Since that meeting, test have been carried out on the pitch and the repairs will cost an estimated £110,000. As neither Hornets or Dale have this amount of money, the Stadium Co are in talks with the Council, with a view to them meeting the cost of the repairs.

The Nest Egg and Dale Trust will now wait for the outcome of the Council meeting before taking a joint decision on whether to progress with the fundraising, or to shelve the plans.

Next on the agenda was an update on the Community Development Coach. Last year, Nest Egg members voted to help co-fund the position. Since then, other partners have joined meaning the post can now run for 2 years.

The benefit of funding the post means that Hornets are entitled to a place on the “steering committee” which will plan the activities of the coach and the direction to be taken to promote the game.

Ann then gave us some details of community projects that are currently running. Firstly, there are 20 schools which have taken part in community coaching. Once this is finished, they will be invited to a Tag Rugby tournament at Mayfield then along to the game at Spotland on Good Friday.

Another project which is running until the summer is where schools come to Spotland for the afternoon. They get some time on the astro-turf, a backroom tour and then work on an educational Hornets workbook. Several local schools have already signed up for this.

Last year, Summer Camps were organised and were a huge success. So these will run again this summer, with one being held in each borough.

The final project which is funded by LHF and Northern Rail promotes working with amateurs. The funding is helping to develop Girls Teams in the Littleborough area.

A cheque for £1,500 was then handed over to Ann as our contribution to the Community Coach.

Ann then went on to talk about backroom and commercial activity, which we don’t always get to hear about.

Both the match and matchball sponsorship for all our home games have already been booked. This is fantastic and takes the away the last minute pressure to find a sponsor.
The ballboys are being sponsored by the Army, so they should be kitted out in the next few weeks.

Business lunches were held last year which have generated further sponsorship and 10 exec boxes have been sold at a premium rate. Dinning in the Mororama Lounge has been a real success. People who enjoyed the hospitality last season are continuing this season, meaning we never have less than 60 dinners on matchdays.

The next topic was our account balance, which after the £1,500 Community Coach cheque stands at just over £2,700. Therefore, the question was raised whether we should purchase some more shares.

Andy proposed that we spend £1,000 on shares, this was seconded by Peter and then unanimously agreed.

Mark then suggested that as we have enough funds, maybe we should spend £1,500 on shares. This was seconded by Craig and again unanimously agreed.

Ann commented on how important the extra £500 is to the club. At the time of the meeting, we hadn’t had a home game since February, but the player’s wages still had to be paid, so any investment in shares is a great help.

Ann has spoken to Darren and he is taking the Northern Rail Cup very seriously, especially as there is prize money on offer. Training is going fantastically well with the lads having a good team spirit and there is a positive atmosphere around the club.

Finally, the raffle which was collected by Andy raised an impressive £56. A special mention goes to Mal who boycotted the extortionately priced Oldham game and instead donated £10 to the Nest Egg!

The raffle, donations and subs meant a total of £661 was raised on the night.

For those who have paid their subs, don’t worry, the Nest Egg 2006 badges are on their way soon.