OxVox Committee Meeting Minutes
3 June 2021
Present: Ali Wolfe (AW), Trevor Lambert (TL), Paul Peros (PP), Simon Hathaway (SH), Ben Heath (BH), Robert Weavers (RW), Jemma Hayward (JH), Maurice Earp (ME).
Apologies: Ian Coleman(IC).
Club update
PP and AW reported that the trust was maintaining close regular contact with Tiger, the club, and its advisers regarding ownership changes, the stadium situation and the medium term future, and they updated the committee on recent contact. Discussions were ongoing on all fronts with all stakeholders and we hoped that, with the season now concluded, negotiations would now proceed at pace. We continue to press for all practical stadium solutions to be considered and for the plan ahead to be communicated to fans as soon as it can.
Fans’ Council
AW had attended the first meeting held via Zoom on behalf of OxVox. There were some 40 individuals on the call including Andy Taylor the club supporter liaison officer and Ashley Young from the Football Supporters Association in an advisory role. The group would evolve and develop terms of reference for scoping purposes, and a core membership of 6-8 reps would be identified. Our view was that it should be fan-led rather than club-led: the next meeting would be important in defining the shape of the Council.
AGM planning
Having lost last year’s AGM due to the pandemic, we resolved that an in-person AGM was vital this year. We agreed to work towards a provisional date of mid-September prior to a Saturday home League 1 match, trusting that by then crowds would be back. We agreed to issue an invitation to members who may be interested in standing for the committee to contact us, without commitment, as a first step in organising an election.
Supporter of the Year
This award trophy has been completed and is ready for collection: ME volunteered, AW advised that he would collect. A small number of nominations had been received and we agreed to issue a call for more, and to re-publicise the award, via our usual social media and local media channels. A shortlist will then be put out to a vote and the winner will receive the trophy at an event at the training ground, to which all the nominees will be invited.
Membership and finances
ME and TL reported that membership numbered 979 pending some reduction due to anticipated non-renewals, who will shortly be suspended and receive details of how to rejoin if they wish.
We agreed to pool our ideas for refreshing the trust’s visibility and reach to all sections of fans. For example, as crowds return, match day stalls will become possible again – we are convinced that meeting people is important. JH would help with marketing expertise. We agreed to invite feedback from non-members whose views on OxVox may help us identify any discouraging factors.
On finance, TL reported that at 30 April 2021 there was £13,629 in the trust’s accounts. The accounts for the year to 30 September 2020 are completed and will be presented at the AGM; they provisionally show a surplus of just under £900.
Newsletter
SH would complete issue 2 shortly. As was the case with Issue 1, it will be distributed electronically first to members then generally in the following days. It will include BH’s finance review (recently circulated to members) and correspondence with local MPs on EFL funding and crowd returns.
Other projects
RW raised the question of OxVox support for the women’s team. He suggested the trust should have a presence e.g. a stall at the women’s games and could also consider some degree of sponsorship. All were enthusiastic about this excellent idea and we will pursue this with Kath Faulkner.
The meeting closed at 8.30pm.