At the 2012 AGM the Brakes Trust will be tabling a resolution to change the Trust’s ‘Rules’ and 5 resolutions to adopt new supporting policies.
The Brakes Trust’s rules are based upon model rules written by Supporters Direct, the body which supports and promotes Supporters Trusts in the UK. In this last year, SD has updated their model rules and they are currently encouraging their member trusts to adopt the new rules. The fine tuning is based on experiences of the 170 Supporters Trusts who share these rules and other mutuals who share the same values.
The latest revision aims to do the following
• Make the rules shorter and more succinct
• Include the option of additional powers available to Community Benefit Societies
• Improve areas where common issues have arisen in the past
• Be more user friendly
In practice it means that the rules change and that 5 separate side policies are broken out from the rules.
How are the rules different?
Some of the key differences are summarised below.
Withdrawable Shares
At present the Brakes Trust grants ordinary shares to members. These shares are not withdrawable and do not carry any rights to interest or dividend. A growing trend for Community Benefit Societies looking to raise finance is to offer a different type of share alongside the ordinary share called a withdrawable share (often reported as a community share). The withdrawable share doesn’t infringe the one member one vote ethos that runs throughout all Supporters Trusts, but can offer a solution to attract potential investors who want to support the aims of the organisation. The money is seen neither as a donation or a loan but can be requested back (usually after a defined period of time has elapsed) although only at the discretion of the Society Board to ensure the Supporters Trust is not put at risk and its community objectives can be met.
At present the Brakes Trust is NOT planning on a community shares issue in the foreseeable future, however it is felt by the Trust board to be beneficial to leave this clause in the society rules as an option for potential future use.
Objects
The objects have been slimmed down to reflect the core business of Supporters Trusts particularly when it comes to the Supporters Model Set which highlights the desire to work for the greatest possible supporter and community influence in the running and the ownership of the Club, thus setting them apart from other Supporters organisations which might exist.
Downloads
The proposed new rules and side policies can be downloaded below:
Right click and ‘Save file as’ to save onto your Desktop. These are PDF files which you can open with Acrobat Reader – download a free viewer here.
If you would like hard copies of any of these documents then please email us.
