Well, what a difficult and strange time the last 12 months have been for us all, bringing about so many changes to our ‘normal’ lives. However you have fared over this time, we do all have one interest in common and that is Oldham RLFC.
Fortunately, the squad managed to get back to training and subsequently, playing competitive rugby again. We now look as if we shall have the opportunity to attend games again quite soon and what a relief that will be. So far, there have been mixed results on the pitch, but we applaud the commitment and hard work of all involved, despite all the difficulties. The opportunity to view the games by virtue of the streaming facility, has been very welcome and from a personal point of view, has brought back some normality to our lives.
As far as ORSA is concerned, we have once again, reached the end of the financial year and have recently issued the Statement of Account to ORSA members. The statement reflects how ORSA has supported the club and squad over the past 12 months, despite being unable to function in the normal way, by:
- Funding new training and match day equipment,
- Donating a lump sum to the club, to assist with the costs of PPE etc, as required by Covid-19 protocols,
- Donating a lump sum to the club, to cover the cost of the squad’s matchday requirements of bottled water,
- On behalf of ORSA, funded 2 annual payments for the club lottery.
To accompany the statement we also issued a letter, in which we expressed our appreciation to everyone, ORSA member or otherwise, who has enabled us to be in a position to assist the club/squad in this way. Funds this year, have been raised from memberships, from donations and by support of our link to the Easyfundraising organisation.
However, our letter also outlines the fact that, just like so many organisations, the Covid crisis has taken its toll in terms of ORSA memberships and fund-raising opportunities. Unfortunately, the latter will continue to be the case anyway, as our active membership has become depleted, season by season and that will result in our activities being severely curtailed. In view of this, we shall have to make some crucial decisions over the coming months, with regard to a way forward. We welcome interest from ‘new young blood’ who would like to maintain the role of ORSA, into the future.
In the meantime, on behalf of John McAndrew (ORSA Chairman) and ourselves, we thank everyone who continues to support ORSA in some way and we shall continue our commitment, to do all we can in support of Oldham RLFC.
Grant Somerville (ORSA Secretary); Sheila Somerville (Treasurer)
