Behind the scenes – update 8

Here is the latest of the behind the scenes updates of events at Darlington FC.

The Boards of Darlington FC and DFCSG continue to meet weekly via video conference call, to discuss various ongoing relevant matters. They met on Thursday 7^th May 2020.

The Current league season:

There has been no further communication from the National League Board during the past week. Therefore, there is nothing further to report on the status of the current league season.

Club finances:

Boost the Budget for season 2020/21 has been launched with the aim of raising at least £100,000 by the end of May. All of the previous contributors have been contacted, while further details are available here:

https://darlingtonfc.co.uk/news/boost-the-budget-202021-launches

At the time of publishing this article, the fans had raised £73,000.

Community engagement:

The club has continued to be very active again in the last week, and we intend to maintain this level of involvement through this period.

• The Buddy Mentoring Scheme has now reached over 700 supporters, with a great deal of excellent feedback. We know our fans appreciate the Club getting in touch to have a chat. We have now reached the point where we have started the cycle again, with fans receiving another call, but this time from a different person from the club.
• Another reminder of our dedicated Contact Line (07488 564642 and email address media@darlingtonfc.org ) for supporters who feel the need to talk to someone at the Club. Many thanks to those supporters who have used this service so far.
• The Rev John Barker, a life long Darlington fan, has been appointed club chaplain. He can be contacted on chaplain@darlingtonfc.org. To find out more about John click the link below:

https://darlingtonfc.co.uk/news/quakers-appoint-club-chaplain

• A very successful Netcafe was held with therapist Danny O’Connor – you can read it here https://darlingtonfc.co.uk/news/therapist-danny-oconnor-answers-your-questions
• Several FA Trophy Final features were published on the website last week as part of the build up to the re-run of the game on 9th May.
• A video interview with David Johnston was broadcast on 5^th May. David talked about the fantastic start to the Boost the Budget scheme and plans for the next season. This format proved to be very popular and feedback on social media was very favourable. You can watch it here https://darlingtonfc.co.uk/news/dj-article

In the coming week, in addition to a continuation of the above, we will:

• Be maintaining contact with all our schools, as they continue to provide a service for our vulnerable children and children of Key Workers.
• Continue to run feature articles on our sponsors and partners from the website. The Club remains in continuous contact with our sponsors and partners and we are maintaining our excellent relationships with them during these worrying times.
• Be presenting a new column, written by our club chaplain, John Barker.
• Be working on the progress of other new and exciting features for the website. There is plenty of potential using the Zoom facility.

Throughout these very difficult and unprecedented times, we have maintained a very high profile for the club on our official website and social media channels, and we will continue to do so for the benefit of our much-valued supporters. In the coming weeks and months, we will be exploring several new ideas to help provide our supporters with their ‘football fix’.

Thank you for your continued support, it is very much appreciated.

Remember, stay at home, stay safe and help the NHS.