Apologies: Jackie Coleman, Peter Mercer

Minutes of the Sussex RFU County Club Development Group
held on Wednesday, 2nd November at Brighton RFC

Present: Chris Keeley (CK), Allan Butcher (AB), Andy Bell (AJB), Paul Harding (PH), Mal Chumbley (MC), Marylyn Rankin (MR)

Action
1. / Minutes of previous meeting and matters arising.
a)The following amendments were made to the draft minutes of the meeting held on 24th August:
Item 6. Facility and Funding update.
Horsham. The grant had been allocated by the RFU, not Sussex.
Ditchling.Justin ‘Wellard’ should be Walden.
Replacement for Peter Mercer. Action PM.
Item 10. Leadership Academy. Alex Thomson should read Alex Thompson.
b)Matters arising:
i)Events kit. CK now holds most of the kit which does not amount to much now. £1,000 had been written in to upgrade the kit. The West thinks it is a good idea to keep the kit but that Clubs should supply consumables. MC suggested using the kit at upcoming big calendar events such as County Fixtures, Schools Day, to give Sussex RFU a presence and promote all Sussex Clubs. AB to create a calendar of events; CK to obtain Neil Dakin’s view before committing to any further investment. CK/PH to obtain views at Partnership meetings.
ii)New Club Development Partnerships.
It was agreed to populate a list of contacts, check with Clubs to make sure the correct information is held and draw up a spreadsheet from GMS. MC/AB to produce something for the next meeting.
iii)First Aid Course Delivery. MC had received interest from several clubs and has advised them that the RFU will be putting on some partly funded courses. Maximum 12 attendees per course. Partnerships need to be looking at courses for East/West, i.e. 1 x £50 place per club per course. A course lasts 7 hours and the preference is for a 1-day course. MC is making enquiries at Oriel High School. Two subsidised places can be offered to each club (£100 per club). Each Club to be given £100 credit towards a First Aid course and Clubs to decide how they use that money. The County does not fund non-open courses.
Action: Courses to be organised at Partnerships. RFU-approved providers must be used.
iv)Safeguarding. Report from Jackie Coleman attached. The subject to be raised at Executive meeting on 7 November. / CK/PH/
AB/ND
MC/AB
CK/PH/
MC
CK
AB
2. / Leadership Academy update.
The Academy will be launched on 23rd November at the Hickstead Hotel, 7 p.m., with a potential 21 candidates. / MC/CK/
PH
3. / Safeguarding update.
Dealt with in Matters Arising.
4. / Facilities Funding Update.
Peter Mercer’s report attached.
5. / GMS Training. MC said the RFU is ready and waiting for either Partnership sessions or small clusters. Training will be specific to trainees. AB to raise CB GMS training at Executive meeting on November 7th. / AB
6. / Dragons’ Den
Dragons’ Den relates to transition which it was agreed would be in four stages: Juniors to Colts; Colts to Seniors; Girls to Women and lapsed players to Volunteers/Social. Clubs are invited to make one presentation for one transition per season.
Dragons to be approached: Pauline Freestone, Sarah Hogg, Peter Anson, Roger Clarke.Panels to be decided. CK will email clubs re sessions to be held on 25th January (West) and 1st February (East). / CK
7. / Volunteer topics update.
AJB reported that the following awards had been made:
RFU Awards
Roger Edmundson, CB Education Chair.
Paul Harding, CB RCDP West chair / Horsham.
John Feakins, Eastbourne.
Chris Reynolds, Shoreham.
Sussex International Tickets Awards
Peter Stevenson, Shoreham.
Neil Walker, Sussex Police.
Steve Silver, Crawley.
Doug Millen, CB webmaster.
Neil Dakin, CB Partnership Manager.
Steve Silver has also been asked to speak at a Volunteers’ Workshop. The budget has now been exhausted. The CB Bar ticket allocation has been sent to the RFU to allocate.
The East Volunteer Workshop will be put back as the date allocated clashes with the Leadership Academy launch.
The Volunteers’ Dinner will be held on April 1st, venue to accommodate 100 being sought.
AJB to attend Partnership meetings.
AJB will take photographs of awards to advertise on website. / AJB
AJB
8. / Partnership meetings.
a)West. PH is concerned that Government funding for SE Schools has been reduced and is impacting on sport in schools. MC said the RFU only works with schools where club needy. It is necessary to engage with heads of LAs and MPs to champion investment in schools. PH asked if the County has thought about the impact this will have on rugby.
b)East. CK said the East has a nucleus of clubs that are keen to make the Partnership work and Alan Sallows is doing a lot to help in this respect.
9. / Any other business. None.