Joining the VSC

[Belle-Vue-Ghost]

Hi Guys

I'm thinking of joining the VSC but just have a couple of questions;

As an exile is it worth me joining?  I can only make around 10 games per season so cant attend any regular events at the drop of a hat.  What does it all involve? And what will my subscription go towards?

I'd like to help the club however I can and do my bit so would just loke to know a bit more.

Thanks 

[DRFC-PERKINS]

Hi Guys

I'm thinking of joining the VSC but just have a couple of questions;

As an exile is it worth me joining?  I can only make around 10 games per season so cant attend any regular events at the drop of a hat.  What does it all involve? And what will my subscription go towards?

I'd like to help the club however I can and do my bit so would just loke to know a bit more.

Thanks 

I live locally, but I am thinking about joining over the summer. Will be wacthing and waiting what comes out of the VSC over the coming weeks/months, what i've heard in the last couple of weeks is certainly tempting me to sign up and help the club.

[silent majority]

Well this a list of our aims;

Being the democratic and representative voice of the supporters of the Club and strengthening the bonds between the Club and the communities which it serves
Achieving the greatest possible supporter and community influence in the running and ownership of the Club
Promoting responsible and constructive community engagement by present and future members of the communities served by the Club and encouraging the Club to do the same
Operating democratically, fairly, sustainably, transparently and with financial responsibility and encouraging the Club to do the same  Being a positive, inclusive and representative organisation, open and accessible to all supporters of the Club regardless of their age, income, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexuality or religious or moral belief

But all that is a bit dry and doesn't really explain what we are about. The first and overriding principle of having a supporters cooperative is to ensure that we never ever have to face the dark days of the Richardson era again. And to do that we have to show our strength and resolve in facing those challenges but doing it in the right and proper way, by having the numbers, being representative and constantly reminding the club that we are here, that its our club and persuading them to do the right thing at all times that reflects the Rovers community.

To achieve that in itself is a massive undertaking and we should never take our eye off the ball. But a supporters cooperative is just that, its all our members coming together and speaking as one, we are just the elected officials for the time being moving things along in the best interests of all of us. Meanwhile we are providing the club with help and support but again in the right way, when its not in the interests of the members we should tell them so, and we do.

We might not always make a big song and dance about what we are doing, and sometimes it helps to do things quietly, but rest assured we are doing something. The campaign 'In Rovers We Trust' which has just commenced, started last June! We never envisaged it taking this long, but to be honest we never expected it to be so wide ranging either. The survey is one large part with much more to come. The relationship we have with the club has never been better, but its based on mutual appreciation, we advise and encourage and then we have to get involved to be taken seriously.

I could go on for a long time on this subject, but we are arranging an open night in the next few weeks to go into more detail about what we are doing with the club on behalf of our members. To do that we need you to join up, the money helps but its also about numbers and being representative. Watch this space.

[RobTheRover]

I should add that we have been looking at barriers to joining the VSC over the past few weeks, and will be making an announcement very soon which should make joining for the first time much easier.

There is so much going on at the moment, and the board is now down to just six members.  We have already mentioned that we are looking to grow the board to our permitted maximum number (11 people) at the AGM in August, so if anyone has a burning desire to get involved and help the club and its supporters move forward then the opportunity will be there to do so.  Already a few people have come forward and would like to help, which is great.

[Chris Black come back]

Hi Guys

I'm thinking of joining the VSC but just have a couple of questions;

As an exile is it worth me joining?  I can only make around 10 games per season so cant attend any regular events at the drop of a hat.  What does it all involve? And what will my subscription go towards?

I'd like to help the club however I can and do my bit so would just loke to know a bit more.

Thanks 

I only joined the VSC on the understanding that my subscriptions would go towards hookers and coke. Sadly none of this has been forthcoming. Steer clear if you were advised as I was or you will be sorely disappointed.

