30th May 2012 – 10th anniversary of the formation of AFC Wimbledon

I (as WISA Press Officer) wrote this early in June 2002 following various Wimbledon Independent Supporter Association meetings after the Three Man FA Commission sanctioned the theft of Wimbledon FC on the 28th May 2002. Two days later on the 30th May 2002 a huge meeting took place at Wimbledon Community Centre, and now 10 years later, we can look back at what was achieved by so few for so many – sounds very Churchillian.

The original with spelling mistakes can be found here: http://www.wisa.org.uk/cgi/l/articles/index.cgi?action=show&id=124
I am sure you will find others too and some grammamtical errors for good measure!

WISA Wimbledon News Article

WISA Article Thursday 6th June 2002 By Laurence Lowne

28th May 2002 will go down as the day that Wimbledon FC Ltd was removed from the conscious mind of Wimbledon supporters.
30th May 2002 will go down as the day Wimbledon supporters reclaimed their heritage.

On Thursday the 30th May almost 1,000 Wimbledon fans packed into the WISA agm at Wimbledon Community Centre. After much passionate debate lasting over 2 hours, the members agreed to create a club called AFC Wimbledon and to make an application to the Ryman League to join Division Two in time for this coming season.

In the space of 48 hours, despair has been replaced with hope.

It is intended to initially groundshare with a team local to Merton, create a team with a forward thinking manager and harness the disenfranchised fanbase that follows Wimbledon.

This is a massive opportunity for supporters, businesses, the media and local government to be in at the start of a revolution as the fans reclaim the game that has been disastrously treated during recent years. This is the opportunity to build a club of the community.

Right now the priority for AFC Wimbledon is to raise £20,000 which is a commitment to the cause and must be in place by the 12th June 2002. Supporters are being asked to pay £200-00 as a Season Ticket advance – many are contributing more. This will ensure sufficient funds are in place to pay for the groundshare, registration fees and licence to play during the first year.

Once the funds are in place, an application will be made to the Ryman League to join the reorganised Division Two on the 17th June 2002, which is 25 years to the day since Wimbledon FC were elected to Division Four of the Football League – poignant or what?

Within 4 years AFC Wimbledon could be promoted to Division Three of the Football League – we have done it once before, we can do it again. And we are going to have great fun attempting it – the excitement is infectious.

Kris Stewart (WISA Chair) commented: ‘This is the opportunity for the fans to demonstrate their love for the name Wimbledon. We call upon every person who has a connection with the name of Wimbledon to stand up and play their part today, tomorrow and forever. You could have the skills we need, please get in touch.’

WISA and The Dons Trust are bringing a team together to make this happen, but it is vital that people with experience and knowledge of non-league football are brought in to act as a guiding hand. There are a surprisingly large number of people within the Dons ranks who have retained connections with non-league football and these business-people will have a vital role to play in the formation of AFC Wimbledon.

It is not possible just now to confirm which ground we will be sharing, but we can assure all supporters that the facilities will be excellent.

So what can you do right now?
· Invest £200-00 or more in a Season ticket advance (see Dons Trust column for details)
· Help spread the word about AFC Wimbledon
· Volunteer your services – please either call 020 8540 7396 or send an email to afc@wisa.org.uk – there is a lot a to do
· Attend all events being organised – Dons Trust at Mitcham Carnival this Saturday
· Write letters, send emails and call the phone-ins relating to the theft of the shell of our Club by the MK Imposters (if you need addresses, please send a request and a large sae to WISA PO Box 32923, London SW19 4FN)
· Display a poster in your shop window

The £20,000 being raised right now by the 12th June 2002 will be used to secure the groundshare, pay for registration and the licence to play.

It is the first stage of fundraising – there will be further requests and a need for funds. There will be a number of Dons Trust events during the summer. One for all supporters comes on the 17th June, when we shall celebrate 25 years to the day our election to the Football League Division Four. That could become a double celebration, since it is the date that the Ryman League hold their AGM and consider our application for membership. Clear indications are that following their reorganisation they would welcome us (they didn’t – editor)

This is an exciting time for Wimbledon supporters; it provides a focus for our energies, but do not for one second think that we have given up the fight to retain our name, badge and history.

WISA will be following a two pronged attack.
1) to work towards the solid creation of AFC Wimbledon
2) to fight the MK impostors for what is rightfully ours

An information release will soon be in the hands of members outlining our plans for the next few months and will include an application for membership. Please renew and ask three other supporters top join as well. Your membership is needed more today than ever before, and if you can renew early that would be fantastic, and a donation too – even better.

In closing I would like to pay tribute to Kris Stewart, Ivor Heller, Marc Jones and Trevor Williams, who have worked really hard over the last 10 days putting this together – as Kris says: ‘sleep is for wimps’. I can tell you sleep has been at a premium for a quite a number of people recently and will be even more so over the next few weeks.

so are we about see a fall in global temperatures?

