Dear All,
For those of you who don’t know me I am Adam Woolfenden and I took over as Chairman of Ellingham & Ringwood Rugby Club in October of last year which is a great honour to bestowed upon me. I hope I can lead this great club into our Diamond Anniversary year to celebrate the 60 years we have been part of the community in Ringwood. On that note, this is something I want to focus on not just the forthcoming season but moving forward over the next five years with the plan we are developing to move the club towards having a greater presence in Ringwood.
This cannot be achieved without the support and dedication of the huge numbers of volunteers that manage the functioning of the club, from coaches and parents making bacon butties on a Sunday, to those who help behind the bar and in the kitchen at the weekend. Personally, and on behalf of the committee, I would like to thank you all for the dedication shown in you giving up your free time to keep this club going in what has, at times, been difficult.
We have several events I would like to bring to your attention over the next few weeks which are as follows: -
• On the 3rd May our Women’s team will be playing Bath, which is their last game of the season and not to be missed.
• On the 9th May we have our Senior Players End of Season Presentation to be held at the club.
• On the 17th May, the Mini’s are holding their awards day with a bouncy castle!
• On the 7th June the Junior boys section will hold their awards day.
• On the 17th June the Junior girls section will hold their awards evening from 7.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.
• 20th June we will be holding our Rugby Task Force Day. This is when we give the club house a belated spring clean. This year for all those who volunteer, we will be having a BBQ to say thanks for your support and then you can watch the Premiership Final with a cool drink after all your hard work.
• At the start of Diamond Year celebrations, we are looking to have a float in both the afternoon and evening procession of the Ringwood Carnival.
Over the summer months we will be holding several meetings to plan events for our 60th Anniversary, so if you have any ideas that are inclusive for all sections of the club to help raise our profile then please let me know

As mentioned, I want to improve connectivity with other community-minded organisations in Ringwood so if any of you are part of groups such as scouts, for example, that may lead to mutually beneficial, links then please let me know.

Plus, if you wish to sponsor the club, please approach Mark Johnson. If you are a local business owner, you could sponsor a signboard around the edge of the pitch. Perhaps you might wish to sponsor an individual player; these are great ways of supporting the club.
Please check the website for details about forthcoming events and you can find the contact details for committee members if you wish to respond to any of the points raised above. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to meeting you over the summer as we prepare for next season.
Kind Regards
Adam ‘Swede’ Woolfenden
Chairman