Get a photo of Beenie on the charge! Our thanks go to Hannah King for the design and to John White Media for the fantastic photo.

Dear Trust Member

Well, a lot has happened so far this season both on and off the field. I am delighted to say that relations between the Club and the Trust have never been so strong as we receive the Clubs full support for all of our initiatives.

As we approach the business end of the season it is important that we continue to do our job as Bristol supporters and get behind this young side. I believe that we can achieve promotion but that a slice of luck here and there will be required to achieve it as in every top performing scenario! So wear you’re lucky underpants or whatever else you have in that department and get behind the boys.

I would like to thank everyone who came to support the Bristol Rugby Legends against a team from PROPS Barbarians on 4th March. It was a great occasion with 11 internationals turning out for the Legends who won 47-17. £4,000 was raised and was split between the two great charities Breakthrough Breast Cancer and PROPS. The whole occasion was a fitting tribute to the memory of my lovely Wife, Carol, and the players have asked me to organize another game for 2013!! Watch this space!

Enjoy the season finale! C’Mon BRIS!!

Andrew Humphreys – Chairman

On Friday 18th May at 4pm members of the BRIS Trust will embark on a 24 kayak challenge, attempting to kayak 200 kilometers in 24 hours.

Starting out from the Benjamin Perry Boathouse on Redcliffe Quay Ian Kirley and George Campbell, paddling a 2 man touring kayak, will aim to complete 16 full circuits of Bristol Docks, from Cumberland Basin to Netham Lock gates and back, within 24 hours. They are doing this to raise funds for two very good causes, the Bristol Rugby Academy and also the Bristol Community Foundation.

If you sponsor the challenge via the Trust website for £20 or more then you will get next year’s membership as well!

Whilst Kirley and Tiny George will be completing the full 200 kilometers, they are challenging other Bristol Rugby supporters, individuals and businesses to club together and form relay teams to try and beat them and the challenge.

So, are you up to the challenge?

All the required equipment and support will be provided before and during the event. The cost is a mere £50 per person per circuit and everyone taking part is encouraged to set up their own Just Giving Page to boost fund raising for two such worthwhile causes. The final training session will be held on the docks on Saturday 12th May between 9am and 11am.

Individual training sessions can be arranged for complete relay teams if required. Any questions please contact George Campbell, tinygeorge50@gmail.com

The Trust will host an end of season review from both Liam Middleton and Steve Gorvett in July. Watch this space for updates.

This season has been an important season for me from a rugby perspective. I have been fortunate enough to have played for the England U18s this season and the bursary money has taken the pressure off and allowed me to focus solely on my rugby.

The bursary money that the Trust have provided me with has been massively important to me throughout the year and has allowed me to purchase various pieces of equipment such as boots, pads, supplements etc - items that may have been otherwise hard to purchase as easily and would have to have been down to my parents to buy. This money has also helped my parents transport me to and from various rugby venues and games.

I would once again like to thank the Trust for your continued support throughout this season and the role that you have played in my personal development, Thank You.

Nick

On 25th March the Under 15s played against Devon Schools at Aretians RFC, who turned out the biggest side your correspondent has ever seen at this age group. A local spectator thought they were a Colts XV. Our boys played really well, but in the end size carried the day, and we went down 15-34. Outside half and captain Elias Caven scored a try and a penalty, and converted a try by second row Tom Williams.

To complete their season, on April 1st the Under 15s travelled to Hereford RFC to play Herefordshire Schools, where they played some scintillating rugby in running up a 67-0 pts victory, including no less than eleven tries. Caven again led the away with five of his own, and added six conversions to others by Robby Melville (2), Scott Ball, Mark Cottam, Esher Pegrum and Sam Boyland.

Finally, for the fourth season in row a player from BSRU has gained international recognition at Under 16. Ben Gompels (St Bede's School) is currently playing in the England Schools Festival Tournament at Wellington College. At the time of writing he has already played for England North against the USA and the Netherlands. We wish him well, and hope to see him progress to the England Elite squad.

The Bristol mini and Junior section has had a good spring with numbers increasing in the mini section and with some good winning results. The U12's have linked together with the Aretians unit as both sides were short of numbers but the two Bristol coaches, Mark Hambly and Trevor Clarke have joined forces with their Aretian's counterparts and have had a busy schedule of matches and are building a good side.

