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CSR REPORT 2014

The Borough Sports Ground, Gander Green Lane, Sutton. SM1 2EY

United With

The Community

Proud to be a FA Charter Standard Community Club

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More Than A Football Club

Welcome to Sutton United’s first Corporate

Social Responsibility report, which is just a

convoluted way of saying that we want to tell

you about all of the many varied things we do

that go far beyond the traditional image of

striving for a successful first team. That’s

important, of course it is, the first team is the

hook from which all of the club’s other

activities hang but whether it be live music at

the Boom Boom Club or partnering with local

charities we are doing so much more to put

Sutton United at the Heart Of The Borough.

United With The Community, our wide-

ranging social programme is now in its third

year and the last twelve months have seen us

make more progress in more areas than ever

before. That is in great part due to the

appointment of our two community officers,

Rob Hardy and Steve King, and we are

eternally grateful for the grant support from

the Football Conference Trust that enabled us

to make those appointments. Of course, the

majority of our helpers, both on the

community front and in running the club are

unpaid volunteers. We are very lucky to have

so many people who give freely of their time

to help, from car-park stewards to youth team

coaches, to enable us to field over twenty

teams from the first eleven to the youngest

boys and girls sides and, of course, deliver all

of our community activities.

Sometimes, the help we receive can come

from unexpected quarters, from people who

are more loosely associated with the club. So

perhaps the highlight of the year was seeing

top comedian Tim Vine give up an evening to

put on an unforgettable night of comedy in

our Times Square Lounge. Along with four

other comics who all appeared free of charge,

Tim wowed us all during a night that raised a

considerable sum for both ourselves and our

charity partners for the season, St Raphael’s

Hospice. Not content with that, Tim was at

the centre of our Community Funny Day a few

weeks later and helped attract a bumper

crowd of 2,172 to our match at home to

Basingstoke Town, when we waived the

admission fee and invited spectators to make

a donation, if they wished. Given the long

spell of wet weather we had last winter,

which led to so many games being

rescheduled, we even dropped our admission

charges for the last six weeks of the season to

help supporters attend as many games as

possible.

Dave Farebrother Chairman, Sutton United FC Ltd

Community Fun Days Have Proved A Great Success

Board of Directors

Dave Farebrother Chairman Dave Mathers Vice-Chairman Adrian Barry SUST representative Mike Bidmead Treasurer Bruce Elliott Club Chairman Tony Holland Phil Letts Steve Moore Graham Starns Brian Williams

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Governance

Sutton United has always been a forward-

thinking football club. Six decades ago the

committee decided that there would be many

benefits in changing the club’s structure so

that it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of a

not-for-profit limited company. By

establishing Sutton United Football Club Ltd in

1953 we became one of the first amateur

clubs to make that change.

From the beginning, the shareholders in the

company have always been “Sutton United

people”; officials, supporters and former

players, and as the share-structure has

evolved to reflect the changing times, that

mix has continued. No one person or group

has a dominant stake in the company and we

run as a business, albeit not-for-profit,

financing our activities from our on and off

field income. Shares are not re-sold above

face value and we do not issue a dividend;

people do not buy shares as an investment

but because they love the club.

This structure also provides us with checks

and balances that are in line with modern

corporate practice. On a day-to-day basis the

club is run by our management committee,

headed by Football Club Chairman Bruce

Elliott. Committee members provide

administrative support for the club’s teams,

look after communications and media

relations, help to raise revenue and so much

more. We also have a Wine Committee, which

is responsible for running the social club and

hiring out of the facilities.

The board of directors of Sutton United FC

Ltd, chaired by Dave Farebrother, is less

involved with everyday matters and has a

focus on two main issues:- Financial stability

and long-term strategy.

The board and committee work closely

together to ensure that the club delivers its

objectives of competing at the highest level it

can combined with ongoing stability and

security.

In recent years many clubs have seen

supporters’ trusts come into being, usually at

a point of crisis in the club’s history and often

as a last throw of the dice. At Sutton our

trust, SUST, was formed a little under ten

years ago out of strength, not weakness, and

with the full support of the directors. The

Trust is fully involved with the administration

and governance of the club, having

representatives on both the management

committee and board. The Supporters’ Club,

which has been around for considerably

longer and is also completely independent,

also has representation on the management

committee.

Our large and growing Juniors section, for

boys and girls, has its own constitution and

management structure but is a fully-

integrated part of the club. Together we have

achieved prestigious recognition as a FA

Charter Standard Community Club.

CASE STUDY SUFCtv

Go back twenty years, or even ten, and the

idea of Sutton games being available for all to

see at their leisure would have seemed quite

far-fetched. The internet, of course, as in so

many other spheres of activity, has been a

game-changer.

SUFCtv has built up slowly over the last few

years, driven largely by long-time supporter

Clive King and his family, and 2013/14

probably saw the service reach maturity.

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The picture quality is excellent, “corner cam”

is possibly unique at this level of the game

and the final piece of the jigsaw was the

introduction of a live match commentary

service.

