Bangitintrnet wrote: February 20th, 2024, 3:48 pm

Chris Davis wrote: February 20th, 2024, 2:41 pm I think that the Trust is a Club you pay to join. But it has not been simply a club you pay to join just to get benefits. It is, and most certainly was, a Club you wanted to join because it supported the AFC financially. I believe that was the primary motivation for most members joining and very much a secondary motivation was that you got benefits provided by the AFC for being Trust members. I think that's supported when you look at the range of benefits provided by the Trust grades of membership. They don't amount to much. As far as I can see few or none of those benefits require much effort from the AFC and no direct financial outlay by it for those benefits.

In order to try to retain existing members and recruit new ones, I think the Trust must continue to emphasise that the AFC does find it's financial support desirable but not necessarily in the old way. So, imo, the Trust needs to demonstrate that it can provide desirable support in quite focused ways that dovetails the wishes of the AFC and the Trust. It may be that the wishes of the Trust will become clearer after the consultation exercise. However, I do think that Trust members in deciding where they want to go,importantly should be aware that one day they might have to 'rescue' or reclaim the AFC and they would need to build a reserve to be in a realistic position to do that. How that reserve is built up and how it is invested in the best way will be decisions taken in the fullness of time and on expert advice, I would hope.

So basically you are saying that the purpose of the Trust will always be just an insurance policy, and that is why the existing members joined and will remain, irrespective of any benefits.

Well to me it needs to be honest with itself and say that it no longer wishes to recieve benefits, because it wants to only be an insurance policy. And I don't see anything wrong with that as a viewpoint. Indeed I have long since said that the trust should be buying club shares, exactly for that purpose.

But while it pretends that it wishes to assist HJ, it will just lose its existing membership simply to age. It will IMO not appeal to the young or middle aged, who generally have has their financial futures diminished by the old in society, and therefore don't wish to participate in the same financial things.

Chris Davis wrote: February 20th, 2024, 4:18 pm

Bangitintrnet wrote: February 20th, 2024, 3:48 pm

Chris Davis wrote: February 20th, 2024, 2:41 pm I think that the Trust is a Club you pay to join. But it has not been simply a club you pay to join just to get benefits. It is, and most certainly was, a Club you wanted to join because it supported the AFC financially. I believe that was the primary motivation for most members joining and very much a secondary motivation was that you got benefits provided by the AFC for being Trust members. I think that's supported when you look at the range of benefits provided by the Trust grades of membership. They don't amount to much. As far as I can see few or none of those benefits require much effort from the AFC and no direct financial outlay by it for those benefits.

In order to try to retain existing members and recruit new ones, I think the Trust must continue to emphasise that the AFC does find it's financial support desirable but not necessarily in the old way. So, imo, the Trust needs to demonstrate that it can provide desirable support in quite focused ways that dovetails the wishes of the AFC and the Trust. It may be that the wishes of the Trust will become clearer after the consultation exercise. However, I do think that Trust members in deciding where they want to go,importantly should be aware that one day they might have to 'rescue' or reclaim the AFC and they would need to build a reserve to be in a realistic position to do that. How that reserve is built up and how it is invested in the best way will be decisions taken in the fullness of time and on expert advice, I would hope.

So basically you are saying that the purpose of the Trust will always be just an insurance policy, and that is why the existing members joined and will remain, irrespective of any benefits.

Well to me it needs to be honest with itself and say that it no longer wishes to recieve benefits, because it wants to only be an insurance policy. And I don't see anything wrong with that as a viewpoint. Indeed I have long since said that the trust should be buying club shares, exactly for that purpose.

But while it pretends that it wishes to assist HJ, it will just lose its existing membership simply to age. It will IMO not appeal to the young or middle aged, who generally have has their financial futures diminished by the old in society, and therefore don't wish to participate in the same financial things.

This what I wrote in my last post: "In order to try to retain existing members and recruit new ones, I think the Trust must continue to emphasise that the AFC does find it's financial support desirable but not necessarily in the old way. So, imo, the Trust needs to demonstrate that it can provide desirable support in quite focused ways that dovetails the wishes of the AFC and the Trust. It may be that the wishes of the Trust will become clearer after the consultation exercise." So, I clearly did not suggest that the purpose of the Trust will always be just an insurance policy. That may be A purpose for the Trust's existance but not in my view THE reason for its existance. However, my view or anyone's individual view, is not of particular relevance. It is for the Trust members, as a body, to indicate in the consultation exercise, what they wish to do with the Trust.