JOINT INITIATIVE WORKING PARTY

As the Jags Trust and PTFC prepare to discuss a potential joint fundraising initiative, we are pleased to announce that the JTB will be represented by Sandy Wilkie, immediate past chairman of the Trust, Allan Heron, Trust secretary and resident expert on our constitution, and Colin Quinn, who has played a key role in the successful launch of the 1876 Club this season. We'd like to thank the guys for all giving up working time at short notice to participate in this process and we're sure they'll give the Trust members the best possible representation and bring a fresh outlook to discussions with the club.

Jags Trust Board Meeting - Q&A session with Kieron JTB PTFC Board Rep - Monday December 8th at 8 pm Maryhill CCH, Firhill Suite

Please note there will be a chance to ask question of the Jags Trust PTFC board rep, about his role and any recent developments, at 8 pm on 8th December, in the Firhill Suite, Maryhill CCH.

This is the first of some open sessions we intend to run, to allow ordinary members of the JT ask questions of their elected reps and put their point of view.

We hope to see as many of you that can manage along.

Raymond Rose
JTB - Chair

PARTICK THISTLE FC - JAGS TRUST FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE

After initial discussions to establish common ground, Partick Thistle FC and The Jags Trust have agreed to form a working party with a view to creating a major new fundraising scheme designed to appeal to all Thistle fans and friends of the club. This is a joint initiative, the first attempt at merging the passion of the supporters and the marketing potential of the club into a genuine commercial partnership, and will build upon the strengths of the current 1876 Club and proposed Centenary Fund. As soon as possible, the outline of the agreed scheme will be presented to the board of the club and to the members of the Jags Trust for their approval and, if given the go ahead from both sides, it will be launched early in the New Year to mark the start of the club's Firhill centenary celebrations.

IN WITH THE BRICKS.....

We are pleased to have been advised by Eddie Prentice that the sign which was obscuring the original bricks on the wall of the Jackie Husband Stand has now been removed meaning that the bricks are now on full display as nature intended.

Our thanks to the club for bringing this matter to a sucessful conclusion.

FOLLOW UP TO OUR STATEMENT

After communications with the club yesterday, we have received the following responses in explanation of what happened. The club chairman has stated:

The letter was inaccurate and will be corrected.

And Eddie Prentice has contacted Kieron Dempsey to say:

I have just read the Jags Trust Blog and as a consequence re-read the
letter that went out in the mailer to season ticket holders.

Unfortunately the letter which went out was a previous draft and not
the final version which excluded references to the potential Jags
Trust involvement. As I was away on business on Friday I missed
overseeing which version went out.

I appreciate that this has caused the Trust some understandable
concern.

Please convey my apologies to your fellow board members for the
confusion that this has created. I can assure you it was not
intentional.

We appreciate these comments and the swift attempt to correct an obvious error and we will be working with the club to make sure the correction is made at least as widely available as the original letter.

Our plans to meet for a second time with the club directors this week proceed as planned.

CENTENARY FUND: JAGS TRUST BOARD STATEMENT

In light of the club’s announcement yesterday that it is launching a new fundraising scheme, the Centenary Fund, and reference being made to our participation in it, the Jags Trust Board would like to make the following statement. It is rather lengthy, but we feel that this is necessary in order to clear up the confusion this has caused for 1876 Club subscribers and to fully inform our members of the true situation.

INTRODUCTION

The Jags Trust Board was contacted by the club directors approximately three weeks ago, through our board rep Kieron Dempsey, to discuss general financial issues. A short while later, the idea of the club launching a new fundraising scheme was brought up and we agreed to a meeting with the directors at which we would be briefed on this. 

This meeting took place on Friday 21st November under an agreement of strict confidentiality imposed by the club. Eddie Prentice, Tom Hughes and David Beattie attended on behalf of Partick Thistle. Kieron Dempsey, Raymond Rose, Maggie Forsyth, Fiona Harvey and Greig Forbes attended on behalf of the Jags Trust.