Although offering our own “in-house” Match

of the Day was the initial inspiration, SUFCtv

has embraced many of the goals of our

community programme. Tom Mitchell, one

of the commentary team, is autistic. Tom

delivers a first-rate service and SUFCtv is

hopefully helping him to achieve his ambition

of a career in broadcasting. His co-

commentator Joe Hook has already been

snapped up by Radio Cambridgeshire.

Jenny The Giraffe: Jenny has become a well-known

character at events across the borough

Support from the Football Conference Trust has been

vital in funding our Community Outreach Programme

Jenny: A Tall Story

In her own words

“I must admit that I was surprised when I first

received the invitation to become Sutton

United’s mascot. At first the only connection

that I could see was that we share the same

colours and I am sure you agree that amber

and chocolate do look so distinguished!

However, when I thought about it a bit more I

realised that we have so much more in

common. Like me, Sutton United likes to stick

its neck out, wants to stand out from the

crowd. And we both love children.

They say it’s a jungle out there (although,

technically, I prefer savannah, grasslands and

open woodlands) and I like to feel that I have

a lot to offer the club in guiding it through

that jungle and, of course, they repay me in

acacia leaves - which are rather difficult to

find in this part of Surrey.

I was persuaded to accept the role by Tony,

and I find that he does rather get under your

skin; we became friends and go everywhere

together. I am told that I have become

something of a local celebrity and I certainly

have a very busy social life. I particularly enjoy

the events where I meet with young children,

I enjoy making them laugh and smile, and I get

a lot of satisfaction out of our visits to sick

children in hospital. School fêtes are a

different kettle of fish, all noise and colour

and lots of fun.

I have really enjoyed my time at Sutton United

and I hope they want me to carry on for a long

time yet, and I hope you enjoy seeing me

around the borough. Come and say hello, I’m

always pleased to meet people.”

Jenny

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From The Chair

I can scarcely remember a time when Sutton

United was not a major part of my life. I

started out as a schoolboy on the terraces and

was enormously proud, a few years ago, when

I was invited to take over as Chairman of the

club.

Even though I had already served on the

management committee for many years I

probably had little understanding then of

quite how much the role would entail, of how

many new skills I would need to learn.

I freely admit that I couldn’t even

contemplate my role without the magnificent

support I receive, not only from colleagues on

the committee and board of directors, but

from all aspects of the club. We have

volunteers in every direction you look:

operating the turnstiles, stewarding our

matches and running a match-day snack bar.

We also have the team from SUFCtv, who film

our games expertly and will be offering a live

commentary for the 2014/15 season,

available not only to fans who can’t get to the

games but also as a service for spectators with

visual difficulties. One of those

commentators, Tom Mitchell, is just 16 years

of age. Tom is also autistic but is an excellent

young commentator and hopes to develop a

career in that field. In that regard he is already

being shown the way by his colleague, Joe

Hook, who has been offered an opportunity

with Radio Cambridgeshire. We wish Joe well

and are delighted that SUFCtv proved a

valuable stepping stone in launching his

career.

But this help goes far beyond match days, we

have a regular crew of volunteers who

decorate and undertake minor repairs, there

are people in the office taking bookings and,

of course, we have the dedicated band of

people who run our community programme.

We do have two paid members of staff, Rob

Hardy and Steve King, who are supported by a

grant from the Conference Trust, and they do

a wonderful job engaging with schools, clubs,

charities and all sorts of varied organisations

across the borough and more widely, but

beyond that we have a small team of zealots,

there can be no more apt description, who

drive this forward on so many fronts. I know

that the team won’t mind me singling out

John James and Tony Henderson-Smith in this

regard, they have a passion and energy that

seems to know no bounds.

Two years ago we established the Community

Business Network, led by Jeremy Ramsden of

Abbotts FC Ltd, and around one hundred local

businesses have already become part of this

growing family. The club benefits through

advertising and sponsorship of course, but we

believe the businesses also benefit not only

from the exposure they receive by association

with Sutton United but, perhaps more

importantly, from the contacts they make

with each other.

Given this effort I was delighted when we

were named as Community Business of the

Year in the 2013 Sutton Business Awards and

was doubly delighted when we were

subsequently named as the overall Business

of the Year, not bad for an organisation run by

volunteers.

Bruce Elliott

Chairman, Sutton United Football Club

Sean Brennan,

Mayor of Sutton,

recognises the club

for its community

programme

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United With The Community

Proud to be a FA Charter Standard

Community Club

It is our view that a community programme

for a club playing at our level of the game

should go beyond running a junior football

programme. We know that football clubs can

be a significant part of the identity of a town,

that their exploits on the field can help

promote awareness of the town and that this,

in turn, can bring benefits to the wider

community.

We do run multiple teams for boys and girls,

with plans to expand, and provide coaching

for youngsters of all ability levels, but much of

our community programme goes way beyond

football. We often make use of football as the

hook, it is the ice-breaker that allows us to

communicate with people, particularly

children, and engage on a wider variety of

issues. Some of the themes that we have

been able to explore using this approach

include health, nutrition, social awareness,

sustainability and career guidance.

