| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... 14:59 - Aug 16 with 5306 views | Ashdown_Ranger |
In their words:
"A government-backed and independent not-for-profit Supporters Trust for Queens Park Rangers Football Club."
Is anyone here a member? What does 'government-backed' mean (maybe our infamous support Michael Gove is a member...)?
They've posted a seriously of slightly lecturing and rather self-important Tweets today aimed at Amit, and berating TF.
They seem pretty a pretty quiet bunch - anyone know how many members they have and what they actually DO?
Certainly in terms of 'presence', they fall way behind the likes of WLS, LFW and (dare I say it...?), even WATRB.
[Apologies in advance if they do loads and are a great bunch of lads]
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| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 15:10 - Aug 16 with 5286 views | Tonto |
I let someone more actively involved with them anser some of your questions, but I fail to see how any of the tweets are self importat... they want dialougue with supporters in gerneral, not speificially with themselves....
just becuase they dont run a forum like this on the web, doesnt mean they all behind WATRB or LFW in terms of what they do.
Always seemed to eloquantly put forward the more reasoned supporters POV in my expeience |  |
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| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 17:02 - Aug 16 with 5188 views | DavieQPR |
I am always wary of a not for profit organisation. That means money is involved but they spend it usually on themselves for dinner meetings and expenses. |  | | |
| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 17:39 - Aug 16 with 5133 views | DWQPR |
I think they are like the People’s Front of Judea |  |
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| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 19:03 - Aug 16 with 5068 views | daveB |
What they do and who they are can be found here
http://www.qpr1st.com/about/mission/
They were formed due to the proposed Wimbledon merger in 2001, they've tried hard to do a lot of good but tough to achieve at QPR when so many others formed their own groups rather than all work together |  | | |
| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 21:29 - Aug 16 with 4979 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
There was definitely a MP involved. It was a New Labour home secretary if I remember rightly. |  | | |
| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 11:21 - Aug 17 with 4771 views | Ashdown_Ranger |
Tonto - point taken...
I used 'self-important' because they use the phrase 'Government-backed' - stretching the point more than a little if it's simply a case of one Labour MP* who might have said some nice words about them 15 years ago.
In their 8-part pontificating Tweet/missive to the club the other day, they said, " "We hope this appointment will be a move towards a new relationship of partnership between the club and its supporters" and ..."We would welcome more genuine dialogue between supporters and the new chairman."
I don't doubt their good intentions - but then they're probably no better intentioned than any another QPR fan. If QPR1st represented a group of thousands of QPR fans and their outpourings represented those fans' opinions, then all well and good. But if it's simply old boys and their dog, then I think they need to get over themselves.
I paid for membership a few years ago, and never heard a single peep out of them and wasn't asked to contribute in any way (except for my membership fee).
DW suggest they're like People’s Front of Judea - I think the PFJ were probably more active.
Oh well, I expect someone had a couple of pints out my subs.
Cheers!
* Alan Johnson perhaps, he's a QPR fan anyway - mind you so is Michael Gove  | | | |
| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 11:46 - Aug 17 with 4738 views | kensalriser |
Did you offer to contribute in any way except to pay the membership fee?
Unless there's a specific issue this just sounds like gratuitous generalised sniping at genuine QPR fans who give up their free time to do what the rest of us (for whatever reason) don't, which is to provide a voice in the interest of all fans. |  |
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| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 14:22 - Aug 17 with 4668 views | Ashdown_Ranger |
| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 11:46 - Aug 17 by kensalriser |
Did you offer to contribute in any way except to pay the membership fee?
Unless there's a specific issue this just sounds like gratuitous generalised sniping at genuine QPR fans who give up their free time to do what the rest of us (for whatever reason) don't, which is to provide a voice in the interest of all fans. |
I did offer to help in any way I could. No, it's not a 'gratuitous' criticism.
QPR1st states that it 'canvasses the views of our members on a regular basis', I never heard a single peep out of them.
...and 'acts in accordance with the majority opinion' - I was never asked to give my opinion on any view or vote on any proposed action.
It's no big deal, I was just questioning their credibility when it comes to suddenly publishing their agenda to Amit Bhatia, as if QPR1st were somehow representative of QPR fans as a whole.
So, what exactly are QPR1st giving their time to? I have no idea what they actually do, and, during my time of membership, it appeared to me it was possibly nothing at all.
As I said, I don't doubt their genuine support of QPR, but should fans, or the club, give QPR1st's voice any more credence than any individual fan?
In the meantime, I've received a PM (not on LFW) from someone 'in the know' (truly), which puts me right on a number of issues, the gist of which says:
Some of the conclusions drawn about QPR1st are wrong, possibly down to them failing to communicate properly with the wider fanbase than any ignorance on your part.
