11. oktober 2024

Members Update – Lets’ Do This Together!

As many supporters are already aware, your trust is one of the more established Supporters Trust in the country.

Litt info fra BWFCST:

Our launch on 6th January 2016 was covered by local and national media. Throughout the last 6 years it is fair to say our club have been on a journey that few of us would have chosen, both on and off the field.

Although we as a club are currently a league one team, (temporarily of course!) the BWFCST is definitely Premier League. We have played an important part at national level with our involvement in the Tracey Crouch Fan-Led Review, we have National Council representation in the Football Supporters Association (FSA) and now have several of our board members actively engaged in the Fair Game project, which is looking to push forward with the much-needed reforms in football identified in the Fan-Led Review.

You may ask, how does this benefit my club, Bolton Wanderers? The answer is in the level of engagement, relationship and regular dialogue between the club and the trust that started with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding almost 12 months ago and which continues to build. Regular meetings are now held with the club and notes can be viewed here.

But we need to work to increase our numbers and become as large a group of committed BWFC supporters as possible to be as loud a voice as possible in our work with the club, always on behalf of the fans.
 
Massive thanks to those who have already answered our previous call to upgrade to annual subscription membership, but once again, we would ask those of you who are yet to upgrade to please do so by visiting our website by clicking here.
 
So, as we approach a new season with massive optimism, we would like to take this opportunity to update on a few items.
 
Season Ticket Distribution – the club are now in the process of issuing both physical season cards and electronic versions of season tickets to in the region of 13,000 BWFC fans. What a brilliant effort and thanks to all! Those of you who have already received your season cards through the post will have noticed the enclosed BWFCST flyer. By clicking on the QR code on the flyer, those season ticket holders who aren’t already trust members can sign up – all for the equivalent of 20p per week! We would also like to thank Sharon, Neil and the club for allowing us to distribute our flyer and for Neil’s endorsement and encouragement to sign up to the trust.
 
FanZone – if you have been to the stadium over the last week or so, you may have seen that site works have commenced and we are being told that the new FanZone will be open for the pre-season friendly when we entertain Huddersfield on 23rd July. We are proud to have been engaged with the club on many aspects of the development of this project. Watch this space for more details over the coming few weeks.
 
Disabled Supporters facilities – over the last 6 months, the BWDSA, as one of our affiliates, and the trust have held several meetings with the club ahead of the Level Playing Field Audit. These discussions are ongoing with a view to ensuring that facilities for our disabled fans are as effective as possible and we will keep members updated with progress in due course.
 
Policing and Stewarding – this is another aspect of the matchday experience that has been the subject of much discussion during the last season. There is an intention that the trust will attend future Safety Advisory Group (SAG) meetings held between the club, the Council and the emergency services. When the safety of supporters is being discussed, it is only fair and reasonable that those supporters are represented. If you have any matters that you wish to raise on this particular subject, please email us on enquiries@bwfcst.co.uk and head your email as SAG Meeting Questions.
 
Affiliates – our number of affiliated supporters groups continues to grow and we have regular zoom meetings involving groups both in the UK and overseas. Our affiliates can be viewed here and if any of you are involved in or know of other supporters groups that may be interested in joining us, then use the link by clicking here and we will get back to you with more information.
 
Family Season Ticket – we are running our Family Season Ticket programme again for the coming season ’22/’23. Last season this was a great success with many deserving families (2 adults + 2 children) taking in a game at the UoB that might not have done so without the generosity of our ticket sponsor, Bernsteins Kitchens. If you would like to nominate a family for use of the ticket for the August home League 1 fixtures, please email us with details on competitions@bwfcst.co.uk
 
Chat with StuntPegg – many of our members will known Nieve Pegg (aka StuntPegg) and her football media work. Nieve is a massive BWFC fan and she is visiting us to have a chat with some of the trust board about all things BWFCST. We will be posting videos on the trust YouTube channel in the very near future, so again, please watch this space.
 
Competitions – finally, we are looking to commence a series of monthly competitions for members. This is currently under development and we will keep members updated.
 
We hope that you share our views that the relationship between the club and the trust has never been better and, importantly, that the trust are now being consulted and listened to on matters relating to BWFC supporters…but we do need your help in making sure this develops even further. Spread the word and encourage those who aren’t already members to join us on this journey. Let’s do this together!
 
Thank you for your support!
 
BWFCST