We are proud to be a fan-owned club, and the ultimate decision makers are the people Dons Trust members elect to the Dons Trust Board. The ESG are pleased to say that they have accepted 8 candidates to look to fill the vacant places, so there will be a contested election.
The candidates names have been randomised in the order they appear here with a separate random order being used on Dons Discord. Paper ballots will use a different random order and each individual digital ballot will be randomised individually. Ballot papers will be sent out Sunday 14th September with voting closing 23.59 on Sunday 5th October.
Below is the list of candidates, their proposers and their manifestos. More information on hustings will be released in due course. Members can ask questions to candidates on our Dons Discord. You can join our Discord via this Link.
The list of candidates is as follows: Chris Atkinson, James Ledward, Alex Folkes, Martin Drake, Matt Thornett, Ian Hicks, Sam Spencer and Simon Hood.
Dons Trust Election 2025 Candidates, Proposers and Manifestos
Chris Atkinson
Proposers: Warren Church and Thomas Large
Manifesto: Link
James Ledward
Proposers: Richard Shepherd, Gregg Ledward-Freeman,
Manifesto: Link
Alex Folkes
Proposers: Mark Lewis, Niall Couper
Manifesto: Link
Martin Drake
Proposers: Kevin Rye, Graham Stacey
Manifesto: Link
Ian Hicks
Proposers: Lou Carton-Kelly, Edward Halls
Manifesto: Link
Sam Spencer
Proposers: Callalily Schnider-Hood, Rebekah Whilden
Manifesto: Link
Simon Hood
Proposers: Chris Hutchinson, John Lynch
Manifesto: Link
The ESG would like to thank all candidates for putting themselves forward and wish them all luck in the election process.
For this or any election related question, please contact: Matthew Breach, Elections Steering Group Chair, via: elections@thedonstrust.org . The current membership of the ESG also includes Julian Edwards, Tim Hillyer and Gary Davis plus our independent scrutineer, Neil Springate, and the DT Secretary, George Jones.