Suffolk Shrimper In Dorset
Director⭐⭐🦐
Now, I know we have our own side thread, but if the MODS would kindly give this a day or two air time on Chit Chat before parking it then that would be much appreciated. We have just reached what I would like to think is a noteworthy landmark.
Getting to 100 members from a standing start in Jan 2018 was a breeze, 200 wasn't too bad, hitting 300 was a huge effort, but getting to 400, well, phew.
There are many helpers to thank, and as ever the Zone has played its part, so thank you.
SUEPA is part of the Shrimpers Trust, it could never exist as a one-man band, and the support given by Trust colleagues is great. There are a handful of SUEPA Agents that are also quite special, they know who they are, and the hours they have spent searching out leads for ex Shrimpers is top-drawer.
We are fairly sure that our club now has the biggest former players group (out of about 60 that we know of) in the UK, maybe even the world (will test that one soon). So, bigger that all of those funny hand-shakers in the Premiership ..... and all of those below. We think that Plymouth Argyle, who run a truly fantastic group, is second largest with 340 members. We don't claim to be the best, we just don't have the resource to do that really, but we like to think that we help bring some smiles to peoples faces and in keeping our past alive hopefully create some lovely new memories along the way. We also try to be 100% positive, there are plenty of other good avenues for folk to vent a bit of steam.
We receive good support from the club - Tom Lawrence has been fantastic, and we hope to have news soon of a move to make our ex player guests more accessible to a wider audience ... I can't rely on every former player to do a 'Stevie Phillips'.
Networking with other former player groups across the country is enlightening, there are so many helpful folk out there, it really gives you faith in humanity sometimes. Indeed, on that issue, and now almost two years in the proposal stage, we have recently received an 'ok' from the PFA to our proposal to create a national network of former player groups. Now, that would be special, as it would seek to widen co-operation between ex player groups, extending them out to as many other clubs as possible, act as a means of easily exchanging ideas, and help to support former players in need (closely linked with the Jeff Astle Foundation which the Shrimpers Trust supports). A lot of work remains ahead on this, but when it gets moving it should also be good news for our club in having their fans leading a national initiative that can make a real difference to so many and bring more much needed smiles in our strange world.
All of our 400 members are important to us, but our 400th in Malcolm Webster is perhaps just that little bit more special. We had been trying to track him down for ages, put out appeals, and even sort-of knew where he was, but could not get him joined up until today. There has been good reason for this, Malcolm is currently undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, and from speaking to him earlier this eve the following few weeks will be crucial in his battle. He has the support of a loving family behind him, and last month they set up an appeal which has already done well. I appreciate that there are so many good causes out there (yep, I know I have banged on about a few of them on here in the past), but if you would like to give Malcolm and his appeal a little Shrimper fans boost then the link is HERE
Thanks to all of you for your interest in SUEPA, and if you don't yet follow us on Twitter or Facebook then do please take a look and give us a 'follow' as the bigger we get in terms of coverage the more we can do.
Now, on to 500, why won't Kightly answer my Instagram messages, where the ???? is Bryan Myton, how on earth do I get hold of Tony Taylor, whatever happened to Kevan Hurst ..............................
UTB
Getting to 100 members from a standing start in Jan 2018 was a breeze, 200 wasn't too bad, hitting 300 was a huge effort, but getting to 400, well, phew.
There are many helpers to thank, and as ever the Zone has played its part, so thank you.
SUEPA is part of the Shrimpers Trust, it could never exist as a one-man band, and the support given by Trust colleagues is great. There are a handful of SUEPA Agents that are also quite special, they know who they are, and the hours they have spent searching out leads for ex Shrimpers is top-drawer.
We are fairly sure that our club now has the biggest former players group (out of about 60 that we know of) in the UK, maybe even the world (will test that one soon). So, bigger that all of those funny hand-shakers in the Premiership ..... and all of those below. We think that Plymouth Argyle, who run a truly fantastic group, is second largest with 340 members. We don't claim to be the best, we just don't have the resource to do that really, but we like to think that we help bring some smiles to peoples faces and in keeping our past alive hopefully create some lovely new memories along the way. We also try to be 100% positive, there are plenty of other good avenues for folk to vent a bit of steam.
We receive good support from the club - Tom Lawrence has been fantastic, and we hope to have news soon of a move to make our ex player guests more accessible to a wider audience ... I can't rely on every former player to do a 'Stevie Phillips'.
Networking with other former player groups across the country is enlightening, there are so many helpful folk out there, it really gives you faith in humanity sometimes. Indeed, on that issue, and now almost two years in the proposal stage, we have recently received an 'ok' from the PFA to our proposal to create a national network of former player groups. Now, that would be special, as it would seek to widen co-operation between ex player groups, extending them out to as many other clubs as possible, act as a means of easily exchanging ideas, and help to support former players in need (closely linked with the Jeff Astle Foundation which the Shrimpers Trust supports). A lot of work remains ahead on this, but when it gets moving it should also be good news for our club in having their fans leading a national initiative that can make a real difference to so many and bring more much needed smiles in our strange world.
All of our 400 members are important to us, but our 400th in Malcolm Webster is perhaps just that little bit more special. We had been trying to track him down for ages, put out appeals, and even sort-of knew where he was, but could not get him joined up until today. There has been good reason for this, Malcolm is currently undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, and from speaking to him earlier this eve the following few weeks will be crucial in his battle. He has the support of a loving family behind him, and last month they set up an appeal which has already done well. I appreciate that there are so many good causes out there (yep, I know I have banged on about a few of them on here in the past), but if you would like to give Malcolm and his appeal a little Shrimper fans boost then the link is HERE
Thanks to all of you for your interest in SUEPA, and if you don't yet follow us on Twitter or Facebook then do please take a look and give us a 'follow' as the bigger we get in terms of coverage the more we can do.
Now, on to 500, why won't Kightly answer my Instagram messages, where the ???? is Bryan Myton, how on earth do I get hold of Tony Taylor, whatever happened to Kevan Hurst ..............................
UTB
