For those who are interested here is a link to the first newsletter issued by the Chelsea members trus

 

Sorry.  I've had to delete this because I was giving you access to all my emails!!

 

I will try to reproduce the text!

Edited March 13, 201313 yr by moi

Chelsea Supporters Trust Members Newsletter No.1 March 2013

 

Thank you for joining the Chelsea Supporters Trust, your support at the start of our new organisation is greatly appreciated. We plan to issue Members Newsletters on a regular basis, keeping you up to date with developments.

 

CST Launch Meeting

A Big Thank You from the Chelsea Supporters Trust!

As many of you know the Chelsea Supporters Trust held its inaugural meeting at the CIU Club on Saturday 9th February, after the Wigan game.

 

The response and turn out by the Chelsea supporters was unprecedented. Going on the experience of previous meetings where around 30-50 had turned up, the Working Group felt that hiring a room close to the ground which could accommodate about 100 supporters would be more than adequate.

 

How wrong we were! The room had at least 150 supporters crammed inside a good 30 minutes before the meeting was due to start. A further 200-300 were queuing outside waiting to get in. The Working Group would like to apologise profusely to all those who could not get in – many of whom were friends who had helped to get the Trust off the ground and had been to every meeting so far. We genuinely had not foreseen the interest the meeting would provoke. Meetings from now on will be open to members of the Trust only, so this situation should not arise in future, and obviously we will be looking to hire more suitable venues and get a better handle on how many are likely to turn up. But once again, thanks for your support and apologies for any inconvenience caused.

 

 

On reflection, it is clear that there is a lot of goodwill for the Trust and why it is being set up. Many who could not get in were very understanding about the situation and took it in the good humour typical of Chelsea supporters! It also tells us that there is a clear need to come together and get to the heart of the issues that are most important to Chelsea supporters and ensure that their voice is heard. Hundreds have already signed up, many at the Launch Meeting itself.

 

The Working Group will now embark on a full scale member recruitment drive to sign up as many members as possible to give the Trust the legitimacy it will need to take the voice of the supporters to the Club. Please sign up, spread the word, and get your friends to join as well!

 

On 20th February, the Working Group held a meeting to review the launch meeting and agree the next steps working towards the AGM to be held in the summer.  The plan going forward is to canvass the growing membership’s views on key issues associated with the Club.  A key initiative is likely to be a membership survey and the Trust is very keen to solicit membership opinion on priorities and key issues as soon as it is practical. Please look out for our communications on the Chelsea Supporters website; Twitter; Facebook and other media so that you can play a full part in this. The results of this will then be presented to the Chelsea FC representatives at the appropriate time.

 

We’ve posted a blog, photos and video of the Launch Meeting, so look out for that on the website too.

 

Once again, we’d like to thank you all for your support so far, and will endeavour to pay back the faith you have shown in the Chelsea Supporters Trust. We will be working hard on your behalf over the coming months and years to MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

 

CST Website and Membership Applications

We have had a few teething problems with the section of the website that allows supporters to join the CST.  We apologise for this - hopefully these are being overcome.  If you feel that your application was not successful, or you experienced unresolved difficulties, please e-mail us on [email protected] and we will investigate.

 

Planned Future CST Members Meetings in May and August

As we made clear at the launch meeting, we plan to hold four CST meetings a year, an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and three Special General Meetings (SGM). These will be for members only, and, among other things, will enable a debate amongst the CST membership on priorities. Mindful of our overseas membership, we are currently working out the best way to ensure that they are able to contribute and vote in meetings.

The AGM will be held at the start of next season, on Saturday 17^th or Sunday 18^th August (whichever day Chelsea do not have a match on).  The AGM will include CST board elections, for which all paid-up members are entitled to vote. We will be working with Supporters Direct to ensure the elections are carried out in a transparent and effective manner (from nominations right through to the announcement of results), following due process.  Members will be advised of the full process and timetable in due course.

 

The next SGM will be in May, on a date to be advised shortly.  We will continue to research the best venue to use for these meetings, to ensure that all members wishing to attend can do so.

 

CST Membership Survey

Now we are building up our membership base, we think it important that we identify, as soon as possible, what are the key issues for our members so we can start to plan the best way to address them.  To this end, we are in the process of designing a survey which will be electronically sent to members.  This will cover a range of issues, and will give us a clearer view of your concerns and priorities and enable us to firm up our objectives.  We expect the survey to be issued in the next few weeks.

 

PL/Championship Trust Meeting

Two of the CST Working Group are attending a meeting in Birmingham later this month. Organised by Supporters Direct, representatives of trusts from Premier League and Championship clubs will be in attendance, discussing issues of common concern and interest. We see this as one of the key advantages of a trust, the ability to network with other trusts and discuss matters of common interest.  Clearly there will be issues that are specific to Chelsea, but there will be others where learning from other’s experiences, and working together, can only be beneficial.

 

CST Pre-Match Presence At cfcuk Bookstall

There will be a member of the CST working group at the cfcuk bookstall (opposite Fulham Broadway tube main entrance) form 90 mins before kick-off for home games, for any questions and concerns you may have. We will also have membership forms if you know of anyone who wishes to join.

 

Thanks for posting this, I think para 5 sums it up nicely - "It also tells us that there is a clear need to come together and get to the heart of the issues that are most important to Chelsea supporters and ensure that their voice is heard". Nuff said.

Trust Pre-match presence at cfcuk bookstall on matchdays is also a good place to to speak to someone and learn a bit more...