Enjoyable night and it was great work getting Keith Peacock, Brian Kinsey, Kins, Nelse and Gritty down. They were all very interesting and top blokes. Only have more love for all of them now, especially Kins. Gutted that his spell as coach ended the way it did and as Barnie said, would love to see him back one day.
A couple of points that struck me though:
Challenging Henry Irving’s comment and obviously not through any fault of the Trust, I actually thought the turnout was disappointing. I’ve not really attended many supporters’ club events in the past but given the players in attendance and that it was a launch night for the new Supporters Trust (as well as the 20th anniversary night, at the Valley), I would’ve expected/hoped for at least three figures. If I was Mark Kinsella and I had sacrificed time and effort to get down to the Valley specially for this night (missing a Colchester reserve game), as one of our all-time greatest players, play-off and title-winning captain, I think I would be a bit put out that only 40 or 50 people turned up.
I know the 20th anniversary element was a focus of the night, but given that it was promoted as a Supporters Trust launch, I was surprised that there was no point at which anybody explained why the Trust had been formed, and set out what its aims and objectives were and how it intends to go about achieving them. Obviously I know from bits and pieces picked up on here that the broad reason the Trust came about is through concern about the closed shop which is our current board, but what are the Trust actually intending to do about it?
I was also surprised that each and every one of the legends to have a beer lined up in front of them during the Q and A as an absolute matter of course!
Good night on the whole though and cracking photos above.
Having run and attended many similar events I though the turn-out was more than decent. I made it at least 50 which is good for a first event on a cold December night.
As others have said there is no huge crisis to bring people out but people still made the effort so personally I was impressed. I was worried that there might be more guests than fans but was proved very wrong.
On the drinks again having hosted these events and bought drinks for them most ex-players don't drink much (or at least not at things like this!!!) as they are on show and then driving home.
Pleased I made it from Sussex; thanks to all involved in the arrangements. The foudations have been laid and I am sure everyones efforts will be rewarded.
the clickers counted in much more than that I believe - as mentioned elsewhere over 80 over the course of the evening. Will check though. We were quite worried it would be oversubscribed though, and given we were only able to publicise via our own channels and forums like this, I think it was a fine comfortable number.
Incidentally those members who now have a site logon can access CAS Trust news online, David has once more excelled and created an e-version page turner for us.
please take a look, flash only so far tho - sorry ipad people
I was also surprised that each and every one of the legends to have a beer lined up in front of them during the Q and A as an absolute matter of course!
Probably best they didn't. Bar staff told me when I arrived that the Amstel tasted "funny", whilst my pint of Murphys tasted of battery acid. I think "line-cleaning" must be a dirty word in Bartrams!
The attendance was OK and - probably at the low end of our expectations. 80 people from a standing start when only Mark Kinsella was confirmed early enough to go on the publicity is not bad. Remember that the trust is operating with no admin support, no office and no presence at the ground so our publicity has been focussed on this site, the new CASTrust.org site and the flyers you may have seen.
The trust has no policies at the moment because the interim committee appointed itself and the Trust was only incorporated yesterday. Now that we have done all of the pre-launch admin like setting up bank accounts, web sites etc. it is probably the right time to get more people involved and ask the fans what they want from a trust.
We each have ideas but once again we are not elected and (thankfully) it's not as if we are fighting any fires at the moment. Even so we have gone from 150 to 1,000 followers on Twitter and the email subscribers list. We have ideas about what we do next but what we really need is for people to subscribe en mass so that we can properly canvas the fan base ... about activities, policies.
So yes, Barnie et al could come on here spouting all sorts but this is a membership based trust which will be directed by its members!
Quick question, as i would love to be a paid member and support this but i live a distance away from London and spend much of the time out of the country with my work currently, so is paid membership really for people who can be at these type of events or is an online presence fine to?
Sorry if it's a stupid question, never been involved in anything like this before.
Quick question, as i would love to be a paid member and support this but i live a distance away from London and spend much of the time out of the country with my work currently, so is paid membership really for people who can be at these type of events or is an online presence fine to?
Sorry if it's a stupid question, never been involved in anything like this before.
Not a stupid question at all. The answer is yes you should join.
