This will be the first time I have had to re-stand for re-election, having served my initial 3 years. Prior to being elected I was co-opted as a Trustee for a short time and before that was Secretary to the Trust for 4 years, working with then Chair, Laurence Overend. For the past 3 years I have been Chair of the Trust, during which time I have sat on the Club Board. In that Club Board role I have Chaired the Budget Options Group and have been part of the Governance Group, helping to deliver a financial plan through to 2022/23, and to deliver an updated Articles of Association and Governance Manual. I have also been the Trust representative at EFL meetings.
In terms of other football involvement, I am Treasurer to the Devon Women’s League.
I suppose the single most important point I should like to make is that I believe in the Trust ethos and in supporter/community ownership. However, I also believe that, as a model of ownership, it needs to continue to evolve and mature, and to co-exist with other models. I do believe our Trust are leaders in this respect but of course, we mustn’t rest on our laurels!
My hope is that I can challenge the Trust to become more understood through engagement with supporters, the local community, and further into local politics and businesses. I never underestimate the privilege and honour the past three years have been, but neither do I underestimate the responsibility that goes with that. I believe I have learnt how to balance these things to provide benefit to our members and supporters, and to the Trust movement and most of all, Exeter City FC, and so of course, I’d like that opportunity again.
I do believe that whilst the Trust has grown and improved in many areas, we may need to be a little more accessible to supporters on match-days. Typically, everybody is busy on match-days but of course, these are the days many members are in or around SJP and the Trust needs to be available to them. I would really like to make that a theme to resolve as well as our outreach, as I’ve mentioned earlier, to local business and politicians.
Many thanks for your support over the past three years. I really hope that you’ll feel I’m worth a further three!
