Trust in the Collection

Comments (3)

I recently read the Last Domingan article on ToffeeWeb, and was interested in others' comments about the night, and especially the Trust and it?s lack of ?apparent? progress. I am not trying to rock the boat or cause divisions in the Everton fans, but below were my initial reactions that were re-ignited by the recent ?fence-offs? in the article?s Comments section.

I also appreciate Ian?s time and thoughtfulness in providing the write-ups, and understand it is difficult to be 100% precise. I am not a ?regular? at these events and I do not know a lot of the people involved; however, as this was my first visit to one of these meetings, I was struck by two things:

1. The Records Office ? Max seemed VERY keen to point out that Everton DONATED a great deal of material to the collection (he had some slides showing what looked like some ceramic/porcelain lady figures and a Bell) to demonstrate this.

When asked after his presentation, he stated that whilst initially they thought the Collection was 80:20 in David France?s favour, it was actually 60:40!! This is curious as I have been a visitor to the ?bunker? on more than one occasion and it didn?t look like it held that much, and I would be amazed if the QUALITY came anywhere near matching what Dr France had amassed!!!

2. When Max opened the floor for questions, Steve (Williams?) from the Trust answered some questions, and one of the questions that was put to him and Max, was what happens when the Lottery Funding runs out after 3 years (remember 14 plus months have already gone). I hope that the majority of the existing Collection can make it to the website, as l would be unhappy if the ledger pages and one or two other bits and pieces appeared ?pending new funds or backing?!!!!

The Trust representative was also asked if the Trust had minutes of their quarterly meetings ? apparently they do for their auditors, and when asked if they could make these minutes available (Ian seems to muddle this question and response in his write-up, but I know the guy with the tape recording can confirm), the Trust member stated that the Trust would not make them available because they contain ?sensitive? information???

When the Trust asked why the Trust minutes should be available, it led to people suggesting ideas and ways to help the Trust raise funds ? THIS WAS EXACTLY WHY THE QUESTION WAS ASKED - MORE HEADS HAVE MORE IDEAS!!

He did apologise for the lack of openness on progress and promised to get the PR working better. However, I don?t recall him actually confirming he would make ANY minutes available (Ian?s write-up again seems to muddle this response).

I got the impression that the Trust seemed a bit of a quiet set-up and not very visible. I am not saying the Trust want to take the glory for the Collection, but I began to wonder what, and who, they were actually composed of.

I acknowledge what Steve has said on this site, that there probably ARE very good Blues on the Trust, and let's be honest it GOT THE COLLECTION SECURED SO WELL DONE TO IT. However, I would like to know if a member of the Shareholders Association or another body such as the Everton Heritage Society attends the Trust meetings? ? and then at least the minutes could be available to a wider Everton audience with similar EFC commitment and an interest in the future direction the collection takes.

It was evident from the night that the Everton Family audience had good ideas ? Fund raising matches, Personal Loans of memorabilia, the publication of a Trust newsletter or regular updates in the Programme, etc... time will tell if the Trust were listening. Or maybe it is just too early in the project?

One thing I would like to see is a list of all the Trust members, with text pen pics detailing their roles on the Trust and who they are, what they do, why they do it, their ideas, contact details....... and who they support ;-). I really enjoyed the evening, and look forward to more, I thought all of the speakers were excellent.

HOW ABOUT THE NEXT FORUM BELONGING TO THE TRUST MEMBERS TO PRESENT THEMSELVES AND A FULL UPDATE ON THEIR ACTIVITIES AND FUTURE WORK ?

Appetite Whetted!!!!
David Starsky, Cambridge     Posted 27/02/2009 at 12:40:04

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