Announcement of election to fill four vacancies on the Dons Trust Board
Three members’ two-year terms and one member’s one year term come to an end this year. There are therefore four vacancies to be filled, all for a term of two years. For reference, the five continuing members are Jane Lonsdale, Mark Davis, David Growns, Roger Evans and Colin Dipple, who will be happy to discuss the role and responsibilities of board members.
Standing as a candidate
If you wish to stand, you will need to complete a nomination form.
The form also includes a section declaring your shareholding, if any, in AFCW plc.
Timetable
The election will be conducted in accordance with the following timetable:
| Nominations open | 1 October 2016 |
| Nominations close | 14:30 Saturday 15 October 2016 |
| Manifestos published, at the latest | 31 October 2016 |
| Voting forms sent to members | 7 November 2016 |
| Closing date for voting | 23:59 Monday 28 November 2016 |
| Result announced at the AGM | Thursday 8 December 2016 |
There will be no formal hustings before, during or after a home match; previous elections have shown there to be little voter appetite for this. However, candidates are, subject to the election rules, free to canvas and campaign at such times.
Official events may be organised; candidates will be given as much notice as possible of these.
An article promoting the election appeared in the matchday programme against Gillingham (game played on 1 October 2016) and is available in the news section of this site.
Candidates for Dons Trust Board election
We have received six nominations for the four positions that are up for election on the Dons Trust Board. This means we will proceed to a contested election.
The candidates are listed below, with their proposers, in a random order determined by a draw.
Nigel Higgs (Proposer 1: Dave Chan – Proposer 2: Roger Dennis)
Tom Adam (Proposer 1: Margaret Adam – Proposer 2: Eileen Samuelson)
Cormac van der Hoeven (Proposer 1: Paul Raymond – Proposer 2: George Jones)
Tim Hillyer (Proposer 1: Gerry Hever – Proposer 2: Ivor Heller)
Sean McLaughlin (Proposer 1: Ivor Heller – Proposer 2: David Growns)
Matthew Breach (Proposer 1: Erik Samuelson – Proposer 2: Ian Cooke)
Voting forms will be sent to Trust members on or shortly after Monday 7 November. For members who have chosen to receive electronic communication, this will be by link to a SurveyMonkey page or similar.
The candidates are now free to campaign. Their mini manifestos will be included in the matchday programme against Bradford City (Saturday 29 October) and also made available on this website. Their full manifestos will be sent to Trust members by 31 October at the latest.
The closing date for voting is 23:59 on Monday 28 November. The result will be announced at the Trust’s AGM on Thursday 8 December.
There will be no formal hustings before, during or after a home match but candidates are free to canvas and campaign at such times. We are also encouraging members and candidates to use the Trust Webjam to interact.
Keep an eye on the club’s website and media and especially on this website for further information. Events will also be arranged on The 9yrs Podcast.
Mini manifestos released
The candidates’ mini manifestos are included in the matchday programme for the match against Bradford City (played October 29). They will also be made available on the Trust Webjam.
Update, October 31: Unfortunately in the Bradford City programme the mini manifesto of one of the candidates was missing a paragraph. We have therefore updated the spread to include the missing paragraph. In order to ensure fairness to all the candidates, the mini manifestos will also be republished in the forthcoming Bury programme (match being played on November 19). Our apologies to the candidate concerned.
Full manifestos released
The candidates’ full manifestos are about to be sent to all Trust members. You can also see the full manifestos online.
Voting forms will be sent out on November 7, with voting closing at 23:59 on Monday, November 28. The results will be announced at the Trust AGM on Thursday, December 8.
Manifestos sent out and podcast available
November 4: The full manifestos have now been emailed to all Dons Trust members. (If you’re one of the few Trust members who has opted for postal communication, they should be with you soon!)
You can also listen to a special edition of the 9yrs Podcast where Nick and Stu interview all six candidates standing for election.
And don’t forget that you can quiz the election candidates on the Dons Trust Webjam.
Voting forms will be sent out on November 7, with voting closing at 23:59 on Monday, November 28. The results will be announced at the Trust AGM on Thursday, December 8.
Result announced
December 8: The result of the 2016 election was announced at the Trust’s AGM and posted on this website the following day.
| Matthew Breach | 609 |
| Sean McLaughlin | 467 |
| Tim Hillyer | 440 |
| Cormac van der Hoeven | 370 |
| Tom Adam | 395 |
| Nigel Higgs | 540 |
Turnout was 27%.
With four spots on the board up for election, Matthew Breach, Nigel Higgs, Sean McLaughlin and Tim Hillyer were therefore elected.
Update December 18, 2016: You can now read the statement of the results made by John Dolan on the night of the AGM.