James Dite who fronts the mini coaching team has also managed good results from the growing numbers of players, but have also temporarily taken the minis over to the Aretians ground to play so that our main mini and Midi sections are playing at the same venue. The season will end with a trip to South Wales for a tournament and we look forward to building numbers before next season when we should be running sides from U7 right through to U13. We are keen to welcome new players into the club and also any aspiring coaches who would like to join us and work for their coaching badges and pass their experiences and playing skills onto our young players. Visit our website www.bristolyouthrugby.co.uk

From mid-June we have decided to cancel the Trust telephone service (0870 246 7625) due to the cost as well as its lack of use. Please use post or email to contact us in future or see one of us at the ground after a game.

Bristol Rugby’s coaching staff faced supporters’ questions at the BRIS Trust Q&A on Wednesday evening.

Hosted at the Inn On The Green in Horfield, the event saw Head Coach Liam Middleton review the season so far, while Academy Manager Mike Hall outlined his plans for the Club’s young crop of talent.

Following BRIS Trust Chairman Andrew Humphreys introduction, Middleton was first to address an audience of over one-hundred supporters.

“It’s good to be top but there is still plenty to do this season,” he said. “There have been lots of positives, particularly the way that we’re scoring tries and the number of bonus-points we have achieved. The RFU Championship is incredibly competitive so we can’t rest on our laurels, a couple of defeats can see a team drop down into mid-table.”

When asked about goals for the remainder of the campaign, Middleton responded by explaining that he was focusing on processes rather than outcomes.

He commented: “The most important thing is that we are where we want to be after the twenty-second game of the season. We have achieved some of our pre-season objectives and I am confident a top-five finish is still realistic.

“Now we are focusing on starting games well and improving our defence. We’ve gone from the tightest defence in the league to leaking tries. We know why we’re conceding them and we know what’s working and what’s not. We’re working incredibly hard to improve our defensive displays.”

The Head Coach paid tribute to the new additions to the Club, highlighting the benefits they have brought to the squad.

“The new players have fitted in with the culture right away,” Middleton explained. “They’ve been able to pass on their knowledge and experience to the other players. Jason Harris-Wright showed he can handle pressure well with his performance against Cornish Pirates, while Ruki Tipuna has a good number of years in top-class rugby and he will bring extra quality. On the whole, recruitment is now complete. We remain open-minded about the right people coming in but the squad is certainly taking shape.”

Academy Manager Mike Hall provided an overview of the Academy and the depth of talent across the local schools and clubs in the city.

He commented: “The full-time Academy members have really benefited from the B&I Cup this season. It’s a big squad but individuals are knocking on the door for first team action. The U15s and U16s age groups have performed well, while the U18s have produced three players (Callum Braley, Steve Uren and Nick Carpenter) who were invited to an England training camp.

“It’s a testament to the quality that the Academy has through the age groups. During my time with the Club, myself and Matt [Sherratt] have received enormous support from local clubs and schools – it’s been really appreciated.”

Academy lock-forward Ben Glynn told supporters he’ll be undergoing surgery this week to have scar tissue removed – delaying his comeback to regular first-team action for another four weeks.

Chief-Executive Steve Gorvett rounded off proceedings by telling supporters Bristol were financially stable and planning for the long-term.

“The investors looked at the league table and spotted an opportunity this season,” he said. “We are financially sound and living within our means. We have a long-term plan and our investors are backing us.”

If you would like to be tweeted about Trust updates/news then thanks to our new Trustee, Wyn Tingley, you can at @BRIS_Trust. Thanks Wyn.

In the close season the Trust has been busy reviewing various requests for funding and we are delighted to advise that the first two items that we have approved are:

- £3,000 to continue our funding of the Academy coaches/scouts who Liam Middleton has recently advised are instrumental to the continued success of the Academy

- £1,000 bursary to support Nick Carpenter in his development for both Bristol and England at U16’s. Nick is the most promising centre in the country at England U16's and Bristol through and through!!

Steve Gorvett (CEO) and Rob Clilverd (Director) represented the Club. The Trust, Supporters Club, Former Players Society and 2028 club were represented. Rob handed out a press release that contained a statement from Chris Booy’s this was subsequently released the following day.

