Newsletter 34

This is a special edition of the electronic update of BairnsTrust activities.

If you are reading our newsletter for the first time ... welcome to BairnsTrust as a new member! If you wish to review some of our previous newsletters they can be visited at the following section of the website...Newsletter Lists

The Trust take this opportunity to thank you all for joining for the new season and appreciate all those that made a donation to the contingency fund, too many to mention individually, but very much appreciated. It has been assumed that all under 16s that have joined have done so with full parental/guardian consent.

You are cordially invited to attend the monthly BairnsTrust meeting and AGM in the Warm Up Area of the Falkirk Community Stadium on Mon 21/05/07, KO 7.30pm.
There will be a full agenda for discussion that you will have already received with your AGM mailing, but if you have any concerns you wish to raise, please respond to either bairnstrust@hotmail.co.uk or post your query on the message board at our website and we will try to cover on the night.
If you are unable to attend, the minutes from the meeting will appear on our website later for your perusal.
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The Trust is delighted to intimate the signing of another exiled Falkirk fan to the Trust ... from Ontario, Canada. The member took full advantage of our electronic facilities by visiting our website, sending a few emails to our contact address, paying their subscription and first deposit towards Sharesave using our PayPal facility and all was completed within the space of a few minutes!

We will be hoping to post out the new 2007/08 Trust application form with the season ticket books and hope the PayPal option will be of use to you.
The Trust's re-election documents for applicants of Supporter's Director have now been compiled and posted to ALL entitled members. Please advise to our email contact address at bairnstrust@hotmail.co.uk if you have not received. The deadline for nominations to be with the Scrutineer S Bird is by 5pm on Fri 25/05/07.
There will be a crucial meeting between your Trust Committee and representatives of the Club Board when the scouting trip to the Czech Republic has passed with the main point on the agenda being the Fans Representation in the Boardroom. Watch this space!

The main article in the Falkirk Herald mentioned in the last newsletter that centred on the BairnsTrust submitted by our new BairnsTrust Public Relations Officer has generated a lot of interest. We thank our friends at Supporters Direct for contributing to the article and the Herald for printing such a detailed account of our work. If you missed it the full piece appears online at the Herald's website... www.falkirkherald.co.uk/sport?ArticleID=2699078

This led to a further interesting 2-page article from founder member of BairnsTrust S Adam that appeared in the Falkirk FC Matchday Programme v St Mirren on Mon 23/04/07.

Building on the fact that we are now viewed as the model Trust for others to aspire to with our full Committee and TWO Supporter's Directors on the full Board of Falkirk FC, Supporters Direct have selected BairnsTrust to undertake their inaugural training session for Trust Committee Members that they hope to role out to others that seek guidance on the variety of roles required to run a successful Trust. This 3 hour session will cover all areas and will achieve certificated status that can be shown in recognition of having been involved as individuals of a calibre required in the modern Trust environment. These skills can be passed on to future Committee Members thus ensuring consistent model practices and skill sets are maintained. Your Committee will be attending their session hosted by former monthly meeting guest speaker Elaine Miller from Supporters Direct at the Falkirk Stadium on the afternoon of Sun 20/05/07.

In tandem with our own recognition, all connected with BairnsTrust offer our congratulations to the staff at Falkirk FC on the receipt of the Community Club of the Year Award at the SPFA Scottish Football Awards Dinner in Glasgow recently. 

A new website intended to provide information and resources to Scotland’s football communities and to assist in the delivery of Scottish Football’s Youth Action Plan can be viewed at ... www.footballcentral.org/

On the theme of model Trusts and Community activities., the SPL sponsors Bank of Scotland saw several business opportunities during a visit to Charlton Athletic FC. While discussing how products could help the client personally, other opportunities were spotted where the Bank of Scotland could assist with the club's community projects. Suggestions were discussed at the next board meeting. The Bank's representative was then referred to the Chief Executive of Charlton Charitable Trust who gave a brief overview of what they were looking for. As a charitable organisation, deposits are of key interest so contact was established with the Bank's specialist deposit services team. It was then agreed to move all the Trust's banking to Bank of Scotland. In return, the Bank of Scotland are looking into the possibility of either sponsoring or co-branding the Charlton Community Trust's operating model as there is huge potential for future business opportunities. Their operating model, has ministerial support and has had additional government finance to expand the scheme. This example simply highlights the potential that Scottish Trusts can achieve to match our English Premiership colleagues.

The latest Supporters Direct magazine can be viewed online at the following address and amongst some interesting articles, an introduction to Elaine appears ... www.supporters-direct.org/docs/Issue25.pdf

Periodically their vacancy section has opportunities. Currently the following appears ...
www.supporters-direct.org/scotland/adminsupportjob.htm

If you were unable to attend the successful Mick Hughes Memorial Trophy Charity game between Central Scotland Police v Polmont Scottish Prison Service at the Falkirk Stadium in Sun 29/04/07 you may wish to view the "day in pictures" at ... www.fifereferees.co.uk/Photos/Falkirk2007/index.htm

The BairnsTrust website is now fully operational and updated. Have you tried the latest quiz to appear ... www.bairnstrust.com/BairnsTrust/Quiz/q2.htm Information on Meeting Minutes and Newsletters can be found in the relevant sections. We have a games room, online shop, ticket sales for our future events and the facility to pay for all products and membership by PayPal. Please make a visit to ... www.bairnstrust.com

