Mike Hills is a local retired business man who approached the club about helping out in some capacity or another. He was swiftly brought on-board by a unanimous vote of the then committee. I thought it would be nice to refresh our memories of what happened and where he sees us today.
Feel free to comment back to me or directly to Mike at: Mike.Hills@stowmarketcic.co.uk with any questions or views. After all it is YOUR Club!
Hi Mike and thanks for talking to me.
Can you just remind us of what you remit was when you were invited to join STFC by the committee?When I joined in May 09 the mission was to ‘energise, revitalise and take the club forward, by developing and improving the football and the facilities.’ The first objective was to merge the two constituent parts of the club, ie the Adult and Youth, and this was done.
The second objective was to restructure the club and this also has been completed and approved by a unanimous vote at an EGM held in October. The company has four sections:
Adult Football
Youth Football
Operations
New Projects
Each has its own Director, which makes up the board. You can therefore see that Stowmarket Football club now comes within the holding company as do all the youth teams.
The third objective set was to improve the facilities of the club by building a new clubhouse and commensurate facilities. The new projects section is now working on this objective, and last week the Mid Suffolk council met to consider a letter we wrote to them asking for clarification of the way forward. We are awaiting their response.
Other objectives have been set which we hope to meet over a three year period, the next of which is to improve the standard of senior football and be promoted through the leagues.
Tells us about the new “Community” element to the holding company?
It is important that we look at all we do from a community point of view, and not just as a football club. All the foundations are now in place and it is to the great credit of members that they have been extremely supportive. Only a very few have voiced concerns and their comments are understandable as they have yet to see anything practicable as far as building a clubhouse is concerned, but it is important to work from the foundations up, not from the roof down.
What sort of support have you received from outside of the club and are there any areas you need urgent assistance with?
We have been lucky that people in Stowmarket, who have not been involved with the club before, have come forward to support us. However, we would like one or two more. John Griffin, who took the role of Director of Operations, has found that combining this with being joint first team manager has meant that he has insufficient time for matters on the pitch. We would, therefore, like to co-opt someone on to the board of directors with a view to becoming a Director. The position is a managerial one and we would like to hear from anyone who would like to get involved in these exciting times. No experience of football is required, only the ability to organise, work closely with the other three Directors and to supervise the many people on the Operations side who volunteer and help keep the club moving forward.
With different responsibilities, but still very important, we need help in producing refreshments at the club on match days. We sell food and hot drinks from a kiosk and always have two people in attendance. Providing this facility helps provide funds but is also a requirement of the league we play in.
Anyone in the community who would like to get involved in this or any other aspect of the new community club should get in touch with me. I can make one promise: they would be working alongside nice people!
Thanks Mike I hope that things continue to progress as they have been. I can tell you that all the feedback I have received has been very positive. Please pass on my congratulations to all the helpers at the club and fingers crossed for more positive news from the council very soon!
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