Last Friday I had the unhappy duty of announcing that John Hopson and Mark Firth had tendered their resignations. Since that time I have had a series of meetings and conversations that culminated in me attending a meeting with the Management Board last night.

At that meeting Martin Walters agreed to accept the post of Interim Chairman in order to ‘steady the ship’. Martin’s first job, along with his colleagues, was to persuade Mark Firth to withdraw his resignation. I am delighted to announce that they have been successful in that quest and Mark will continue with his amazing contribution to Tring Rugby Club.

At the meeting of the Management Board a number of issues were discussed related to the way the new Constitution has to work and the way that different parts of the club need to relate to each other. I have agreed to take a series of recommendations to the next Trustee Board meeting. I am confident that recent difficulties reflect the settling down of our new structure and I know we will learn from recent events.

A number of people have contacted to ask me if there will be some form of gathering to enable us to thank John Hopson for his transformational work for the club in recent years. Whilst we haven’t agreed the detail I can absolutely assure the Club that such an event will take place and we will all have the opportunity to recognise John’s achievements and thank him for everything he has done for us.

The next communication you will receive will be from Martin Walters who will be announcing the date of the AGM as well as some other strategic changes to the way we operate. At that AGM (likely to be in early September) we hope to appoint a new permanent Club Chairman.

I will now withdraw to my Governance position as Chairman of the Trustees, absolutely confident in the knowledge that this club has an excellent Management Board in place and, importantly, that they have a clear vision for the future of the club.

Yours Sincerely,
Peter Borg-Neal
Chairman
Tring Community Rugby Trust