Breaking News St Johns Ambulance Ends Agreement Over Debt

[Stuart W]

Something does not add up here. Putting aside the HMRC tax bill and sundry other large debts which presumably make up the £5 million required and hopefully received via a bridging loan, surely the day to day running costs can be funded by the board of directors?
I have made this point before, RM is the major shareholder, he owns the club and consequently earns all the flak that comes his way. BUT, what about Van Wezel, Markscheffel and Lockett? Surely things like paying for the St Johns Ambulance would be loose change, at least to the first two, given their business fortunes?
Otherwise what precisely is their function on the board?

I think we have a right to know, particularly those of us who are shareholders, albeit at a much smaller level.

 

[Supershrimper]

The club surely cannot sink any lower.

What is that line from TL in the statement. Maybe a slip of the tongue or printed wrongly but isn't "Wanted" past tense?

He said the club wanted to move into a new stadium at Fossetts Farm, on the outskirts of the city centre, to help plug the gap in its finances.

The BBC news website is getting worse and worse for spelling and poor grammar. I'd imagine the quote was "want" but its been typed incorrectly.

Some of the mistakes they have made have been quite noticeable, especially when its on the breaking news stories such as missing persons etc Some of the spelling mistakes would be easily picked up if they did spell check. Its like the proof readers don't even glance at it now before its published (if they even have proof readers anymore)

 

[ace]

Ithought st jons Ambulance was a charity based company .Not very chariable are they .

Because we have a sick chairman, I think that's stretching their charitable credentials a bit too far.

 

[GBJ]

Anyone know the amount. Whip round time.

I think I read somewhere that we owe them in the region of 20k.

Yeah, I think the figure is around 26k, if I remember rightly.

St. John’s charge around £1k per game I think.

 

[londonblue]

Something does not add up here. Putting aside the HMRC tax bill and sundry other large debts which presumably make up the £5 million required and hopefully received via a bridging loan, surely the day to day running costs can be funded by the board of directors?
I have made this point before, RM is the major shareholder, he owns the club and consequently earns all the flak that comes his way. BUT, what about Van Wezel, Markscheffel and Lockett? Surely things like paying for the St Johns Ambulance would be loose change, at least to the first two, given their business fortunes?
Otherwise what precisely is their function on the board?

I think we have a right to know, particularly those of us who are shareholders, albeit at a much smaller level.

I think you'll find that they are already owed substantial amounts of money, and have been for years. Ron has taken the **** out of them because he knows they won't call in their loans because the club will fold.

Why on earth should they give him any more? Especially as Ron keeps them in the dark almost to the same extent as he does us?

 

[Holy Joe]

The below is taken from the FA National League ground grading guide.

4. MEDICAL
There must be a suitably equipped medical treatment room for players located in the vicinity of the players' dressing rooms. Access to this room must not be via the home or away dressing rooms.
There must be a suitably equipped and designated First Aid Room for spectators within the boundary of the ground fitted out with services in accordance with Health & Safety requirements. The designated room must contain a bed or comfortable seating, with cold and, ideally, hot water, together with paper towels. Reusable individual towels are not permitted.
The first aid room and the location of the room must be suitably sign posted.
At least one stretcher for the removal of injured players from the field of play must be provided. (See also Appendix)

Appendix

4. MEDICAL
There must be a nominated and suitably qualified person in attendance to assist with spectator problems unless the St John Ambulance Brigade, Red Cross Society or other capable agency are in attendance. The requirements of the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds are for one first aider per 1000 anticipated spectators, with a minimum of two.
If a crowd of less than 2000 is anticipated, known and practiced arrangements should be in place to summon either a doctor or NHS ambulance alternative. For crowds of over 2000, an experienced crowd doctor should be in attendance.

Link is https://www.thefa.com/-/media/thefa...9/ground-grading/grade-a-july-2018.ashx?la=en

So for tomorrow we'd need 3 first aiders and a crowd doctor?

Shouldnt be too difficult to sort out.

Doesn't excuse non payment to sja though

 

[Strykr]

Yeah, I think the figure is around 26k, if I remember rightly.

St. John’s charge around £1k per game I think.

damn.

 

[Colchester and proud!]

Then end up being in the same position 6/12 months down the line...... rinse and repeat process just continues.

Yes afraid so, that is the situation that circumstances have put the club in, something has to change, for the cycle to be broken.

 

[Dubai]

Yes afraid so, that is the situation that circumstances have put the club in, something has to change, for the cycle to be broken.

Like one of the biggest developments in the boroughs history?

The cycle is about to be broken, just a shame we got to breaking point just before it happens.

 

[KiwiRob]

Something does not add up here. Putting aside the HMRC tax bill and sundry other large debts which presumably make up the £5 million required and hopefully received via a bridging loan, surely the day to day running costs can be funded by the board of directors?
I have made this point before, RM is the major shareholder, he owns the club and consequently earns all the flak that comes his way. BUT, what about Van Wezel, Markscheffel and Lockett? Surely things like paying for the St Johns Ambulance would be loose change, at least to the first two, given their business fortunes?
Otherwise what precisely is their function on the board?

I think we have a right to know, particularly those of us who are shareholders, albeit at a much smaller level.

This is a really important point. Surely, the Board of Directors must do everything possible to alleviate the club's financial crisis if the Chairman cannot. Indeed, one Director, in particular, could provide the club with a 5 million bridging loan without really noticing it.

