latest news from Dfcss/Dee4life

[shaded]

Dear Member,

Further to my email on the 1 July 2020 I’m pleased to forward a short questionnaire (below) on behalf of the Board which as you’ll appreciate is most important and should hopefully take just a few minutes to reply to. Email responses to contact@dee4life.com by 12noon on Wednesday 22 July 2020 will be greatly appreciated and please note that all responses will be treated as confidential and never associated with individual Members.

A detailed appraisal of the responses will be swiftly reported to the Members and most importantly will be used to inform the Board’s decisions on any significant additional contributions to the Club and associated organisations.

It should also be stressed that the Society’s directors are extremely sympathetic toward the financial challenges facing the Club, however, the problem the directors face is that the Society Rules, in common with other Supporters’ Trusts, do not encourage a ‘no strings attached’ donation as has recently been requested by the Club. This is one of the main reasons why the Society directors decided they couldn’t agree to the request as it stood. Another reason is that, as a democratic organisation, and given that a significant amount of reserves had been requested, the directors wish to engage with the Members before taking such a potentially major decision. We therefore provide the following guidance to Members on how their money could potentially be spent within the parameters of the ‘Objects’ and ‘Powers’ in the Society Rules.

To help the directors with their decision making process please study the following suggestions and respond to questions A, B, C and D.

NB: The Society’s reserve allowing all current expenditure commitments is £34,000.

By way of background suggestions, the Society Rules would favour a donation to the Club or related organisation through any of the following suggested routes:

1.1 Share purchase

1.2 Interest free loan

1.3 Support for the activities of ‘Dundee FC in the Community Trust’

1.4 Support for the activities of the new ‘Dundee FC Historic Trust’

1.5 Funding of free season tickets for schools and community groups

1.6 Funding of stadium improvements to benefit of the supporters

Question A - Would you be happy for the Society to release a significant amount from the current reserves. Yes / No?

Question B - If Yes, what percentage of the reserves would you suggest?

Question C - If you’ve responded ‘Yes’ to Question ‘A’ above which of the donation categories 1.1 to 1.6 above would you support?

Question D - If you’ve responded ‘No’ to Question ‘A’ above please explain why, if you wish.

By way of further background information the Board is delighted to confirm giving the following support in the last six months to the Club and associated organisations:

· £500 donation to Scott Roberts’ Crowdfunding initiative.

· £888 donation to the ‘DFC in the Community Trust’ soccer schools.

· £2,600 donation towards the development of the new 'DFC Historical Trust' website and other costs.

· £1,000 grant secured from Dundee City Council to further support the development of the 'DFC Historical Trust'.

· Managing the successful application process to OSCR for the 'DFC Historical Trust' charitable status and the development of the Trust’s governance documents.

Finally, DFCSS/Dee4Life has a membership approaching 200 and the greater the membership the better placed the Society would be to contribute to the Club. It’s worth pointing out that both at Board and wider membership level there are Members who are also Club shareholders, DSA members, season ticket holders and Dee Lotto members and that all members wish to work for the ultimate benefit of the Club.

I look forward to your email response and if you've any queries please let me know.

Kind regards,

Ian Baird

Director and Secretary

[hmac]

Dear Member,

Further to my email on the 1 July 2020 I’m pleased to forward a short questionnaire (below) on behalf of the Board which as you’ll appreciate is most important and should hopefully take just a few minutes to reply to. Email responses to contact@dee4life.com by 12noon on Wednesday 22 July 2020 will be greatly appreciated and please note that all responses will be treated as confidential and never associated with individual Members.

A detailed appraisal of the responses will be swiftly reported to the Members and most importantly will be used to inform the Board’s decisions on any significant additional contributions to the Club and associated organisations.

It should also be stressed that the Society’s directors are extremely sympathetic toward the financial challenges facing the Club, however, the problem the directors face is that the Society Rules, in common with other Supporters’ Trusts, do not encourage a ‘no strings attached’ donation as has recently been requested by the Club. This is one of the main reasons why the Society directors decided they couldn’t agree to the request as it stood. Another reason is that, as a democratic organisation, and given that a significant amount of reserves had been requested, the directors wish to engage with the Members before taking such a potentially major decision. We therefore provide the following guidance to Members on how their money could potentially be spent within the parameters of the ‘Objects’ and ‘Powers’ in the Society Rules.

To help the directors with their decision making process please study the following suggestions and respond to questions A, B, C and D.

NB: The Society’s reserve allowing all current expenditure commitments is £34,000.

By way of background suggestions, the Society Rules would favour a donation to the Club or related organisation through any of the following suggested routes:

1.1 Share purchase

1.2 Interest free loan

1.3 Support for the activities of ‘Dundee FC in the Community Trust’

1.4 Support for the activities of the new ‘Dundee FC Historic Trust’

1.5 Funding of free season tickets for schools and community groups

1.6 Funding of stadium improvements to benefit of the supporters

Question A - Would you be happy for the Society to release a significant amount from the current reserves. Yes / No?

Question B - If Yes, what percentage of the reserves would you suggest?

