As most will have seen, the club’s successful fans forum last night (Thursday 25th Jan) was followed by the official Club site publishing the video (in full) which was videoed live on the night of the forum. It has subsequently been reproduced across various social and fanzine sites. For those who have not seen it, you can access it HERE.
We (Trust) received several questions for the forum, all of which were presented and addressed on the night. We wanted to allow those members and fans who did send questions to peruse the video first before we followed up with them.
Given the comprehensive answers given on such recent topics as the pitch, postponements communication etc we also wanted fans in general to take time to view the video as well.
We are well aware that interest in quick communication is something the Club want to enhance and develop so we are grateful that Greg and the media team got the video out quickly this morning, which as we said above gives time for members and fans alike to digest the content and should any further clarification or additional questions come to mind then we will follow up on any query if sent into the Trust info@daletrust.co.uk.
One of the key presentations was given by Jamie Willoughby, the Ogdens representative on the club board and that was regarding meeting the expectations of the recent fan review and in particular the “Shadow Board” or as he described it as the club “Advisory Board”. A useful slide presentation (we will publish that later) assisted Jammie with his presentation. This in itself demonstrates the club’s commitment to involve “ALL” in how the club moves forward.
The Trust continues to have consultations with Jamie and the management team and we are fully behind the proposals and will continue to support this initiative as well as others which were alluded to last night.
For clarity, the Top table was chaired by the Co-Chair Simon Gauge along with fellow Directors Richard Knight and Murray Knight. They were joined by the club COO George Delves, Ryan Bradley from the Community Trust, Andy Duff, club director for Commercial Activities, and Jamie Willoughby who besides being one of the new club board members was also there representing the Ogdens.
Last but not least was Big Jim, bang on time to take the first set of questions and give his feedback on how he sees things to date, his expectations for the future and gave insights on existing injuries and impact on the club. He also gave a little insight into which dug out is used and why!
Areas covered on the night were various and below are just some of the things which were discussed and are available to view on the video. They are in no particular order.
Youth Development, Academy and funding issues for next season. Inclusiveness and evolving the women’s game. BME inclusiveness and development. Advisory Board and Ambassadors for the club (mentioned above). The Pitch! present state, history, and moving forward and initial work needed. Ticketing issues and how they relate to updating our existing systems to integrate all of the clubs’ needs into one. Kit, some initial time scales for the development of the next season’s kit. Golden Share, is happening but as club articles need to be adjusted legally this is taking time though expected to be over the line in a couple of months (maybe fingers crossed) Hendo’s main testimonial game and the date (expected to back end of May)
If any member, or fan has supplementary questions which they have formed from last night then please forward them to us, the Trust, several trust directors are in a variety of meetings with the club officers on several issues and of course we have our own director who is available at all times.