With the new season fast approaching our club needs your support more than ever! Don’t worry this isn’t a plea for money…although as a charity, donations are always gratefully received! Like every other business and household, our club is under growing pressure from the cost-of-living challenges which I am sure you are aware of. Rising costs and full employment mean that our ability to secure staff willing to work to support the club at weekends and throughout the week is seriously limited. Wage inflation in the hospitality sector is amplified because of the type of town Harrogate is and as such we simply cannot compete with the rest of the market. We are doing everything we can to not pass these costs onto members through significant increases in fees or purchases through the clubhouse but without your help, it may be impossible to avoid this.

Because unlike the businesses in town that must increase their prices to offset these rising costs, we have a secret weapon…you! We are not a business; we are a club. In fact, we are your club and with your help, we cannot just survive but thrive!

When taking on the role of Chairman at the end of last season, a crucial part of my vision for the club was to get more of its members involved in the running of it. For too long most of the work has been done by a minority of members. If we played rugby like that you can all guess what the outcome would be…you lose!

To start to change this I have prepared a short survey, which I would ask all members to complete as it hopefully will at least give you an insight into the varied ways you can help the club. Every little helps and if we all pull together, we can continue building on the 150 years of history, making our club something for the whole town to be proud of!

The below link will take you to a short Google form to complete. Don’t worry, your data and responses will be kept secure and confidential. From your response one of the committee or myself will be in touch to discuss the next steps.

Complete the form here - https://forms.gle/7JmpME39dm1FWmE99

Kind regards,
Mark Garrett
Chairman