Help the Hatters Get Stuck In....And Tell Us How the Money is Spent !

The rain may have been bucketing down on Thursday evening, but nevertheless Help the Hatters set about their business with a purpose.

First off there was Edgeley Park Working Party 10 that was underway at the appointed hour of 6pm, and a collection of the usual suspects and one or two new faces did a job on the stadium , completing more paint work on the main stand, mixing this in with the tidying up work that our younger do so well!

Come 7.45 and ,after a short break, the Help the Hatters Business Meeting was convened  opened by Chairman John Fitzpatrick who praised the work done by the volunteers over the close season so far that had and would result in good things for the Club.

The Treasurers Report given by Mike Hopper was very encouraging and Mike was particularly chipper about Help the Hatters involvement with the County Lottery  which earns us a significant income if new people sign up via Help the Hatters. Interested…….?....then please investigate this link and sign up!

Link:     https://app.box.com/s/3p2by3a1kc1h84x5cpivb4i9noytw5yx

Mike referred also to a couple of three figure donations received recently, one from an OAP County fan from Bradford, who chipped in the value of a season ticket and another from a member of our working party group( more details later), expressing pleasure and thanks for the great encouragement such generous donations give us as we try to remain pro-active in support of the Club.

Working Party’s – it was agreed that if possible we will extend these up to September to enable us to ensure the best possible finish to our work. In this respect it was agreed also that the next two W.P’s would be on Tuesday and Thursday this coming week from 6pm.

Barbecue.

To get people involved again it was agreed that we would stage a barbecue on Saturday 16 July from 12.30 immediately prior to the pre-season game with Rochdale. This would go ahead in the open area to the rear of the Bungalow!

Regarding the Bungalow…..it was agreed that a special effort might be needed to spruce the place up again before the supporters start frequenting the place again. In this respect  an assessment of what jobs were needed to be done would be undertaken to enable us to make an effort to make the Bung ship shape for the Rochdale friendly. Volunteers in that week , prior to the game, would be most welcome!

Help the Hatters exists to work to help the Club and  the fund raising activities( Car Boots…..Lottery etc) are vital in facilitating this, along with the unsolicited donations we receive from supporters from time to time.

We feel we should keep supporters informed as to just how moneys received are put to good use , so here goes then…….

Young Player Sponsorship.

The Chairman confirmed that arrangements were in hand in respect of our decision to support the contracts of Adam Etches and George West.

Academy Sponsorship.

This had now been agreed for Help the Hatters to sponsor the Academy shirts this coming season.

Ball Boys Tops Sponsorship.

This new idea has been agreed, and provides for the late  Pauline Coddington’s name to be acknowledged on the kit!

Players Fund Pod Signage.

Mike O’Brien has made some neat signage for the pods of the ` Please Give Generously’ variety ,with Help the Hatters support, and supporters will be encouraged to once again support the Players  Fund going into season 2016/17.

Railway End Flags.

These are a brilliant idea that has happily stayed with us year after year. Fitzy has again been active  getting the flags cleaned….all six of them…..the Union Flag….the St George’ flag….Uruguay flag…..the Vanarama , Supporters Cooperative and Help the Hatters flags  ! They should be going back up this coming week!

Pitch Fund. 

The pitch- Thursday.

 Supporters have given generously to this , most notably WP stalwart Kip Akram , and amongst other things this has enabled us to turn our attentions to the Machinery Hut the floor of which is to be concreted and the outside drive way area to same tarmac’d.

In addition new nets and supporting posts will be purchased with the Pitch Fund help.

Donations to the Pitch Fund , or just a general donation to the Help the Hatters can be made as follows....

Cheques , payable to Help the Hatters ....can be sent to the Treasurer( Mike Hopper), 99 Cherry Tree Lane, STOCKPORT,Cheshire.


Donations can also be made direct to the Help the Hatters main account with the Cooperative Bank. Details of the account are....


Sort Code; 08 92 99

A/c no : 65333220

If for a specific initiative it would help if some note was made when paying ( state PF or Pitch Fund if for that cause...etc ).

The pitch on Thursday evening !

On the question of replacing the seating at the Railway End, it was noted the excellent work done by Alan Firth who spent many many hours power cleaning the Railway End - a true labour of love from a true County man ,that renders the currently unused and previously  largely unkempt portion of the away end presentable again. 
Two pics of Alan's handiwork taken today( Sunday)....

The result is a brilliant example of what can be done with dedication and application- thanks Alan! Further consideration of the Railway End seating matter will be kept in rolling review.

Legends Lounge. 

Agreement was reached to see that Help the Hatters would do a complete refurb of this room which will be renamed `Hatters Lounge'

Legends Lounge on WP night .

At this point the Chairman advised the meeting that the Club had generously agreed to donate rewards  from the Club to volunteers as a thank you.The move by the Club   was well received by the meeting.

Chair also outlined a suggestion made by Graham Privett that all the proceeds of Help the Hatters fund raising efforts etc be channeled into the football ground. The meeting felt that we had the right balance between spending moneys on EP and in other areas , but wanted to thank Graham for his suggestion and the support he continues to give us.

The meeting concluded with an appeal from Angela Moore for help on the 10am until 1 o’clock shift at the Car Boot Sale at Booth Street Car Park this Sunday 3 July. 
Angela again did a magnificent job in organising the latest Car Boot , and along with her team are owed a warm vote of thanks. Meanwhile....here is a team pic showing the early shift ( minus Jules and Chris who were elsewhere)...

....and the magnificent Madeira cake that Angela provided....

Ian Brown