And the other puzzling thing is that the media seem to be giving these Directors a free pass at a time when the club is facing oblivion.

 

[Holy Joe]

I might be shot down in flames here - but isn't this one of those things where we need to cut our cloth appropriately - if we can satisfy the first aid rules with appropriately trained stewards/other staff/volunteers, should we be paying sja to attend?

How many first aiders would volunteer to attend in exchange for a free match ticket? We only need 6 regulars - that would 'cost' the club 120 per match.

Has sja always charged 1k or has there been a reduction since we were relegated?

 

[Supershrimper]

The below is taken from the FA National League ground grading guide.

4. MEDICAL
There must be a suitably equipped medical treatment room for players located in the vicinity of the players' dressing rooms. Access to this room must not be via the home or away dressing rooms.
There must be a suitably equipped and designated First Aid Room for spectators within the boundary of the ground fitted out with services in accordance with Health & Safety requirements. The designated room must contain a bed or comfortable seating, with cold and, ideally, hot water, together with paper towels. Reusable individual towels are not permitted.
The first aid room and the location of the room must be suitably sign posted.
At least one stretcher for the removal of injured players from the field of play must be provided. (See also Appendix)

Appendix

4. MEDICAL
There must be a nominated and suitably qualified person in attendance to assist with spectator problems unless the St John Ambulance Brigade, Red Cross Society or other capable agency are in attendance. The requirements of the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds are for one first aider per 1000 anticipated spectators, with a minimum of two.
If a crowd of less than 2000 is anticipated, known and practiced arrangements should be in place to summon either a doctor or NHS ambulance alternative. For crowds of over 2000, an experienced crowd doctor should be in attendance.

Link is https://www.thefa.com/-/media/thefa...9/ground-grading/grade-a-july-2018.ashx?la=en

So crowds of around 5-6k we should have 5 or 6.

According to the website we have a crowd doctor (Zoe Uju) so assuming the crowd doctor should not be included in the figure we only need 5-6 (would be prudent to have 8-10 at a match day for unseen absences etc)

To do the required course (First Aid at Work) its just shy of £200 for the British Red Cross or double that via St Johns (£430) The course is the same for both although the St Johns one was dragged over 3 days (how many times can you wrap a bandage around different parts of the persons body for 3 hours!) and other than St Johns giving me a vey cheap first aid kit and a nice selection of drinks and biscuits there was no difference in the training and methods taught. The qualification also lasts 3 years. So an initial outlay of say 10 being trained at £200 each would be £2,000. That would be the only outlay for 3 years. Did I see something on another thread that they charged £1000 per game?

It would make sense to have match day staff (stewards, kiosk workers etc) trained as first aiders in the event of an first aid emergency. If like my work then you also get a little extra in the pay packet (yes yes, we'd have to pay them first)

Anything serious you call an ambulance for straight away, but the first aiders job is to aim to be the first on the scene and accessing the patient and administering first aid if required. I wonder how many accidents we have at each game. These would all be logged in the accident book by the first aiders and you can view from that what the most common issues are.

Likely things they would have to deal with would be burns (if the drinks are that hot) wayward balls hitting the crowd and causing (requiring treatment to the spectators), trips and falls in the stands, and possibly more serious things such as heart attacks and then administering CPR (whilst the defibrillator is located and set up)

And we have all joked watching them when they come on with the stretcher for the players how much of an amble they are in. Snails have moved faster some times, and when they get the player onto the stretcher we are all watching them to see how far they get before the drop him.

 

[hlane17]

Yeah, I think the figure is around 26k, if I remember rightly.

St. John’s charge around £1k per game I think.

In that case they haven't been paid for a long time...

 

[shrimperjon]

I think I read somewhere that we owe them in the region of 20k.

Yes i was told last week that we agreed to make a donation of £1000 per game but to date this season we hadnt actually paid anything

 

[RHB]

According to the Club staff list, we have a crowd doctor as well as any first aiders.

 

[nevereatwhitesnow]

I might be shot down in flames here - but isn't this one of those things where we need to cut our cloth appropriately - if we can satisfy the first aid rules with appropriately trained stewards/other staff/volunteers, should we be paying sja to attend?

How many first aiders would volunteer to attend in exchange for a free match ticket? We only need 6 regulars - that would 'cost' the club 120 per match.

Has sja always charged 1k or has there been a reduction since we were relegated?

Short answer of why you can’t do that is insurance, many people’s qualifications are via work and their employees will cover them if administering aid goes wrong. They would need alternative cover to do so in a stadium setting which is why organizations like St John’s cover events

 

[annie1954]

If it is this bad now, how much worse will it be in the summer months with little or no income other than maybe season ticket sales.

May have to think about buying season tickets what happens to our money if we buy tickets and things don’t improve with the club if we go under we will all lose our money probably with no chance of getting it back,

 

[basilrobbie]

Ithought st jons Ambulance was a charity based company .Not very chariable are they .

Dear me. Talk about taking aim at the wrong target.....

 

[Linda Loan Shark]

If it is this bad now, how much worse will it be in the summer months with little or no income other than maybe season ticket sales.

Our £5m bridging loan will cover the summer

 

[RHB]

May have to think about buying season tickets what happens to our money if we buy tickets and things don’t improve with the club if we go under we will all lose our money probably with no chance of getting it back,

Not necessarily true annie. If the club allow supporters to buy via credit card then you have redress to the card company if the club collapses. The big question is will the Club ask for cash or bank transfer only again.