›› Our Achievements

The current Board of the Community Mutual was formed as a direct result of the resignation of a large number of the previous CM directors. Despite only being put together recently the new CM board have taken many positive steps which previous CM boards had not done and, together with some committed volunteers who have also shown a willingness to work for the good of the club, have achieved much in the past four months. At a time when many question the purpose of the Community Mutual great strides forward have been taken; for example:

Arranged the CM AGM and Elections.

With so many walking away it was left to the few remaining to reform a viable Board and arrange proper elections even in the knowledge that many might not appreciate their effort and commitment and not elect them after four or five months. Organisations such as the Community Mutual lose all of their moral authority without proper elections and this has possibly been the most important achievement of those who stepped in, certainly in the short term.

The launch of the new lottery.

We currently have more than 530 lottery members, the money raised from which is already being used to help the playing side of the club. The CM agreed with Sean O’Driscoll that it will use part of the lottery proceeds to finance the maintenance of the Fitness First pitch. We all enjoy watching the team’s passing style of football and this demands a first class pitch week in week out. The CM is pleased to facilitate this by supporting the payment of our shared groundsmen services with Southampton F.C. as well as paying for all materials and machinery costs. You can now see the fruits of your investment in front of you each home game!

The launched the CM Website.

The CM has promised a website for all supporters for many years and failed to deliver. Ernie Battey, Marcus Preen and Derek Timoney took up the challenge and enabled the new Board to fulfil this long standing commitment with this exciting new website. Over time it will develop to allow all of you to get exclusive news on the club as well as all matters relating to the Community Mutual. The new website will go a long way to resolving of the main criticisms of the old CM Board which was the lack of communication with its members. It is for example planned to open up a forum page as well as a questions and answers page for CM members.

The start of the Utility Warehouse Scheme and relaunch of the MBNA Credit Card programme.

Both of these secure cash for the club, Utility Warehouse saves you cash as well. Sign up to these schemes at no cost and help the club. There is a link elsewhere on this site to these.

Stadium Painting Days.

An increase in direct voluntary assistance to help the Club is epitomised by a recent weekend when a team of volunteers commenced the painting of the inside of the stadium, smartening up the conference and meeting rooms as well as the general corridor areas. More days like this are planned.

Real progress towards the development of the First Floor banqueting and conference suite.

This will enable the fans to have their own club room on match days with reduced beer and food prices together with a wider choice of drinks and meals, Plasma T.V. screens for pre and post match Premiership games as well as the results service. A taste of this has already happened in the Cherry Tree, with the CM working with the caterers to bring in Real Ale as well as hot drinks (very popular after the freezing temperatures at the Barnsley game!).

A new AFCB Safety Forum has been formed.

This has been set up by the Community Mutual and the club’s safety team to tackle issues such as any problems with stewarding, any incidents of hooligan behaviour etc. The forum consists of 6 fans representatives, 2 police representatives, the safety officer and chief steward. Wayne Ford & Dave Stone attended the meeting as the CM representatives.

Meeting with Supporters Direct.

The CM has maintained contact with the ‘umbrella’ organisation that provides guidance to Supporters Trusts. AFC Bournemouth CM is one of the leading examples of what can be achieved.

The relaunch of the Cherry Brick Wall.

After 18 months of no activity and no sales by the old CM board (with one fan actually having to wait that long for his bricks to go up!) the new board is to channel new energy into this popular scheme. Email afcbcm@afcb.co.uk for details or contact Steve Harris on 01202 882545.

Membership Register.

The membership database has been completely reviewed with hundreds of email and postal addresses being corrected, together with a number of anomalies resolved. If you have any changes to notify the CM of please contact afcbcm@afcb.co.uk or phone Steve Harris on 01202 882545.

Free Use of Cherry Tree for CM members.

The CM have negotiated the free use of the Cherry Tree for any members wishing to book functions – contact Derek Borthwick on 01202 397087 for details.

AFC Bournemouth Supporters Trust