April’s board meeting summary

The Dons Trust Board (DTB) held its regular monthly meeting at the Cherry Red Records Stadium on Monday, April 10. Ahead of publication of the redacted minutes, this article summarises the main points that were discussed.

As is usual, the start of the meeting was joined by club chief executive Erik Samuelson, who gave an update on the tendering process (outlined by him in a recent programme article) and financing of the new stadium. The DTB discussed with Erik the timing of the next Trust SGM and whether it would be advisable to delay this meeting so that more information can be given to members about the outcome of the tendering process. (Keep your eyes on the Trust website for confirmation soon.)

Erik also outlined work on Kingsmeadow that it is envisaged will be undertaken by Chelsea FC, including pitch improvements, upgrading the floodlights and improvements to the changing rooms to bring the stadium up to the standards required for their women’s team.

Regarding progress with the Section 106 agreement and its associated documents, Erik gave an example of the level of detail included by explaining the Development Agreement drills down to ‘fine detail’ such as processes that will allow matches to take place at the stadium while Galliard are finishing building on their part of the site.

After an update on the budget and cashflow, Erik left the meeting and the DTB went on to discuss Trust-specific issues, including the Election Steering Group’s report and specifically how to create vibrant, engaging elections. It was agreed to produce a brief survey of Trust members to prompt debate and to send this to members ahead of a broader discussion at the next SGM.

Mark Davis also asked for comments from the DTB on a draft Board Membership Policy, which will need to be taken to the Trust membership for approval.

Under any other business, Jane Lonsdale reminded DTB members to sign in to the Trust Webjam on a regular basis. Any other business also touched on co-opting to help fill skills gaps on the DTB, and safeguarding issues including the recent dementia information session.

Present from the Dons Trust Board were: Matthew Breach, Mark Davis, Roger Evans, Nigel Higgs, Tim Hillyer, Jane Lonsdale, Sean McLaughlin. Apologies were received from: Colin Dipple, David Growns and Matt Spriegel.