BASS CHARITY VASE

BASS CHARITY VASE

ANNUAL REPORT 2004

Web site www.basscharityvase.com

To Vice-Presidents, Committee Members, Patrons, Sponsors, Helpers and Supporters

Officers

Trustees: K. J. Fairbrother, D. M. Mellor

President: D. M. Mellor

Vice Presidents: W. B. Eccleshall, P. Fenton, R.W. Ricketts, C. M. Thornewill, Mrs. A.E. Tracey

Chairman: N. C. Peck

Vice Chairman: D. J. TwiggGeneral

Secretary/Treasurer: K. J. Fairbrother

Auditor: D. J. Twigg

Meeting Secretary: D. I. Black

General Committee: D. R. Banton, J. Cunningham, L. Daniels, C. Ferriday, R. Holton, T. A. Kirkland, Mrs. Pat A Parker, Paul A Parker, P. Thomas, A. Thompson, M. Whieldon, K. P. Yates

Patrons: D. L. Allen, J. E. A. Dean, H. E. Phillips, J. Black, M. R. Eames, I. P. Samways, P. Brown, J. E. Galbraith, M. Shuttleworth, R. Burton, R. Gilham, E. Skeates, C. Clamp, N. Hardy, S. T. Smyth, N. Collins, M. J. Hodgkin, D. Spedding, P. C. Cotton, N. A. Hubbard, W. Spratt, M. W. Cripwel, B. Lester, P. Stamps, J. Cunningham, V. Lester, K. Stride, P. R. Davies, D. M. Mellor, C. R. Tyler, T. Dawn, Pat Parker J. Webster, R. Deacon, Paul Parker, G. Woodward

Helpers: S. Cotton, Mrs. C. Kirkland, N. J. Mellor , D. Grice, C. Kirkland, P. Mellor, W. V. Fairbrother, B. D. Mellor, P. Tracey, A. Kirkland, I. Mellor

INTRODUCTION

2004 was another successful year for the Bass Charity Vase, and once again our activities have raised the sum of £10,000, which we have been able to donate to Charities and Organisations in our local area and those of our competing soccer clubs. 2004 is also a year of significant change as it has brought to an end the association of the charity with two of its regular venues. Burton Albion will later in the year be moving from Eton Park which has been their home since 1958 to the new Pirelli Stadium and sadly the Hospitals Club which has hosted many of our social events over the years is now closed.

MAJOR ACTIVITIES OF THE YEAR/SOCIAL EVENTS

SPORTSMEN'S EVENING

Thanks once again to Brian Eccleshall who continues to organise this very popular and successful event which always makes a contribution to our charity funds. Thank you to all those companies and private individuals who supported the event. You will all know by now that this was to be the last Bass Charity Vase event to be held at the Hospitals Club. However do not worry as Brian is already planning for 2005 and details for the event will be released shortly.

RACE NIGHT

Marston's Sports and Social Club was the venue for this popular event, and once again very many thanks to Nigel Peck and Olly Daniels for all their hard work in making a success of evening. Many thanks to our race sponsors and supporters and we look forward to seeing you once again in 2005.

QUIZ NIGHTS

This year there have been two quiz nights organised by Olly Daniels and helpers. These popular events, attracting a large number of teams, were held at the Coors Visitors Centre. The first night was to decide the winners of the Lamas Cook trophy and the second was shared with the Handicapped Riding School at Scropton.

BANQUET AND BALL

This year saw several changes with this popular event.  For the first time the Banquet and Ball moved out of Burton to the Bretby Conference Centre and the Stapleford Big band was replaced by the 'Gemini Showband'.  The event again proved to be popular and our sincere thanks to Colin Ferriday for all his hard work in arranging this successful evening.

PRESENTATION EVENING

Once again I am pleased to say that the hard working committee and its supporters have raised £10,000 for distribution to charities and good causes. Once again thanks to Theresa Chell and all our friends at Rocester Football Club who have made a donation via the Donald Hill Foundation. As in previous years presentations to the recipients nominated by the football competing and staging clubs have been made at matches. Sincere thanks to the Directors of the Football Clubs for giving us the opportunity to display the work of the charity to their supporters. This support was clearly illustrated when the General Secretary and myself were invited to display the trophy at Notts County on the opening day day of the season. All our other presentations were made on Thursday 25th November at the Coors Visitors Centre where a very enjoyable evening was shared by the recipients and our local civic dignitaries, Councillor M. Bowering, Deputy Mayor ESBC, Councillor Mrs J. Mead, Chair of SDDC and Councillor R. Jones Vice Chair of SDDC. This year a new format was tried with a wide range of music before and during the interval being supplied by the students of de Ferrers Technology College, and after the presentations a mini race night was staged. This was a radical change from previous years but I am sure that all those who participated in, and supported the evening, hailed it to be a success and a modern step forward. Thanks particularly to our compere David Twigg, to Olly Daniels and Ray Holton for the organisation of the races and to Sue Cotton and her helpers for organising the evening's raffle.

