Foxes Trust Reform

Nomination submission for the upcoming Trust elections will open this Monday (24th November) which means any new joiners to the Trust after this date will not be able to vote in the elections. If you want to show your support for us, you have the weekend to join and do so. We still believe the Trust has work to do to be representative of all supporters. Recent progress has been welcome, but there are many on the board who oversaw the Trust getting to the point that it was ineffective. They will only hold back progress of the Trust in future but we expect them to want to cling on to their seats (as shown by their recommendation against a rule change that would have seen more accountability for board members earlier this year and their resistance to involvement from those in our campaign when we first started this movement). Board members from our campaign have showed in a short space of time that a few individuals with the desire for things to be better, and the willingness to do some hard work, progress can be made. Many of the legacy board members were noticeably absent on the team that delivered an impressive end of season survey. There is an opportunity in front of us to get more change-minded people on the board. Whilst hearing from Top was a welcome development, and it was nice to hear he wants to communicate more, where has his leadership been as the club has signed up a front-of-shirt sponsor? Forced digital tickets on the fanbase? Set up a Fan Advisory Board comprised of largely club-picked individuals? Refused to communicate? Built a squad of overplayed and underperforming players? Broken financial rules? There is still so much that is not right and the Trust will need to challenge and push the club to achieve change. We seek to reform the Trust so join to make this change a reality. We have been told that Ian Bason (current Treasurer who chaired the Trust for many years), Vice Chairman, Matt Davis, and Membership Secretary, Sarah Hubbard, are all up for re-election. We hope to have our candidates win places on board in their place.

A massive THANK YOU to everyone that has renewed their membership or signed up for the first time to support our campaign. We know from the number of people messaging us and emailing in that a good number of people have shown their support but we don’t want to rest on our laurels. We need more people to join who will vote for our candidates. The Trust are likely to confirm an election period starting in the coming days. At that point, new joiners cannot vote in the upcoming elections. Why would they not give more public notice that those who want to have an active say in the elections would need to join before the election period starts? We don’t know. Do the Trust see people joining in time to be able to vote in the upcoming elections as a good thing? Who knows. But we’ll do it for them: if you want to be able to have your say in the upcoming elections, you need to join now. It’s 50% off the membership price, now is the time to drive proper change at the Trust by getting involved.

Disappointing to hear Graeme Smith on the When You're Smiling podcast going down the hate crime and police involvement route in response to this. Feels a bit out of touch. Is this really what the fan base want from the Fan Engagement Framework and individuals on the Fan Advisory Board that are there to represent them? Such a shame the Trust signed up to this nonsense and have Ian Bason as their representative playing a part in it...

Here's what the Terms of Reference of the Fan Advisory Board state: Key Clauses Under Membership (Section 2.1): “one representative from the Foxes Trust” is included among the Supporter Representatives. Under Selection and Replacement of Supporter Representatives (Section 3.1): “The Supporter Representative from the Foxes Trust will be a Foxes Trust board member nominated to join the FAB by the Foxes Trust and approved by the Club.” If Ian Bason is no longer a Foxes Trust board member, surely he cannot continue on the Fan Advisory Board as the Foxes Trust representative?

Hopefully we'll find out soon - we agree she's absolutely not the type we'd want to see continuing on board if she is

We have heard this too - @Foxes_Trust can you confirm?

See what the new joiners to the board, who came from our campaign, have achieved even with the legacy board members significantly outnumbering them: Stronger tone of statements Better online social media and message board presence Reduction in membership fees Introduction of Community work which will support charitable causes Better partnership with other supporter groups An end of season survey which gathered 3,200+ responses which was taken to the club and local and national media Our campaign has had to drive change inside the Trust despite a majority of legacy board members and we're sure there are other things that the new board members haven't been able to get through since they joined. From our campaigns perspective, there are some big decisions for the Trust in the next 12 months or so: Does it continue to support the Fan Engagement Framework or walk away? Does it change its stance on not being a protest group? When? Under what conditions? Is it best to still be "in the room" with the club even if its not achieving what it might like? What will it do with the significant funds it has sat in the bank? Ultimately, the more members the Trust has - and the more people in key positions who are a bit more active and challenging than some of the legacy board members - the more it can reflect the views of those members. The Trust's survey results showed there's wide-scale dissatisfaction across many things, the more people support the Trust the better chance it has of trying to fix some of those things.

