This Saturday is World Mental Health Day and we will be recognising that at our home game against Swindon Supermarine with the official launch of our partnership with local charity Bucks Mind. It was my hope that we would be able to welcome guests from the charity to the game and organise bucket collections, but under the current social distancing regulations we have agreed to delay that until later in the season as we look to plan a number of events to support this exceptional cause. However, we will be sharing information around the ground and in the matchday programme so please do take the time to read the information and be conscious that there may be people around you suffering mental challenges in these unusual times.

It can often be deemed a cliché, but as a football club we are like one big family, and as such we should be looking out for each other, supporting each other and sharing the view that it is ok to not feel ok. I know football and football supporters stereotypically choose to hide any emotions in fear of being deemed weak and having the mickey taken out of them. I would like to think now we have moved on from those times, especially at non-league football, especially at Chesham United, and we can use our partnership with Bucks Mind to reassure everybody that there is help out there. There is someone to talk to. I am delighted to say that we will be joined at Saturday’s game by the Mayor Roderick McCulloch, and his wife Suzanne, to support our charity partnership and to hopefully watch an entertaining game of football. Tuesday night’s win at Harrow Borough continued our good start to the season and we will be looking to maintain our challenge at the top end of the table with another three points.

Crowds have been exceptionally good so far this season and I hope to see another good following at The Meadow on Saturday, I won’t repeat all the messages about our covid-19 procedures at the risk of sounding like a broken record, but needless to say we look forward to welcoming you, please arrive in good time to help us manage the crowds through the turnstiles and please do use good common sense on the terraces and around to make sure that social-distancing is recognised and we do not threaten our ability to host crowds by breaking any of the rules. We will have a third turnstile open this week, this will be exclusively for season ticket holders, Claret Club members and player passes only; we will also be printing extra programmes, conscious of the fact that they have been selling out early at recent matches.

We also now have our disabled access ramp into The Chess Suite completed and operational, a big thank you to Terry Dyer who has made this possible along with grants received, this has been a project we have wanted to complete for some time and I am delighted that we have been able to continue with improvements, despite the challenging times. With that in mind we are still looking for 50/50 raffle ticket sellers on matchdays; at £1 a ticket the idea will be to split the profits between prize money and vital funds towards the club, if you, or a group of friends, can help, please do get in touch.

I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all our sponsors that have backed us throughout these challenging times, I know it is financially difficult for everyone and your support is warmly welcomed. I hope with the good crowds we have been seeing early season that your sponsorship is well rewarded with excellent exposure and new customers from our loyal and expanding support base. From our perspective it is not just about bringing money into the club, it is about forging relationships that benefit both parties. If you are interested in sponsoring or advertising at the club, or indeed if you could spare the time to help us find new local business partners please contact me directly at chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk.

Finally, congratulations to the Ladies team on their impressive 7-0 victory last Sunday, again our COVID-19 procedures were in place and I have to say I am very proud of the way we are carrying these out as a club, I am yet to visit another ground that matches us for such a slick and safe management of crowds. Thank you to everyone involved.

Thank you once again for your support, stay safe and remember, it is ok to not feel ok, don’t suffer in silence.

Peter Brown, Chairman
Chesham United Football Club