Picking up on that last theme, we do not seek

to advise anyone on their career path but

what we can do, as a club that is run by

volunteers who all have work experience

away from football, is provide face-to-face

opportunities for youngsters to talk to people

about their professions: what does it actually

mean to be an accountant, a bank manager, a

lawyer or an engineer? We think this sets us

apart from what the Premiership clubs offer

through their community programmes.

We have tried to categorise our community

programme into distinct areas, although that

is akin to herding cats as we frequently take

part in new activities at the request of local

organisations. So here is an attempt at

outlining what we do on a regular basis:-

Community Projects

For example, working with local cheerleading

groups, or as part of the schools’ local studies

project.

Community Events

We arrange our own events (eg: Disability

Awareness Day) and also participate in events

organised by others, including the LB of

Sutton careers fair, Black History Month and

the Cheam & Belmont Football Week. Jenny

The Giraffe is a frequent visitor to all of these

activities.

Community Business Network

(see page 13) This initiative not only helps the

club it provides a vibrant forum for local

businesses to engage with other companies,

to learn from each other and to generate

business opportunities.

Community Facilities

We traditionally use the main pitch every day

for two weeks at the end of each season for

local leagues and cup finals, corporate events

and charity matches. Last year we also made

the stadium available to The Challenge for a

sleepover. Of course, our indoor facilities are

used more frequently by regular groups

including darts, yoga and bridge clubs and

several leagues use us as their headquarters.

Community Partnerships

Steve King on Project Chaucer (©

S.King)

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The Gander Green Lane Partnership is a

collaboration between Sutton Cricket Club,

Sutton Churches Tennis Club and ourselves.

The aim is to share knowledge, expertise and

resources in order to grow all three clubs and

provide opportunities for more people,

especially youngsters, to play sport and learn

about different sports.

Sutton United Football Club formally agreed

with Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust

(PCT) to work together in partnership to raise

key issues in health within the local

community. This work is now continuing with

the NHS with the aim of enhancing their

health campaigns, including raising awareness

of the stop smoking service and the

Chlamydia screening service.

Boys and Girls Football In Cheam Park (©

S.King)

Our partnership with The Metropolitan Police Safer Neighbourhoods Teams has gone from strength to strength. From their humble beginnings in 2008, the joint venture community fun days have established themselves as the largest events of their type and the Sutton West SNT distributes over 1600 tickets to local schools, with family tickets for each home game to three schools. Last August 200 children aged 6-11 years attended the Cheam and Belmont Football week, in partnership with Cheam SNT and Sutton United FC

Charity

Our charity work has a different element to it

compared to our other relationships, as well

as working together on a range of initiatives

the aim is to help raise funds for specifically

local charities. We therefore establish a

partnership in which one charity becomes our

charity for the year and we help raise funds in

various ways, including straightforward

bucket collections at home games.

Importantly though, the year-long

partnerships do not preclude us continuing to

work with other charities. Charity Partners

2011/12 Hospital Radio Marsden

2012/13 Sutton MENCAP

2013/14 St Raphael’s Hospice

2014/15 St Raphael’s Hospice

SUFC Chairman Bruce Elliott with Kerry Thomas,

Community Fundraiser for St Raphael’s Hospice

Community Football

As well as running numerous Sutton United

teams for boys and girls, the programme also

includes:-

Community Coaching

Player development (Saturday

schools, holiday coaching, skills

courses in conjunction with the

FA)

Community Football, aimed at providing

opportunities to those whose access to

coaching or games is limited for one

reason or another, including:- The

Stonecot Project, The Link Project and

disability coaching.

Sutton United Community Fun Days are

generously supported by Smith & Byford Ltd

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Senior Football

The first team had a very good season.

Looking all the way back to the autumn they

reached the 1st Round of the FA Cup, for the

4th time in 6 seasons under manager Paul

Doswell, which is always good for clubs at the

this level both in terms of revenue and

increased profile. In 2014 the team only lost

one match in the league, finishing as runners-

up in Skrill South but then losing to Dover

Athletic in the play-offs to miss out on

promotion.

Our reserve team competes in the Premier

Division of the Suburban Football League,

under the guidance of James Bracken, and

had an amazing season, winning every

competition they entered. The main prize

was the Suburban League Premier Division

championship, but to that was added the

League Cup, the Champions’ Cup and the

Suburban Shield.

The third of our “senior” teams is the under-

18s, also managed by James Bracken and he is

ably assisted by coach William Letts. Will is an

example of how Sutton United gets into the

blood, his grandfather Andrew – a former

mayor of Sutton – was club President for

many years and, indeed, helped set up the

limited company back in 1953 and Will’s

brother Phil joined the board of directors last

year. In 2013/14 we saw the club’s under-18s

side achieve remarkable success. The team

enjoyed a 19-month winning run in the Ryman

Youth League, picking up maximum points in

every league fixture between August 2012

and March 2014. That run delivered the

Ryman Youth League title in both 2013 and

2014. In the 2013/14 season the team also

won the League Cup and the Surrey U-18

Midweek Floodlit Cup.

