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09 Nov 2012 - VSC Programme Notes: Crewe
A warm welcome to tonight's fixture against Crewe. Games against Crewe tend to be memorable, losing 8-0 at Gresty Road in the LDV, despite the fact that we could have been 2-0 within a few minutes, staging a dramatic comeback in the JPT at the Keepmoat to take us to the Millenium Stadium.
At the recent FA Youth Cup fixture, members of the VSC collected money for the Tomorrow's Rovers project and with an attendance of 208, managed to collect £140. Thanks to everyone who was there who donated. I am please to report that Rob Williams (VSC IT Officer) misread the memo about Tomorrows Rovers, and decided to create his own little Rover, congratulations to Rob and Amanda on the birth of Jessica. The VSC doesn't sell to its members a product or service as such, but what we do offer is crucial to the future of our football club and its supporters; we offer supporters a voice. We meet regularly with club officials to discuss the issues that matter most to you. When we take an issue to the club we would like to think that this comes from the majority of Rovers Supporters and the only way to make us even more representable of the Rovers fan-base is by having as many Rovers fans as possible members of the VSC to make a real influence off the pitch. We do also get involved on the pitch as well: This season the VSC has sponsored midfield maestro James Harper and as such that sponsorship is the property of each and every member of the VSC. We also support the future of the club on and off the pitch; we have sponsored two youth academy teams this year and by doing so we are increasing the chances of a future DRFC team being full of players who have been brought up through the academy to play for our club. We have also donated in the past to a fund solely designated for the use of local youth teams in and around our community. Not only that but we also offer much to the Rovers Community; we advertise and allow local businesses to raise their profile amongst Rovers fans, we have engaged on a number of Community activities and donated to worthwhile local charities. The VSC Board is made up of individuals who donate their free time to benefit its members and the wider Rovers fan-base, and it is these people who need your support so that they can help the VSC grow even further. The VSC continues its great reputation of a good relationship with not just John Ryan but other club officials such as Shaun Lockwood and Gavin Baldwin so that we can go directly to the people we need to sort out issues of our supporters. This year the VSC Board took a very brave decision to slash the VSC Membership price by more than half, a dramatic decrease from £27 to £12 was undertaken and we now allow fans to pay £1 per month or £12 per year, whichever they find is easier, each year £1 of a new members subscription will be the cost of their share in the Society. Now the VSC needs to see as many fans as possible jumping on board with this great opportunity to not only increase our membership dramatically but increase the number of fans we represent as our members. The club will only continue to listen if our membership continues to grow and therefore it is very true that the bigger our membership the louder our voice! If you have not already done so, please renew or join the VSC. Membership only costs £12 to join, and you can pay £1 a month. By becoming a member of the VSC you are part of an organisation that is a significant shareholder in the club. To become a member visit www.drfc-vsc.co.uk and click on the Join VSC link at the top. Any problems email Lee Croft (Membership Officer) lee.croft@drfc-vsc.co.uk Thanks Nathan Batchelor (Chair) 
09 Nov 2012 - VSC Programme Notes: Bradford PAJust in case you missed in today's VSC programme article Welcome to our guests from Bradford Park Avenue for today's FA Cup tie. It is a warm welcome to Mark Hume, Rob O"Brien and Martin Drury, who have all played first team games for Rovers. The latter two coming through the Rovers youth team, which ties in nicely for a plug for our Tomorrow's Rovers project. The development of local young players is, in the view of the VSC Board, vital to the future of the club - a steady stream of players developed in the Doncaster Rovers way, who understand the way we play because that is the way they have been taught, and are able to come into the first team and be comfortable, prepared and excel. We