DaveF
1st team Player
Posts: 1,726
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Post by DaveF on Jan 21, 2008 22:08:48 GMT
If you would like to help out as a steward on Saturday, even if it's only up until kick-off, please let me know.
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markf
Top Performer
Posts: 3,207
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Post by markf on Jan 22, 2008 15:56:41 GMT
Not available!
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Post by silverfox on Jan 22, 2008 17:31:52 GMT
Cheeky!
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markf
Top Performer
Posts: 3,207
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Post by markf on Jan 27, 2008 9:01:40 GMT
Thanks & well done to the stewards yesterday & if you're reading this Kingy, thanks to you & your colleagues.
I have to say that the Newport fans appeared to be ok & there were just a few locals (most I've never seen before) who may have caused a problem but were well marshalled by the Met.
However, I'm afraid that matches like this really stretch the resources & as I intend to definitely finish at the end of the season, people will have to start putting their thinking caps on.
I am aware that the SUST have done a great job in raising funds through various activities since its formation but nobody from this organisation appears prepared to volunteer help on match days (save for Rose's Teah Hut).
IMO (& that of others), The Trust should not just be about raising money but giving support om match days. Generally, there is little hinderance to watching the game (except on occasions like yesterday). So, please can you consider next season?
I am sure a rota system could be set up in some way to cover matches. It is possible that without stewards, SUFC will not be able to stage matches. This in turn could make SUST irrelevant, so I do believe the answer is in your hands (if not totally).
Please consider.
On a different subject, can someone from the club get the groundsmen to sink 2 more corner post holes at the Collingwood End. The current ones are useless!
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Gareth
1st team Player
Goon
Posts: 1,646
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Post by Gareth on Jan 27, 2008 10:30:06 GMT
Mark,
I'm not sure who you are targetting your message towards to be honest. If it's SUST as an organisation, then there are SUST members who do steward on matchdays.
If your message is primarily targetted at the 7 SUST committee members and 2 co-opted committee members from the Supporters Club and Vice-Presidents, then I think you're being grossly unfair. We've only got 9 pairs of hands and there is only so much we can do, most of which admittedly is done on non-matchdays. If any of the committee do fancy stewarding, then I'm sure they will answer your call but from my own personal viewpoint, it's just not something that appeals to me.
I can put a request for more stewards into the SUST newsletter that will be going out to members in the next couple of weeks (again, for anyone waiting for this newsletter I'm really sorry for the delay). If I get the chance tomorrow morning I'm also planning to pop into Sutton Volunteers Bureau to see if they have anyone on their books that would fancy stewarding.
The most important thing though is that stewarding and the general running of matchdays is NOT a SUST issue. It is a CLUB issue.
I'm away with work for the next few days and won't be able to get online so if I have any luck at the Volunteers Bureau in the morning I'll give you a call when I get back.
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markf
Top Performer
Posts: 3,207
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Post by markf on Jan 27, 2008 16:32:42 GMT
Gareth, my point is that we have just 4 regular stewards. Nobody answered Dave's call for volunteers on here. So, that makes three SUST members at the most! I wasn't targetting anybody, I was raising a situation that will need to be addressed over the next 8 months or so and proposing a suggestion to overcome it.
As for it being a club issue, is The Trust not part of the club? I didn't think it was set up to work against it but with it.
Stewarding doesn't appeal to me either (I'm hardly the greatest role-model you could have!), but I've been going it for nine seasons now & it is time somebody else put themselves forward. I did it because the club needed help in this area & it needs it even more now.
The other issue for me will be if we get relegated next season. The Ryman schedule more midweek fixtures & my job has changed in the past 8 months making it increasingly difficult for me to guarantee getting home in time to power up the radios in time to leave at 6pm to open the ground up.
I note your intention to contact the Volunteers Bureau but would it not be better to recruit from inside the club? People who know the ground, those who frequent matches & the various issues (mainly small concerns) that stewards are confronted with?
I repeat that I am raising a subject as early as I possibly can, so there is a greater chance to resolve it.
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DaveF
1st team Player
Posts: 1,726
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Post by DaveF on Jan 27, 2008 18:13:25 GMT
Actually, Alison Denyer did volunteer and worked as a steward during the match.
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markf
Top Performer
Posts: 3,207
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Post by markf on Jan 27, 2008 19:44:41 GMT
Yep, sorry. Alison did & thanks to her for doing so - she did a good job considering she was given little briefing.
But that's just one volunteer & rather states my point.
I'll leave it now, I can't do anything more than publicise the situation.
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Gareth
1st team Player
Goon
Posts: 1,646
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Post by Gareth on Jan 27, 2008 22:32:36 GMT
Mark, SUST certainly isn't working against the Club and I'm not sure where you got that comment from!! Our Trust is one of the fortunate ones in that we have an excellent working relationship with the Club and we're thankful for that - plenty of Trusts around the country have no relationship whatsoever with their respective clubs so we are all working in the right direction.
SUST was never set up to help with matchday arrangements. If any SUST members volunteer as stewards then that is down to them individually and we are all grateful for the support that they give the Club. As I've said, we can back-up the club's constant requests in the programme for help by advertising in our newsletter and our website. If any of the other guys want to steward, then of course they can - as Dave (SUST treasurer) does every week at first-team, reserve and youth team games. As I've said, my personal opinion is that I won't steward and anyone who's tried to talk to me or phone me during a game will understand exactly why!!
The Club as a whole (and indeed SUST) needs more volunteers if it is to avoid getting into a position where they are having to pay people to steward (which a lot of clubs do anyway) or any other duty. If those volunteers aren't going to come forward from the current fanbase (have many people outside "the usual suspects" been asked individually?), then I can't see a problem with going to the Volunteers Bureau. It's another way of getting new faces down to GGL and they might even get their friends and families interested in coming down. We've all got to start looking outside the 4 corners (or 2 corners and the Collingwood End!) of Gander Green Lane to see what Joe Public can do for us - we've got plenty to offer them after all.
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markf
Top Performer
Posts: 3,207
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Post by markf on Jan 28, 2008 19:19:57 GMT
It was based on the comment about it being a CLUB issue. Does that not make it an issue for all of us then? And I'm highly aware of the relationship between the SUST & SUFC compared to others.
You miss my point. As I said towards the end of my post, I am trying to raise awareness of the issue that is not going to go away.
As for the volunteers bureau, I'm not against the idea but I just thought we could try & tap into the resource that SUST offers through its membership or anybody who supports the club member of SUST or not.
The Trust may not have been set up to help on matchdays but does that mean there is no flexibility within it to consider doing so?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2008 0:48:10 GMT
Having helped steward for two seasons, it's a thank-less task and one I probably wouldn't want to do again. Having said that, I was in two minds about offering help for the game against Newport.
The away fans were always fine, the Newport fans probably being the friendliest bunch I met and the AFCW fans being the most complaining/miserable.
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Post by Del on Jan 29, 2008 13:02:07 GMT
But isn't our chief steward a pain in the arse?
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DaveF
1st team Player
Posts: 1,726
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Post by DaveF on Jan 29, 2008 13:09:57 GMT
It's part of the Job Description
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markf
Top Performer
Posts: 3,207
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Post by markf on Jan 29, 2008 19:12:43 GMT
Actually, I would say delboy, that you are being rather polite!!
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Post by Del on Jan 29, 2008 22:14:01 GMT
LOL
No offence meant.
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