Thanks to everyone who came to last night's meeting. We covered a lot of ground in a short time and raised another fantastic amount in the process. Thanks again to Rachel for the minutes.

Whilst recognising that the Nest Egg has had quite a 'low key' year, we've still made a vital contribution to our club and continue to bring supporters together and give them a unified voice.

Onward Hornets Onward - and onward together.

Jim

NEST EGG MEETING - 19/10/04

AGENDA

Update on the Supporters Trust progress
Financial Report
AOB

Supporters Trust Update

For the past few months, it has proved very difficult to get in touch with Supporters Direct. However, we do now have a case worker who Jim has been in contact with over the past couple of weeks. The discussion shave raised some interesting points, which are detailed below

As the Nest Egg is buying shares as a "body", then we really need to be registered at Companies House. We were not aware of this, so Jim will be looking into this in the near future.
At the moment, if the Nest Egg were to be dissolved, the shares would be evenly distributed amongst the members. However, if we were to become a Supporters Trust, the shareholdings would have to be distributed to local charities and community projects.
The Supporters Trust Constitution is really meant for larger organisations, with over 500 members. As we have significantly less members, Jim re-wrote the constitution to fit our situation. This resulted in an email from the case worker saying that we shouldn't be altering the constitution as it is regulated by the FSA and legal costs would be incurred if we wanted it amending.
The case worker suggested that due to our small member base, why are we striving to become a Supporters Trust? We probably don't have enough members or officers so maybe we would be better off remaining as a well run members association. She also pointed out that Supporters Trusts are very regulatory with many procedures - such as the requirement for monthly meetings and the production of annual audited accounts. This can make Trust status very expensive and will involve lots of time and effort just 'managing' the associations status.
An email dated 11/10/04 noted discussions regarding a resolution passed by Suporters' Direct. The aim is for all Supporters Trusts to have a minimum of 500 members. This could obviously impact on the Nest Egg.

Around 6 months ago, we received funding allocation from the council of £1000. This was given on the agreement that the money could only be used in relation to becoming a Supporters Trust. So if we decide not to become a trust, we wouldn't get the grant, but it wouldn't leave us in a worse situation than present.

As Swinton are one of the very few rugby league Supporters Trusts, Jim spoke to one of thewir committee members to get some feedback on the implications of becoming a trust. Apparently, if they had known what they do now, then they may not have become a Trust. There is a legal burden with lots of paperwork and accounts have to be produced. The cost of this impacts on the funds as money raised by fund raising has to be used for legal costs. Also, meetings have to be held every month, which can be inconvenient and so much time is spent fulfilling legal requirements, the original objectives (fundraising and supporting the club) can sometimes be overlooked.

Jim will be having a face to face meeting with our case worker on 25/11/04. If anyone wants to attend the meeting, they are more than welcome. Please contact Jim for further details on 07876 011 084 or email jim@rochdalehornets.com. It was decided that it was best to defer our decision on becoming a Trust until after the meeting with the case worker. Details of the meeting will be discussed at our next Nest Egg meeting. It was agreed that this is the best option to take.

Account Balance

As of 1/10/04, the balance in the account is £3,358.

It is thought that per capita, we raise more than many other supporters associations. Our contribution and effort was recognised by Bobbie Goulding at the dinner last Sunday, where he publicly thanked us for our imput over the season.

Shares
A couple of meetings ago, it was agreed that when the account reached £3,000, we would buy some more shares. It was proposed by Peter that we should spend £2,000 to purchase 4,000 shares. This was seconded by Mick. When put to the vote, it was a unanimous agreement, so the motion was carried and we will purchase 4,000 more shares.

With tonight's purchase, our share total will be 12,000. Peter raised the question, is this a big percentage or not? Are the old shares considered on a one for one basis?

Jim said that before our next meeting, he would try to find out how the shareholding is split.

AOB

Ann (Marks sister and also on the board of Directors) has asked Jim if the Nest Egg could contribute £100 towards funding some new merchandise such as pin badges, hats and scarves which should be available for Christmas. In a previous meeting it was agreed that Jim was to have a £200 operating budget, so this has already been agreed by Jim. Merchandise sold will put money back into the club, so everyone agreed that this was a good idea.

Unfortunately, Andy Birch was unable to attend, so his usual job of collecting for the raffle was done by Dave Jones. The prizes were bottles of wine donated by Mick and Craig and a Scotland Rugby League T-Shirt kindly donated by Mark Dingwall at the Scottish Rugby league and gleefully cadged from winner Peter Walker by Julie!. The raffle raised £55.

Two rugby jerseys were then auctioned. The first was a Canterbury number 7 shirt, signed by Bobbie Goulding. This was sold to Dave Jones.

Next was a Sydney Roosters shirt, signed by several of this years grand final squad. Thanks go to our Australian branch's James Freund and our mutual friend Alice for organising this. This was sold to Dougie for a very generous amount, thank you.

Total raised on the evening: £225. Thanks again for your continued support and generosity.

The meeting was then concluded and it is likely that the next meeting will be held shortly before Christmas.