Hi Sarge Hmmmm I am most disappointed in their response to me which i will publish here as promised -
My initial email to Niall and copied to Chris Williams and yourself -
"
Dear Mr. McWilliams,
I am writing to express my disappointment over the management and execution of the advertised free scarves with the new club crest for kids initiative.
My eleven year old has been to one previous Oxford United match (in December against Wigan) where i bought an Oxford United football shirt for her. She had been thinking of going to watch them again and upon looking on the website said to me "Mum, Oxford United want children to go and welcome the new manager and theyre giving children a free scarf to wave and I'd like to go and do that" so i had a look and explained to her that i would take her and a friend and we would go early but there would only be so many scarves and so they may or may not get one which she accepted, no problem.
However, when we arrived before 12.00 noon so over an hour before kick off, not only were there none left but more adults than kids were wearing them. I was astounded.
We were in Stand 22 and i said politely to the families who were there "Excuse me, but did you realise that the free scarves are intended for children, not adults?" When i drew a blank and a lot of shrugged shoulders i said "There are children sitting in these stands who do not have a scarf to wave to welcome the new manager for his first home game - these scarves are intended for the children so would some of you adults be prepared to relinquish your scarf to give to a child please?" By this time a number of scarf-less children were watching and not one adult responded.
I sat down in shock and a lady behind me said to me "What you fail to realise is that we adults were handed the free scarves - We did not ask for them" so i replied very politely "Oh, thank you for making me aware of that - that is good to know but now you have the information that they were intended for children and now you can see around you children who were not given one, would you like to give one of the children the scarf you have round your neck?" and she said "Of, course - your daughter can have mine - I don't need it" Unfortunatley, no other adult followed suit.
I went inside and asked to speak to the stand manager who responded positively and agreed with me that indeed the scarves (and some flags) were intended for children. He promised to investigate and come and see me. He came to see me at half-time but merely said "Sorry, all the scarves are gone - It was our youth volunteers who handed out the scarves"
I mentioned this to my friend Mark Sargeant (copied) a loyal supporter and share-holder for many years, who mentioned the matter on the unofficial yellows forum.
Interestingly, on the forum it became clear why there were hardly any of the free flags - someone was spotted filling a big bag up with them! a forum moderator Malc immediately got in touch with Chris Williams (copied) who said he would get in touch with my friend Mark about the matter but to date has not been in touch with him to my knowledge.
I find it extremely difficult to comprehend how whoever handed the scarves out to all and sundry instead of the intended recipients could have done so without someone stepping in to remind them what their role was.
I am appalled at the attitude of the adults (as i am sure you are) and I can't understand how it was allowed to happen but most of all i feel upset on behalf of the children who were there who had been promised that a few hundred of them would receive a scarf or flag to wave and for my daughter and her friend who are right at the start of what could be a life-time of being stalwart Oxford United fans. I just have the memory of my little girl reading what the website said and answering the call by saying "Yes, I'll go and welcome the new manager and wave a scarf for his first home game", excitedly arriving very early and not only there being no scarves or flags (at 11.50am!) but seeing adults with them.
I would very much like you to take on board what has happened and do everything to ensure the same doesn't occur again. I would also feel happy if either my daughter and her friend receive an apology and / or the website make an apology and assure children that they are very much appreciated as fans - because obviously that is not the message they received on Good Friday.
Further, If you have any similar initiatives, I would be more than happy to manage the giveaways for no payment whatsoever as I would guarantee that the operation would be managed efficiently, with good heart and with a strong message of gratitude to fans.
Thank you for reading,
Kendra Kirkham"
*********************
Chris Williams reply to me, Niall and Sarge copying in Kath Faulkner Supporter Liaison Officer -
!
Hi Kendra (are you the Kendra who used to work here? Hi if it's you!)
I've copied in Kath Faulkner who is our Supporter Liaison Officer and will be better able to provide a reply but just wanted to say sorry if it caused any young fans any disappointment.