What comes across as high-faluting stuff about being different because of them being government-backed is a miscommunication on their part. They are definitively different from, say, the LSA or Indy Rs. The latter are campaign groups - they act on behalf of their members about causes to do with QPR that affect them, such as the state of the toilets, behaviour of stewards, that sort of thing.
Their overall goal is to gain a permanent position of fan representation at QPR board level, preferably with part ownership of the club. This is perhaps not always communicated very well.
It may be that the people involved meant well but it just didn't seem that they did very much. Part of that is understandable - they're all volunteers with jobs and other pressures and struggled to get others involved.
All the same, it certainly felt like not enough was done in terms of reaching out to supporters en masse and there was a failure at getting the message across that a Supporters Trust is different to a campaign group - I think it just came across as yet another fans group rather than something different.
To me, the most important thing was to actually make links with the likes of the LSA, Indy Rs and so on but I was almost always responded to with disagreements and barriers because of how everyone had fallen out over stuff that had happened back in the days when I was barely alive, such as the Fulham merger.
I still believe a formal Supporters Trust should and could be very important at QPR - they're certainly fundamentally important at loads of other football clubs.
As you say, it's very hard to work out who they actually represent, what they want to achieve and what they actually do. Which is a huge shame.
I would say though, that despite all that, they're all good people at heart and pure QPR and they certainly wouldn't be using your subs for beer money!
[Post edited 17 Aug 2018 17:15]
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| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 21:15 - Aug 17 with 4525 views | kensalriser |
Sounds like a fair response, thanks for posting that. | |
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| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 22:58 - Aug 17 with 4450 views | wombat |
Actually used to be member of the committee of QPR 1 st many moons ago , the. It was made up of fans who a lot of people knew as what you would call faces around the club . Actually didn’t know it still existed as had not heard anything from them in man years . It seems there aim is still the same a it was a supporter to sit as an active member of the board . Still can’t see it happening as I couldn’t then , during my time it did help the QpR in the community get of the ground esp with help on how to structure its finances and one member of the board was and still is involved from time to time with helping the club with various schemes the latest was the Stan Bowles testinmonial which I believe helped make a lot more money than it originally would of
The wintons were also occasional visitors while I was involved |  |
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| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 05:30 - Aug 18 with 4396 views | Neil_SI |
Hello there,
These kind of posts crop up from time-to-time. I've been on the QPR1st committee for a number of years and you're correct when you say The Trust doesn't engage as much as it could and should with supporters, however, it's made up of a body of people who are voluntarily putting in a lot of effort in their own time, but people who truly care about the club and its best interests. It can always do with more hands and more help.
It's had a lot of notable wins over the years, but doesn't feel the need to shout loudly about it, and currently enjoys a steady and stable relationship with the club, and acts as something of a sounding board on different topics, which is something that's taken years to build.
To give you an idea about some of the notable successes in recent years and what the Trust gets involved in, it's played a pivotal role in the reduction or freezing of season ticket and match day prices for several years now. The club have consulted with The Trust on these issues, as well as other groups, since the Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone era, and the mistakes and blatant disregard made at that time.
The Trust played a huge role in the success of improved disabled facilities within the stadium, ensuring that the club understood and met its obligations at Loftus Road, and not just for any new potential stadium. There's an expert on these matters within the group and those expertise were crucial in seeing progress made, and I believe the club ended up surpassing some standards. One of the crucial points The Trust lobbied for was to also relocate the disabled supporters from near the away end to where they are now, and for increasing the capacity for disabled supporters. These were huge wins.
In addition, in recent years, The Trust has pushed hard for equality at the club. At some stage, it did not report on it's Women's team and The Trust raised awareness of this, including lobbying for the team to have better coverage, financial support and for standards to be upheld and met, such as ensuring the squad had the latest match day kits and training wear. These might sound like basics, but we're a family and community club where these things matter to us. The club have responded brilliantly to this and are now one of the leading in the country for providing coverage of it's Women's teams. Some of the money raised from membership fees went to sponsoring QPR Ladies players over recent years, in a bid to try and help provide them with additional funds.
The Trust also meets other Trusts regularly and is a member of Supporters Direct, where information is shared about the relationships between clubs and supporters, and various success stories and tips for improving those relationships further.
Other bits and pieces the Trust have been involved in include the redesign of the Crest, back to what it is now and discussion about kit designs and expectations that supporters have. And in recent years, the club have kept an open and regular dialogue with The Trust about the potential relocation to a new stadium.
From a personal point of view, the key areas I've always focused on in my time were the Women's team and ensuring they had correct support, as well as canvassing for staff protection (job safety) and ensuring departments within the club were funded appropriately in the event of relegation.
It's very easy for us to forget about the staff who make up the club, who are its heartbeat and make everything tick on a day-to-day basis. This was made a total mess by some of the previous regimes, who fired or let so many excellent people go for no good reason at all, and it's easy for us as fans to focus and worry only on managers and players, and who's coming or going, when in reality there are jobs at risk for the everyday staff, and budget restrictions that prevent departments from doing a good job. These are high risks for a small community club like ours and affect the overall health of the club, so they've always been matters that were important to me. We've also lobbied for all staff to be paid the London living wage.
