Time to hand over the relay baton

Dear all,

Following on from Neil Costello’s email earlier in the month, I wanted to give a bit of background on the need for someone to step forward to be the next Chair. To be very clear: I will not be standing for Chair at the next AGM in Oct/Nov – the club needs someone new.

Firstly, this is a deliberate action to ensure we get some fresh wisdom into the role of Chair. I will have been Chair for six years by the end of the year, and the plan had been for five years – Covid meant it made sense to do the recruitment this year, not last.

Secondly, this is about ensuring a team approach to running the club. It is important to ensure that running the club doesn’t fall to one person, but is rather a team effort which the Chair manages overall. There is a proposal to reduce the expected time in the role to three years. This and the support in place means the position is less of a time commitment and the ‘burden’ of significant change each time we have a new Chair is removed.

Thirdly, it’s now time for me to move on to other team roles in the club – things that have been waiting for me to hand over the baton to the next Chair.

We have put in place measures to reduce the load on the Chair over the years, and I will be around to help significantly with a transition. We believe that it will be possible for anyone with some management experience and a love of community sport to fulfil this role. Please do seriously consider people who could do this role and send your suggestions to Neil Costello [email protected] by Monday 27th June.

I appreciate your consideration.

Regards,

Keith Clarke

C&C Chair