Update & Moving Forward
It was the hope of everyone involved in this petition that with over 550 fans, including over 100 trust members signing this petition the trust board would see the need for change and would start listening to fans and behaving as a fan organisation should.
Sadly, the Trust board and it's advisors have taken the opposite approach and focused their energy in attempting to discredit the people behind this petition & anyone that supports it and while doing so continued to alienate large portions of our fan base by trying to set their own standards for what a fan should be - to be very clear, the only person who has the right to dictate if you are a fan or not, is you & we strongly feel no fans should be made to feel inferior, especially by those who should be representing you.
In the time since this petition was put forward we have also learned and confirmed that the FSA (Football Supporters Association) has tried to broker a meeting between the Trust board and the club where they would act as an intermediary. Several dates were put forward and the Trust board have thus far refused to meet, a clear demonstration that they are unwilling to work with the club at any level. Update : We have recieved further clarification from the club & the FSA on this situation, while it is true that the trust board has not been willing to meet collectivly, the chairman of the Trust board has said he will meet individually. We see no reason why the trust board would not be willing to meet collectivly. We also clarified that the club has offered 17 dates such meeting, and has agreed to meet Andy individually to get the progress in any way.
Enough is enough, this has to stop.
It's time to stand up and be counted.
Much has been made of the fact that only one person came forward to put their name behind this petition by the Trust board and It's advisors, little concern was shown for the fact that 550 people have signed it so far. Well today, we are putting forward the names of 9 people who are willing to stand to be elected onto the Trust Board to enact change, we will be adding further people to this list soon.
Rob Duncan
Heidi Green
Tucson Tom Packer
Barry Collins
Derry Felton
Ryan Wilson
Ben White
Joe Smart
This group represents a diverse range of people from various backrounds (Bios to follow) all with their own stories of following the club we all love, they all share a deep love for our club and a deep desire to help & represent our fans.
The group also has a range of different opinions and ideas on what the Trust should be doing. They do not agree on all topics, they do however agree on a few key areas.
The current trust board has proven itself not to be fit for purpose.
The Trusts board should represent the views of many, not a few.
The trust board and it's advisors should conduct themselves in a professional manner - belittling fans, making threats and spreading mis-informaton should never be accepted in this organisation.
There is an urgent need for a fresh start, the Trust must repair its relationship with the Club, the fans and the community and distance itself from the behavior of the current Trust Board.
This is not about replacing one echo chamber with another, this is about attempting to reduce the damage being done by the current Trust board and it's advisors.
What can you do?
This is the most important part of the entire petition, change can only happen with your support - as should always be the case.
If you are a current trust member, we hope when the time comes you will cast your vote for the above people.
If you are not a current trust member we encourage you to join the trust now. Join The Trust. If finances are an issue preventing you to join the trust - We understand this may appear unsavory, we can confirm we have not paid for any memberships and will not - we just wanted to try and help people who can't afford to join, If you have any issues joining the trust please reach out to [email protected] and we will help you get joined.
The Trust has been dragging it's feet in confirming new members, so if you run into this issue please again contact [email protected] and we will contact the trust & the FSA on your behalf to push the trust to confirm your membership.
Please note the current Trust Board cannot deny membership to anyone just because you disagree with their opinion.
Member or non-member, we encourage you to try and get your fellow fans to join the supporters trust, for 2 reasons:
The first being that we hope having seen how the trust board and it's advisors have behaved that many new members will be many votes to one of the above people.
Second and more importantly, the trust should represent as many fans as it possibly can - regardless of where their vote goes.
Let's make a change
We hope that as bad as the situation has got with the current board, and as sad as it is to see you will join us in looking at this as an exciting opportunity to turn the Trust back into something we can all be proud of, something that can positivly impact our club our fan base and our community - as it should always have.
We know people have wanted to get involved but were afraid of the reaction from the current Trust Board but now there are numbers and protection from that so if you want to join us and get involved then please feel free to email [email protected]
Expected Next Steps
The group want to operate within the current set of rules outlined by the Trust, and will respect any fair democratic process.
We understand that the Trust must hold an AGM with elections soon – we are waiting on clarification of this timing.
We understand that the Trust currently has 8 board members including two co-opted members but are allowed up to 15.
Should we be prevented from running in a regular election, we will be co-ordinating a EGM.
We are currently seeking clarificaton to confirm the election process and the current election policy as we understand they also must form an election committee – we will update once we have all this information and it is confirmed to us.
We can confirm that if there are issues with the election process we have the required numbers to call an EGM which we will do so.
We have 9 people named to stand for election to the board and expect this to increase prior to any AGM.
If you have not yet signed the petition you can do so below to ensure you stay up to date as we progress