What are people's views on the impending transfer of shares from the Members Club to the new Supporters Trust?

Personally I am in two minds about the whole deal.  I welcome the move by the members club to pass these shares to a group which is potentially better placed to give more/all fans a say in how votes are cast using this shareholding but I worry that the Trust is still too much in it's infancy and lacks sufficient members to be truly representative of the fans.

I guess it's a step in the right direction, and hopefully the move to transfer the shares will encourage more people to take the Trust seriously and increase membership.

The member's club was a closed shop and numbers were dwindling.  The share transfer has taken a long time to process as there have been loads of legal hoops to jump through.  Seems it just needs ratification by the club now for it to go through.

I think and hope that the trust will have a slightly higher profile this year and will continue to grow.  At least people can join the trust and be involved, unlike the member's club.

So just fill out that form CaleyD and at least you can have an involvement.  I think that the voting rights which will be transferred will be a big selling point to potential new members. I believe that the trust voting rights will be the highest percentage of any trust in the SPL!!!

all for it !!

The members club has served its purpose and since membership in it has been closed for a number of years (1996 / 1997 ?) it is only fair that the shares they were given are moved across to a body that is open for all fans to join.

To my mind, the Supporters Trust should be an umbrella body that contains other 'lesser' organisations within it (perhaps as affiliates) - such as the official supporters club, other independent supporters organisations, members club, perhaps even a travel club for when we get into Europe .... these other organisations can then go about their business in whatever way they need to but the main supporters trust should be the liaison and focus point to bring fan issues to the club.

The Supporters Trust may be in its infancy, and I know you have issues about certain things CaleyD, but I am fairly happy as a supporter that there is a decent level of experience and expertise on there at the moment. I am sure the faces will change over the coming seasons and when it comes election time we will undoubtedly give some space to anyone wishing to publish their manifesto if there are actually enough people putting their names forward to require a vote [seem to remember from my time on the Supporters Club committee that we virtually had to press gang people to be on it !!!]

My biggest issue is the lack of members, which is why I brought the topic up as this kind of thing will hopefully persuade those who have been thinking about it to finally join.

I never created this thread to air any issues, just thought it would be interesting for this information to be out there so as people could discuss it.

LG, I fully intend to renew my membership, and also hope to have more time to get involved in the new year.

Tend to agree that it's a good move on the whole but much more needs to be done by the trust to raise its profile and recruit new members.

Fair comment Kingsmills.  It's a bit of a catch 22 - to do more needs more members, but we need to raise awareness to attract new members.  There are 1 or 2 things already in the pipeline for 2007 and the communication with the club has improved beyond recognition.  The new club chairman is an avid supporter of the trust which also helps.

For your information, a couple of members of the trust board (usually the chair and vice chair) meet with the club monthly, which is followed by a monthly Trust Board Meeting.  There is usually a full trust meeting every 6 months, the AGM and then 1 other as a way of updating the members, and allowing members an opportunity to make their points too.  These meetings have so far been followed by a very entertaining and informative fans forum. 

The status of the trust is growing, but can only grow more with more members.  So don't sit there thinking if only they did this or that, check out the website and send an e-mail with questions or ideas.  It's open to all so get your applications in and then the voice of the trust will be a true representation of a wide range of fans.

While the share transfer still needs the final approval of ICT we are confident this will take place in January.  Like L_G, I am on the Trust board and so far we have been going around a fairly sharp learning curve.  Some things have gone very well while others have been more problematic.  We'll learn from these difficulties.  Here are a few conclusions I have come to in the last year.

1. Les Kidger dances like Baloo the Bear and bowls like Fred Flintstone.  It's quite uncanny.  :015:

2. It has taken time to build trust between the Football Club and the Supporter's Trust but I think we have now succeeded.  Educating fans about the trust and its aims remains a priority and needs to continue.  We do try to get our message across e.g. handing out information leaflets and application forms to all home fans attending the recent Hearts game.  We are happy to consider other ways of doing that

3.  ICT fans are hard to enthuse and often unwilling to get involved.  The Supporters Club have found this to be the case for years and I don't think this has changed.  For example, we have recently been trying to help the club set up a crew of people willing to help get the stadium ready for matches in adverse weather conditions.  The Trust has highlighted this issue on this website, in match programmes, over the tannoy on match days and at trust meetings. The response has been very disappointing. 

One of the big differences between our trust and that of other teams is that others were born out of a necessity to help their club through difficult times. Ours will take time to build but this share transfer will go a long way in the promotion os the club. It does, however, need to promote more as a representative of all fans, not just members, and not be seen as an organisation with a clique following.

The share transfer, when it goes through, will give the trust more clout in the decision making of the club and gives the trust strength at a time when it is just beginning to build funds for that purpose.

We can only get better at what we are about and with the right people, which I think we have, at the helm I'm sure this trust will become a very prominant feature of Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

So come on guys and girls. Get your forms filled out and your fivers sent in. Be a part of the future.

Make that tenners  :004: :004:

The members club was a relic of the merger and the wrangling that went through that.  I don't think that it's right to have a closed shop club holding shares.  At least the Supporters Trust is open for new members to join, although as noted our fans are difficult to enthuse.  Why not a mailshot to all season-ticket holders t raise some interest?

I'm all for moving forward and if the Supporters Trust is progressive and has reasonable business acumen, I have no problem with the transfer of voting rights. However, we should ALWAYS remember that these shares represent the investment made by the two old clubs and ICT would not be here without them.