Martin White tells us about the upcoming Annual General Meeting

The busiest time of year for the Trust is rapidly approaching as we head towards the AGM. By the time you read this, the nomination process will have closed and we'll be preparing all the documentation to be posted out to all members for voting and the "official" notification of the AGM.

There are currently as I write this (Thursday) 8 people standing for election, which is an impressive turnout and possibly some late entries to boost the election further. Full details of who is standing will be with the letters all Trust members will receive, and you'll get a pre-paid envelope to post your votes back to us.

Elections are a vital part of the Trust, for a number of reasons. Firstly, it ensures that there is a healthy turnover of Trust Board Members, who can bring fresh ideas. Secondly, it should show that the Trust is not a "closed shop", though it never ceases to amaze and at times frustrate me that some people still maintain otherwise despite all the evidence to show it is not.
The elections are open and fair - if you disagree with things join the Trust and stand in the next elections - you have the ability to influence and change things.

The last reason I'm grateful for elections is the matter of "burn out". It's never dull doing Trust work, and to be honest, I'll be quite glad when the day comes that I can stand down. We've lost some really good people over the last year that will be very hard to replace, but County fans are a resilient bunch and new people will rise to take over the good work that's gone before.

That's not to say everything has been done perfectly - learning involves the occasional mistake/lesson - but the County Trust is evolving on a month by month basis and steady progress and improvement is being made, while we re-double efforts to also support the Club when needed, the most obvious example being the Manor Farm project.

We fans own the club, and sometimes when the club asks for help, we need to pull together and get the job done. I've always maintained that time and enthusiasm count far more than money (though cash obviously helps!) - so if you can spare some free time, get yourself volunteered to help out at Manor Farm, it will be much appreciated by us, the Club and the players who work there every day.