Our aim is for the integration of these three

sides so that the better youth team players

graduate into our reserves and, hopefully, the

best reserve team players continue their

development into the first team. That has

numerous benefits. Developing our own

players gives the side a greater identity,

certainly it is something which resonates with

supporters; we have the possibility of young

players attracting interest from Football

League clubs and earning the club transfer

income and if players progress through the

system it encourages other promising young

players to join us.

Below the under-18s is the pyramid of boys’

teams in our Juniors section where the aim,

once again, is to provide a continuous route

for players to progress through the ranks and

for the very best boys to enter the youth team

set-up. It is misleading to think that only the

Premiership and Football League clubs offer

young boys a route into professional football,

the drop-out rate with the leading clubs is

very high and only a few ever make the grade,

whereas with a non-league side it is easier to

break into the first team and then, if you are

good enough, someone will spot you. The

statistics speak for themselves, if a top-flight

career typically lasts ten years on average

then only about twenty players each year will

make and sustain the breakthrough. And if a

young player doesn’t make the grade with a

non-league club, combining non-league

football with another career can still be very

rewarding both financially and in terms of

enjoyment and personal satisfaction.

Of course, not everyone has the ambition or

talent to become a professional footballer and

it is important that we never lose sight of the

basic fact that football is a sport and is meant

to be played for fun, so our structure still has

room for players and teams that just want to

play. Our coaches are all qualified to at least

the basic level and make sure that their

players, boys and girls, enjoy their matches

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and their training, which is designed to teach

new skills but also to be interesting and fun.

Having run a number of boys’ teams for many

years, our ambition now is to build up the

strength of our girls’ teams. We fielded three

successful age-group sides in 2013/14 but are

planning to increase this number significantly,

in a controlled way, and also bring back a

senior ladies team. We are also exploring how

we can establish disability teams at Sutton

United. The aim has to be to see Sutton

United as the focus for football in the

borough, hopefully with a successful senior

team at the top of the pyramid but also

providing opportunities to play and learn

about football for all people, of all ages and

abilities

The main stand at the Borough Sports Ground

Junior Football

In the 2013/14 season we fielded 18 boys’

teams and 3 girls’ teams in the following

competitions:-

Key

Surrey Youth League SL

Epsom & Ewell League EE

Tandridge League TL

Surrey Women’s & Girls’ League SWG

Boys’ Teams U-7 SL U-7 EE U-9 EE League Cup

Winners U-10 SL Premier Division Champions U-10 SL U-11 SL U-11 EE U-12 EE U-12 SL U-12 SL Champions U-13 SL League Cup Finalists U-13 SL Premier Division Runners-Up U-14 SL Premier Elite

Division Runners-Up U-15 SL U-15 TL U-16 SL Premier Division Runners-Up U-16 Girls’ Teams U-10 SWG U-11 SWG League Cup Finalists

County Cup Finalists U-13 SWG

Finally, we’d like to thank Kevin Howard who

stood down as Chairman of the Junior section

at the end of the season. He has always been

an enthusiastic supporter of football for

young boys and girls and of Sutton United in

general and will undoubtedly be missed. The

incoming chairman is Phil Greeenhead and we

hope he enjoys his tenure and helps drive the

section on to bigger and better things.

It was great to work with the team over at

Sutton United again this year. Our young

people had a great time volunteering, helping

to set up social media platforms and a

website. It was also great having Rob Hardy on

our panel of dragons for our Dragons Den

Pitch Day. The Sutton team at The Challenge

couldn't be happier with how things have gone

this year and are hoping to work with Sutton

United again in the future."

Janine Hardy Senior Assistant Programme Manager, The Challenge

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CASE STUDY THE CHALLENGE

The Challenge is a leading national charity

running youth and community programmes

with the aim of mixing diverse groups of

people together. It is also part of the National

Citizens Service.

Sutton United has been working with the

Challenge since 2012, providing support for a

range of projects.

A group of young people aged 15-16 has been

allocated to the Club over the last two years

and has been working with us to gather

information for the Pavilion Development

Project and also the production of a video.

Last year a group of youngsters from The

Challenge undertook an overnight sleepover

on the terraces at the Borough Sports Ground

to highlight homelessness. As 2014

progresses they will be supporting our close

partners the Friends of Collingwood with the

development of a website page and the

establishment of the use of social media,

Facebook and Twitter.

Our Community Officer Rob Hardy will be

working with the young people and will also

support two other groups as part of a

‘Dragons Den’ initiative to review their

proposed projects.

Multi-Sports Disability Day (©

S.King)

Environment

Environmental management is a tricky subject

for a football club to understand, it is certainly

an area that few try to tackle. Our major

asset, the stadium, is only used for its primary

purpose of staging football matches for

around 100 hours per year, so our impacts

revolve chiefly around our non-core activities.

