Trust News

Membership Group

Hi

On Sunday June 13th there will be a meeting to look at Trust membership. The meeting will take place at 3pm and if you would like to come along please do so – it’s at The Butchers Arms in Rhiwbina.

We will be reviewing loads of things associated with membership and if you feel that you’ve got loads of thoughts and/or ideas on this then please come 🙂

Thanks

Tracey

FRED KEENOR STATUE FUND – OPEN MEETING

The Fred Keenor Statue Committee is hosting an open meeting at the Duke of Clarence pub in Canton, Cardiff, next month as part of efforts to encourage more fans to become involved in fundraising events.

The meeting takes place on Thursday, July 1st, starting at 7.30pm.

David Craig, project manager and Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust board member, explained: “A relatively small band of fans  have been involved in organising fundraising efforts so far.

“We have some exciting ideas for fundraising but we do need help from other supporters if we are to make progress quickly on our campaign to raise funds to erect a statue to honour Cardiff City’s legendary FA Cup winning captain.

“So we have called an open meeting and would appeal to fans to come along and register  their help for the project. For example, it could be assisting in the organisation of an auction, which would include sports memorabilia, in the autumn.

“Also, if fans have any bright ideas for other fundraising efforts, we’d be delighted to hear from them. We’d also like to make it perfectly clear that you don’t have to be a member of the Trust. The Trust kick-started the appeal with a £1,000 donation but this appeal is targeted at all supporters. Everyone is welcome.”

The committee needs to raise around ÂŁ85,000, excluding VAT, to make the dream of honouring Fred and the rest of the famous 1927 winning team a reality.

If you need further information contact David Craig on d.craig43@ntlworld.com or call him on 029 2063 6637.

  • Donations to the appeal fund can be made through the Co-operative Bank:

Account name: –   Fred Keenor Statue Fund or FKSF

Account no    65392368

Sort Code     08-92-99

Cheques can also be sent c/o CCST to PO Box 4254, Cardiff, CF14 8FD. Please add the words “Fred Keenor Appeal” on the top of the envelope.

TRUST BOARD SET OUT AIMS FOR YEAR

At the first meeting of the new board the following aims for the forthcoming 12 months were agreed:

  • Increase Membership
  • Develop communication with Cardiff City Football Club
  • Improve communication with members and the wider fan base
  • Community Work and raise the profile of Cardiff City Football Club
  • Obtain representation on the club’s board (to ensure supporters have a voice to protect the interest of supporters)
  • Achieve small victories on behalf of fans
  • Hold at least four open meetings outside Cardiff each year

Board members will take responsibility for particular areas of work and ensure communication with the board.

a) Communication – external and internal (Mike Roderick, Phillip Nifield and Gareth Jones

b) Recruitment and Promotion  (Tim Hartley)

c) Membership (Mike Roderick/Tracey Marsh)

d) Community (Martin Bale)

e) Fund Raising (Anthony Wedlake)

f) Campaigns (David Craig)

TRUST STARTS TWEETING!

CARDIFF City Supporters Trust has created its own Twitter feed as it expands its use of social networking to engage with fans.

Board members will be “tweeting” to keep members and fellow Bluebirds fans up-to-date with the latest news from the Trust.

The Trust already has its own website www.ccfctrust.org and Facebook page.

Newly elected Chair Tim Hartley said: “Anyone wishing to follow us on twitter can do so by logging on to www.twitter.com and searching for ccst1927.

“We are really keen to hear from as many members and fans as possible and using sites like Facebook and Twitter are cheap and effective ways of doing this.

“We will be tweeting from meetings and events in the future and reporting any dialogue we have with the club.”

CARDIFF CITY EGM: REPORT BY MIKE RODERICK, VICE CHAIR

Shareholders gathered at the Cardiff City Stadium for the EGM this morning. Attendance was much lower than the last EGM, around 60 shareholders in total. Present on the podium were Steve Borley, Peter Ridsdale, TG and Alan Whitley. Mike Hall and Paul Guy were interested spectators.

The meeting was done and dusted in 15 minutes. It concentrated solely on the business in hand, namely three resolutions to be voted on which authorised the directors to increase the share capital of the club. Without going into technical details, in essence, the shareholders who currently own slices of the Cardiff City cake were being asked to vote on making the cake bigger so that the Malaysians can have a (big) slice and existing shareholders can enlarge their slices. Peter Ridsdale asked for any questions relating to the resolutions before putting each of them to the vote. There were no questions at all and when each resolution was voted on, they were accepted overwhelmingly (unanimously, I think) by a show of hands.

Ridsdale then formally closed the meeting but asked TG to say a few words.TG spoke of feeling honoured and privileged to become involved at CCFC, of the warm welcome he had received in Wales and spoke of two nations (Wales and Malaysia) now being behind Cardiff City.

The thrust of his message was hey, Saturday was fun but for the sake of his health and ours, let’s do it the easier way next season by finishing in the top two of the Championship. He sounded very confident of mounting another promotion challenge but also spoke of the need to run the club properly and sort out the finances. He mentioned his intention to be in the background because that’s the way it should be. He spoke quietly but very confidently and received a sustained round of applause from all present.

That was that, apart from Keith Morgan, Trust Director and its official representative at the meeting, asking Alan Whiteley whether he knew how much of the £2m pounds of new shares on offer to existing shareholders had been taken up. Whiteley said around £130,000has been  but there had been pledges to buy around £500,000 worth of shares, which fell by the wayside when we lost to Blackpool. Keith also asked whether the Club would be exercising its right to convert a further £2.7m of PMG’s loan into new shares. Whiteley was non-committal and said it would be discussed.

At this point, a shareholder rose to his feet calling the meeting to acknowledge the tremendous job Ridsdale had done during his time at the club. A round of applause followed. That’s it. End of meeting, apart from Ridsdale wishing the new board every success.

You may wonder why questions about the tax bill, Ridsdale’s pay-off, etc etc were not asked. My answer would be threefold. First, no questions were invited except about the share capital. Second, there was no attempt by Ridsdale to blow his own trumpet and to depart in a blaze of glory. I respect him for that. If he had tried to do so, I’m sure there would have been challenges from the floor. Thirdly, following TG’s upbeat and very dignified speech, I personally felt it would have been disrespectful and embarrassing to him to rake over old muck. It’s a new era, time to move on. It’s early to make judgements but personally, my heart warmed to TG and I think we have found a very worthy new leader.

Following the meeting, Trust Directors were able to mingle and meet with TG and Gethin Jenkins, the new Chief Executive at the club. Both confirmed that they will be happy for regular meetings to take place with the Trust once the new regime has settled in.All in all, a terrific start to a new era at Cardiff City and a much needed lift to us all, I’m sure. Onwards and Upwards!