Fifth Aim Of The MCFC Supporters Trust Announced

Quite some time ago now we agreed the draft aims of the proposed trust. There are only five aims and here is the fifth and final one. All five aims will be published on here tonight. The aims are in draft form and will have to be voted on by the supporters present at the public Open Meeting, whilst the aims are draft and open to amendment the essence of each aim is clear and we would like to expand on them a little below:-

AIM FIVE

TO STRENGTHEN THE BONDS BETWEEN THE CLUB AND THE COMMUNITY WHICH IT SERVES AND TO REPRESENT THE INTERESTS OF THE COMMUNITY IN THE RUNNING OF THE CLUB

Years ago, clubs were rooted in the communities they served. Many, including Manchester City, started their life as church-based groups, to give young men a positive outlet for their pent-up energies. Nowadays, the top clubs are, or aspire to be, global brands. But the irony is that as they have increased their media profile, they have increased their power to have a positive impact on the communities on their doorstep.

Sport is a great medium for communicating with people who are difficult to reach in other ways. Manchester City, to their credit, has embraced this concept wholeheartedly and their City in the Community scheme is recognised as one of the leaders in the field.

It is crucial that the power of football as a force for good, is not forgotten in the context of increasing commercialisation of the top level game. Manchester City do a great deal for disadvantaged people in their communities and the work of people like Shaun Goater and the late Marc Vivien-Foe have taken that work beyond these shores, where it is often far more badly needed than it is here. But there are always more things to do and better ways to do them. The Supporters’ Trust at any club should be at the heart of those efforts and we are determined to ensure that Manchester City will continue to set the example and standards for the others to follow.

aS mentioned in previous articles we make it clear that we will not be proposing that the Supporters Trust pressure our Club to provide or divert additional funding from other areas to it's Football In The Community schemes. Our Mission Statement is clear "We also recognise the excellent work that Manchester City already does in the community and wish to support that and spread it further, wherever possible."

What we will be proposing is that any "Community based projects" undertaken by the Supporters Trust will be self-financed whether it be from its own resources and/ or with grants available from appropriate sources. Of course one area that does not need finance is time. We must thank the many supporters who have contacted us to offer their time to the trust. We look forward to the day when the Trust sets up and runs it's first "Community based project" run by the trust members/ supporters.

Please send any feedback, comments, suggestions or input to us at mcfcsupporters@hotmail.co.uk

Best wishes

Colin, Colin, Gavin, Ian, Mickey, Miles & Ollie