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RUST TALK We chat to Trust secretary Alastair Woodcock about their role, their vision and the criticism they face...
Could you briefly sum up who the Trust are, what they do and why they were formed? The Trust is a democratic, non-profit supporters’ organisation formed with the intention of owning shares in Carlisle United and creating stronger bonds between the club, its supporters and the wider community. Since 2006 we’ve owned just over 25 per cent of the football club, thanks to a total injection of £800k. Longer-term we hope our stake in the club will protect it against misuse and mismanagement. How many members do you currently have and how are you persuading more people to join? We’ve recently passed 350 members and are heading towards 400. We hope to eventually attract 1,000 members – a total we briefly touched in our early days. In the past year, over 130 new members have been signed up. We offer membership at £5 per person per year. This is also available to families, who we’ve had a lot of success in signing up. We are aiming
to get out into the community to sign up more members. We had a stand at last year’s Family Fun Day and this year’s Good Friday event, and have a regular match-day presence near the entrance to the Sporting Inn. What are the perks of being a member for £5 per annum? For £5 you get a vote in the annual general meeting which elects all board members, a regular update via email and a de-facto stake in the club, and a say via our boardroom representative. We are hoping to negotiate some more benefits with the club. What is your vision for both the Trust and Carlisle United? We are currently working on a fiveyear plan for the Trust. We already see ourselves strengthening our role within the club and the community, and maintaining our shareholding. If the time comes when the Trust has the opportunity to own the club via a majority stake, we hope to attract support from local businesses to help us run the club. We also hope to improve relations with the local community and attract more young supporters who are the club’s future. Carlisle United as a community-owned football club is a very attractive vision for the future, but we need to work hard to convince people that it can be achieved.
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How much of a say do you have in club decisions, including sacking Abbott and appointing Kavanagh? We have a boardroom rep who attends all board meetings and has access to other executive-level and staff meetings. We have to sign confidentiality agreements with regard to commercially-sensitive information. We were involved in meetings pertaining to ‘Blue Yonder’ and were fully involved in the decision to replace our manager earlier this season. What links do you have with Away Supporters Travel, the London Branch, and so on? We have strong links with many of the other supporters’ groups, and have been working alongside the London Branch to build closer ties. This includes having a regular article in ‘Hit the Bar’ and working with Simon Clarkson, the Branch chairman, to work towards a closer association of CUFC supporter groups. Our boardroom rep Norman Steel holds responsibility for organising away travel and liaises with CUFC Away Travel. Could you please briefly explain the process of Trust elections? Elections for board members take place every year at the AGM. Since 2013, all board members need to be elected, with the exception of any ‘external’ directors and short-term co-opted members, who