spoke with the club about barriers to the young players' development, and the resounding response was transport. The club need a dedicated minibus to take young players to away matches, training opportunities, development days, etc, and these are opportunities that some squads are missing out on, so we have decided to run a fundraising drive to sponsor a second youth team to assist the club in securing that minibus for the benefit of all the young players at the club. The Tomorrow's Rovers project gives us all a chance to invest in the future of our club and the future of Doncaster's talented young players. We know times are hard, but see this as a very worthy cause with a tangible payback. Many supporters tell us that seeing local lads come through and pull on the iconic red and white hoops gives them an enormous sense of pride. To make a donation please visit www.drfc-vsc.co.uk As you may already know Rob Clark has stepped down as Acting Chair of the VSC. Before the rumour mill starts going into overdrive with "something must have gone on" or "told you there would be a power struggle"-type conspiracy theories, can I just add that the truth is nowhere near as racey as that. Simply put, he had the backing of all the other Directors to continue as permanent Chair but his personal circumstances were going to prevent him from dedicating as much time as he would want to over the coming months so he decided to step aside to allow someone else to take up the reigns. Rob is not disappearing completely, more stepping in to the shadows for a bit, and he will still be around to support projects as they develop. The whole Board want to place on record their thanks and appreciation to Rob Clark for the work he has done as Chairman. The VSC has started work (key word is started) on some wonderful projects and In Rovers We Trust has only just begun and we are getting some wonderful results already on the back of it. Still a lot to be done, but I would like to think we are going in the right direction and that is down to Rob. The Board discussed on Thursday 25th October the officers that should be appointed and it was debated about what was needed in what areas to help the VSC progress. From there various officers were appointed by the Board which were all unanimously agreed: Chairman: Nathan Batchelor (nathan.batchelor@drfc-vsc.co.uk)
As the VSC is a Community Benefit Society the board acknowledged the importance of this and made an example of how sucessful the Community scheme is at DRFC. It was conversed that the VSC is better equiped at present to partner with DRFC in its community work until it had gathered enough momentum before doing its own campaign. The Board did agree that the VSC can however take part in small charitable work and a scenario about the VSC getting involved and helping out with local voluntary work, the example of pushing an appeal for volunteers to repaint a local park and help renovate a local park was given which was widely accepted by the Board. The commercial aspect of the Trust was discussed and this is an area the VSC should look to exploit to increase it's revenue stream and it's reputation amongst the businesses in the community. Can I take this opportunity to thank the Park Inn Hotel for allowing us the use of their large meeting room free of charge for our monthly Board meetings.
As you may have seen we have purchased two multi game tickets to use for worthy causes. Alongside our sponsorship of two youth teams and one player we are always looking for ideas that reflect our values as VSC people. If you would like to see us doing certain things in other areas then shout up, we'll listen to anything sensible. It's your money, so suggest how we can spend it. Please send ideas to Dave Burkitt, the VSC Community Officer (dave.burkitt@drfc-vsc.co.uk) The VSC works hard to be the critical friend to the club, helping the club improve and meet the expectations of supporters. If you have not already done so, please renew or join the VSC. Membership only costs £12 to join, and you can pay £1 a month. By becoming a member of the VSC you are part of an organisation that is a significant shareholder in the club. To become a member visit www.drfc-vsc.co.uk and click on the Join VSC link at the top.
28 Oct 2012 - VSC Board - Roles and ResponsibilitiesSorry it has taken so long, but as a Board we wanted to get the Roles and Responsibilities of the new Board correct and this was finalised on Thursday evening.