A draft proposal for the Centenary Fund was presented to us. The decision had already been taken to close the lottery and the Players Fund and launch this scheme. We were asked if we would now be prepared  to wind up our recently launched 1876 Club and throw the weight of the Jags Trust behind the Centenary Fund, with the aim of a launch date of January 1st 2009. Obviously, it was impossible for us to give an immediate response. What we did was ask as many questions as we could about the thinking and timing behind this move. The performance of previous club-run schemes is a major factor for us to consider here. 

• Two versions of the Players Fund have now been launched and abandoned in 18 months. 
  
• The 800 Club was closed down in favour of the lottery, which is now being closed down in favour of the Centenary Fund. 
  
• We wanted to know what would be different this time, what lessons had been learned from the past and how serious the club’s commitment to this scheme was. 
  
• We were also concerned about the specifics of how the club aim to meet the stated target of 1,000 members. 
  

As the Centenary Fund will be run entirely by the club, we would require firm assurances on all of these issues.

We made it clear to the club directors where we stood on this as a committee: we are elected representatives of the Jags Trust membership. We run the Trust day to day, but fundamental decisions of this type are for the members to make. While we are very sympathetic to the club’s financial plight - which should be obvious -  it is for the full Trust membership to decide the direction the Trust takes. 

However, to allow this proposal to be fully explored, we did agree to consider the scheme that had been presented to us, to come back with our views on its strengths and weaknesses, and to make up a list of requirements that we would need to have guaranteed before we could take this to the Jags Trust members. It was planned for a second meeting to take place this week. The pressure for a quick decision, while inconvenient, was not of our choosing.

BACKGROUND TO THE 1876 CLUB

The 1876 Club has only been in operation since September. It is the first large-scale fundraising scheme introduced by the Jags Trust since it was formed and is the means by which we have planned to increase our shareholding and put regular investment from our members into the club, rather than merely making occasional donations. 

It has taken a lot of effort and planning to get it to the stage it is currently at and this is tied to reaching an agreed programme with the club for future share purchases as revenue flows to them from the scheme. That agreement is expected to be passed at the club’s next AGM and we look forward to that as another milestone achieved. We regard the early months of the 1876 Club to have been a success. It’s not an easy time to launch any fundraiser, but the combination of shares for the fans and investment for the club, along with the monthly prizes, seems to offer something for everyone.

To abandon our scheme at this stage and support one from the club instead is a massive decision with far-reaching consequences for the Jags Trust and cannot be taken in a hurry by a handful of people. 

Closing the scheme immediately, for example, would mean we have lost a huge amount of money as we are already committed to paying £5,000 to the club this season for Thistle Partner status and that money is raised from 1876 Club subscriptions. Financial details like this, along with any legal issues arising, would need to be sorted out before anything can happen and at the moment no detailed discussion has yet taken place. 

Most importantly, if the vehicle for us to purchase shares is removed, there must be another means put in place for us to increase our shareholding, which would probably be tied to the success of the Centenary Fund in some way. Positive noises were made on this, but no numbers were discussed. However, if our progress in increasing our shareholding hinges on a scheme over which we have no control, there are some fairly serious issues to be tackled.

TAKING MATTERS FORWARD

The process for us has been clear from the outset and was made clear to the club directors. If our second meeting with them produces an offer of a package to adequately compensate us for the loss of the 1876 Club, particularly addressing the issue of shares, we will convene a Special General Meeting of the Trust members, present the club’s proposal to them and invite them to vote on whether to continue with the 1876 Club or to suspend its activities and take the deal on offer. It’s your Trust, your 1876 Club and your decision. 

Unfortunately, events have now overtaken this process. 

THE CLUB'S LETTER

Our commitment to taking a constructive approach remains unchanged, but the ground has been shifted. Our strong preference would have been to continue with the confidential discussions until all these issues had been examined and an offer tabled. We expected this to respected on both sides so that we would be the ones to first present this to our own members.