We expect this is to do with the Trust's new membership system rather than any malicious means but anyone who doesn't receive confirmation of their membership should email [email protected] and we'll channel to the Reform members on the Trust board and ask them to have this checked.

We expect it to be in the next few weeks as an election period has to commence prior to the AGM in early 2026. The reason we're encouraging new people to join before any election period starts is because new members joining after the election period starts are not allowed to vote. If people get signed up now, they can actually have their say in the election. Ian Bason is one of the board members coming to the end of his term and would need to be re-elected to continue (should he wish to - but we believe FAB reps serve a term of 3 years so he will likely want to continue that and would need to be re-elected to do so). Once we know who the others are, we will also share their names.

Club don't usually move this quick to communicate on anything said by supporter groups, do they? Who's in cahoots here?

Good suggestion - thank you! Those who would like to join in order to support us and vote can do so here. Also worth emailing [email protected] to be added to our mailing list for any communications pre-election.

We are back. And it's time for the final step in our campaign to truly reform the Foxes Trust... In early 2026, the Trust will host its AGM and we believe that there will be a number of the current board members (from before our campaign) coming to the end of their term on board. They would need to be re-elected to continue in role and we do not want them to be. They were part of a Trust that got too cosy with the club and rested on its laurels. We have even heard rumours that one of the existing board members that would need to win a seat back by election to continue on board is Ian Bason (who would also need to vacate his FAB seat should he not be re-elected). As a democratic oganisation, major decisions within the Foxes Trust are taken by majority vote at board level. Whilst Becky, Harry and Jamie have been able to drive some really positive progress and change since they joined the board, we suspect they still face challenges with the old guard. An old guard who encouraged a vote against the rule change we put forward that would have enabled them to be removed if the membership had lost faith in them. We therefore plan to put forward as many candidates as there are open positions on the board but we need your support to get them in. Here's what we need you to do: Join the Trust in the next two weeks if you are not a member today so that you can vote (encourage others who are not members today to do so as well) If you joined in the initial wave of new joiners but didn't renew, do so in the next two weeks to be able to vote in the upcoming election (if you need to check whether you are still a member, please email [email protected]) Vote for FT Reform candidates once the ballot is open - we will make it clear in advance of elections who these people are The timeframes above are important as an election period will start later this year after which new members will not be able to vote and candidates for board will not be able to campaign. Membership of the Trust has been reduced to £5 for adults and £2.50 for concessions so the commitment needed to join and vote is significantly lower than it was before. Now is the big chance we have to complete our mission and deliver the Trust board we really need right now - please play your part by supporting us!

Reminder that the closing date for the ballot to change the rules of the Foxes Trust is 12pm tomorrow (Friday 24th January). If you haven't voted already, please do so now!

It's great to see fans starting to find their voice and play an active part in showing the club when we feel they are falling short. With the change happening at the Foxes Trust, and the fresh involvement of those who are willing to hold the club to account, it would be a great time to see a further increase in membership. For those who might not want to actively protest but still want to show the club that there is a good number of fans that are willing to challenge it and care about the best interests of the fan base, the Trust would represent a great option for you.

