The Dons Trust AFC Wimbledon Club OwnersDons Trust Newsletter- March

Welcome to the March 2023 Dons Trust board newsletter – our monthly collection of news stories and views collected by your elected board representatives about ongoing Dons Trust activities. Since our last monthly update, our individual theme groups have continued to make headway with a variety of internal and external projects, as outlined below. A Dons Trust member has recently made a generous financial donation to the Trust, for which the DTB would like to thank them.

The Dons Trust AFC Wimbledon Club Owners

Dons Trust Special General Meeting
The next Special General Meeting of the Dons Trust has been rescheduled for Sunday 30 April 2023 at our home in Plough Lane from 4.30 pm – 6 pm.

Please note this meeting has been re-arranged from 30 March, as train strikes were planned for that day.

All registered Dons Trust members will receive notification about this meeting and the important resolution for voting on.

Members interested in submitting a resolution for consideration at this or any other members’ meeting should email secretary@thedonstrust.org for advice and assistance. The deadline for submitting members’ resolutions for the 30 April meeting is noon on Sunday 2 April.

This SGM will take place immediately after the final AFC Wimbledon Women game of the season at Plough Lane, which kicks off at 2 pm.

From 6.30 pm on 30 April, AFC Wimbledon’s end of season dinner takes place – tickets still available.

Thank you to those members who have agreed, when contacted by the DT board, to receive future communications by email – this enables us to allocate funds to other projects.  

AFC Wimbledon score highly in EFL report  
AFC Wimbledon is celebrating a huge growth in its community activities, as revealed in a recent English Football League (EFL) report which you can read on the EFL website: Measuring the Impact of EFL Clubs in the Community   
Volunteers’ awayday 
People who have given their time as a volunteer for specific club or Dons Trust activities this season, whether on match days or on other occasions, should by now have received an invitation to this season’s volunteers’ awayday, taking in the Stevenage away game on Saturday 15 April.

Made possible once again thanks to a generous donation, the volunteers’ awayday gives the opportunity to enjoy coach travel and a thank-you meal prior to watching the Dons take on promoting-chasing Stevenage.

AFC Wimbledon Women march on 
At time of writing, AFC Wimbledon Women sit top of the FA National League Division One South East with seven games to play.

Details of their current unbeaten run and the remaining fixtures in their promotion push can be found online.

Theme group updates
The Dons Trust board is starting the process of recruiting non-executive directors to the board of AFCW PLC. The first step considered by the Oversight group was to put together a joint boards’ nominations committee to identify the attributes, skills and experience needed by the PLC board, to agree the roles and priorities and to commence the process of seeking candidates.

James Macdonald of the Dons Trust board will chair the committee, and will be joined by Kris Stewart for the DT board, and by Nick Robertson and Mick Buckley for the PLC board.

The Culture & Mission group are looking to refresh the vision and mission of the Dons Trust. Looking at what and where we want the Dons Trust to be in the long term, we are in early stages at the moment and currently the Dons Trust and PLC boards are planning some work together. As we start to understand more, we will involve DT members and other key stakeholders, to make sure we all have a good understanding of what we’re trying to achieve.

The Dons Trust and PLC Boards are holding a joint strategy day next month to ensure clarity and consistency on our joint goals, visions and objectives.

The Community group have obtained templates from the Football Supporters Association so that each DT board member can undertake a skills audit. This will ascertain the skills, knowledge & experience each board member brings to the board and areas they may need additional training/exposure to.

The Member Services & Engagement group are looking at ideas about how the DT might have more presence around the ground on matchdays next season.

This would enable us to display and discuss the benefits of Dons Trust membership with as many fans as possible throughout the season.

Women at the Game – 18 March  
Saturday 18 March’s game v Crawley Town commemorates Women at the Game.

Many of you will be familiar with the idea behind it all, but fewer of you will know about the founder, the much-missed Jacqui Forster.

Jacqui was an Altrincham fan and died in 2018 after a long battle with cancer.

Her final initiative was the launch of Women at the Game, and what matters is that WATG has created a real spirit amongst women and girl supporters that the game of football is as much for them as for anyone else.

This is part of what she said at the time:

‘My idea is such a simple one, women enjoy doing things and going to places together. Watching sports events is just one of things I like to do and I know that it isn’t so good on my own and that women just would not consider going on their own. So, I thought I’d set up something to help women to make new friends and enable groups to grow to watch live sport together in a comfortable, easy, organised group.

‘Aimed at women of all ages, all backgrounds, ethnicity, ability and religious belief, I hope that Women at the Game can empower women to experience the fun of going to the game, match, tournament without fear of intimidation, feeling isolated, lonely or need of fellow women’s companionship.’

We are delighted to welcome 20 mums and daughters to our game against Crawley Town on Saturday 18 March, on the eve of Mother’s Day. We passionately believe football is a game to be enjoyed by all in a safe and enjoyable environment and would like to encourage more women to take part in that.

This is a specially organised Women at the Game celebration which also sees the launch of women’s supporter group WOWSA. We also welcome a number of girls from Burntwood School, Wandsworth, joining us.

Many thanks to Amanda Bynon, Rhiannon Maher, Jane Lonsdale and the AFC Wimbledon Foundation for organising this visit and celebration.

Dons Trust kiosk 
You can meet individual members of the Dons Trust board in person in advance of every home game, to talk about anything and everything DT-related.

DTB members Matt Lowndes and Mark Lewis will be present at the Dons Trust kiosk behind the Movers stands on the food concourse from 1 – 2.45 pm ahead of the Crawley game – come and have a chat.

Alternatively, as we appreciate feedback and queries from members at all times – you can email contact@thedonstrust.org with your thoughts or tweet @TheDonsTrust

For any questions about tickets, the stadium, merchandise etc. – email the club on  enquiries@afcwimbledon.ltd.uk 

Thanks for reading and come on you Dons!

The Dons Trust board