Instead, the club issued a letter yesterday to season ticket holders which announced the scheme in the same terms as were outlined to us as a draft proposal. We have had no input into this. In fact, initial observations we did make about the basic structure of the Centenary Fund and how it might be improved have clearly not been incorporated. Nor were we informed about the letter or its contents indicating that the Jags Trust will be in some way involved with promoting the scheme. 

It’s both disappointing and problematic that the club have broken from the confidentiality which they imposed upon us, and which we honoured, and made premature and potentially misleading statements regarding Jags Trust involvement ahead of any vote which may take place. We would stress again that the Jags Trust Board has entered into no agreement of any kind at this stage and would not feel empowered to do so, and we have not endorsed the Centenary Fund either as individuals or as a board.

 Nor, it is important to make clear, have we ruled anything out while discussions continue. The good of Partick Thistle has always been our priority. Ultimately, our members - and the fans in general - will decide on the success or failure of any scheme. We are open to any well thought-out proposal that will benefit Thistle and, unless instructed otherwise by our members, we remain fully committed to the continued success of the 1876 Club.

As discussions on the Centenary Fund progress, as we hope they do, we will keep our members fully informed of all the facts they need to know in order to make the correct decision for the future of the club and for the Trust. We hope this statement has helped with that process. 

1876 CLUB - DECEMBER WINNERS

Using a better set of balls than the ones that have sent the Jags to Inverness in the next round of the march to cup glory, the third 1876 Club monthly draw was made earlier today. We are pleased to announce the following winners:

Winner of Hospitality Donald Dingwall v St Johnstone
Winner of the McParland Lounge tickets Andy Malcolm v St Johnstone
Winner of £50 Borders Vouchers Iain MacDougall
Winner of £50 Greaves vouchers Raymond Rose

Congratulations to all concerned. We would like to thank Raymond Rose for donating his prize back into the JT coffers.

The 1876 Club is alive and well and continues to grow and generate income for us to invest in the club. Thanks to everyone who has signed up so far. We hope more of you will get behind the scheme and keep sending in the application forms that came out with your certificate and newsletters.

HELP THE TRUST WHEN YOU SHOP ONLINE!

You may have noticed a menu tab on this site headed EasyFundraising. Although fundraising never seems to be too easy, in this case that may actually be true. There are some simple ways you can help generate some cash for the Trust, at no expense to yourself and without having to get out of your chair to do it!

EasyFundraising have hundreds of online retailers signed up to them - Comet, HMV, Currys, PC World, John Lewis, Toys'r'Us, Next, Marks and Spencer, MFI...the list goes on and on. With Christmas fast approaching, many of you will be using these shops, so here's how you can help us at the same time.

First, register with EasyFundraising here. You will be asked to select a cause to benefit from any purchases you make there. We're listed as The Jags Trust. Then whenever you sign in to your account there and do any shopping, the JT will receive a small donation from the retailer. Sometimes it's only a few pence, others offer a small percentage of the money spent. A few offer quite large amounts. Every little helps!

We also have a direct link with Amazon under our menu tab headed aStore. If you're doing any Amazon shopping, go via that page of our site and again the Trust will receive a small donation for each transaction.

We'll try to keep you updated on some of the best offers available on there, but have a look around for yourself and see what you can turn up. There are some good bargains to be found.

We appreciate all efforts to help the Trust. We know you don't have to do this, but it would be a real help with the running costs of the organisation and would help us divert more of our other funds towards meeting our objectives.

Happy shopping!

1876 CLUB WINNERS

The latest monthly draw has been made for the 1876 Club and the lucky winners are listed below. Thanks to everyone who has signed up so far to join the scheme and now that you've all had a chance to digest the contents of our recent mailing, we hope many more of you will back the scheme and help us to invest in the club. So here are the names:

Two tickets for McParland Lounge go to Henry Calderhead (v Airdrie) and to Tom Hogg (v Ross County).