Although the pitch itself may be used

infrequently, the administrative offices and

social facilities are open every day of the week

and so our significant impacts do include

energy and water usage and waste

management. These impacts are relatively

straightforward for us to measure, manage

and set improvement targets and we have

been making progress in these areas. More

problematic are the impacts associated with

our travel to away games and our main Scope

3 impact, travel of all spectators to all home

matches.

In terms of travel to the Borough Sports

Ground we are relatively lucky. We are

situated next door to West Sutton station,

and the 413 bus stops outside the stadium.

Traditionally a large percentage of non-

League football supporters drive to matches

but we have tried to encourage lower carbon

alternatives by installing bike shelters in the

car park.

We have no control over the number of away

games we play or where those games take

place, but we do encourage players to car-

share on those journeys and, where

practicable, will provide a coach for the team,

coaching staff and directors.

We adopted an Environmental Policy three

years ago and were delighted to become the

world’s first Planet Positive football club. We

recently completed the accreditation process

to be certified under the new Planet Mark©

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and have set ourselves carbon reduction

targets (see table below). In March 2014 we

also started to address our waste

management by switching contractors and

now receive a service from Biffa that will see a

much greater percentage of our waste

recycled.

One of the reasons why this report is only

available on the internet is that it is the

environmentally-friendly option:-

Virtually zero CO2 emissions

No paper or inks required

No waste

Sutton United – Planet Mark Report

Carbon Footprint

Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions only, excludes

waste, water and travel.

Total Emissions: 97.07 tonnes CO2e

We are committed to engaging with our

employees, suppliers and customers to

encourage wider sustainability action.

We have decreased our Carbon Footprint by

14% since 2012 and have made improvements

including:-

Installing new double glazed windows

Promoting sustainability on our website

Adopting a new environment policy

We have made a commitment to take

positive action to improve our

environmental performance by reducing

our Carbon Footprint by 5%, or 4.75

tonnes CO2e , equivalent to 0.16 tonnes

per employee.

© - The Planet Mark is a joint venture between Planet First and

the Eden Project

Charity Partnerships

Each year we work with a local organisation as

our charity partners for the season. In

2011/12 we partnered with Marsden Hospital

Radio, the following year it was Sutton

Mencap and this season it was St. Raphael’s

Hospice.

The aim of these partnerships is to try to raise

the profile of the charity by association with

club activities and also help them to raise

money. The principal event planned for the

2013/14 season was the Community Funny

Day, an extension of our usual twice-yearly

Fun Day given an extra twist by the

involvement of top comedian and big Sutton

fan Tim Vine.

The aim was a day of fun at the football, with

Tim as the team mascot, and various stalls

and other attractions, followed by a comedy

gig in the evening. The original date set was in

January, right in the middle of the spell of wet

weather, and the game was postponed on

match day but, nevertheless, the second part

of the day duly went ahead with Tim and four

aspiring younger comics giving freely of their

time to put on a hilarious comedy show that,

with the help of an auction of promises, raised

a considerable sum of money to be shared by

the club and St Raphael’s Hospice.

Despite his busy diary, Tim promised to return

as soon as possible and kept that promise a

few weeks later when we entertained

Basingstoke Town. We didn’t charge for

admission that day and that helped attract a

crowd of 2172. The team won, Tim enjoyed

his second childhood as the matchday mascot,

the cameras from Soccer AM came down to

cover the day for Sky TV and give some

excellent publicity to the hospice and,

afterwards, Tim stayed on for much of the

evening. Why? Well he took on all comers at

darts for £5 a game to raise money for St.

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Raphael’s and won an astonishing 21 games in

a row. Thanks Tim!

St Raphael’s will again be our charity partner

in 2014/15.

Case Study SUFCGambia

Sutton United FC (Gambia) was founded by

village children but was only properly

established when they started attending Bible

classes in 1999. The club’s aim has always

been to create a sustainable club for the long-

term, owned and democratically run by its

members, to serve as a vehicle of

development for the village and its nearby

surroundings and one in which they can fully

participate in.

Previously called Sanchaba United the club

was inspired to change its name to Sutton

United FC Gambia in 2008 after a visit from an

English fan on holiday. The Gambians

contacted us here in England and we agreed

to act as their mentors. There are no formal

ties between the clubs, we cannot afford to

support them financially but have donated

playing kit and raised small contributions

through donations.

We have hosted two trade visits and club

officials were even invited to the Mayor’s

parlour, and we helped them to engage with

the Football Association, who laid on a tour of

Wembley Stadium. We have helped the club

put in place a constitution that seeks to

emulate our community model, organised

coaching visits and even helped the club

become the first in Gambia to have shirt

sponsorship and an internet presence, with

their own pages on our website.

SUFCGambia is putting its community model

into practice, not only with an emphasis on

youth, but also helping to raise funds and

support for their local school, St Peter’s.

