News From The Chair.....Feb '25

“THE ONLY WAY TO PROMOTE OUR DREAM IS THROUGH CLUB MEMBERS “

Our opening quote above is adapted from Emma Grede, a business woman, entrepreneur and guest Dragon on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den last year.

Whilst her quote aimed to inspire and advise the upcoming generation of entrepreneurs, the sentiment also rings true in terms of a grass-roots community club such as ours and we are very lucky to have so many members who to make a positive contribution to VEES.

All tasks undertaken, however small, are for the benefit of its members. Many of you go above and beyond that and that is why we continue to be the envy of a number of grass root clubs in our area.

As mentioned in my previous newsletter, the fundraising in December, in aid of the club and for the Mental Health charity JOCA demonstrates the strength of the community that we have here at Verulamians. Thank you to all who made contributions and thanks especially to those who helped organise the fundraising events.

With that in mind, its my pleasure to announce that my January Volunteer of the Month goes to Marina McGee, who did a fantastic job organising Vees Christmas Hamper Raffle.

Many Thanks for your efforts Mazee.

As we are also nearing the end of February, I am also happy to announce that my February Volunteer of the Month is Bruce Wilson for all his sterling administrative work in a number of essential areas.

Many Thanks Bruce for your great effort.

Whilst we are on the subject of volunteering, in November I received a surprise email from the RFU. I was selected from clubs across Hertfordshire to receive an RFU Valued Volunteer Award and invited to go to a 6 Nations match at Twickenham on the 8th Feb to watch England v France. I was also able to take my wife Lynda to what was a fantastic day.

We arrived at Twickenham by coach from our hotel and we were introduced to the chief security officer who gave us a tour of all administrative aspects of the stadium, security, restaurants, hospitality, press, changing rooms, medical centres, weights gym, and seating where we were introduced to the RFU President and had one of many photos performing a “royal wave “ in the Royal Box. We were then also allowed to go to the pitch area. Pre-lunch drinks were followed by an excellent meal in the Spirit of Rugby Restaurant at the end of the which I was presented with a Valued Volunteer Certificate and some goodies by the RFU President, Rob Udwin.

The match, as you all know, was really exciting. We were seated 10 rows back from the 5 metre line defended by the French in the first half with the TV pundits just below us. Our seats also happened to be in the middle of a large French contingent! What was already an exciting game erupted in the last 10 minutes as the French seemed to have scored the winning points. However, England bounced back (as they did against the Irish) and scored a last second converted try, which this time won the game by 1 point. The noise in the stadium was fantastic and a chorus of ‘Swing Low’ ensued from the crowd with applause. The French supporters around us, shook our hands. “ Vive le Rugby Vive le sport”. This is the spirit of the game that we love. I am humbled to have been chosen and it is an experience I will never forget.

On the pitch, the hardworking committee, at all levels, have come up with training and match solutions so that we can complete our training and fixture commitments, through what has been a stormy and wet start to the year.

We have had some good results at all levels since the middle of January but there is still a long way to go, including The Papa John Cup for the senior teams and this side of the season also sees many of the age groups in various festivals and tournaments not to mention, the end of the season tours.

After a very busy Christmas period, the club is now moving forward with some events to help finance future planned projects.

The annual quiz night is proposed for March , details out soon, and we are also showing as many of the of the 6 Nations matches as possible, and maybe some football earlier on those days.

Look out for the notices and we look forward to seeing you at the club.

Regards,

Ian ”Shanks” Graham

Chair