1. Being a paid up member means you have a share and can vote (which I am pretty sure will include postal voting) at the AGM for who will serve as committee members which means you can vote them off if you don't think they are doing a good job.
2. The Trust committee will be conducting regular e surveys of members' opinions to ensure that it can represent members accurately. We will want you to be a member so that we can hear your opinion.
I am a luddite so please make due allowance for any stupidity to follow.
1) I've (?subscribed) in that I receive e mails from the Trust Chair, newsletters etc.
2) Given that the Trust is now incorporated does this mean I can now pay my £5?
I tried to look on the website but I do not have pay pal and do not particularly want to disclose address and date of birth, when the Trust already has my name and e mail address, which appears to be obligatory if I've understood things correctly.
In other words I want to pay but how do I do it or is it too early as yet?
My apologies if this is the "wrong" thread for this type of question.
Len, no problem please email membership@castrust.org we can arrange cheque or cash payment and manually. We don't have a proper postal address yet, and PO boxes cost a fair whack.
I can try and look at only requiring date of birth for free junior members, as this is a qualification if you know what I mean. You could of course put the wrong date of birth in we don't mind, as long it means you are over 16
The service offering is on our website - here: Full Member
However it possibly needs expanding, so let me take a stab at it here.
We are not currently pushing paid membership heavily, those who do so are the early birds, who are so committed to getting the trust established that they want to offer financial assistance with that phase, and we are extremely grateful for their support.
The fiver is introductory, I believe many trusts charge £10. We are committed to giving best value for money in all our endeavours, and of course utlise volunteers as much as possible.
*It will give you part ownership of the trust - all current members get a £1 share. And of course a portion of it goes to paypal
*Once the admin is in place - a pdf certificate, the ability to stand at our AGM.
*It would help cover our running costs, specifically including the following:
*It will help us spread the word through publicity and build a mass membership network, and help build a strong trust for CAFC fans
*Our website www.castrust.org which will we aim to develop as a real resource for members.
*subsidise free junior membership, subsidise subscriber access - both of these are vital to expanding our network and mass membership. You can give your kids a trust for Christmas for £0..
*It will contribute towards allowing us to put on events such as this weeks back to the valley celebration
*help fund any other service offerings we offer
It would be up to a post AGM committee/membership to decide, but any surplus could be used to assist the club through one of its schemes, possibly valley gold, or a trust scheme that might come later, again post AGM.
All of this would be published in our accounts area on the website for access.
Len, no problem please email membership@castrust.org we can arrange cheque or cash payment and manually. We don't have a proper postal address yet, and PO boxes cost a fair whack.
I can try and look at only requiring date of birth for free junior members, as this is a qualification if you know what I mean. You could of course put the wrong date of birth in we don't mind, as long it means you are over 16
that entitlement and or recognition is certainly something I am considering recommending, we do have a role of honour of course which will come live on the website soon. The problem is we don't want to push paid membership heavily yet and that might be seen as over incentivising do you think?
The trust doesn't have a full year budget yet but the launch raised money in various ways: memberships, auctions, newsletters sold, branch donations (many thanks as these enabled us to plan ahead) Costs have included venue hire, printing costs, survey software...
So basically to expand trust involvement in several directions over the next few months is going to cost money - increased membership will help the committee plan the mix sensibly, i.e., between printed publicity, web marketing and the next event(s)
It appears that the moderator on another Charlton forum has got into his head that the Trust and CL are up each other's arses. Now we all know that the Trust is for all CAFC fans and not just for members on this forum.
It appears that the moderator on another Charlton forum has got into his head that the Trust and CL are up each other's arses. Now we all know that the Trust is for all CAFC fans and not just for members on this forum.
Comments
: - )
Official thankyous now on the trust site www.castrust.org
;o)
A couple of points that struck me though:
Challenging Henry Irving’s comment and obviously not through any fault of the Trust, I actually thought the turnout was disappointing. I’ve not really attended many supporters’ club events in the past but given the players in attendance and that it was a launch night for the new Supporters Trust (as well as the 20th anniversary night, at the Valley), I would’ve expected/hoped for at least three figures. If I was Mark Kinsella and I had sacrificed time and effort to get down to the Valley specially for this night (missing a Colchester reserve game), as one of our all-time greatest players, play-off and title-winning captain, I think I would be a bit put out that only 40 or 50 people turned up.