Thanks to those who attended the AGM on Monday this week and showed your support for our Reform campaign, and the Resolution to change the rules of the Foxes Trust so that board members can be removed by vote when the membership has lost confidence in them. For those who were unable to attend, we made a strong case for the Resolution as a positive step towards showing the Trust is changing (in order to drive mass membership) and in becoming truly democratic and accountable. Foxes Trust board members spoke against the Resolution on the night and the objections from those not in favour seemed to be as follows: Would the change in rules lead to endless calling of votes for and against board members? The Foxes Trust board members are volunteers and the membership should be grateful It might be hard for members to know who is/isn't doing a good job and that might lead to the wrong people being removed from the board unfairly Naturally, we don't believe any of these points are strong enough to vote against the motion. Whilst the rule can be changed by vote now, should it not be working and result in an endless back and forth of voting for/against board members, it can also be changed back by another resolution voted on by the membership (members are truly in control here). Secondly, whilst we appreciate board members are volunteers giving their time for free, we don't see this as a free pass to not deliver results for the membership and wider fan base (board members joining from our campaign are happy to be subject to the new rule should it be implemented). And, finally, knowing which board members should be subject to removal should be relatively easy if the Trust are transparent in their communication of which board members are responsible for which areas and providing clear and regular updates to members on progress (or lack of progress where there is understandably so). We share the updates above in the hope that Foxes Trust current members will vote For our Resolution and bring change and accountability. All Foxes Trust members should have received an email with a link to the ballot which needs to be completed before 12pm on 24th January. If you have not received this then please refer to this link and email [email protected]. Thanks for all of your support and your vote For the resolution!

Worth mentioning, if you are a new Foxes Trust member (that has joined in recent months) please email [email protected] if you are interested in hearing about our campaign to reform the Foxes Trust. If you plan to nominate a proxy for the vote on the upcoming Resolution (because you can't attend the AGM on Monday 13th January in-person or online), please continue to use the template we have provided (to those who have reached out to us) exactly as-is. It covers all eventualities.

It's great to see that members are exercising their right to nominate a Proxy to vote as they wish and that people are doing this ahead of the 10th January deadline! It is our view that it's not up to Alan to pass comment on the wording people have used and whether they have used a template to express their wishes. We've learned over the past year of this campaign that dealing with the Trust - and associated policies and procedures - entails a lot of language and terminology that, although necessary for legalities and compliance, could be off-putting or exclusionary for the average football fan just wanting their Supporters Trust to represent them better. Breaking down some of those barriers and making it easier for members to participate/express their democratic right should not be seen as suspicious or negative. Should any other Foxes Trust members wish to nominate a Proxy to vote in favour of the Resolution, and not be sure on how to word this in their email, please reach out to us!

Thankfully, the Trust have today confirmed that they are not now going to table an amendment to change the resolution from 66%+ of the vote being required to remove a board member to 75%+. We welcome that news as it means that, if the Resolution is passed and the rules are changed, the 66%+ of the vote will be enough to remove someone that the membership has lost confidence in. We will still need members to vote on the Resolution itself (in order to see the rules changed) and this will go to an online/postal vote post-AGM.

We wanted to provide a couple of updates regarding the upcoming vote on our Resolution to the change the rules of the Foxes Trust so that a board member who has lost the confidence of the membership base can be removed (via 66% of the vote). Not only have the current Foxes Trust board advised members to vote against the rule change, they have also suggested they may table an amendment to the Resolution to increase the required vote share to 75% rather than the 66% in our original Resolution (which was determined based upon advice from the Football Supporters Association). We are trying to show them that trying to increase the barrier to change - should the rules be changed by vote - is not a good look, and isn't necessary. After all, if 66% of voters have lost confidence in a board member to continue their role, isn't that more than enough?! We hope they will see that 66% is a reasonable number and not table an amendment to the Resolution. Should they decide to do so, however, we understand this amendment will be voted on at the AGM on Monday 13th January (7:30pm at the KP) with a postal vote/online vote thereafter on the Resolution itself. It's therefore really important that current Foxes Trust members who are supportive of reform and changing the rules either a) attend the AGM (in-person or online) or b) nominate a proxy if they cannot attend. How? Current Foxes Trust members who wish to attend online need to email [email protected] before 10th January to ask for the dial-in details Current Foxes Trust members who cannot attend but wish to have the Foxes Trust Chair act as their proxy need to email [email protected] to request this and provide their voting instruction (our recommendation is to vote AGAINST any amendment to the Resolution but IN FAVOUR OF the Resolution itself as amended or not) also before 10th January. We have created an email template for those who would like to use it - please request via DM or by emailing [email protected]. We believe this rule change is an important step to keep board members accountable to the wider membership, show the wider fan base that the Trust is open to change when those at the top are not doing enough and help the board to operate with greater agility and effectiveness by removing those doing little or not representing the fan base on key issues well enough. If you are a current Foxes Trust member, please support our rule change Resolution in the coming weeks!

