Please join the Supporters Trust

[+DoofersDad]

With the introduction of the Fans Focus Group, a few folk have been asking questions about the Supporters Trust.  It is true that the Trust has not been very visible for a while, but with your help we hope that is about to change.  Over the last wee while, the few volunteers who make up the Board of the Trust have been working behind the scenes to improve the infrastructure to make us better placed to work effectively as a bridge between the club and its fan base.  We now have a new website where you can find out a bit more about the Trust and how you can join.  Improvements to the membership system make it easy to join.

So what is it that the Trust actually does or would like to do?  Broadly speaking, the Trust would like to work with the club in helping to improve the matchday experience for fans.  This would involve identifying what issues fans have with the current experience, what ideas people have, identifying what other people think of those ideas and then working with the club to address the problems and bring ideas to fruition.  This might be issues and ideas around access to the ground, car parking, ticketing arrangements, the club shop, stewarding, toilets, PR system, pre or post-match activities, half-time entertainment, catering, facilities for folk with disabilities etc.  

One area where we are keen to work with the club is in encouraging more enthusiastic youngsters to come to the games.  When we do get a good group of youngsters giving great vocal support, it not only creates some real atmopshere in the ground, it gives the guys out on the pitch a huge boost.  We all know there has been some behaviour from a small minority which has caused a problem or two, but the way to deal with that is through constructive engagement.  That is why we are particularly keen to get some younger people involved in the Trust and hoepfully onto the Trust Board in order to better represent the youngsters who, after all, are the future of our club.

We also want to get back to fundraising activities.  Not only does this bring people together and give people an enjoyable experience, it raises money for the club and associated activities.  For instance, we would be keen to raise money to help support the wonderful work our colleagues in the Community Trust do.  

The Trust will also get involved in other issues on an ad-hoc basis.  For instance, when the club decided it could not afford the upfront costs for getting Ian Broadfoot's book "Milestones and Memories" to print, it was the Supporter's Trust which stepped in with a fundraising campaign to quickly raise the required money.  As a result, there is a wonderful book for us all to enjoy and a significant profit for the club.

There is, therefore, a lot the Trust can do for the mutual benefit of club and supporter.  But what is certain is that all these things we would like to do won't happen unless we have both a significant increase in membership and a significant increase in the number of people wishing to be actively involved.  At the last AGM, there were only 4 people willing to stand as elected members of the Trust Board.  Since then we have co-opted one more Board Member, but heavy workplace and domestic committments severely restricts what we can do in our limited spare time.  We need to get more folk on the Board and we need to set up sub-groups (e.g. for fund-raising, youth engagement) if the Trust is to be effective.

Annual membership is just £5 and £1 for under 16s.  The Trust's admin costs will be much the same regadless of the number of members so an increase in the membership will generate cash which can then be passed on for good causes associated with the club. 

Crucially, increased membership also means that the Trust is seen by the club as being more representative.  For those acting on behalf of the Trust to be seen by fans and club alike as being genuinely representative, they need to be elected by a significant proportion of the wider supporters body.  In other words, the Supporters Trust can only work on behalf of supporters if the supporters support the Trust. 

 We therefore hope that as many of you as possible reading this will join and support the work of the Trust.  You can find a bit more information on our new website or you can join directly here. 

It is important to understand that the Supporters Trust is not a supporters club designed to give benefits to its members.  The purpose of the Trust is defined as being  ‘the vehicle through which a healthy, balanced and constructive relationship between the Club and its supporters and the communities it serves is encouraged and developed.’ and as ‘being the democratic and representative voice of the supporters of the Club and the communities which it serves’.   Registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, the Trust is also the custodian of a 10% voting right in the club. It is therefore really important that the Trust is as representative of the supporters as possible.  To be effective and to be seen as representative, the Trust needs to have as many members as possible and to have more people actively involved.

Please feel free to use this thread to ask any questions about the Trust or by email at admin@ictsupporterstrust.org. Please contact us by email if you would like to consider getting actively involved in the Trust.

The Trust can also be found on Facebook.  We do have a Twitter account but please note there is an on-going problem with access and we are currently unable to log into the account to post anything.

Many thanks for reading all of this and I hope you will feel able to join us.

Yours in togetherness

Peter Mutton

Chair, ICT Supporters Trust.

 

 

[+Gringo]

I think Mrs Gringo and I are already signed up - not sure. 

[Robert]

That’s me signed up. 

[old caley girl]

On 9/13/2021 at 2:58 PM, Gringo said:

I think Mrs Gringo and I are already signed up - not sure. 

No I dont think you are Gringo