The whole Board want to place on record their thanks and appreciation to Rob Clark for the work he has done as Chairman. As the VSC is a Community Benefit Society the board acknowledged the importance of this and made an example of how sucessful the Community scheme is at DRFC. It was conversed that the VSC is better equiped at present to partner with DRFC in its community work until it had gathered enough momentum before doing its own campaign. The Board did agree that the VSC can however take part in small charitable work and a scenario about the VSC getting involved and helping out with local voluntary work, the example of pushing an appeal for volunteers to repaint a local park and help renovate a local park was given which was widely accepted by the Board. The commercial aspect of the Trust was discussed and this is an area the VSC should look to exploit to increase it's revenue stream and it's reputation amongst the businesses in the community. The Board discussed the officers that should be appointed and it was debated about what was needed in what areas to help the VSC progress, from there various officers were appointed by the Board which were all unanimously agreed: Chairman: Nathan Batchelor (nathan.batchelor@drfc-vsc.co.uk) Secretary:Martin O'Hara ( martin.ohara@drfc-vsc.co.uk) Treasurer: Mark Lister (mark.lister@drfc-vsc.co.uk) Vice Treasurer: Andy Audsley (andrew.audsley@drfc-vsc.co.uk) Membership Officer: Lee Croft (lee.croft@drfc-vsc.co.uk) Press/Communications Officer: Mike Follows (mike.follows@drfc-vsc.co.uk) Community Officer: Dave Burkitt (dave.burkitt@drfc-vsc.co.uk) Commercial Officer : Kevin Twell (kevin.twell@drfc-vsc.co.uk ) IT/Website Officer: Rob Willliams (rob.williams@drfc-vsc.co.uk) Board Members without portfolio: Glyn Wigley (glyn.wigley@drfc-vsc.co.uk), Martyn Bentley (martyn.bentley@drfc-vsc.co.uk), Rob Clark (rob.clark@drfc-vsc.co.uk) If you have not already done so, please renew or join the VSC. Membership only costs £12 to join, and you can pay £1 a month. The easiest way to maintain your VSC membership is via a PayPal subscription, which means you never have to remember to renew.
Alternatively you can make a one-off payment of £12 and manually renew your membership every year.
17 Sep 2012 - Let your neighbourhood know #whosnext
The findings of the "In Rovers We Trust" project included feedback from supporters that games weren't promoted as well as they could be, the club listened and are planning new ways to get the details of the games out to the citizens of Doncaster. One of these is the newly released #whosnext? project.
To help promote games, and have a bit of fun at the same time, the club have come up with the #whosnext? poster competition. Twitter users will recognise the hashtag symbol (#), which is used as a topic identifier. After every home match, fans can pick up a #whosnext? poster from the club shop or the ticket office at the Keepmoat Stadium, or download one to print themselves from www.doncasterroversfc.co.uk. Place a poster somewhere in your neighbourhood, possibly in a local pub, a local shop's window, even on your Sheffield Wednesday-supporting neighbour's car (ahem), then post a photo of it to @DRFC_official on Twitter, and add the #whosnext? hashtag. If you don't use twitter, you can upload it to your facebook page and tag the photo as "doncasterroversfc", or add it into the #whosnext? thread on the VSC forum. The club will randomly select one fan each match from those who have taken part, and they will receive some free Rovers goodies! What are you waiting for? Let everyone in your area know #whosnext and win some Rovers prizes.
17 Aug 2012 - The VSC Annual General Meeting 2012
The VSC is to hold its Annual General Meeting 2012 at 11.30AM on Saturday 25th August in the Belle Vue Bar at the Keepmoat Stadium. The agenda will include a review of the year, updates on projects the VSC has been working on with the club, election of new board members, and a Q&A session with the club's Chairman, John Ryan, and Chief Executive, Gavin Baldwin. The meeting is open to all supporters, although only VSC members will be eligible to vote on matters. There will also be an opportunity to join the VSC on the day, or alternatively you can join via Paypal by clicking here. Membership of the VSC costs just £12 per annum. The VSC is wholly staffed by Doncaster Rovers supporters willing to volunteer some time for the benefit of the supporters and the club. We act as a critical friend to the club, and the relationship between the club and the VSC has never been stronger. We also support community projects and make linkages between the club and supporters. The VSC's Board of Directors is looking to recruit up to six new members at this AGM to become involved in exciting projects in partnership with the club. If anyone would like to join the VSC team as a board member please contact chairman@drfc-vsc.co.uk for further information.
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