Minutes from the Trust Board meeting held on 17th January 2023.
Present: Mo Razzaq (MR), John Taylor (JT), Stephen Morley (SM), Stuart Paul (SP) and Ben Smith (BS).
Apologies: Karl Bowater (KB)
New Board Member
- MR welcomed BS to his first meeting following his appointment to the board. BS introduced himself to the other members.
Minutes of last meeting
- Matters arising
- Board Member Updates : SM had got photos back from Church but not the schools following distribution of T-Shirts
Finance
- Accounts for 2021 were now signed and had been filed with HMRC and JT will now file with FCA.
- JT to sort out changes to the bank mandate. MR and SM to be added. JT awaiting new on line token to get access to bank account.
Volunteers
- BS co-opted as membership director and will put together objectives for his role.
- SM to have meeting with media contact to discuss whether they could help with Trust’s media presence
- MR reported that an overseas media contact who has a good social media presence was also keen to support the Trust.
- BS and SM to work on looking at media and social media.
- MR to contact FSA affiliated groups to explore ways of working together.
Club Liaison
- MR reported that whilst Fan Engagement Boards were being pushed by PL the club still felt that FCG was still the appropriate medium for fan engagement.
- Following Trust led reaction to reports of alleged sponsorship deal with BK8 the club has called a meeting of FCG for 24th January. Prior to meeting MR to reach out to other FCG members to discuss the next step. Working with Gambling with Lives to explore ways to oppose this deal with setting up a petition as one option.
Membership and Recruitment
- MR reported that there were currently 593 members
- Reinstatement of Associate membership to be reviewed.
Community
- Ideas of reaching out to local foodbanks were discussed
Heritage
- SP reported that he was looking at ways to link up with various groups that promote Villa’s history.
FSA Liaison
- Nothing to report with KB absent.
Any other business
- JT reminded the board of need to co-opt at least one further director to comply with Trust rules.
- The reports that AV’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer had been reprimanded by FA for historic inappropriate social media posts was discussed, noting the lack of any comment by the club.
Date of next meeting
- Tuesday 21st March via Zoom at 7.30pm