Steve and Rob said that the Club was planning to be much stronger next season and competitive on the field. They asked that we emphasise the importance of the success of the Chairman’s Club to the Clubs ability to recruit and strengthen the squad for next season.

They raised the idea of a match day raffle to run next season. They have noticed that most Championship clubs run a raffle and it would provide useful income for the Club. They require up to 12 volunteers to run it and asked that the supporter’s organisations consider running it.

Finally the Trust made the point that the Club had given a confusing message re the Academy being supported by the Chairman’s Club next season since the Trusts current focus is on the Academy. We agreed to discuss this with Steve Gorvett and Liam Middleton to plan how the Trust can best contribute going forward.

The Club said that they were actively considering recruiting top players who would be prepared to play on a part time basis. To support this they asked if we knew of employers in the area that would take on these players on a 4 day week basis to supplement their playing salary. We said that we would need to understand the skills on offer to match to potential employers, however, if you have a business or work for a business that would be interested in employing a Bristol player next season then please let us know via email.

Steve said that the Club would be running an annual dinner at Filton College in May and that details would be published in due course.

We finished by thanking Steve and Rob for the great work that they continue to do for the Club (This obviously goes for the Chris as well).

At the presentation on the Academy on 17 January 2011 Andrew Humphreys, Chairman, presented a cheque for £1,500 to Academy Manager Liam Middleton. This means that the Trust has hit all of its targets for the 2010/2011 season and wish to thank everyone who contributed. However, please keep on giving generously as we are sure to have a lot more to support next season!

The BRIS Trust are delighted to support the Academy as Partner Sponsors for the 2010/11 season. We have been set some stretching fund raising targets and are well on our way to achieving them by funding 2 new coaches/talent scouts Mike Jones and Alex Guest who will be able to spread Bristol Rugby's net to spot promising young players.

We have also donated 50% of the money required towards new playing kit for our Academy squad to play their fixtures which we are hoping will last a couple of seasons. However, it is a rough game and so we expect wear and tear to be high! So far this season we have donated £2,500 to achieve all of this which is largely thanks to the efforts of the 4 men who kayaked the Thames in 3 days.

Andrew Humphreys, BRIS Trust Chairman, says,

'We were asked to provide financial support to the Academy in April and have set to it with relish. We are delighted to support the future of Bristol Rugby and would ask that any Bristol fan who wants to help either joins the Trust or donates. It doesn't matter how large or small the donation as it all counts'.

Liam Middleton, Academy Manager says,

‘The support that BRIS Trust has provided to the Academy this season has been outstanding. The Academy projects which have been funded by BRIS Trust go a long way in supporting the pathway of players in the Bristol area. By funding the recruitment of two EPDG Coaches/Scouts we have already been able to expand our provision of coaching support to the EPDG as well as identifying several new young academy players. Last Friday we played an Academy game in the new kit which has been supported by the Trust. It goes without saying that the assistance that BRIS Trust provides to our Academy, and in turn the future of the game in the area, is invaluable.’

In place of a 2010 calendar you will be able to download a wallpaper to adorn your PC, kitchen wall or desk from the Trust website each month during 2010.

Each one will have details of Trust events and Bristol 1st Team games and will have recent action shots as well! These can be downloaded from this site for free but you are welcome to make a donation if you would like to.

Our thanks go to Hannah King again for designing the wallpapers and for her continuing support.

The BRIS Trust is delighted to confirm that we will be a partner sponsor of the Academy and EPDG. We met with the Academy coaches last week and agreed that we will aim for a minimum fund raising target for next season of £5,000. This will be used to purchase a full set of playing kit for the EPDG squad, judo lessons for all Academy players and funding a Development Coach and Scout for the Bristol area. We see this as a great opportunity to cement a strengthening relationship between the Club and the Trust and look forward to being a part of Bristol Rugby’s future. Obviously the more we raise, the more we can help the Academy and EPDG.

Recently we have had to notify you of changes to meeting details at short notice. It would be helpful if we could do this via email to speed up communication and reduce costs. Therefore, we request that you share your email address with us by writing it on the membership renewal form or emailing it to us. Thanks in advance.

We would like to welcome Dave Hilton as a co-opted Trustee to the Trust and we look forward to the insights that Dave will provide with respect to investment in young player development and links with Combination clubs. Welcome Dave.

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