[graingrover]

 After the way this forum has  often been inhabited this season  by persons whose prime consideration seems to have been to destructively criticise the club I have reluctantly decided not to renew my membership. The days when Andy Liney was at the helm driving to obtain a positive decision from the Council , the days of the highly successful coin trail .... were times when it was  a pleasure to be associated with the  Co operative. We quite rightly requested and obtained our own representative on the club's Board. This ensured the closest and most constructive communication between VSC and the ownership and in particular JR. The additional  frequent and spontaneous actions initiated on the forum to raise extra cash to fly the flag at Hull, sponsor individual players and so on gave our Co operative it's essence . There was no need to search for a 'dry' mission statement to find out what type of forum and Co operative it was . 
                 JR himself and his strategies  and decisions have come in for a lot of negative criticisms on here this season  , to the extent that for me ,and no doubt many others, it has rendered our declared  purpose of supporting the club rather empty . I have many times felt angry at postings which would have been more appropriately consigned to  a free forum like the Waccoe Leeds forum, rather than to a Supporters' club Co operative. Indeed I sometimes wondered if we were not harbouring Leeds supporters on here behind the usual  anonymity.
                  If we could claim to have worked our socks off to achieve 2,000 fully paid up members making a worthwhile financial contribution every year then we would have had a sweetner on the bitterness . As it is 300 paid up members out 1,700 registered  forum users suggests to me we have lost not only our way but our credibility.
                   The participation in the stadium questionnaire should perhaps go hand in hand with a cheque for £10 times the number of  forum members to further the development of the youth team .
                Personally, I shall continue to support the club financially but will seek other channels through which to do so. 

[jucyberry]

Hi Guys

I'm thinking of joining the VSC but just have a couple of questions;

As an exile is it worth me joining?  I can only make around 10 games per season so cant attend any regular events at the drop of a hat.  What does it all involve? And what will my subscription go towards?

I'd like to help the club however I can and do my bit so would just loke to know a bit more.

Thanks 

I only joined the VSC on the understanding that my subscriptions would go towards hookers and coke. Sadly none of this has been forthcoming. Steer clear if you were advised as I was or you will be sorely disappointed.

It could have been worse.... think on, you could have joined, then opened your front door one day only find a dirty great rugby player with a sack full of nutty slack balanced on his shoulder on your doorstep...............

[DonnyBazR0ver]

You never know, I think there may be scope for an 'Exiles' section of the VSC. This may be useful to focus on looking at things from an 'Exiles' point of view as it is easy at times for the club to forget there are many from outside Donny.

For a start, it may be interesting to have a UK and a world map with the locations of all our 'Exiled' fans just to see how far our famous hoops stretch to.

[Glyn_Wigley]

After the way this forum has  often been inhabited this season  by persons whose prime consideration seems to have been to destructively criticise the club I have reluctantly decided not to renew my membership. The days when Andy Liney was at the helm driving to obtain a positive decision from the Council , the days of the highly successful coin trail .... were times when it was  a pleasure to be associated with the  Co operative. We quite rightly requested and obtained our own representative on the club's Board. This ensured the closest and most constructive communication between VSC and the ownership and in particular JR. The additional  frequent and spontaneous actions initiated on the forum to raise extra cash to fly the flag at Hull, sponsor individual players and so on gave our Co operative it's essence . There was no need to search for a 'dry' mission statement to find out what type of forum and Co operative it was . 
                 JR himself and his strategies  and decisions have come in for a lot of negative criticisms on here this season  , to the extent that for me ,and no doubt many others, it has rendered our declared  purpose of supporting the club rather empty . I have many times felt angry at postings which would have been more appropriately consigned to  a free forum like the Waccoe Leeds forum, rather than to a Supporters' club Co operative. Indeed I sometimes wondered if we were not harbouring Leeds supporters on here behind the usual  anonymity.
                  If we could claim to have worked our socks off to achieve 2,000 fully paid up members making a worthwhile financial contribution every year then we would have had a sweetner on the bitterness . As it is 300 paid up members out 1,700 registered  forum users suggests to me we have lost not only our way but our credibility.
                   The participation in the stadium questionnaire should perhaps go hand in hand with a cheque for £10 times the number of  forum members to further the development of the youth team .
                Personally, I shall continue to support the club financially but will seek other channels through which to do so. 

You have to bear in mind that although this forum is funded by the VSC for everybody, the forum and the views expressed on it by various individuals isn't the VSC nor representative of the VSC's views and aims.