Two tckets for Hospitality go to David Stevenson (v Airdrie) and to Robin Lindsay (v Ross County). 

£50 of Borders Vouchers go to Charles Bowie and £50 of Greaves Vouchers go to Martin Dempsey.

Congratulations to everyone concerned and we hope you enjoy your prizes.

MEMBERSHIP MAILING.......

By now, all people whose name is on our membership register should have received a mailing from the Trust. In addition to a newsletter and a rather snazzy certificate for the current year, you may also receive the following depending on your membership status:-

• if you pay by Standing Order and have not adjusted this to reflect the new membership rates, a very polite request asking you to do so!
  
• for those who, according to our records, have not paid their subscription for the current year an equally polite request to pay. If outstanding subs are not paid by the end of November, then you will be removed from the register

All members will also have received a standing order for completion to join the 1876 Club. This is money that will be used in the first instance to secure our position as Thistle Partners, and thereafter to increase our shareholding in the club. It's a win-win situation - increasing our ability to influence as well as providing much needed funds to the football team.

If you have any queries about the information you have received, please contact Membership Secretary Fiona Harvey. Likewise, if you think you should have received something from us but have not yet done so.

Any cheques and/or standing order forms can be handed to one of the Trust Board in the Aitken Suite prior to the game, or can be left at Firhill in an envelope clearly addressed to the Jags Trust. We will be looking to pick up any mail delivered to Firhill on our behalf on a weekly basis so it should not take long to get to us.

1876 CLUB WINNER MEETS A LEGEND

At the recent Alba Cup semi-final with Airdrie, one of the lucky prizewinners in our first 1876 Club monthly draw was able to use his hospitality tickets and meet up with one of the most famous names in Thistle history.

Steven McDonald is a Jags fan currently based in Germany, but was one of the first to step forward and join the 1876 Club when it was launched just a few weeks ago, stating that it was "well worth signing up for, not just for the prizes but also to enhance the JT's presence at the club." 

Steven's faith was rewarded when his name came out of the hat and the timing was perfect for a trip home he had already lined up to take in big games at Firhill and Hampden with his brother Stuart. Meeting Dennis McQuade, the man voted to be Thistle's all-time cult hero, was icing on the cake.

(Photo courtesy of Tommy Taylor)

Steven, on the right, recited an old truth for Jags fans when he said afterwards, "It was a really enjoyable day out (apart from the football)." We hope next time he comes home, we all have more cause to celebrate.

In the meantime, why not do what Steven and many others have done and join the 1876 Club? We can't guarantee you a prize, but we do guarantee that every penny of profit from the scheme goes towards buying shares in the club for the fans and helping to fund Thistle's push to get back to the top division.

JT REP'S REPORT FROM CLUB BOARD MEETING

(Apologies for the delay in providing this update. Not Kieron's fault in any way. GF)

A couple of weeks ago, Kieron Dempsey attended his first PTFC board meeting as a director of the club representing the Jags Trust and its members. With the Trust having been absent from the boardroom for several months, Kieron was keen to re-establish our connection with the other directors and to assure them of the benefits the club gains from having a fan presence there to contribute to the debate.

A few formalities had to be taken care of first, signing up to confidentiality agreements and dealing with internal matters involving staff issues etc. It has to be remembered that Kieron is now a director of the club with legal responsibilities to the club as a company, in addition to his role of representing and reporting back to the Trust. It can be a difficult balancing act, but Kieron assures us that no undue pressure was put on him to hide anything from the members other than confidential employee matters and such like.

We'll give a summary here of the main points which came up for discussion.

Rangers game ticketing

The meeting took place on the Thursday before the Rangers game. In fact, the tickets were only delivered while the meeting was in progress. The club has tried to learn from problems of the past and to marry together the practicalities of selling tickets in a short time yet trying to minimise problems for season ticket holders. It was noted that with the match being on television there was an additional source of money coming to both clubs. Unfortunately, for the Alba cup, there would be no extra money if game is televised.

