BackgroundAbout one month ago I drafted and agreed with
@Curb_It a “final report” on the Protest Fund. We intended to issue this when the takeover was confirmed - which at the time we believed to be very close. We even advised those still paying into the Protest Fund each month to cease their contributions.
We had also given some thought to what we might do, on behalf of all our contributors, with the leftover funds. These would principally have been donated to good causes and initiatives aimed at rebuilding the lost and fractured fan base.
Sadly now, there appears to be considerable doubt over the timing and actual completion of a takeover and a new wave of protests has been announced.
Current Financial PositionA full report on income and expenditure will be provided, as usual, in the end of season report - or in the final report issued when a takeover is completed, if that (hopefully) is sooner.
The balance on hand is currently just over £4,000.
AppealThis is a reasonably healthy sum but not enough to fully support the kind of protests CARD are proposing to stage between now and the end of the season, which we hope will put further pressure on Duchatelet to bring the takeover saga to a satisfactory conclusion.
Typically, the cost of staging a significant protest in the UK ranges between £3,000 (e.g. Sheffield United) and £5,500 (e.g. Brighton, Coventry), whilst the Unity Protest in Belgium cost close to £7,500.
Prices of materials will have generally increased over the past year, not least as a result of currency exchange rates deteriorating as markets responded to the Brexit vote.
We are therefore now making a special appeal for donations to help this final push to rid Charlton of the Duchatelet regime for ever. Please, if you can, donate on-line to:
Protest Fund
Sort code 20-68-04
Account number 50661678
Or you can pay by Paypal: protestfund@gmail.com
Thank you.
Davo55 and Curb_It
Comments
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/helpjackcafcbeatcancer
If ROT want to apply for funding (which they have not yet done), we will consider the case on it's merits.
In Davos own words….-‘The Protest Fund remains available for any individuals or groups who want to stage a protest’.....
If you look at CL, I think its fairly unanimously agreed that protesting in Belgium is the way to annoy him…. Which group is eponymously linked to that approach? yet has received very little funding despite frequently pitching for financial support from the Fund?
I know that the B20 for example has got so disenchanted with the fund mechanism that we don’t bother asking any more – everything is funded by the individuals themselves- and a heck of a lot of money has been spent, as you will no doubt understand.
I believe that ROT has received the same reception- could be wrong- I’m not involved with ROT.
40k in the fund at one point ? – that’s a lot of Rosettes and foam pigs and taxis – but I can say that ,joking apart, Foam taxis, Rosettes ARE accepted and funded. Whereas the B20 leaflets,stunts,equipment generally are not – so we fund it all ourselves.
As I said, Its to the point now where the B20 don’t even bother asking. They just fund it themselves,Some individuals to the estimate of 3k over the past 2 years. Other groups I know to be the same. I know Davo will bring out the rhetoric (and its not a personal dig at him) and say that funding was there , but in our experience, anything CARD related has typically been funded, whereas B20 related there were several hoops, obstacles and provisos placed in our way. We are just fortunate that we are a group prepared to get off our arses and put some of our own money towards something we have a passionate belief in.
In my experience over the past 2 years, CARD has become a clique, mostly full of self-appointed members obsessed with their own self-importance along with an obvious self-appointed leader.
Donate if you want to- please don’t stop the fight to RD – but I feel the (very) obvious association of CARD with the Protest Fund needs to be looked at.
I believe both these are the case.
.........
From my perspective, I have been a frequent contributor to a protest movement not a clique.
Many all over CARD have, I believe, worked bloody hard on this. As have you with your activities.
Aren’t we supposed to be on the same side? There’s already one group bemoaning the protests and now we argue amongst ourselves?
To be frank, it seems to me there is one group anxious for self-promotion when all the others are anxious for change. Interesting that CARD has all the media skills and none of the clamour for individual attention / recognition.
Ed: probably worth adding that CARD has no input whatsoever into funding decisions. Requests for funding are, however, usually well reasoned and the benefits to the cause well considered and articulated. The advantage to CARD of Davo and Curb_it seeing the journey first hand is also a disadvantage in that all the negatives are equally exposed. Get a grip people.
But a few facts are called for:
1. It is no surprise that CARD have had the large majority of the funding, mostly because they've done the large majority of the large scale protests. Aligned to this is the fact that, as a matter of policy, we do not use the protest fund to pay for personal travel and accommodation expenses, which has been a significant outlay for those travelling regularly to Belgium.
2. The Belgium 20 and other groups/individuals have also had funding applications agreed.
3. I honestly do not recall ever having been asked to fund ROT. There has certainly been no approach made in the way prescribed by the fund. I do recall a call in which I expressed some concerns about what was being proposed by ROT at that stage. I would prefer not to go into what those reservations were, out of genuine respect for those taking the fight to Duchatelet on his home turf.
I'll leave it at that, except to add that @Curb_It and I have sought to manage the Protest Fund as fairly and helpfully as we could - and whilst we don't look for plaudits, we certainly don't feel it is fair to criticise us for doing our bit to fight the Duchatelet regime.
Perhaps also, it's best to say that anyone who wants a guarantee that their donations will go to ROT - then join ROT or donate your contribution to them directly. Don't give it to the protest fund - because we always have and always will manage the distribution of those funds in the best way we see fit.