Just to clear up one thing, Malcolm messaged my personal twitter on Saturday and I promised to pass it on, which I did when Kath and I travelled to Shrewsbury on Monday, but I did say at the time to always contact the club via official channels as I don't use my own twitter for work purposes. Apologies for any confusion/delay as a result of that but I work for a lot of clubs, not just OUFC, and try and keep my personal space well away from those clubs.
Mark phoned earlier and spoke with Kath and I think she outlined what happened and talked it through with him and I am sure she will provide a better reply on this.
Chris Williams
Communications Manager"
***********************************
My reply to Chris et al -
"Hi Chris,
Thank-you for the prompt response. I never worked for OXFC and am aghast that there is another Kendra!
)
I take on board what you say - Thank you for the explanation.
Definitely good to keep personal twitter a/c separate from work!
Regards,
Kendra"
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BRUSHING UNDER THE CARPET / FOBBING OFF BEGINS!
Kath's reply to me copied to Niall, Chris and Sarge -
"Hi Kendra,
Thank you for your email and I understand your frustrations.
As Chris says I spoke to Mark earlier and I am sorry for any disappointments caused for your daughter. Unfortunately with such a small number of giveaways and a large Good Friday crowd we were not able to guarantee one for everyone.
I've spoken to some of the community coaches who were over in that area as well as involved in giving the scarves and flags away and they have said that they were being given out specifically to children or those with children in the stand, but I can see that seeing adults wearing them in the stands would be disappointing if you'd been told there were none left for your child. We will make sure that with any giveaways we do at future games the staff responsible for them are fully briefed.
We gave away over 2000 flags and 300 scarves across all three stands on Friday and whilst we stressed in the build up to the game that fans should take one per person and that the scarves were for children we are somewhat at the mercy of those who wish to "game" the system.
Thank you again for your feedback, we will certainly be taking in on board for any future giveaways that we do.
Kind regards,
Kath
--
Kath Faulkner
Supporter Liaison Officer and Social Media
Oxford United Football Club, Grenoble Road, Oxford, OX4 4XP"
*********************************************
My reply to Kath, copied to Sarge, Chris and Niall -
"
Hi Kath,
Thanks for your response.
There was not a big crowd when we arrived.
There were a good number of entire families wearing the scarves - for example immediately behind us were three adults and three children together all wearing the scarves in fact in the entire family stand when we arrived every single person was wearing a scarf - I wish i had taken a photo. There were not 300 people in the family stands at that point so we can only hope that the remainder of the scarves were given to children! Any families that came in after us had no scarves.
Several of the adults in the stand confirmed to me that they had all been handed the scarves individualyl - No-one said that anyone handing out the scarves had said they were for children only - and I suppose i believe them since they were wearing the scarves also.
It would be good to think that all OXFC volunteers had kept to the remit of scarves to children only and that a few bad eggs took advantage but it is patently obvious that they did not - at least not for stand 22
When we went in there were really not many people in the ground. There were no away fans at all and not many in the main stands. It was 11.50am
The 300 scarves and 2000 flags were really not given out as promised - I only precid what i saw - I saw more than one person (member of public) carrying whole piles of flags.
As I said, a written or stated apology (web-site) is the least that would satisfy me and some admission that OUFC did not execute the job properly and in the interest of younger fans.
Sorry to sound so blunt but that is what it amounts to - I am so bitterly disappointed
Kendra"
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MISSING THE POINT
Kath's response to me copied to Sarge, Chris and Niall -
"Dear Kendra,
We are very sorry that you have gone away feeling disappointed.
Our goal was simply to give away merchandise to fans to bring some colour to the stadium for Karl’s first game in charge.
Kind regards,
Kath"
My response to Kath et al
"Dear Kath,
I will await a response from Niall to whom after all this email is addressed.
Kendra"
HERE FOLLOWS A LONG WAIT FOR RESPONSE FROM NIALL
PART TWO TO FOLLOW SHORTLY
Kendra