MUSIC AND CAROLS

On Saturday 12th December the town centre was again the focus for what is now our annual carol singing and collection day. Thanks to the generosity of Burtonians over £1,000 was collected by our volunteers, and supporting members from the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue service who were once again ably supported by the young musicians from the de Ferrers Technology College.  From these proceeds £300 was donated to the Fire and Rescue Service Benevolent Fund in order to purchase gifts for the children's ward at the Queen's Hospital. Once again many thanks to Ray Holton and Olly Daniels for all their hard work in the organisation of this successful event, and to Phil McFarlane, Station Officer, at Burton-on-Trent for his support of our activities

CHRISTMAS RAFFLE

This was a new venture for us and as a result nearly £1,000 was raised for our funds. Many thanks to all those Organisations listed below that donated gifts to the draw, and to the management at the Coors Visitor Centre who allowed us to hold the Raffle Draw on December 12th.  Once again may I thank Ray Holton and Olly Daniels for all their hard work connected with this event.

ANNUAL SOCCER TOURNAMENT

2004 was another excellent year with almost £8,000 being raised from the tournament and its attendant activities. Burton Albion, Derby County, Gresley Rovers, Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion again competed for the famous old trophy. An excellent competition saw Burton Albion and Notts County reach the Final Tie. Expectations were high among the Burton supporters that their team would lift the trophy for the last ever Bass Charity Vase Final to be played at Eton Park. Sadly they were disappointed when Notts County came out on top with a well deserved victory by 2 - 0. This was a real boost for County and all those who have worked so hard to keep the club going during the last eighteen months. What is encouraging is that many of those players who featured in the final now figure regularly in the Notts first team.  

Thank you to all team managers, coaches and players for supporting our tournament and making it another successful year.  

We owe much to the support of our local clubs, Burton Albion, Gresley Rovers and Rocester who allow us to use their facilities and for this we are truly grateful. 2004 saw the last ever Bass Charity Vase Final at Eton Park and we are all looking forward to the new era when the Brewers move across to the new Pirelli Stadium for the start of the 2005 season.  Thank you Ben, Mark and Alf for your continued support of the charity.  

As always we are greatly indebted to the Referees who officiated at our games, and to the members of the Burton and South Derbyshire Referees' Associations who acted as Assistant Referees and Fourth Officials throughout the competition.  

For the past few years Drs. Greg Butler, Phil Needham and Mark Young from the Stapenhill practice, together with Dr. Gandhi, have acted as our Doctors. Thank you gentlemen for your continued support, and also many thanks to the various Red Cross and St. John Ambulance groups who have once again assisted at our matches.

Sincere thanks to all our sponsors in 2004

M. W. Cripwell Ltd., Burton Junior Football League, TAG Promotional Clothing Wear, The Nelson Inn, Winshill, Uttoxeter Leisure Centre, Councillor M. J. P. Bale, Hardy Signs Limited, Ian J. Mills, Avenance Catering, Russkwaye Light Carriers, Ben Robinson Insurance, B&D Sports, Trent Trophies, Mrs. Clare Clamp, Goodwin Building Contractors, Georgian Crystal, T. C. Harrison Ford, Tutbury Crystal

Thanks to the offices of Richard Jobson, another football sporting legend Martin Buchan kindly came to the Final Tie as our chief guest. By the numbers who asked for books to be signed, Martin is still a popular figure and we were very pleased to have him with us at Eton Park

COMMITTEE

Sarah Chatburn has unfortunately left the committee, but we welcome Tony Kirkland and Malc Whieldon who joined us in 2004. Gentlemen we hope that you will have a long and happy association with the Vase.

HELPERS

It is with regret that this year two of our long standing helpers have decided to step down from active duty. Syd Billings (our unofficial head gatekeeper) has stepped down, but we hope that next year son Graham will be able to step into his shoes, and we hope that he is not locked in his booth as often as Syd! Fred Jones is not well at present and is no longer able to spend hours folding our raffle tickets. To Syd and Fred sincere thanks for all your years of hard work on behalf of this charity.

PATRONS

As advised last year Pat and Paul Parker are now running the successful patrons scheme. Thank you to all our patrons past, present and future for your continued support and any suggestions concerning the scheme are most welcome.

THE FUTURE

Dates for our annual events have still to be arranged, but the Soccer Tournament will continue to be in its normal July (18th to 28th) pre-season slot. The continuing success of the Bass Charity Vase depends upon two major factors, the securing of sponsorships for all our events, and an injection of young active blood onto the committee to carry our work forward. On behalf of my fellow Trustee Ken Fairbrother and Chairman Nigel Peck may I thank all those committee members and helpers who have worked so hard during the past year to ensure that so many deserving causes benefit from our work. Last but not least a personal thank you to Sue Cotton for her help with our clerical work, and her assistance at many of our events. Best wishes to all for 2005 and I hope to meet as many of you as possible during the year.

David M. Mellor President