an outsider's view (governance)

[basilrobbie]

Mods, please move/merge or whatever as you see fit.

I saw the thread on the Rams Trust but as it was on another board I can't post on it. I wanted to offer some views though.

 

I don't know anyone at RT, although on behalf of my Supporters Trust (Blackpool) I did reach out to them recently to offer any help they feel we can usefully offer.

The point of this though is that I was struck by how many people didn't seem to know what marked a Trust out as being different and the number who thought an Internet forum could be a substitute.

Trusts are democratic, for one thing, and if you are a Member you can vote for who represents you and have an input into the policies of the organisation. If your Trust is like ours it is an organisation with clear objectives, a constitution and is committed to reinvesting any money it raises for the betterment of Members in particular and the fan base in general. Plus, as Jim pointed out, you have a conduit into your club, a sounding board for the Administrator and an organisation that can have an input into national policy (like the fan-led review). All supported by hundreds of hours of mostly unpaid effort by volunteers - not bad for £2.

Can any Internet forum match that? I doubt it. Anyone posting on here speaks for themselves, and nobody else. It's a useful barometer of a slice of supporter opinion - but only a slice. If your fan base is like ours then a large proportion never post on here and I'll wager a fair number have never heard of it.

More importantly, there will never be a more important time to be involved in and have a voice in your Trust. I think Tracey Crouch will draw back from insisting on mandatory supporter representation on club Boards. But I do think she will be bullish on creating golden shares for supporters as a form of veto on some issues. And that will almost certainly be vested in the Trust.

I've no idea of the history of RT, how it runs or anything else. But it is going to be the pre-eminent vehicle for representation as we go forward, and if you're not a Member you can't affect what it does.

 

Robbie