Report of First Meeting of the Members' Working Group
21 March 2023
The inaugural meeting of the Members’ Working Group took place at the Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol, and on Teams at 4pm on Thursday 2nd March 2023.
The Club is very grateful to all those who applied to join the MWG and have selected a membership providing diversity in age, geographical location and membership category. We had hoped for a 4-3 gender split but were disappointed to receive only one application from a female member. As a result, we would welcome any late expressions of interest in joining the group from any female Members.
Those present at the first meeting were:
- Neil Priscott – Deputy CEO
- David Finch – Ticketing and Membership Administrator
- Jim Bath
- George Cook
- Matthew Davies
- Dominic Ferguson
- John Gordon
- Ruth Sharville
- Chris Toft
Click here to view the MWG Terms of Reference and a profile of each of the Members.
Neil Priscott updated the group on catering and facilities enhancements at the Seat Unique Stadium ahead of the new season:
- Catering is being brought ‘in-house’ – in particular as a result of Member feedback.
- A Multi-Faith Room and Adult Changing facility (together with an additional disability toilet) are being installed at the Stadium for the start of the season.
- The Hammond Roof and Korev Terrace will be opened up to allow full access to this area for Members during County Championship and One-Day Cup matches. This will require some small amends to the configuration.
- A new bar facility is being permanently installed behind The Mound Stand which will be open during Blast and the more well-attended matches.
- The group enquired whether the Members’ discount would be available at all bars. The Club are pleased to confirm that, yes, the 10% discount will be available at all bars.
- The group also enquired about the toilet provision for the coming season especially with regard to female facilities. There will be Elliot units brought in for the season (as in 2022), to be situated behind the Mound Stand and also on the Kennington Avenue side, as well as some individual standard units in the normal areas.
MEMBERS’ AREAS
Ahead of the new season, the group reviewed access rights to Members’ areas and facilities at both Bristol and Cheltenham. The group agreed that, in this area, a balance needed to be struck between offering a friendly welcome to Members of opposition clubs and, at the same time, ensuring Gloucestershire Members enjoy the best possible experience and that, to achieve this, different arrangements should apply at each venue -
At Bristol, the Club will allow all guests of Gloucestershire Members, Members of the opposition Club and Members of Clubs with whom we have a reciprocal arrangement (Worcestershire, Hampshire and Essex) to use the Members’ facilities. In order to assist the stewards and to allow easy re-entry into the Members’ area, the Club will ask all guests of Members without a Members’ Guest Pass as a ticket who wish to use the Members’ facilities, to visit Club Reception with the member on arrival at the ground to collect a wristband confirming their status as a ‘Members’ Guest’.
At Cheltenham, spectators with a ‘Members’ Guest Pass’ will be allowed to use the Members’ facilities on the date for which the ticket is valid at no extra charge. Guests of Members without such a ticket will be asked to pay a small surcharge. The level of this charge will be agreed at the next meeting of the MWG. Members of the opposition club will also be welcome to use the Members’ area but those spectators attending via our reciprocal arrangements will not be admitted, due to limitations on space.
A question was asked whether a One-Day Member who has purchased a ticket for a day of County Championship cricket should be allowed into the Members’ area. It was agreed by all that, in that scenario, the Member should be allowed access.
The Club were asked to remind all Members of the Guest Passes benefit available to them and of the revised arrangements outlined above in the comprehensive pre-season e-mail due to be sent in early April.
SMOKING POLICY
The Group agreed that it would be excessively draconian to make the Seat Unique Stadium entirely smoke free given that it is a largely outdoor venue but decided that there should be two designated smoking areas behind The Mound Stand. These areas will not be pitch facing, and smoking will not be permitted anywhere else in the stadium.
The policy on smoking at Cheltenham will be reviewed at the next MWG meeting.
AOB
The group queried the policy of not allowing any bags to be left unattended at any match. The Club will look to apply a common-sense policy depending on the format of the match and the attendance at the stadium. Accordingly, it will take advice from Avon & Somerset’s Counter Terrorism Security Advisor and will report back at the next MWG meeting.