This is only true if people stand by the sidelines watching and criticising though. The Trust, by its nature, is a democratic organisation. This means it's only as effective as its member base and its board that is elected by that member base. We believe if enough people join, and shape it into the organisation they want it to be, it can be better and do more.

As a campaign group, this is our view and why we believe the rule change makes sense and were disappointed by the recommendation to vote against it.

Apologies, our original post should have reflected that we're not 100% certain that there won't be a vote at the AGM and have asked the Trust for clarification. In the notice for the AGM, it says as follows: The Board will notify members that, under Rule 56, all of the membership should be balloted on this Motion and its Resolution, and a postal / online vote will be organised post the AGM and therefore the authority of the meeting will extend to the conclusion of that ballot. This may mean that there is a vote at the AGM in-person and then a postal/online vote that follows on from the AGM. We've asked the Trust to clarify so that all members are completely clear on when and how (online/postal/in-person) they need to vote. We'll also provide more details on the Proxy process and potential role of the Chair in due course as well.

This is what was provided in the notice of the AGM: There is already adequate provision in the existing Society Rules for the removal of Directors from the Board. There are also adequate disciplinary policies to determine if a Director is in breach of the ‘Board Membership and Conduct Policy’. The Board considers that such a policy opens up the opportunity for a disgruntled member to take a personal grievance to the level of a Special General Meeting in order to remove a Director they disapprove of, who may not be in breach of any Society Rules or Policies. All Directors are volunteers and are elected (and/or ratified) by the membership for a three-year term, after which they must retire from office and then decide to opt to re-stand. The Board determines that such short terms of office do not require further amendment to the Society Rules. Advice received from the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), indicates that such a clause was not included in the blanket standard Rules, approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and that Rule 63 in the Dons Trust Society Rules represents an outlier that presents corporate governance difficulties. The Board understands that are no plans or reasoning for the FSA to include such a clause in updates currently being drafted for FCA approval. Of course, this is just the recommendation given by the existing board on this resolution to potentially allow for the removal of members of the existing board should the membership see fit to do so...

Just to comment, those from our campaign that have been elected to the board of the Trust are only able to start work after being ratified at the AGM on Monday 13th January. Change has, and will, come at the Trust, unfortunately it's just taking a little longer than we'd all have hoped!

You may have seen recently that the Foxes Trust welcomed new board members who will commence their roles following the AGM on Monday 13th January - see the announcement here. This is positive news for the Foxes Trust Reform campaign but there remains an important vote still to come... We have tabled a resolution to amend the rules of the Trust so that board members can be removed from their position should members of the Trust vote to do so (currently board members can only be removed at the end of their three-year term, via resignation or as part of a disciplinary process if they have broken the rules of the Trust). As a democratic organisation, we believe it is important for members to have the ability to remove those on the board that they no longer have confidence in, in order to promote accountability and keep standards high. For example, were a board member to be hampering progress on a fan-led issue (e.g. safe standing) then members would be able to remove them rather than wait for their term to end (which could be up to three years). Put simply, we believe board members of the Trust should be accountable to the wider members. Sadly, the existing Trust board have recommended that members reject our proposal. In order for the rules to be changed, at least two-thirds of those voting would need to vote in favour of the change. The Trust have indicated that there will be a postal or online vote for members following the AGM so please be ready to vote 'Yes' to the motion if you believe this to be a sensible change!