Question C - If you’ve responded ‘Yes’ to Question ‘A’ above which of the donation categories 1.1 to 1.6 above would you support?

Question D - If you’ve responded ‘No’ to Question ‘A’ above please explain why, if you wish.

By way of further background information the Board is delighted to confirm giving the following support in the last six months to the Club and associated organisations:

· £500 donation to Scott Roberts’ Crowdfunding initiative.

· £888 donation to the ‘DFC in the Community Trust’ soccer schools.

· £2,600 donation towards the development of the new 'DFC Historical Trust' website and other costs.

· £1,000 grant secured from Dundee City Council to further support the development of the 'DFC Historical Trust'.

· Managing the successful application process to OSCR for the 'DFC Historical Trust' charitable status and the development of the Trust’s governance documents.

Finally, DFCSS/Dee4Life has a membership approaching 200 and the greater the membership the better placed the Society would be to contribute to the Club. It’s worth pointing out that both at Board and wider membership level there are Members who are also Club shareholders, DSA members, season ticket holders and Dee Lotto members and that all members wish to work for the ultimate benefit of the Club.

I look forward to your email response and if you've any queries please let me know.

Kind regards,

Ian Baird

Director and Secretary

Lack of interest is revealed by a membership approaching 200.

That’s crazy after the way it used to be

[shaded]

re numbers h,i think its fair to say that when numbers were at their highest then there was a few dogs,budgies and even enrolled arabs within the total,and after the debacle that was the gardyne then numbers were always going to plummet big time.how id love for a club our size to work together and plough on for the greater benefit of the club.

but you know as well as me that for that to happen then hatchets and knives must be turned in and fans must be spoken to,imagine that-------preaching /selling to the already converted now that must be a cc**** of a hard job

we are far too small a club to have any arguments that can be to the detriment of the club we all love

[hmac]

re numbers h,i think its fair to say that when numbers were at their highest then there was a few dogs,budgies and even enrolled arabs within the total,and after the debacle that was the gardyne then numbers were always going to plummet big time.how id love for a club our size to work together and plough on for the greater benefit of the club.

but you know as well as me that for that to happen then hatchets and knives must be turned in and fans must be spoken to,imagine that-------preaching /selling to the already converted now that must be a cc**** of a hard job

we are far too small a club to have any arguments that can be to the detriment of the club we all love

Fans have been treated like shyte that long that now they’re just not bothered. I’m finding it all a bit sad and don’t know how the club recovers from damage of McCann era onwards

[BCram]

Fans have been treated like shyte that long that now they’re just not bothered. I’m finding it all a bit sad and don’t know how the club recovers from damage of McCann era onwards

I agree that there is an element of truth if you are talking about the communications from the club and the relationship with DFCSS. On the money side they have been pretty good I would have thought and backed their managers decisions. I don't think there has been a deliberate decision to disrespect the fans. I think it's more that with social media giving us all a chance to say what we think, we expect much more from the club in reply to all the stuff we type.

[shaded]

what i dont get is it is very easy to talk especially to the already converted.
that situation really has to be addressed imo

[BCram]

what i dont get is it is very easy to talk especially to the already converted.
that situation really has to be addressed imo

Only one guy can fix it, if all you hear is correct. Makes you wonder why there is this situation.

[scottg]

The funds we are talking about committing as a fans group are a drop in the bucket looking at the bigger picture. I think the Society would be best committing to small sums that could make a huge difference to the Community Trust, Historic Trust and School Season Ticket initiatives. Both parties need to recognise and agree that there is much more in the longer term to be gained by working together for the greater good of us all and realising the potential that exists.

My personal preference is for the Society to put in 10% of reserves now and for the Club and the Trust to commit in principle to working together in the year ahead. After a period of time there then brings the opportunity to increase both the percentage and the amount that generates at a later day. Keep in mind cash reserves not spent now can be made available if it is deemed they are urgently needed. If we are at the stage that FPS urgently require a loan facility from the supporters then they really need to say so.

[shaded]

The funds we are talking about committing as a fans group are a drop in the bucket looking at the bigger picture. I think the Society would be best committing to small sums that could make a huge difference to the Community Trust, Historic Trust and School Season Ticket initiatives. Both parties need to recognise and agree that there is much more in the longer term to be gained by working together for the greater good of us all and realising the potential that exists.

My personal preference is for the Society to put in 10% of reserves now and for the Club and the Trust to commit in principle to working together in the year ahead. After a period of time there then brings the opportunity to increase both the percentage and the amount that generates at a later day. Keep in mind cash reserves not spent now can be made available if it is deemed they are urgently needed. If we are at the stage that FPS urgently require a loan facility from the supporters then they really need to say so.

pretty much similar to my reply to the ss scott albeit i said only an interest free loan,as the ss directors and members can vote on any of the other causes out there if and when they arise.

what grates my lemon is when different fan factions create friction,ffs we are all dee fans and my main aim just now is for J Nelms to engage with all fans and on a regular basis

[BCram]

Think you are on the right track Shaded. There still seem to be battles from the past that will not just go away. Maybe it isn't as one sided as I had supposed?