Watts Up With That?

Guest post by David Archibald

The first prediction of the current climatic minimum was made by Hubbert Lamb in 1970 in a report (Weiss and Lamb) for the German Navy. He did it by making a reconstructed record of the average frequency of south-westerly surface winds in England since 1340. Quoting Lamb “We sense a cycle or periodicity of close to 200 years in length.” and “There may be a valuable indication of the origin of this apparent 200 year recurrence tendency, in that the sharp declines of the south-westerly wind indicated in the late 1300s, 1560s, 1740s-1770s and now, in each case fell at about the end of a sequence of sunspot cycles which built up to periods of exceptionally great solar disturbance (around 1360-80, the 1570s, the 1770s, the 1950s and more recently). The frequency maxima of the south-westerly wind, and evidence of warm climate periods in Europe…

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Telecom plus Plc year end results

When I joined in Telecom plus 1997, I had no idea, where the decision would take me, and the latest results shows that decision was so justified in such a positive way.

Please read on:

Here’s the Telecom plus annual results, posted to the London Stock Exchange today (Wednesday 23 May 2012).

This will confirm the ongoing strength of the business and encourage others to join. There is no time to sit on the fence; this unstoppable train is moving with force. Doubters; GUPTRs and imitators are being swept aside.

For more information about the business opportunity please click here: Future-Biz

Highlights:

· Revenue up 12.6% to £471.5m (2011: £418.8m)

· Profit before tax up 11.8% to £30.7m (2011: £27.5m)

· EPS up 12.3% to 33.8p (2011: 30.1p)

· Full year dividend up 23% to 27p per share (2011: 22p)

· Strong cash generation, with a net inflow of £14.1m (2011: £15.6m outflow)

· Positive year end net cash balance of £0.9m (2011: net debt of £13.1m) after £6.6m purchase of freehold property in period

Operating Highlights:

· Further accelerating organic growth

· Number of services supplied up by 18% (2011: 12%) to 1,381,023

· Customer base now exceeds 415,000 (2011: 371,000)

· Continuing improvement in customer quality

· Doubling in proportion of new customers taking 4 + services

· Lower churn

Performance

Overall performance for the year has been extremely encouraging in a number of key respects:

· faster organic growth with service numbers up by 18.0% (2011: 12.1%)

· significant improvement in customer quality – lower churn – lower delinquency – increase in number of services taken

· strong cash generation

Charles Wigoder said:   “Our improvement in organic growth has been driven by continuing high levels of confidence amongst our distributors in our brand and financial strength, the good value provided by our services, and our commitment to delivering a consistently first class customer service experience.

We are also benefiting from the continuing difficult economic climate, which makes both our value-based customer proposition and part-time earning opportunity look increasingly attractive against the background of a broader economy where working hours are being cut, wages are being frozen, part-time jobs are less readily available and disposable incomes are under pressure.”

Go to: http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201205230700168916D

Wyn makes some interesting points on this subject, and rather aligned to my own, when it comes to networking, since it is so important to go to an event with a purpose, not simply to attend for the sake of being there.

TWC – 10th Birthday Celebration – Tuesday 19th June 2012

Just Do It Conference and Gala Dinner – Tuesday 19 June 2012

How would you celebrate your 10th year of business?

A big party and invite all your friends, or perhaps a conference too and celebrate successful business women.

Well why not combine the two, throw in some excellent speakers, raise money for a charity that is doing some amazing work, plus a venue, which provides some of the best cuisine in London and has done for a number of years?

It seems that is what Jackie Groundsell of The Womens Company is doing on Tuesday 19 June 2012 at Quaglinos in Bury Street, London.

There is an array of talent, speaking during the day plus experts to give one-to-one guidance, two master classes, an expo too, for those wish to parade their wares, then in the evening a gala dinner with entertainment and Andy Lopata will be speaking as well, no doubt with a mention or two of Charlton Athletic following their Championship winning season and promotion.

It gets better, since I have also been able to arrange a 10% discount as well – but you will need to drop me an email to find out how. Please send to info@combyne.co.uk together with your name, business name and contact number.

and the charity, Ovacome. Jackie tells me: ‘For the past 5 years 1230 TWC has been proud to support Ovacome the support network supporting those affected by ovarian cancer. This year we are supporting them with a Fabulous Raffle.’

“Just Do It!” is an exciting and powerful Conference for Today’s Business Women, whilst the Gala Dinner in the evening see the guys n gals welcome in their finery.

Full details and booking can be found here: http://www.1230jdi.co.uk/ – don’t forget your email, if you would like to secure your 10% discount before ordering.