1. Apologies for absence

Katrina, Alan S, Bill

2. Minutes of last meeting and matters arising

Congratulations were due to Ben Highton who completed the Southport Half Marathon in 2 hours 19 minutes raising money for the Trust.

3. Treasurer's Report

The Trust's current available funds stand at £29,670.34. A large proportion of these funds will go towards the Trust's contribution to the floodlights project with the exact figure yet to be determined. The £15,000 in the 30 day notice savings account with Cambridge & Counties bank earned interest of £104.79 to 30th April.

4. Membership

August is the month when the majority of memberships are due for renewal so it is expected that the next month will be a busy one. There will be leaflets handed out during the month promoting the Trust.

5. Future Trust Events

a) Cricket Match

The Trust has a team of 12 to face Churchtown CC. Fundraising will take place for Queenscourt Hospice and members of the Trust team are asked to wear Southport shirts.

b) Players' Reunion

The Reunion is now just a couple of weeks away and most arrangements have now been finalised. The training sessions run by Richard Brodie have been extremely popular and it is positive that the event is bringing so many fans together. A DVD of the match will be produced and available to buy. All 140 tickets for the Grandstand Bar were sold in 4 days where there will be a Q & A session with a selection of players and a quiz.

c) AGM

The Trust's AGM will provisionally take place at the beginning of September. Positions on the Trust Board will be advertised in the run up with up to 12 people permitted to be on the Board.

d) Next season’s programme of events

The response from supporters has been excellent with the programme set to get underway with the Meet The Manager session on Saturday 1st August. The evening of Saturday 5th September will be a tribute night to Mark Heaton and Howard is liaising with Mark's family with regards to arrangements. The Race Night hosted by Tony Adams will take place on Saturday 10th October.

6. Coach Travel 2015/16

Quotes have been received from Elite, Alfa and Vision out of 10 companies approached including some suggested by supporters. These quotes will be scrutinised with the aim of offering the best possible price to supporters. The coach to Macclesfield is already half full and a £100 donation has been received towards the cost of this trip. Also mentioned was the need to keep supporters better informed this season with regards to cancellations etc and the implementation of a more simplistic pricing structure.

7. Other Trust activities

The next match signs will continue in their current format for the time being although a review of their effectiveness will hopefully be held in the next couple of months.

8. Relations with club

The club's AGM takes place on 30th July and a meeting will be sought with Charlie Clapham afterwards to finalise the Trust's contribution to the floodlights project. Following the long awaited completion of the floodlights the Trust will hold a discussion with members over future projects.

9. Any other business

The Trust are delighted to welcome Howard Birch onto the Board and are keen for any other supporters who wish to get involved to get in touch or come to a meeting. Richard Brodie will be sponsored by the Trust for the forthcoming season.

10. Next meeting

Wednesday 12th August - Board

The Trust office will be open before and after Saturday's friendly against Wigan.

Supporters will be able to renew or become members of the Trust, book coach travel, enter the prediction league and learn about upcoming events.

Congratulations to Port fan Ben Highton who completed the Southport half marathon on Sunday with a time of 2 hours, 19 minutes.

This was Ben’s first organised race and he was one of the youngest participants involved. Ben has kindly donated his sponsorship money to Trust in Yellow.

Well done Ben and thanks to everyone who sponsored him.

1. Apologies for absence

Katrina, Alan S, Colin

2. Minutes of last meeting and matters arising

All were covered elsewhere on the agenda.

3. Organisation of coach travel to away matches next season

Before the discussion got underway Martin placed on record the Trust's thanks to Alan Scarisbrick and Phil Carder for all their efforts in organising the coaches since the Trust's formation.

The first part of the discussion focussed on why people weren't travelling on the coaches. The main reasons given were:

• The availability of cheap train tickets and the increased freedom of travelling by rail and car.

• The cost of the coach fare.

• Departure times for midweek games being too early for some people who are working.

A number of suggestions were then given on how to increase the number of supporters travelling by coach:

• Vouchers for a set number of games eg 5 – Would allow those who intend to use the coaches regularly to save money and would generate income enabling the Trust to budget more in advance.

• More flexibility after games – Members present were split evenly with some wanting to leave immediately after the match and some wanting to stay for a drink.

• Prioritise popular destinations – Taking into consideration when running a special offer how popular the destination is and not just with the most local fixtures eg Kidderminster may be more popular than Gateshead.

• More pick up points – eg The Liverpool area (when travelling to Wrexham or Tranmere) and Manchester area.

• Ensuring the cheapest possible price – Requests for quotes will once again be sent to several local companies. Some companies are more eager for one off big games such as Derby.

• Pricing and Incentives - Ideas were put forward about the pricing structure for members in general and junior members in particular. Also some ideas for offering incentives for regular travellers.

All of these points and suggestions will be discussed at the next Board meeting along with any other suggestions received in the meantime which are always welcome.

4. Treasurer's Report

The Trust's current available funds stand at £28,707.66. This figure includes £500 which has been received for the 2005 Reunion and members were reminded that £25,000 of this figure is set aside for the floodlights project.

5. Membership

A quiet time of the year but a busy period is expected shortly with many renewals due in August. The Trust's target is to reach 250 members over the course of the season with membership currently standing at 210.

6. Future Trust Events

There are currently 12 players in the Trust team to face Churchtown CC on Sunday 26th July. The match will be 20 overs and there are still spaces left for substitutes and reserves.

Arrangements for the 2005 Reunion are progressing well with all places on the supporters' team sold out in a day. The response from the 04/05 squad has been excellent with 16 having confirmed their attendance to date. The training sessions held by Richard Brodie have been very popular and volunteers are being sought to help with the running of the event on the day.

There will be a Meet the Manager session on Saturday 1st August following the friendly against Bolton which will be held in the Grandstand Bar.

Noel outlined to members present the Trust's calendar of events for next season with one event taking place after the first home game of each month.

7. Relations with the club

Martin had e-mailed Haydn requesting a statement to be made by the club regarding the floodlights. (Since the meeting the club has issued a statement on its official website stating that the pylons will be erected in August.)

8. Any other business

Ben Highton will be running the Southport Half Marathon on Sunday 5th July to raise money for the Trust and all supporters are encouraged to donate. The Trust intends to hold one of its events next season as a tribute to Mark 'Batman' Heaton who sadly passed away recently. The Prediction League for 15/16 has been launched and this time there will be no random entries. Congratulations went out to Nicola Hudson on her new role with Supporters Direct.

9. Next meetings

Thursday 16th July - Board

If you are a Trust in Yellow member and have any thoughts on coach travel for next season then please come along to the members' meeting tonight.

The Trust is very keen to hear from members with their views and ideas on improving the service in providing transport to away matches.

Coach travel will be the main item on the agenda at tonight's meeting, starting at 7.30pm in the main part of the Grandstand Bar. All members are very welcome to attend.

The Trust is particularly interested in the views of members who go to away matches whether on the Trust's coach or by other means.

If you are unable to attend, the Trust would still like to hear from you, so please send your suggestions to Martin Robinson at dmjrobinson@btinternet.com.

The Trust aims to run each trip at a break even cost but within that constraint the Trust will listen to and consider all suggestions

Coach travel will be the first item on the agenda so even if you can’t stay for the full meeting please come along and give your views.

By attending the meeting you also have a chance to pick up a ticket to attend the 2005 championship reunion on August 2, sponsor Port fan Ben Highton as he prepares to take part in the Southport half-marathon, or renew or take out a Trust membership.