We are delighted to report that Mark Batchelor and Derek Orford have been elected to the board of CAST.

Mark is a Director of a national planning consultancy and he assisted CAST back in July in our discussions with RB Greenwich about increasing protection for The Valley and Sparrows Lane. He has supported Charlton since he was six years old when he was "awestruck walking into what seemed a cavernous stadium filled with thousands of singing, shouting and cheering supporters." He and his four year old son have season tickets for this season and he is looking forward to taking his youngest to his first match.

Derek is a master brewer by trade: "most of all you have to care about quality - the quality of the beer and what the drinker sees and tastes". His first match at The Valley was as a seven year old in 1968. He was present at The Valley with his two brothers on December 5th 1992 and he flew in from his job in The Bahamas "with a case of Kalik beer" for Wembley 1998. He was one of a group of expat fans drinking in The Royal Oak who were invited to meet the players after the game.

Nigel Kleinfield and John Barnes have been on the CAST board for four years and two years respectively. In accordance with our constitution they resigned this year and stood for re-election and were both re-elected. Lauren Kreamer and Sam Cooke were co-opted on to the CAST board this year and stood for election. They were both elected.

After six years on the board Alex Clarke decided not to stand for re-election. We would like to put on record our gratitude for all the work she has done for CAST since 2014. She took responsibility for overseeing high standards of presentation, grammar and spelling on our website. She designed and delivered all our surveys. She co-managed our Twitter account. She was a frequent presence on our matchday stall in all weathers without grumbling (much). Most importantly, however, she was a constant and reassuring voice of reason and moderation in our board discussions while the rest of us were getting hot under the collar.