Cod Almighty | Diary

Renew the Mariners Trust charter

1 August 2017

Nurse Diary writes: Today is the last chance for you to get your comments in on the consultation Mariners Trust... what next? As someone who, over time, has become frequently more disillusoned with the trust and its purpose, I felt it was important to have my say. Whether you agree or disagree with what I write below, I hope you too will take part.

There are more issues than just deciding if it's a necessity for the trust to keep a seat on the board of the football club.

My disillusionment stems from a feeling – which I think is shared among many trust members – that the board is currently in a state of disarray. I appreciate all board members are indeed volunteers, but they are volunteers by choice. They weren't just picked unwillingly to represent fans: it was their decision. To represent paying fans it shouldn't be about status, unnecessary blogs, wanting to be the next person to sit on the actual club board. It should be about how best to represent members and their views and feelings.

For the trust to move forward, it really needs to go back to basics and stop with all the unnecessary extras. Why do we pay to be members? How do you know who is a member? Juniors aside, there are no actual benefits to being in the Mariners Trust for fans.

Operation Promotion was an unequivocal success because it brought everyone together. Fans bought into it because they were made to feel part of it

We know there are regular meetings but we never get told what's on the agenda to be discussed. How hard can it be to type up minutes and put them on the trust website, so we are aware of what's going on? The information on the website – lengthy board members' biogs aside – is hard to find, basic and not up to date. Also I'm not interested in player profiles, blogs, match reports; that's information I can find elsewhere. The trust website needs to be about the trust, what it's doing and why.

The trust needs to be open and transparent. Communication, and engaging with the members and fans, has to be of a higher priority. Operation Promotion was an unequivocal success because it brought everyone together. Fans bought into it because they were made to feel part of it. That level of feeling will be hard to replicate, but that kind of unity with members is what the trust needs to get back. Personally, I am unsure if the present board members will be able to do that. A yearly election would be a good move as then fans would feel like their board is there by merit, that they're the right people for the role and what it entails.

To gain back fans' confidence, the trust must start to take on board the level of fans' feelings on certain issues. It must start to act as the fans' voice and not as the club's 'yes boys'. While I appreciate that some issues will have sensitivity, a place on the board is meaningless if it counts for nothing. I do feel like it's beneficial to have it – giving it up may be playing into the club's hands, so to speak – but that doesn't detract from the fact that the voice of the trust does need to be stronger, and the fans must be represented.

Balloting members regularly for their opinion would be an ideal platform to start. Stop any in-fighting and concentrate on members. Draw up a new and improved Mariners Trust charter, with very clear aims and values, and involve the members and fans more.

That's my view. Tell the trust yours.