Of course, if you disagree, then join in the fun. If you or anybody has the time to help, please do reach out. Unfortunately my time has been extremely limited in recent years for various personal reasons, but I know The Trust is always on the look out for more hands.
I should also add, The Trust has teamed up with plenty of other supporters and groups in a united effort on many of these kind of topics. [Post edited 18 Aug 2018 9:19]
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| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 09:03 - Aug 18 with 4293 views | peejaybee |
| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 05:30 - Aug 18 by Neil_SI |
Hello there,
These kind of posts crop up from time-to-time. I've been on the QPR1st committee for a number of years and you're correct when you say The Trust doesn't engage as much as it could and should with supporters, however, it's made up of a body of people who are voluntarily putting in a lot of effort in their own time, but people who truly care about the club and its best interests. It can always do with more hands and more help.
It's had a lot of notable wins over the years, but doesn't feel the need to shout loudly about it, and currently enjoys a steady and stable relationship with the club, and acts as something of a sounding board on different topics, which is something that's taken years to build.
To give you an idea about some of the notable successes in recent years and what the Trust gets involved in, it's played a pivotal role in the reduction or freezing of season ticket and match day prices for several years now. The club have consulted with The Trust on these issues, as well as other groups, since the Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone era, and the mistakes and blatant disregard made at that time.
The Trust played a huge role in the success of improved disabled facilities within the stadium, ensuring that the club understood and met its obligations at Loftus Road, and not just for any new potential stadium. There's an expert on these matters within the group and those expertise were crucial in seeing progress made, and I believe the club ended up surpassing some standards. One of the crucial points The Trust lobbied for was to also relocate the disabled supporters from near the away end to where they are now, and for increasing the capacity for disabled supporters. These were huge wins.
In addition, in recent years, The Trust has pushed hard for equality at the club. At some stage, it did not report on it's Women's team and The Trust raised awareness of this, including lobbying for the team to have better coverage, financial support and for standards to be upheld and met, such as ensuring the squad had the latest match day kits and training wear. These might sound like basics, but we're a family and community club where these things matter to us. The club have responded brilliantly to this and are now one of the leading in the country for providing coverage of it's Women's teams. Some of the money raised from membership fees went to sponsoring QPR Ladies players over recent years, in a bid to try and help provide them with additional funds.
The Trust also meets other Trusts regularly and is a member of Supporters Direct, where information is shared about the relationships between clubs and supporters, and various success stories and tips for improving those relationships further.
Other bits and pieces the Trust have been involved in include the redesign of the Crest, back to what it is now and discussion about kit designs and expectations that supporters have. And in recent years, the club have kept an open and regular dialogue with The Trust about the potential relocation to a new stadium.
From a personal point of view, the key areas I've always focused on in my time were the Women's team and ensuring they had correct support, as well as canvassing for staff protection (job safety) and ensuring departments within the club were funded appropriately in the event of relegation.
It's very easy for us to forget about the staff who make up the club, who are its heartbeat and make everything tick on a day-to-day basis. This was made a total mess by some of the previous regimes, who fired or let so many excellent people go for no good reason at all, and it's easy for us as fans to focus and worry only on managers and players, and who's coming or going, when in reality there are jobs at risk for the everyday staff, and budget restrictions that prevent departments from doing a good job. These are high risks for a small community club like ours and affect the overall health of the club, so they've always been matters that were important to me. We've also lobbied for all staff to be paid the London living wage.
Of course, if you disagree, then join in the fun. If you or anybody has the time to help, please do reach out. Unfortunately my time has been extremely limited in recent years for various personal reasons, but I know The Trust is always on the look out for more hands.
I should also add, The Trust has teamed up with plenty of other supporters and groups in a united effort on many of these kind of topics. [Post edited 18 Aug 2018 9:19]
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Very sound sensible response,Keep it going. |  |
| If at first you dont succeed, pack up and f**k off home. |
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| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 14:20 - Aug 18 with 4188 views | kensalriser |
Thanks for that Neil.
I definitely appreciate people putting in their own unpaid time on behalf of us all. | |
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| QPR 1st Supporters Trust... on 17:34 - Aug 18 with 4125 views | Ashdown_Ranger |
Thanks to the chap who PM'd me and to Neil for their comments/explanations, much appreciated.
Certainly have a better idea of what QPR1st do - and they've done some great work in the past. Hope they can get that across a bit better to a wider audience and drum up some practical support.
If they need help on the website side of things, please PM me.
I'd also be happy to give them free web hosting.
And here's an idea for their next good deed - can they turn out for us on Tuesday night against Bristol City? | | | |
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