Sean Brennan, the Mayor of Sutton, and SUFC Chairman

Bruce Elliott greet supporters at the end of their 25 mile

walk to raise money for local charities

Community Development

Having worked closely with the London

Borough of Sutton and the Friends of

Collingwood Recreation Ground to help

restore the park to its former glory, we are

now looking at the next stage of the project.

Our contribution to the project had been to

cut the grass and bring football pitches back

into use but with no changing rooms on site

the young boys and girls who play there have

to turn up in their kit and often go home

muddy. And we wonder why we so often see

England struggle on the world stage?

We are grateful to the Friends of Collingwood

for their support and to the council for

granting us a long-term agreement for use

over the recreation ground. That was vital

because that lease is the key to opening up

the possibility of grants to support our

development plans.

This project has already been included within

the Borough’s Strategic Development Plan as

a priority project and has support from the

Surrey County Football Association. We are

hopeful of getting grant support, essential to

undertake the project, but must also raise a

significant proportion of the capital ourselves.

The football club and Supporters’ Trust have

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committed funds to this project but we

wanted to raise a further £20,000 towards the

scheme to ensure that the maximum amount

of grant support could be leveraged to

complete a high quality facility. We therefore

launched an ambitious Crowdfunder project

in spring 2014. We also have a second aspect

to the project, having been donated the steel

frame and joists from a “pop-up” building

used during the London Olympics of 2012.

This building would cost around £50,000 to

erect and fit out but would provide additional

facilities to support the community pavilion,

with one goal being to include an endless pool

that could be used for rehabilitation from

injury and also as a training venue for elite

swimmers, including Paralympic athletes. To

achieve this goal we will need a local company

to partner with us and put forward a

significant proportion of the finance that we

need.

Community Business Network

The disconnect between the Premiership,

with its TV deals, transfer deals in the tens of

millions and players who get paid more in one

month than many earn in a lifetime, and the

average man, or woman, in the street is now

bigger than ever. Even once mighty giants

such as Leeds United and Nottingham Forest

struggle to compete with this juggernaut and

so, for clubs outside the Football League, the

challenge is daunting. And the challenge is not

just about competing on the pitch, it is much

more fundamental than that.

With live football, be it Premiership,

Championship or European on television

almost every night the challenge is simply to

attract enough spectators and revenue to

remain viable. When players in Serie A, La Liga

or the Bundesliga are as familiar as the local

non-League centre forward the size of the

task becomes daunting.

Cheam & Belmont Football Week, August 2013 (©

S.King)

For non-League sides the challenge has to be

about more than football, it has to be about

involving all sections of the local community

in THEIR club. That means getting youngsters

to play in club colours, getting mums and dads

to watch the games and join the social club,

and to enjoy other club activities such as

music and comedy. It means the club has to

reach out into the community, into schools

and clubs and links have to be forged with the

local business community. That is where we

come in.

“We” are Abbotts FC and we formally

represent Sutton United FC in terms of

marketing the club to local businesses and

have recently been awarded a new three-year

contract by the club after an initial one-year

trial period.

We are working extremely hard to link North-

Surrey and South West London-based

businesses with club connections, of which

there are in excess of 10,000. These people

are, in the main, affluent and high net-worth

individuals.

For details of our Community Business

Network Club members, go to:

http://www.suttonunited.net/commercial_community.html

The project is known as the ‘Community

Business Network’, which enables

organisations to link up with people in the

community through sport. These businesses

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are reaching people when they are at leisure

and thus, arguably, much more receptive. The

network is designed to offer unique and

exclusive relationships, which ensure trust

and loyalty amongst the supporters and

commercial partners alike. As a result, several

businesses from a variety of sectors are now

successfully promoting their products and

services in this proactive and sustainable

campaign.

For its part, Sutton United has put in place a

number of initiatives in recent years to

strengthen these ties, increasing the value of

the Community Business Network to its

members:-

Charter Standard Status from the Football Association – the highest-level acknowledgement of the club's work in the wider community

Sutton United FC ‘outreach’ projects across North Surrey and South London, touching and working with underprivileged children

Sutton United FC in Gambia; Family Fun Days Club mascot 'Jenny the Giraffe' – Annual Christmas visits to Queen

Mary's Children's Hospital based at St Helier including appearances from 'Jenny the Giraffe' and first team players

Boys’, girls’ and disability football Annual Disability Awareness Day, in

association with Sutton Mencap and the Communication Workers’ Union

Through its Football Development Plan, Sutton United FC is committed to developing opportunities for those with wide-ranging disabilities to participate in sport

In return for the Commercial Partner devising an added-value incentive for our entire membership network (commercial partners and club mailing list), we offer exposure of the Sutton United FC ‘Community Business

Network’ package detailed below, for a heavily reduced rate.

