Trust Chair, Jennifer Aitchison, and Board member Peter Mutton, met in September with Club CEO, Scot Gardiner and Sporting Director, John Robertson. The main purpose of the meeting was to re-establish a constructive working relationship between the Trust and the Club and to identify ways in which fans, through the Trust, can give support to the Club at this difficult time.
With the cost of living crisis impacting on everyone, it was recognised that some people may find it increasingly difficult to attend matches and, when they do, they may reduce the amount of money they spend at the club. This, together with increased costs, especially for energy, will put pressure on the Club's finances. It is therefore important to make the matchday experience as welcoming as possible to attract people to the stadium on match days. With that in mind, it was agreed to work together on developing and circulating a survey of fans in an attempt to better understand what prevents people from attending more games and spending more money when they do. A key element of this will be to reach out to people who rarely if ever go to games. Other issues such as getting a cover on the West
Stand and fundraising for specific projects was also raised.
Concerns about the potential impact on the Club of recently reported issues relating to the July concerts at the stadium were discussed and the Trust were told in the meeting that the Football Club and the Concert Company (although similarly named) were independent and that the Club had no direct financial liability due to the Concert Company.
Regards
Jennifer Aitchison and ICTST Board