At the end of Mark’s international and club career at Bristol he has kindly agreed to provide us with an insight into the high and lows of his career. In what promises to be an entertaining evening Mark will take us through his many memories on and off the field. Entrance is free to Trust Members and £2 for Non-Members with proceeds going to Marks charity ‘Bristol Children’s Charity’.

A highlight of the season for Bristol Youth Rugby minis section was the fun day/recruitment drive where Bristol Rugby's Pennycook brothers kindly donated their time to assist with a coaching session. The Under 10's have grown in confidence through their training and recently gaining match experience, which despite a few losses they have shown grit and determination.

The under 16's have had a successful year with good player numbers and a great team spirit culminating in the fifth leg of their "Six Nations" touring agenda in Edinburgh, leaving Italy as the sole remaining destination for 2010. On the pitch results have been mixed with some good wins, some narrow losses and the odd bad day at the office. Some bad luck with injuries, especially in the first half of the season, resulted in a heavier than expected workload in key positions but the players responded well and will be stronger for it.

This has been a most successful season for the teams representing Bristol Schools Rugby Union. After a difficult time as Under 15s, the Under 16 Squad, captained by Andy Priddle of Mangotsfield School & Cleve RFC, came within a whisker of lifting the South West Divisional Championship, winning three of their four games and losing out to Devon on a narrow points difference. Alex Davis (QEH & Clifton RFC) & Jake Caulfield (Priory School & Clifton RFC) were both selected for the England Schools A XV. In addition, Ian Clark (Colstons & Cleve RFC) and George Randall (BGS & Clifton RFC) represented the South West. There is a lot of natural talent in this squad, and as several players have applied to and been selected for Filton College and possible Academy status, we will follow their future progress with great interest, hoping that one day we shall see them pull on the full Bristol jersey at the Mem, just as so many former BSRU players have done in the past.

The Under 15 Development squad have also enjoyed a successful term and have won nearly all their matches against strong opposition, including Cardiff, Somerset and Caerphilly Schools. Once again some outstanding individuals have already emerged, and their prospects are bright for next season.

We had a very open and productive meeting with the Club (Rob Clilverd) last night and expressed your concerns to him. The shareholding in the Club for the supporters is still a very real prospect, however, as a Trust we have some careful negotiations to conduct beforehand to achieve this. We are progressing this and will be in touch.

We are aware that we have given mixed messages on this subject over the past few months and can only apologise for that. However, the changing circumstances at the Club have affected our ability to progress this as we hope that you will understand.

A date has been agreed for a Trust run Public Meeting where the new Chairman, Chris Booy, as well as our CEO, Steve Gorvett, and a Board Director, Rob Clilverd, will be answering your questions about the future of the Club in the short to longer term. Paul Hull will also be there to discuss playing matters. The date is likely to be 19th March in the Bristol Room but this is subject to confirmation with the Memorial Stadium which cannot be confirmed until tomorrow so watch this space for further news.

There will be an opportunity for you to post your Questions for the Board and we will be giving details of that process shortly.

At our meeting it was made clear that we feel the Club should, where possible, release information even if considered minor. Any information is useful and helps to quell rumours.

A request was made to the board about paying tribute to the good work Richard Hill undertook as requested to us by the supporters. However, it was suggested that a tribute would be more appropriate from the supporters organisations and to that end we are organising a presentation to Richard and will let you know the details in due course.

We also discussed the relationship between the supporter’s and the players and a request was made to get the players that wished to into the supporter’s bars earlier and this was noted.

Once again we would like to thank you for your patience and we look forward to hearing what the Club have to say on 19th March.

Regards

Trust members past and present of the BRIS Trust would like to thank Richard for all that he has done for Bristol Rugby. Back in 2003, Richard was instrumental in making Bristol a true rugby club once more by engaging with the fans and encouraging the players to do so as well.

Richard took this club to new heights on the field and we would like to thank him for the precious moments that he presided over. In particular our promotion a year earlier than planned, finishing 3rd in the Premiership, our wins over Bath, the 16-0 victory over Stade Francais and, of course, that drop goal that beat Gloucester!

Richard has always been very approachable and has never shied away from responding to opinions of the most ardent Bristol fan, particularly when things have not gone according to plan.

Richard is a man of great integrity and honesty and we have appreciated these traits in his many public talks over the past 6 years.

We have the utmost respect for Richard and wish him, his Wife and family well for the future which we are sure will be bright and full of humour as well as hard graft.

All the best,

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