I know the 20th anniversary element was a focus of the night, but given that it was promoted as a Supporters Trust launch, I was surprised that there was no point at which anybody explained why the Trust had been formed, and set out what its aims and objectives were and how it intends to go about achieving them. Obviously I know from bits and pieces picked up on here that the broad reason the Trust came about is through concern about the closed shop which is our current board, but what are the Trust actually intending to do about it?
I was also surprised that each and every one of the legends to have a beer lined up in front of them during the Q and A as an absolute matter of course!
Good night on the whole though and cracking photos above.
As others have said there is no huge crisis to bring people out but people still made the effort so personally I was impressed. I was worried that there might be more guests than fans but was proved very wrong.
On the drinks again having hosted these events and bought drinks for them most ex-players don't drink much (or at least not at things like this!!!) as they are on show and then driving home.
please take a look, flash only so far tho - sorry ipad people
;o)
The trust has no policies at the moment because the interim committee appointed itself and the Trust was only incorporated yesterday. Now that we have done all of the pre-launch admin like setting up bank accounts, web sites etc. it is probably the right time to get more people involved and ask the fans what they want from a trust.
We each have ideas but once again we are not elected and (thankfully) it's not as if we are fighting any fires at the moment. Even so we have gone from 150 to 1,000 followers on Twitter and the email subscribers list. We have ideas about what we do next but what we really need is for people to subscribe en mass so that we can properly canvas the fan base ... about activities, policies.
So yes, Barnie et al could come on here spouting all sorts but this is a membership based trust which will be directed by its members!
Sorry if it's a stupid question, never been involved in anything like this before.
1. Being a paid up member means you have a share and can vote (which I am pretty sure will include postal voting) at the AGM for who will serve as committee members which means you can vote them off if you don't think they are doing a good job.
2. The Trust committee will be conducting regular e surveys of members' opinions to ensure that it can represent members accurately. We will want you to be a member so that we can hear your opinion.
1) I've (?subscribed) in that I receive e mails from the Trust Chair, newsletters etc.
2) Given that the Trust is now incorporated does this mean I can now pay my £5?
I tried to look on the website but I do not have pay pal and do not particularly want to disclose address and date of birth, when the Trust already has my name and e mail address, which appears to be obligatory if I've understood things correctly.
In other words I want to pay but how do I do it or is it too early as yet?
My apologies if this is the "wrong" thread for this type of question.
I can try and look at only requiring date of birth for free junior members, as this is a qualification if you know what I mean. You could of course put the wrong date of birth in we don't mind, as long it means you are over 16
However it possibly needs expanding, so let me take a stab at it here.
We are not currently pushing paid membership heavily, those who do so are the early birds, who are so committed to getting the trust established that they want to offer financial assistance with that phase, and we are extremely grateful for their support.
The fiver is introductory, I believe many trusts charge £10. We are committed to giving best value for money in all our endeavours, and of course utlise volunteers as much as possible.
*It will give you part ownership of the trust - all current members get a £1 share. And of course a portion of it goes to paypal
*Once the admin is in place - a pdf certificate, the ability to stand at our AGM.
*It would help cover our running costs, specifically including the following:
*It will help us spread the word through publicity and build a mass membership network, and help build a strong trust for CAFC fans
*Our website www.castrust.org which will we aim to develop as a real resource for members.
*subsidise free junior membership, subsidise subscriber access - both of these are vital to expanding our network and mass membership. You can give your kids a trust for Christmas for £0..
*It will contribute towards allowing us to put on events such as this weeks back to the valley celebration
*help fund any other service offerings we offer
It would be up to a post AGM committee/membership to decide, but any surplus could be used to assist the club through one of its schemes, possibly valley gold, or a trust scheme that might come later, again post AGM.
All of this would be published in our accounts area on the website for access.
do we get a badge as well
e mail sent.
Badges are under consideration as are membership cards, the former likely being a chargeable extra
Badges are under consideration as are membership cards, the former likely being a chargeable extra
So basically to expand trust involvement in several directions over the next few months is going to cost money - increased membership will help the committee plan the mix sensibly, i.e., between printed publicity, web marketing and the next event(s)
http://intothevalley.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=12600