Roland is the enemy and he has been since the day he bought our club.
We should all remain 100 %together on trying to get rid of the old scrote.
Just sell the club and FUCK OFF
The first B20 visit was partially funded by both the protest fund and the Spell it Out group.
SiO paid for the B20's match tickets for us to protest in the Satyen and the Protest fund paid for the printing of the English/Dutch leaflets. They also did the design/layout.
Edit: I paid for my own bail
An earlier post on another thread (not one of mine) could give the impression that ROT was being subsidised by the protest fund. I am happy to clarify that is not the case.
I think that some of the more OTT comments earlier on this thread are offensive and won't bother to respond to that individual but would like to publicly affirm my respect and admiration to @Big in Brasov, @Mametz, @foresthillred and their colleagues in ROT for taking the fight to Duchatelet in Belgium. I think that plays an important part in the protest movement, as does the actions of CARD.
Never been part of CARD but was happy to support their protests as well as being part of the original Belgium 20.
Very poor post by the President
Many have asked, what led to the acrimoniuous split between various factions, including the People's Front of Charlton (PFC) and the Charltonian People's Front (CPF), during the period of sedition, known by many as the Battle of Haddock and Waffles? Well, it's important to remember that these groups represent two very different ideologies and that cohabitation or cooperation wasn't feasible in the longterm. Whilst they both strived for the total deconstruction of the imperialist regime and all its power structures, they vastly differed in their opinions on what Roland really did for them. One might conclude that the PFC was much more aware of the positive effects the Belgians had on the region. Don't be mistaken though, they truly hated Roland. Of course, they didn't just hate him like everyone else, they hated him a lot. So despite their recognition of Roland's improvements, they were still actively sabotaging the Roland regime.
That being said, the PFC explicitly recognised Roland-led improvements in various areas. Prime examples included the undersoil heating and the trench at the training ground. Unlike most members of the CPF, the leader of the PFC clearly remembered what the club used to be like before Roland came into power, suffice it to say that he never wavered on this particular point. It didn't stop there though, the unique portion of chips goes without saying, but there were many more Roland improvements that were actively recognised as such by the PFC. They were also very vocal and positive about the regime's creative use of PR professionals to mask internal shortcomings, the unification of ticket sales, medicine, and public health, as well as the use of advanced irrigation techniques. However, despite all of this, they still hated Roland a lot and often raised the question as to what Roland had ever done for them. In contrast, the CPF never even acknowledged these improvements and they were a lot more linear in their thinking. According to them anything Roland was despicable. Both ideologies were very uncompromising and this ultimatly led to the split between both parties. One could venture that the PFC was a lot less radical in their ideology, even though their actions say otherwise.
Now that brings us to the ever vexing, often misconstrued subject of male reproductive rights and the modern football supporter, vis-a-vis, Charlton and its surrounding areas. Whilst a deep dive might not be necessary for the purposes of this post, it is worth scratching the surface, as this issue has driven a wedge between the various groups for many a decade. To understand the nuanced political tensions at the time, one might consider the PFC's progressive stance on mens' rights to have babies, regardless of having a womb, and how this led to more men joining the PFC. The more men active in the PFC ranks is often acknowledged as having led to that group having a bigger role in the patriarchal society of the time. Thus the CPF fell by the wayside. Of course, this is exactly the kind of revisionist claptrap one would expect from a closet PFC apologist. Some might be tempted to yell "Splitter!", but let's not dwell on such antagonisms. In truth, there is much evidence in support of the CPF having very liberal views on the reproductive rights of men, at all stages of life, equal to, if not exceeding that of their counterparts in the the resistance, though perhaps not so rigouressly codified in their sacred texts and manifestos. To suggest that this is the issue that led to the weakening and eventual demise of CPF is certainly wide of the mark, even as the issue is widely misunderstood. Alas, this brings us back to the matter at the crux of the debate.
One must remember that CPF was actually willing to engage in a dialogue with Katrien Meire about how awful Roland's empire was, and how all Roland's minions were wankers who needed to go home. The PFC was dead set against any interaction with Roland's minions, no matter how awful they were, as such dialogue and heckling would only legitimise the continued presence of the Belgian imperialists (not all Belgian's, of course, just some of them). Conversely, the CPF felt that actively insulting Roland's nobles, rather than sullen grumbling, was an effective political tactic in repelling the Belgian imperialists.
Now, one episode, more than any other, is invoked to illustrate the differing political manoeuvrings of the resistance, summed up by the phrase: "Roland eunt domus?" Of course, keen students of this particular body politic know, such grammar is atrocious nonsense. One must conjugate the verb and account for motion towards, such that the correct phrase is actually: "Rolandi ite domum". But then, the history of this period is littered with such lore, and indeed innuendo of all kinds, and it is our job to sift through the common detritus, preserve the nuances of competing modalities, in hopes of arriving at a more rounded understanding of the period, its actors and consequences.
But this is but a primer. Hopefully, we have shed some light on these dark days. Perhaps I will further explore these dynamics in serialised podcast form, for those that enjoy prodding the centre of this most seditious, most fracturing period. Whether there be sources of funding for such a project, I don't know.
I will be supporting both, and hope for the maximum collaborative effort between people involved in both.
Edit: winky face