‘Community Business Network’ package:

Term: 12 months from date of

commencement

Exclusive quarterly eSHOWCASE, which will be circulated to the entire membership network and our mailing lists totaling well over 10,000 people. This can include a company profile, testimonials, images, graphics, case studies, press releases, guest columns conventional advertising and any other electronic promotional material that Commercial Partners are able to compile, design and send to us for database distribution.

Private mailings to our membership, as outlined above, including the ‘Community Business Network’ partners.

Commercial Partners are welcome to send us

a monthly offer (incentives, promotions,

reader offers, competitions, etc). We’ll

circulate this mail-shot to the entire

membership network, exclusively on the

Commercial Partner’s behalf.

Bi-monthly ‘Professional Services Seminar’ business-networking events, including refreshments (lunch or supper and drinks), at the Club and at other prestigious local venues.

Opportunity to deliver presentations at our ‘Professional Services Seminars’ throughout 2014 and hopefully beyond, as well as running business clinics and workshops.

Social media engagement and regular promotions via our interactive Twitter account, @ABBOTTSFOOTBALL

Displaying promotional material and having a trade stand on selected match-days, running competitions and data capture campaigns.

15

Logo, company profile and hyperlink will be featured on the club’s official website, maximising Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Please consult the club website to view

how we display company brandings by

clicking on: http://www.suttonunited.net/commercial_community.html

Enhanced mailing list capabilities (over 1,000 children are registered to play for the club) – more than 2,000 parents, many of whom are local company directors and business owners.

Company literature, brochures, fliers, business cards and other points-of-sale can be strategically displayed within the clubhouse, which is being used daily. People will be able to pick up the Commercial Partner’s marketing and promotional material, take it away with them and make contact at a later date.

Use of the ‘Sutton United FC’ crest and action-shot images in any of the Commercial Partner’s marketing and promotional material including their website (subject to written artwork creative sign-off from the club).

2 x season tickets Use of our clubhouse and its facilities

for business and private functions (subject to availability).

This campaign will build-out the three pillars

of marketing:

brand awareness lead generation market engagement

Sutton United FC is so much more than just a

football club and our reach, within the London

Borough of Sutton and surrounding areas, is

truly enormous and arguably unrivalled.

For further information about the benefits, please contact Jeremy Ramsden on 05600 760 981 or 07930 575 332. You are also welcome to email jeremy@abbottsfc.co.uk for details and rates or visit our website: www.abbottsfc.co.uk

Penalty kicks at the Community Funny Day

“St Raphael’s Hospice has been delighted to

work with Sutton United. The hard work of

their players, staff and volunteers is evident

and has been much appreciated by all at the

hospice. Our presence at the club has been

invaluable for both fundraising and raising our

profile in the community.”

Kerry Thomas Community Fundraising Manager St Raphael’s Hospice

We Always Need More Help Sutton United is run by volunteers. We are lucky, we have lots of good people who give freely of their time but time moves on; people grow older and for others circumstances change. We want to encourage the next generation of volunteers, male and female of all ages, working in all areas to see this club through to its next landmarks and greater successes. If you’d like to help, please e-mail:-

davef@suttonunited.net

all help greatly appreciated

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Contact Us

SUFC Ltd davef@suttonunited.net SUFC chairman@suttonunited.net Outreach Team community@suttonunited.net Facility Hire functions@suttonunited.net Club Office tel) 0208 644 4440 or e-mail club@suttonunited.net

https://twitter.com/suttonunited

Community Outreach Team

Community Officer Rob Hardy and Community

Events Coordinator Steve King put many hours into

our community programme. Steve is a life-long U's

fan but Rob came into the fold more recently We

are grateful to the support received from the

Football Conference Trust that allowed us to put

the team together.

Steve: “I really enjoy the coaching side of the role,

getting around the borough and coaching young

boys and girls and the positive feedback we get

back from parents makes it all worthwhile.

The most rewarding part is coaching adults with

disabilities, they’re so willing to learn and the

enjoyment in their faces is extremely rewarding.

Sutton United cares about the community it serves

and I am very proud to be part of this.

The highlight of the year must be working with top

comic Tim Vine, Sutton United’s most famous fan,

and for him to give up so much of his time for the

St Raphael's charity was fantastic. Not only did Tim

perform an evening comedy show, he became our

oldest ever mascot, leading the team out in front

of a Community Fun Day crowd over 2,000 and the

invited Sky Sports Soccer AM cameras: this was

indeed a very special time.

