then had a minor collision with a parked car in one of the very tight terraced streets near the ground – nothing a load of gaffer tape couldn’t fix (although the parked car came off much worse…)
Finally our most recent away day was in Nottingham to face Notts County. Despite the M65 and M62 being shut and the coach windscreen wipers packing up, we made it to Meadow Lane in good time.
Please have a look at the list to check where we will be visiting over the next few weeks. Contact Adam if you want further information or to book onto any of the OASST coaches.
Thank you all for your continued support.
Adam will post on the OASST Facebook page regular updates and you can keep track of them on the website at https://onstanleyon.com/away-travel/
Travelling to MK Dons?
If you’re going to the away game in Milton Keynes in October, then this may be of interest to you:
We are delighted to invite you to McCarthy’s Sports Bar & Live Music Venue on match days when your team is playing at MK Dons. Just a short cab ride or walk to the Stadium, whether you’re cheering for your team from near or far, we provide a great pub to enjoy our hospitality before the match.
At McCarthy’s Sports Bar & Live Music Venue you can expect:
– Live Coverage: Watch TNT / Sky sports on our big screens with high-quality sound.
– Delicious Food and Drinks: Enjoy our wide selection of beers, wines, spirits, and tasty match day menu.
– Friendly Atmosphere: Join fellow supporters for an exciting and welcoming environment.
We are located at 4 Chandos Place, Bletchley, MK2 2SN, just a short 2 minute walk from Bletchley train station.
Doors open at 11am, and we recommend arriving early to secure a good spot.
For any questions, please call us on 01908 047425 or email us at thepark.mccarthys@gmail.com
We look forward to hosting you and making your match day experience unforgettable!
Best Regards,
McCarthy’s Sports Bar Team
Club 1968
This Summer, four years after Club 1968 was started, we’ve seen an exciting relaunch of our monthly fundraising lottery. Loads of new members have been signed up so there are more prizes on the horizon. Once again hosted by original lockdown drawmaster Jason Graham, the draw is currently on an extended pubcrawl a journey of Accrington as Jason investigates the hostelries of our town and meets the great people who drink there.
Follow his adventures on Facebook or on the OASST Facebook page
All winners can be seen by visiting the Club 1968 page
To make it even easier for fans to join in, Club 1968 has set up a new method of signing up, to read more about Club 1968, and to be in with a chance every month of winning £1000, please visit the Club 1968 page by following this link.
Recent Winners
The Club That Wouldn’t Die
Visit the new permanent home of the famous and much loved website,
theclubthatwouldntdie.co.uk
and relive the history of Accrington Stanley
Concerns, Ideas, Comments & Questions
The Supporters’ Trust is you, the fans’, voice and body to get things done with our football club.
We welcome your thoughts and ideas as well as any concerns (off the pitch) you may have regarding the running and day to day operations within Accrington Stanley.
We welcome suggestions as to how we make things better, either as a fan experience, or in growing our overall fanbase.
We will then take these on board and respond accordingly.
We meet at least once a quarter with our club and discuss a wide range of topics but are always happy to add to our agenda.
It’s your trust and club!
Chaplaincy News
by Deb Phillips
Before the kick-off of the pre-season friendly vs Barnsley saw members of the Royal British Legion Barnsley branch visit and pay tribute to the Barnsley Pals who fought and died alongside the Accy Pals. It was a very poignant time spent together in our Memorial Garden. We were also joined by Matt Booth who is the Veterans Lead at our Sport Hub who spends time alongside ex-services. They also enjoyed a couple of pints before kick-off by joining our fans in Coleys bar. They were very impressed as some of them hadn’t visited our new facilities before.
There are some dates I need to bring to Fans’ attention:
- There will be a re-dedication of the Accrington Pals Memorial Garden situated on Church Street in the town centre on Saturday 21st September (10am for 10.30am start). Why not spend this time before our televised match vs Port Vale which has an early kick-off of 12.30pm?
- There will be a Remembrance Sunday ceremony held at our Memorial Garden at our Club on November 10th at 12.45 followed by the showing of an unearthed film about the Accy Pals Battalion (about 90 minutes long) which will be shown in Coleys straight after the service and there will be refreshments available. Thanks to Murray Dawson for organising the showing of this film.
- The day after on 11th November will be an Armistice Service which will be held in town – more details to follow for this.
- On Saturday 16th November at our home match vs Swindon will have our parade onto the pitch before kick-off by various dignitaries, members of the Royal British Legion and led by the Accrington Pipe Band. This is usually impeccable observed with the playing of the last post.
It was an absolute privilege to welcome two Directors from Sports Chaplaincy UK on Wednesday 11th November. We welcomed them in a mixture of weather, from sunshine then to hailstone as we stood on the Clayton End!!! Many thanks to Robert Houseman and Peter Leatham who supported me on welcoming Matt Baker who is the National Director for England and Christian Wienkamp who is the Assistant Director for England. Matt is the Chaplain of Charlton Athletic and has been for 25 years and Christian is the Chaplain of West Brom. It was great to talk to them about what my role entails and to bounce ideas off one another. They were very impressed with our facilities and I think they may approach the club to see if they can help to host the Northern Conference in the next couple of years.
Sports Chaplaincy UK is an organisation not only for football clubs but is heavily involved in rugby and cricket to name just a couple of other sports.
They were especially impressed with our Memorial Garden and the tranquil atmosphere it creates. At this point my thanks to Yvonne and Ken for their care and attention in this area and also to Simon Smith Landscapes for doing the more heavy duty jobs.
If any of you have visited recently the Memorial Garden you will have noticed that there is an area for scattering loved ones’ ashes. This is a special service I offer and I ask you to please not take it upon yourselves to just come and do this yourself. We have a strict protocol which we have to follow and I hope you appreciate that this should be done in a respectful way. So with this in mind if you do wish to have your loved ones ashes scattered then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me then it can be arranged with myself. My details are next to the Remembrance Book which can be found in the Club Shop to the left as you enter. We encourage families to leave fresh flowers in the copper flower holders which can be found on the plaque wall in the Memorial Garden. This looks particularly lovely and blends in nicely with the various plants the Memorial Garden team keep on tip-top condition.
I look forward seeing you around the ground on match days, whether in the Memorial Garden, Fanzone, Coleys or on the terraces. Please come and say Hi.
Keep the faith and On Stanley On.
Help
Useful numbers of some organizations:
Lancashiremind Local Mental Health Support 0800 953 0110
Samaritans Call 116 123 24hrs
Papyrus (Suicide prevention for under 35s) Hopeline UK 0800 068 4141 Mon-Fri 10am-10pm Sat-Sun 12 noon-12 midnight
Childline 0800 1111
Carers’ helpline (run by people with experience in care for people with MH issues) 0333 103 9747
Maundy Relief Counselling Service 01254 233 457 counselling@maundyrelief.org.uk
Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline-Refuge 0808 2000 247 (24hrs)
To contact Debra, the Supporters’ Chaplain,
please email chaplain@onstanleyon.com
