We shall see how this affects peoples attitudes towards STAR and indeed if this can help the club and STAR to work together. .. Who knows !
All I would want is for STAR and the club to work TOGETHER and RAISE as much money as possible to help the club achieve its goals and aims in the future.
Firstly may I say that I am delighted that some people are prepared to carry STAR forward and I wish them lots of luck.
Secondly can I thank the substantial number of people who, for the majority of my involvement with STAR, were very very supportive of what we were trying to achieve. There will always be detractors who just don't get it and they are perfectly entitled to their view, there will also always be people who have a different view on the way any organisation should be run, they also are entitled to their view and debate and discussion, provided it remains civil and does not become personally abusive must always be a good thing in a democratic organisation like STAR.
Thirdly, and without wishing to be controversial or to conflict with the incoming Board who, as I say I wish lots of luck, I don't think that 'Jacqui Forster has decided to resign' is really sufficient.
I, as a former Trust Board colleague, would wish to encourage all supporters whether STAR members or not to appreciate the inordinate amount of time and effort Jacqui put in to STAR and to SAFE before that, travelling 160 miles each way to attend meetings whilst also holding down a full time job.
It is, I believe, acknowledged that the Birmingham 20 event was a phenomenal success, this, whilst a team effort was, I feel sure all involved would agree due in no small part to Jacqui's tireless efforts, hours on Motorways and Telephones, drive and desire for the event to succeed.
I know that Jacqui will not thank me for this and I suspect that certain other individuals will feel the same but I think it important that the contribution she made to the inception and the first three years of STAR should be noted.
..the crux of the matter is summed up in your second point
'there will also always be people who have a different view on the way any organisation should be run, they also are entitled to their view and debate and discussion, provided it remains civil and does not become personally abusive must always be a good thing in a democratic organisation like STAR.'
As far as I am aware the debate has been civil, certainly I have been involved in organisations where this type of scenario has been considerably less so. I don't think for a moment that anyone dismisses the efforts of Jacqui, yourself and others, especially re Birmingham20 etc.
It was clear though that we had reached a point where the Trust needs to move in a slightly different direction, a natural progression point in my opinion. Either the trust is unsuitable for what we as supporters wish or the personnel involved are not adequately reflecting fully what the main body of supporters want. As you yourself pointed out, the rejection of motion1 by 95% of those present was in itself perhaps a vote of no confidence.
At no point during the meeting was there animosity though. I think most present accepted that for whatever reason things weren't quite working and wished to change without making an uncomfortable situation for the STAR board any more difficult. For example, Ecky asked that we should break before the voting for 10mins in order to ease the pressure that was obviously building up.
I reflected coming away from the meeting that towards the end Steve tried to raise a point about the Altrincham festival and was kind of shouted down, it wasn't the meeting for that and was taking away from the point of what was being discussed. In fact, that is entirely the sort of thing we should have been discussing, rather than various technical points.
With thanks to those who have served STAR and good wishes to those stepping into the breach I should hope that is the direction in which we will head, with a clearer distinction of how we as supporters can help the club.
PM me if there's anything that you don't wish to air in public but I think this is a genrral view. Our position on supporters trusts and the whole standing in supporters direct etc and its workings is probably a matter for another time.
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