Rob:"I have worked in many roles within sport and education and latterly with the voluntary sector but have to say I'm really impressed by the commitment of everyone at Sutton, the energy that so many pour into a wide range of initiatives is often quite amazing. I first worked with the Club in 2009, developing a girls’ and womens’ project. I’m an avid football follower and have always wanted to work for a club and in previous roles I’ve helped Crystal Palace set up their Football In The Community project as well as working with other clubs such as Croydon and Dartford. Sutton is a special club with hard-working volunteers and that’s very significant in developing the Community Programme and, most importantly, in progressing the Development Project….and I’ve become a fan, although I can’t compete with Steve!! If we can get the community pavilion built it will make such a difference, not only in terms of sport in Collingwood Recreation Ground, but also the wider contribution it can make for local people. Fingers crossed"

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People make it happen

Sustainability Campaign

The environment and investment - the future

of Sutton United FC

For the 2nd year in succession, SUFC has been awarded the Planet Mark sustainability certification. This green kite mark has been achieved by reducing the carbon emissions of the club, from matches to training and our travel arrangements. Sutton United is the first football club to receive the Planet Mark certification. Please help us share our green success as reducing the carbon footprint of the club is important, not just for the environment but for the future of the club. Our carbon footprint is based on how much electricity, gas and fuel we use in the operation of the club. Reducing our carbon emissions, means we are operating more efficiently and saving money. Paying less for our energy bills means we have more funds for investment into the club. Alongside cost saving, there is another big potential benefit from sustainability – the opportunity to attract new sponsors and *investment. Just like all major organisations and many smaller businesses, we are committed to reducing our environmental impacts and supporting community programmes. Showing how the Chocolate & Ambers are going green will help us attract wider support for the club.

SUFC is committed to improving our environmental impacts. We will be setting targets to reduce our carbon emissions associated with our energy, water and waste. Each year, we will be striving to achieve the Planet Mark certification which is delivered by

sustainability specialists Planet First (www.planetfirst.co.uk) in partnership with the Eden Project. Planet Mark certification is awarded to organisations of all sizes in recognition of their commitment to continuous improvement in sustainability and we are proud to join businesses from across the UK in this exciting programme.

“SUstainability” is our campaign to cut carbon, energy, water and waste. We are reducing electricity and our gas by switching off appliances and running them more efficiently. We are reducing our fuel by coordinating our travel to away fixtures. Our proposed new building will be designed to operate as efficiently as possible. And we would like your help. Reducing our waste and increasing our recycling reduces our carbon emissions and is better for the environment so please use recycling points at our home fixtures. We would like your feedback too, so please email me with ideas you think could work for SUFC and we will provide updates during the season in our programmes and online. We look forward to working together to improving our environmental impacts. It is good news for our club, for now and the future. Dave Farebrother

Chairman, Sutton United Football Club Ltd Steve Malkin

CEO, Planet First

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Community Business Network Club Members

www.ab247.co.uk www.johnsonfellowes.co.uk www.a-linesouthern.co.uk www.keystonewm.co.uk www.allaspectsoflandscaping.co.uk www.lcbmit.co.uk www.andreaclarke.co.uk www.lotushr.co.uk www.anotherwaytheatre.co.uk http://www.mandscarpetandflooring.co.uk/ www.avenue-uk.com www.manncountrywide.co.uk www.avriljonesphotography.co.uk www.meprint.me.uk www.championtimber.com www.minievolution.co.uk www.bansteaddowns.com www.croydon.minutemanpress.co.uk www.bedfordinsurance.co.uk www.healthynewu.co.uk www.checkatrade.com/beechmoreconstruction www.nudgefactory.co.uk www.beepsales.com www.nuffieldhealth.com www.bjic.co.uk www.osborneandsons.co.uk www.bowlinglaw.co.uk www.oandk.co.uk www.brasserievacherin.co.uk www.peppercorn.biz www.checkatrade.com/DawsonAerialServiceLtd www.platinumdriveltd.com www.dreamgenius.net www.porterandco-sutton.co.uk www.drewpartnership.co.uk www.predatorpestsolutions.co.uk www.empowerhealthuk.com www.protia.co.uk www.emsworthtreecare.com www.remotecontroluk.com www.ewemove.com www.rivasuttonbingoclub.co.uk www.factorestudio.com www.riversidecentre.org www.farleighfox.co.uk www.runcgroundworks.com hemantpatel93@googlemail.com www.rwbnetworks.co.uk www.gary-mason-charity.org www.skinnybananaspianobar.co.uk www.gatewaylocks.co.uk www.surecare-croydonandsutton.com www.gffiresolutions.co.uk www.surreybeds.co.uk www.giraffe.net www.surreytreesandgardens.co.uk www.goddard-accountancy-services.co.uk www.the-arc-caterham.co.uk www.go-gym.co.uk www.it-partnership.com www.gordonsknight.co.uk www.theprojektstore.com www.gowenandstevens.com www.theraj.co.uk www.grayside.co.uk www.spaghettitree.co.uk www.growthaccelerator.com/ www.tjforever.flppro.biz chris.herron@herronfisher.co.uk www.Totally-You-Consulting.co.uk www.hilondonsuttonhotel.co.uk www.trustedsalesdynamics.com www.homeinstead.co.uk www.ultimatecelebrations.co.uk www.huntersnet.co.uk/carshalton www.uwl.ac.uk www.iconicdigital.co.uk www.ventiventi.co.uk www.imageworxsigns.co.uk www.wesleycooper.co.uk www.jemcacargroup.co.uk

All photos courtesy of Paul Loughlin©

, except where stated.

www.suttonunited.net