Bairnstrust Committee Meeting
15th December 2003
Elliots, Graeme Road, Falkirk
Present:
Michael White
Stephen Bird
Fergus Caldwell
Kirstie Adam
Bill Anderson
Brian Guthrie
John Dick
Tom Jamieson
Wayne Toft
Jean Toft
Steven Adam
Murray McIntyre
Jack Gardiner
Stuart Adam
George
Stephen Bird called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone.
1. Apologies for Absence
There were no apologies for absence.
2. Minutes of Last
Meeting
Last months minutes were formally accepted as an accurate record.
Proposed Tom Jamieson, Seconded Brian Guthrie.
3. Matters Arising
a)Stuart Adam requested the clubs policy on various forms of discrimination
be publicised. The meeting was advised by Michael that this is
being incorporated into the clubs Equal Opportunity Statement.
b) No response has been received from Stenhousemuir FC on the
issue of the covered terracing. Campbell Christie is in the process
of responding and will include in his response all the salient
points regarding finance. As soon as this is received it will
be posted on the BairnsTrust website.
Finance is suspected to be the main problem at present and the
Trust is very disappointed at the fans having to suffer the consequences.
Two suggestions to minimise the fans discomfort were suggested:
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1. Stuart Adam suggested the club approach the Football Trust
to see if any grants are available to assist. It is appreciated
this may not be feasible in the timescale but Michael will take
the idea to the Board.
2. Kirstie advised a Trust member had suggested via the message
board that we look at plastic Macs as Hibs did a few years back.
Costs are obviously an issue but Brian is sourcing potential suppliers
as soon as possible.
a ) Kirstie advised that Sarah had very quickly responded to a
request for 200 club winners up until the end of November and
these had been put on the message board. It is understood a draw
was to be made Saturday but this did not appear to be done on
the park. Kirstie is attempting to find out if the draw has been
made and Michael is looking into the way in which the draw should
be made.
b ) Stuart expressed disappointment that web space he had purchased
for use by BairnsTrust had gone unused. This was acknowledged
and was due to a misunderstanding on behalf BairnsTrust. BairnsTrust
do not as yet have full control over the Web Page but Kirstie
is attempting to rectify this with Paul who set it up on our behalf.
It was confirmed the message board is fully operational and under
our control.
c ) It was confirmed that corporate membership of the trust is
available for businesses at a cost of £100.
4. Financial Report
Accounts have been updated and those members who have the required
holding to be able to purchase shares have been contacted. We
still await a share certificate for the £10000 donated by
the Board and Michael will bring this up at the next Board meeting.
The monies raised by the fanzine fighting fund during the SPL
appeal for potential legal fees has been donated to the Trust.
The meeting unanimously agreed to purchase a further £3000
of shares at this time.
It is thought the new 'Giftaid' legislation could be beneficial
to people contributing to Trusts and Fergus is to investigate
this and the possibility of collecting contributions by Direct
Debit Mandate.
5. Fundraising
a) Brian is still awaiting access to the STV editing suite to
complete the video footage. This is anticipated to be the first
week of the New Year, which would allow us to launch the video
at our AGM. The video will include footage of all 36 league games
and the cup ties with Hearts and Dundee, including some footage
not previously broadcast.
b) There are still concerns at the club over the number plates
idea and their legality. To obtain a definitive answer, Stephen
is going to contact the appropriate contact in the Scottish Parliament.
It has been suggested that we look at the possibility of decorative
plates "B41RNS" with the crest and the wording below
being 'Opening of Westfield 2004' to sell as a keepsake.
6. Update on Westfield
Michael advised that the club are confident everything is still
running to time with regards to the building works and confirmed
that there is absolutely no credence in any of the rumours circulating.
Correspondence has been received from the SPL confirming the requirements
of 10 000 seats, under soil heating etc but suggesting if any
club wishes to apply for a waiver in any of these areas to contact
the SPL as soon as possible. Plans are currently being drawn up
to submit to the SPL as soon as possible and Falkirk are very
confident that they meet all the criteria for entry to the SPL
in August 2004. The plans supersede the previous requirement to
have everything physically in place by 31st March 2004.
7. Falkirk Board Report
Michael once again confirmed there was no substance to any of
the rumours going around regarding Westfield and was also happy
to confirm that the Manager still deals with players' contracts.
Colin Liddell, as reported, has left the Board meantime to concentrate
on his business but hopes to return at a later date. The delay
in announcement was at Colins request.
The move to Ochilview has been very costly and without the transfer
fees we would have been heading for an operating loss. The Board
are currently looking at ideas to generate income. Ideas mooted
include dinners, Falkirk lottery cards, breakfast business meetings
to target local businessmen and a fans dinner priced at around
£10 per head. Sales of bricks are going well and Budvar
are sponsoring the first part of the wall.
8. BairnsTrust Certificates
Kirstie is now looking into the re-design of these and will report
back at the next meeting.
9. Role of the Fans
Representative
Everyone has been tasked with looking at what people can expect
from a Fans Representative and it was suggested we ask as many
fans as possible what they would like to see.
10. A.G.M. Arrangements
It is still hoped to hold the AGM in Westfield at the beginning
of March. However a Call for Resolutions should be issued as soon
as possible.
11. Any Other Business
a) Stuart Adam offered to do a detailed Business Plan for the
trust for presentation at the next Trust Meeting. This was warmly
welcomed.
b) Stuart mentioned that St Johnstone have issued a fans charter
on their website. Michael advised the club do intend to do similar
c) The Club have a corporate night arranged for the 19th January
and it was agreed BairnsTrust should be represented.
12. Date and Time of Next Meeting
As the club have an event planned for the 19th January it was
agreed that for one month only the BairnsTrust meeting would be
on the third Tuesday of the month. It is therefore Tuesday 20th
January 2004 at 7.30pm in Elliots.
