The Trust committee met on Wednesday evening for their June meeting to discuss a number of ongoing issues affecting the Trust.
Discussions took place about the relaunch of Junior Dale that will take place during the next season. Matchday operations of the Junior Dale are in the finalisation stage, and young supporters will be written to soon to advertise its launch. The Trust were to speak to the club over matchday mascots and how this can be done to bring the next generation of supporters into Team Rochdale.
Progress has continued with regards to the Rochdale Former Player Association that is due to be launched during the 2013-14 season. We are at the stage now where players are starting to be contacted, and initial feedback is very encouraging indeed from the players spoken to so far. The intention is that this will play a key role in the Trust’s Tenth Anniversary celebrations during the next season.
There is a great deal of work taking place for the 2013-14 membership. The new brochure is currently with the designer, and after being printed should be coming to a letter box near you in the next two or three weeks. The new look cards for the forthcoming season and look very swish indeed.
In terms of club matters, the Trust remain in conversation with the club with regards to the charges on season tickets for the use of debit cards. Currently there is a £4 charge in place, and the club have told the Trust that the charges are a result of charges imposed upon them by their bank, but they intend speaking to the bank to have these charges reviewed in light of recent legislation.
There was further talk of the Video screen that has seen initial investigations. A meeting had taken place at the club about possible locations for such a screen, whilst some quotes had been obtained for different sizes and styles of screen. A further meeting is to be arranged to for the next stage of planning. It must be stressed that this is still very much in the initial discussion stage and should not be taken as any definite plans. Both club and member approval would be required before undertaking of any such task.
It was stated that the Trust were in discussions with the club with regards to a Fans Forum for the start of the new season. A couple of dates have been suggested, and we hope to announce the date in the next fortnight once it has been agreed upon.
The Trust treasurer spoke about how the Trust had recently received two cheques totalling £117 from Easyfundraising.org. We have been urging supporters recently to use this website to search for all online purchases as it leads to a small percentage being paid to the Trust by the retailer. The link as always is http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/daletrust/
The next meeting will take place on Thursday 4th July. If any member has concerns, please email the trust at mailbox@daletrust.com