Minutes of the Bairns Trust Meeting
Monday 19th June 2006
at the Falkirk Stadium
Present: W Anderson, S Jackson, W Sommerville, B Guthrie, P Jack, D Robertson, F Caldwell, S Monfries, M Fraser, S Wilson, S Adam, R Smith & J Dick.
Apologies:
J Gardiner, M McIntyre.
Welcome
Bill Anderson welcomed everyone to the meeting and hoped the early start would see us finish in time to see the second half of a World Cup match upstairs in Amarillo.
Minutes of Previous Meeting
Adoption of the minutes of the May meeting was proposed by S Jackson and seconded S Monfries.
Matters Arising
The Tom Jamieson Memorial event date is still not fixed because of the difficulties in organising a suitable date with the school.
BairnsTrust has sponsored the first choice Goalkeeper jersey for the forthcoming season.
Junior Bairns membership forms have been sent out so the fears expressed that it might not be continuing have been unfounded, although a covering letter does state that little money is available to the organisers. S Jackson will contact the organisers to see if any help is required nonetheless.
Secretary’s Report
Various Emails had been received and had been dealt with or passed on as appropriate, including an email concerning membership of Supporters Direct, current newsletter and an optional survey which had all been passed to the Treasurer on the night.
One Trust member had issues with the reply received from the club about relocating his seat as he was originally told he would have to wait until the Public Sale date of June 14th. His email was received on May 30th before the announcement on the Club website that seat relocation would take place after the Early Bird sale and before the public sale. Hopefully that will have solved his problem but the Secretary would contact him again to check.
The Secretary apologised for the delay in circulating the May minutes which was a result of many factors impacting on his free time all at once.
The reply to Dunfermline Athletic had also been delayed for the same reasons as the minutes but was now ready to be posted.
Membership letters had been sent out to all new members including the one received on the morning of today’s meeting.
Treasurer’s Report
Supporters’ Direct membership fee of £50 is due by 7th July and the meeting gave the Treasurer the go-ahead to pay this.
Another two members had joined as a result of the Sharesave requirement that ShareSavers also need to be members of BairnsTrust.
ShareSave standing orders had brought in £242 in the month along with £421 for top-ups which would be required immediately for shares. £13 was added to the contingency fund, which now stands at £326.
A spot-the-team card had brought in £7 at the May meeting and we’d received £75 towards advertising as previously agreed, from Jimmy Black. The FaceIIFace social in the Castings had made a small profit on the night but had lost £95 overall, mainly due to advertising costs. After postage costs for final 61p ShareSavers had been deducted £434 had been banked bringing the balance in the account to £4750. However the Treasurer advised caution as £250 had been committed to the Tom Jamieson Memorial 5s Tournament and £1830 + £244 + £122 had been paid out for shares, the three cheques currently awaiting to be cashed by the Club and there was the potential of £466 having to be refunded. Two ShareSave members have proved to be uncontactable and the club has been notified and is prepared to look at any late claim leniently on behalf of these two members. The result of all the ShareSave outgoings is that it will wipe out the balance held in the bank.
The Treasurer hopes to receive the 4 batches of share certificates for sending out late June/early July following the June Board Meeting of the Club on Thursday.
Electronic newsletter No 17 had been sent out. A mortgage consultant had expressed a wish to contact our members, but it was decided not to pursue this line of soliciting our membership. Letters to recruit potential corporate members had been prepared.
A general email re grant aid applications had been submitted to Supporters’ Direct seeking guidance on the options available.
Inland Revenue Corporation Tax 2005-06 notification form was received on the night, having again been posted to former registered address, despite notification to the contrary. The bill is for £0.00, but the formality of responding will be done by month end by the Treasurer, with the Trusts auditor also responding.
A question from the floor re the sponsoring of the goalkeeping jersey for the coming season was taken. It is hoped this to be met from subscriptions in the new season.
Social Committee Report
The plan to produce membership forms with the reverse side sold as advertising space and send them out with the Season Ticket mailing was hit by the news that the club required the material to be mailed by Monday 26th as Season Tickets envelopes would be filled and posted out during that week if all went well.
