Received the latest newsletter from the Trust today. For those who wouldn't otherwise see it, here's what it says:
Quote:
You may be wondering why things are so quiet on the Trust front, and whether we have given up on the idea of supporters owning the County Ground. Of course we haven't.
First off, a very brief recap of where we got to:
March 2017 - Trust AGM, we asked the question "Should supporters try and buy the County Ground" and discussed issues at the club click here to read more.
May - MECA Meeting – Good media coverage again, and we made it clear that our focus would be purely on the County Ground campaign from now on.
May - STFC were relegated to League Two.
August - 30 page TrustSTFC County Ground bid submitted to Swindon Borough Council including full due diligence report and post-purchase development plans.
September - We invited all local Councillors to a meeting to discuss our plans, Council advised that a decision could not be made until December cabinet meeting.
October - At the last moment, we discovered that Swindon Town FC had entered a bid.
December - Council decision and crowdfunding launch delayed in light of new bid.
January 2018 - We passed a letter from a third party to SBC confirming that every supporter £ will be matched up to £1m through a confidential donation agreement.
January - Nationwide provide significant backing for community bid.
March - Held our AGM - answered questions for supporters click here to read more.
March - Met again with the Council to discuss the process, informed it would be post local elections, and later in the year.
May - Season ends, Town finish 9th in League Two.
May - Local elections conclude, Conservatives maintain a small majority.
Where does that leave us now?
At the moment we remain in limbo, as we wait for the dust to settle post-elections. We don't know what will happen when the Council finally sit down to decide the fate of the County Ground.
The two opposing bids situation is not ideal, and with lines of communication open, we continue to strive for a positive working relationship with Swindon Town and to find some way in which supporters and club can work together.
We must try and leverage the capabilities of both the club ownership and also the supporters. You only have to look at other examples to see what amazing things can be achieved, Norwich have just set a great example - they raised £5m very quickly through a bond scheme.
If our Club's owners and supporters could join forces, it would bring a feeling of togetherness and community that would really strengthen Swindon Town Football Club.
What can we do about it?
As a Trust we need to start raising our game and communicating more.
There is a general apathy within the supporter base at the moment, and we feel that too. The Trust and the Club are not doing enough to get the fans excited about the future, so we are going to try and do our bit.
We have several new board members coming on to help, the first of which is Dan Hunt, who came to our last meeting and has accepted a role on the board. He will be helping us with our Twitter feed, which is a great communications tool. He is fully committed to the cause.
We also have James Spencer on the board now, he was appointed at the AGM and will take care of TrustSTFC.tv, leading the relaunch of that site which is a vital communications tool for us.
Other new board members are imminent as we look to get some fresh momentum.
Tell us what you would like to see?
We want you to get involved with TrustSTFC.tv - if you think you can contribute any kind of article, topic, or want to get involved in podcasts, video interviews or anything Town related at all, then let us know - all ideas are of interest. We have a plan, but we are ALWAYS looking for new material, new views, and new people to get involved in the general STFC discussion.
I think most people agree, it was good to see Phil Brown stay on as manager as it gives some stability and hopefully with his own set of players we will see success on the pitch. Have you say about this and other things, just get in touch!
We're also hoping to do our own Skype version of the BBC phone-in, where fans can express their views on anything town-related, we'll be recording it and putting it out later. We are currently testing this out and will let you know when that's about to happen.
We'll also be seeking a closer relationship with the Swindon Town Supporters Club, who we know very well already - but we want to support them and to form a closer bond - Swindon Fans United!
Our profile will raise over the next few months, leading up to a decision by the Council. To be clear, what we are seeking from them is a six-month fundraising window. The Asset of Community Value status on the County Ground dictates that at the moment the stadium is officially up for sale, a six month window needs to be opened so that our community group can put in a bid.
We see this very much as a perfect fit for what we are proposing - we simply want the Council to state that supporters have the chance to raise the funds, and if they do so successfully, then the stadium will be sold to them. We need a maximum of 6 months to do this, and if we were successful we would look to build bridges with the football club and work together toward a brighter future.
The fundraising window is true democracy, a chance for the people to decide. We have £1m of matched funding that has been offered and over £40k in the bank to run a professional fundraising campaign, but we cannot start that campaign without the council nod of approval to do so.
Our promotional efforts and conversations with the Council over the coming months will be leading up to this position, and if we are given the chance to proceed it will be a major boost for fans everywhere. Our stated aim is to buy the stadium, but we also want to improve relations between the fans and the club, and owning the County Ground would certainly enable that.
It's the County Ground's 125th Anniversary year, and we're soon to see the 50th Anniversary of our League Cup success at Wembley. That would be a perfect time to start afresh and get Swindon Town fans back together behind one fantastic common cause.
Thanks
Steve
Stephen Mytton
Chairman, TrustSTFC
Twitter: @mightymyte / @TrustSTFC
Facebook: facebook.com/truststfc
Web:
www.truststfc.tv End of Quote.