See which former players we have at each game by visiting the new "Former Players" Section of our site ... www.bairnstrust.com/BairnsTrust/Menu%20Links/formerplayers.htm
A new area on the website is the "Charity Appeals" section, containing correspondence received from various Charities that BairnsTrust will actively promote through our ongoing commitment to community events and projects. Again a direct link for your perusal is at ... www.bairnstrust.com/BairnsTrust/charityevents/ch010307.htm
The Trust have a stock old Falkirk FC HOME and AWAY programmes from this and previous seasons for sale at £2 each. Also now have some rarely available team sheets and after match stats sheets to compliment these. To purchase over the close season, please contact a Committee Member, intimate via our email contact address at bairnstrust@hotmail.co.uk or visit our online shop at www.bairnstrust.com/BairnsTrust/shop/sales.htm
The matchday packs from the ITALY v SCOTLAND UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying game on Wed 28/03/07 have been going extremely well over the past months. Since the last newsletter complete sets of match publications have been hosted on a reputable auction website and so far a sum of £149.07 has been made! Further incomplete sets are now being similarly sold over the course of the next few weeks. Please visit our own website for more details with a direct link to the auction site and latest set … www.bairnstrust.com/BairnsTrust/shop/progsales.htm
There was a surplus of the individual ITALY V SCOTLAND programmes obtained from the game. Over 20 of these were subsequently sold at the stall v St Mirren on Sat 31/03/07 raising a further £40+ for the Trust coffers.

We have now obtained back issues of the "ONEF" Fanzine and whole sets from issues 1-21, excluding 1 & 18 will soon be appearing on the auction website. If any member has unwanted copies of numbers 1 and 18 then over the close season, please contact a Committee Member or intimate via our email contact address at bairnstrust@hotmail.co.uk
               
Falkirk FC has allowed BairnsTrust to become an Official Matchday Programme vendor using our stall on the concourse in the Main Stand at home games as the point of sale. We will cater for those who wish to buy INSIDE the Stadium prematch and in return the Trust will receive the standard “sellers fee” in return. This is proving a great success so far. We do urge Members to take advantage of the chance to purchase from the stall to allow the Club to monitor how successful and necessary this point of sale is.

The recent Manchester City v Aston Villa Match Programme on Sat 28/04/07 contained an interesting article from their former manager on the successes of their various goalkeepers that are currently on loan at other clubs, including "Kasper the Bairn."

For those who requested one of our BairnsTrust 2006-07 Polo/T-shirts all have now been collected or posted to our exiled members. Subsequent enquiries and interest prompted BairnsTrust to make another small order. This has now been received and contains some of the main sizes and a new Limited Edition version available in the “3rd Choice Ice/Powder Blue.” Half were immediately snapped up within minutes of the order being received! The design can be viewed by visiting our online shop and see what else we have on offer at ... www.bairnstrust.com/BairnsTrust/shop/sales.htm

We are still taking orders for our new range of framed photos of the Falkirk Stadium Main Stand. Small and medium sized greetings cards are also available. Due to demand we have asked for costings on even bigger A2/A1 prints! The photo used is copyright of our friends at AK Photo Art and all profits go to BairnsTrust.
           
Our good friend Marty Byrne (aka Silly Connolly) made a welcome return to the Best Western Park Hotel on Fri 27/04/07 to perform a free showcase for the Falkirk public. This was to promote the new Silly Connolly CD that the Trust have been selling at the stall for some time. Combining the act with Marty's other alter ego Randy Roxx the performance was again superb so much so the Park Hotel have booked him for their own night. The CD lasts nearly an hour and contains 21 sketches and songs. The Trust have benefited from the stock we have obtained with all profits going directly back to the Trust. Copies at £8 each can be purchased by your preferred contact method below.

The Trust duly invited Mr Connolly to travel on The Falkirk Supporters Association bus to Motherwell on Sat 28/04/07. You may have spotted him in his full costume at the match. There were certainly some double takes from the people of Motherwell on his arrival!

Trust member Michael White has also given the Trust a stock of his new "Book of FFC Lists" and we hope to soon receive the rare "1957 Cup Winners Re-union Brochure" with the Trust receiving a donation from every copy sold. To purchase over the close season, please contact a Committee Member, intimate via our email contact address at bairnstrust@hotmail.co.uk or visit our online shop at www.bairnstrust.com/BairnsTrust/shop/sales.htm

The final "Boardroom Experience" winner of the season took their place at the home game v Inverness CT on Sat 05/05/07 and after match feedback from our questionnaire tells us that this is still proving to be a fantastic prize.

BairnsTrust were represented at the highly professional Gala Dinner Night at the Inchyra on Wed 16/05/07 where we accepted our sponsored shirt for the past season ... S Higgins.

Finally, if you have any topics or articles you wish to be included in future BairnsTrust Electronic Newsletters, please respond by your preferred contact method below. 

One such request is an advertisement from NB Travel who provide a 16 Seater Coach for Hire. Based in the Falkirk area, feel free to call Mob 07704 485885 for a quote.

Look forward to seeing you at the next monthly meeting where there will be a chance to win a prize for attendees!

Thanks
Peter Jack, FCCA

BairnsTrust Treasurer

www.bairnstrust.com

Please support the Trust's Corporate Sponsors:

Thomas Johnston Quality Butchers Limited

Amarillo Bistro Bar / Eleven Restaurant

J H Kilt Hire

BSH Limited

John Mitchell Haulage

 

Links of interest:

The Wheel .net

Pie and Bovril

Bedsearcher

Keepy Uppie King

 Scotsport Campaign

 

Contact methods:

a) Email to bairnstrust@hotmail.co.uk

b) Post your query on the message board at our website:

c) Visit the BairnsTrust stall located on the concourse in the Main Stand at home games.

d) Attendance at the monthly BairnsTrust meetings at the Falkirk Community Stadium on the third Monday of the month, KO 7.30pm.