There can by now surely be relatively few Charlton fans who are not deeply concerned at the plight of our club. The dire performances on the pitch are only a small part of that concern. The strategic intentions have now been made clear by Katrien Meire and the future does not look bright.
Fans protests are gathering pace and support. Yesterday was superb. Despite many of us contributing financially to individual protest initiatives, the time is now right for a fighting fund to be established, to form a ready source of finance which will be used to quickly meet reasonable requests for support for all forms of fans protests against Duchatelet and Meire: this could be for the costs of producing leaflets, banners, flags, events, props - whatever, as long as it is legal.
We are therefore delighted to announce the launch of the Charlton Fans Protest Fund.
This fund will be administered jointly by two CL members,
@Davo55 and
@Curb_It, as detailed below.
We are now calling on all Charlton fans who share these concerns to contribute to the creation of this fund. You can do this by bank transfer to:
Brenda Smith
Sort code 20-68-04
Account number 50661678
Please give your CL user name as a reference and PM us, so we can identify you as the donor.
Those wishing to use PayPal should PM Curb_It for details. We do not propose,at this stage, to set up a Just Giving crowd-funding mechanism as they take “up to” 5% of donations in fees.
We will invite requests for financial support from protest organisers as soon as we have a reasonable sum in hand to get started.
We appreciate that money is tight for many people, especially at this time of year but any and all donations will be greatly appreciated.
Please, help to make a difference, help to make 2016 a brighter year for all Charlton fans, help to get our Charlton back. Support the Charlton Fans Protest Fund.
Many thanks, in advance
Alan (Davo55) and Brenda (Curb_It)
Note: It would be appreciated if this thread could be kept free of discussion and general chat if possible, please.
Repeated below for ease of reference are process details:
1. The fund is only open to CL members, so we have some degree of knowledge of those requesting fund support.
2. Those seeking funds should in the first instance PM
@Davo55 and
@Curb_It providing your own name and email address. Davo55 will email back (to verify the given email address is legitimate) and copy to Curb_It. We will seek the following details:
- name of the protest campaign/initiative
- a brief description of the planned protest activity and dates
- how much funding is sought and for what specific purpose, itemised to a reasonable level
Note: please do not post details of the planned protest, to avoid prior warning to club officials.
3. On receipt of that information, Davo55 and Curb_It will confer. The aim is to get sufficient detail in the initial email request but we will seek further clarity if required. We will then agree whether, and how much (i.e. full or partial funding depending on the case put forward and amount of funds available) to allocate. We will refuse any requests that we believe to incorporate illegal activity but do not intend to act as moral arbiters - e.g. to make conditions about swearing etc.
4. Notwithstanding point 3, please note that the legality and overall conduct of the protest activity is the responsibility of the protest organisers. Our role will be simply to channel CL donor funds and neither we or the donors accept any responsibility in those regards.
5. Curb_It will manage the receipt and acknowledgement of donations and the payment of agreed allocated funds. She will advise Davo55 of all receipts and payments and Davo55 will maintain an overall record of both.
6. We will not seek to verify that the amount allocated was actually spent as detailed in the original request. This will be taken on trust, with any surplus funds being returned to Curb_It.
7. At least monthly Davo55 will update all via CL on funds received (overall figures rather than individual details) and how they have been distributed - name and brief description of protest plus amount allocated.
8. It is not intended that the fund will be independently audted, although full records excluding personal details could be made available to CL Donors on request.
In summary, we are in effect asking you to trust us with your money and make reasonable enquiries and decisions on your behalf. In turn, we will be trusting CL members requesting/receiving funding to be truthful in their requests, use the money for the purpose it was allocated and return any unused money to the fund. We don’t want to get bogged down with administration and oversight - we are a community and this initiative is simply a mechanism to get money quickly to protest organisers. If the fund really takes off we can review details in due course.
Comments
This is essentially a trust giving out funds and must have some legal responsibility.
The chant 'Support the Team, Not the Regime' would look great on a well-made banner...
Maybe the PFA could manufacture a reason for a players strike at Charlton.
Won't be holding my breath.
There is no 'Trust' in a legal sense just in a moral sense in that individuals need to decide whether or not they are happy to pass funds on to what has been described completely transparently as an informal arrangement.
As regards a legal challenge following adverse effects of protest activity clause 4 sets out an exclusion unambiguously and provided that, as they state they will, the holders of funds make 'reasonable' enquiries as to the nature of the activity then in my view we and the fund holders would be sufficiently 'removed' from incurring liability.
As I say I am not a lawyer.
Simples.
I've already chipped in to the scarf fund. Should we have one that is coordinated to cover all aspects of the protest or is it better to have separate groups responsible for different strategies.
General fans protests fund launched today - see announcement thread,
But also good to support individual initiatives where you can.
I know they both have or had a legal background.
EDIT: I have already donated, so have no concerns myself, and have given my views above but as the subject has been raised further input would be of interest if possible.
The group of fans will win, not individuals.
http://www.transportmedia.co.uk/railway-train-tram-advertising
I also think that if people like @bobmunro who has been so kind to pledge money for printing leaflets, then it should be okay. Just knowing him through LinkedIn and his current role, I don't think he would've done it if there were any ramifications to him or others. He's pretty experienced and clued up.
It's just good everyone is doing their bit. We've got some real momentum going and I've got massive respect for all everything is doing right now
I think it would be much more complex if it were more formal, to obtain charitable status (which could be beneficial if the money got really large) would be a big step up.
Totally not required for this though.
I can see no legal issues for the people giving money to their contacts.
For the two people authorising the spend, I think your requirements as to the legality of the spend should be fine. I'm not good enough to say whether someone could complain against you if the money ended up being used for something illegal. I hope not but may be worth asking a professional.
Anyway sending monies now.