BUSY times continue at the club and it really feels like a whirlwind now off the pitch, but one that is spiralling upwards.

The lockdown restrictions meant that we had to postpone our sponsors evening from its usually January slot with the start to the season delayed and all hospitality closed.

We were nervous that we were going to miss such an important night for our budget but what we got was tremendous support.

We were able to host the evening in our marquee which is probably the only open-air venue in the area that could host such an event.

It was a case of wrapping up warm with hats and coats as we got unseasonal cold weather, but it was great to see so many supporters in the room backing the club.

The support we received was mind-blowing and we managed to raise an amount of around £31,000 from the players auction, which I believe is a record.

We had major doubts about the event taking place so we were overly cautious with what we put into the budget so what happened really does strengthen the club.

Add in the fact that the drinks sales all went in the direction of the club and things were brighter still.

Earlier that morning we had made a visit to Newcastle to talk about hiring a big screen for the European Championships.

We are pleased to say that we saw the type of screen we wanted in action and agreed a deal. It will mean that once again we must remodel the ground, but we are convinced that this will be yet another massive income stream for the club.

Most major towns and cities have fan zones for the major football tournaments, and we are sure that the public of Barrow have been missing out. We have rented the screen for just over a month with the option to buy at the end.

Clearly, this gives us further opportunities to take advantage and we can use the screen as an open-air cinema putting on some classic movies for both children and adults and looking further ahead Tyson v Fury would be a fantastic event in front of a large crowd.

We make no apology for diversifying. I have said numerous times that we cannot grow simply by relying on the traditional income streams through rugby crowds with so few of them in the calendar.

We are determined to have a venue that is utilised many times throughout the year but also provides something our town of Barrow has been lacking.

We want to make Barrow a better place to live.

All the above, of course, is with the aim of strengthening the position of the club. Again, we make no apology for stating our ambition to eventually reach Super League.

All these new income streams will somehow be diverted into team and facility improvements and we hope to be trailblazers amongst rugby league clubs in the fact that we are running a multi-faceted business rather than a simple rugby club. Busy times, but exciting times.