Alternative possibilities were discussed along with the letter produced by S Jackson to explain why Falkirk Supporters should join BairnsTrust. An incentive of a Free Draw Prize of £100 and the chance for members to enjoy the Boardroom Experience would again be available for the coming season.
As the Social evenings have been less successful of late, the next event will be moved to the Masonic Lodge in Polmont., and, since the Trust has to make money, merchandising a range of BairnsTrust items would be explored. T-Shirts and Polo Shirts for the coming season would not be free as last year, but available at more or less cost price as there was the unexpected cost of young concessions requiring adult sizes which actually lost money last season and led to the change in the Constitution at the AGM which allows under 16s to join BairnsTrust free of charge. Any merchandise offered for sale by BairnsTrust would include the Trust logo and would only be available for advance ordering and no stock, excepting samples, would be purchased from the table on matchdays.
The Social Convenor requested more help from within the Trust membership as we have been relying too heavily on members of the public for social events. He again raised the idea of everyone attending meetings taking away a Spot-the-Team card to be returned the following month and suggested following the Motherwell example of having a raffle for visiting supporters in the North Stand with a prize specifically related to their club.
Christmas Nights on the third floor of the Stadium had been organised for 8th & 15th December and as the Trust is to benefit from raffles etc., Trust members should do their bit to encourage ticket sales. However, a suggestion that we should book the 36 seater Alex Parker Lounge for BairnsTrust at £48 per head was generally felt to be more than most people could afford especially if they already have other works commitments etc.
Several members of the committee would be attending a Showcase evening on Friday at their own expense to source possible acts for future social occasions.
Board Members Report
The next Board meeting would be held on Thursday and would be reported on as soon as possible. Steven Jackson in his capacity as Supporters Rep on the Board had attended the opening of both the Physiotherapist and Learn Direct and the launch of the Video/DVD for schools.
Steven has also been asked to attend the solidarity rally and march to Callendar Park on 02/07/06 on behalf of the Club. Steven mentioned the advertising on beermats favoured by the Stockport Trust, but after debate the costs would be quite prohibitive for BairnsTrust.
Conference Report
In introducing this topic Bill Anderson mentioned that he had attended the ShireTrust AGM last week and by comparison BairnsTrust were in a wonderful situation.
W Anderson, S Jackson, P Jack and M Fraser who attended the Supporters’ Direct conference in Edinburgh on Sunday 28/05/06 then reported back on the various topics they had attended including: Football Finance; Community & Supporter; Trusts Must Get Stronger; Who Owns Scottish Football; Supporters Direct – Where now; Trust AGMs; Directors On The Board and The Future Of The SFL.
Show Racism The Red Card
The initial feeling was that the Trust has no spare money to buy materials at this point, but as time is on our side we should obtain a price for 4000 A6 Red Cards in the meantime and return to the topic after consultation with the Club at a later meeting.
The Treasurer was tasked with finding out from previous accounts the cost of the last, similar promotion.
At this juncture the Trust Chairman intimated his determination to have another forum night with Club officials and a date mid/late August is to be pencilled in.
Former Players Association
A further meeting had been held with George Craig attended by M McIntyre and J Gardiner but due to a previous engagement and an injury sustained acting as a tour guide at the stadium, neither was present to report what progress had been made and subsequently the proposed Former Players Association Committee Meeting after the BairnsTrust Monthly Meeting had to be postponed.
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AOB
Andy Lawrie – Tickets costing £50 for the meal arranged for November 5th in the Park Hotel will be available soon, although half of the total has already been allocated. In view of Andy’s departure from the club it was suggested that the possibility of a Testimonial match against his new club, St Johnstone, should be investigated.
The Trust website should be back to normal soon and it was suggested that D Robertson and S Jackson should be trained up on the Dreamweaver software to help ensure continuity of access if technical difficulties should occur in future.
Bill Anderson had received £50 for the Pedro Moutinho shirt he sponsored last season and had kindly donated this to BairnsTrust at tonight’s meeting.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of BairnsTrust will return to the normal time of 7.30 pm on Monday 17th July.
Everyone is welcome and can participate in discussion, but only members are allowed to vote on any issue.