Stadium development

The club are still exploring development options with the same people who have been named in connection with this in recent seasons. There have been, by necessity, some alterations to their thinking, but nothing that we don’t already know about.

Minute's silence - review of policy

No change was made to the club’s policy on the minute's silence or applause. They felt that to change this would create more problems with regard to who was eligible. They also didn’t like the idea of an annual ceremony, as had been suggested by a number of people and has been introduced at several clubs. Kieron suggested they could hold it on Remembrance Day, but it was still felt that the present policy should remain in place, as would the practice of putting an article in the Club Programme and website.

(There has already been considerable debate on this question and the Trust would like to take some more opinions from our members before letting it go. We will be putting out a formal request for views on it and hope people will help us to gather more of a sense of the feelings among the support about how best to handle these sensitive issues.)

Club website

The club are exploring options on making further improvements to the website to make it more informative for fans and to widen out its use as a tool of communication with fans.

Jags Trust

Kieron addressed the board on a number of issues: concerns over the ‘political’ nature of the Trust and any perceived distrust of the Trust and its motives. He explained the reasons why we had to be 'political' in a very broad sense and made it clear that as supporters of PTFC we wanted the Trust to raise money, which previously had not been the case, and that this would be of benefit to the club.  He raised the issue of share purchase - ALL attending were fine with this and the matter will be presented at the club’s AGM and when it has been formally approved the paperwork can be sorted out.

Finally, Kieron suggested that it would be a good idea for the full boards of both PTFC and the Trust to meet and this was agreed in principle. Commenting after the meeting, he was very positive about the experience and stated, "There seemed a genuine willingness to work with us."

The next club board meeting takes place this Thursday, October 9th.

Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival

Following on from recent postings on health promotion and JT Community involvement, the JT Blog brings you information on - Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival

The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival (www.mhfestival.com) kicks off next week presenting a jam-packed, entertaining and thought- provoking arts programme to challenge, engage and explore issues and themes around mental health in venues throughout October.
Gilmorehill G12 Theatre hosts:
* An evening of South Asian cinematic perspectives on mental health featuring presentation Mad Tales from Bollywood and a screening of I for India. Monday 6th October, 6pm, FREE
* A women only film screening of View from a Grain of Sand - demonstrating how war, international interference and the rise of political Islam have stripped Afghan women of rights and freedom.
Tuesday 7th October, 7pm, FREE
* Edinburgh Fringe favourite David Benson in Think No Evil of Us: My Life with Kenneth Williams, a semi-autobiographical one-man-show about the Carry On star. Thursday 16th October, 7.30pm, £4
G12 Box Office: 0141 330 5522 / www.gilmorehillg12.co.uk Grosevenor Cinema screenings include:
* Ken Loach's legendary 1966 dramatised documentary Cathy Come Home about homelessness and unemployment. Post-film discussion includes The Big Issue. Sunday 12th October, 3pm, £4 (£2)
* A moving portrait of seminal post-punk band Joy Division almost 30 years after the death of front man Ian Curtis. Post film discussion includes Director Grant Gee. Monday 13th October, 6pm, £4 (£2)
* Tommy Lee Jones uncovers a complex and disturbing story of his son's fate and the psychological effects of conflict on those returning from Iraq in In The Valley of Elah.Tuesday 14th October, 6pm, £4 (£2)
* Olive and her family embark on a voyage of discovery in the recent US hit Little Miss Sunshine. Wednesday 15th October, 6pm, £4 (£2)
* US Indie flick Lars and the Real Girl sees an akward young man bring home the girl of his dreams; a custom made sex doll in this charming, off-beat comedy. Thursday 16th October, 6pm, £4 (£2)
Grosvenor Box Office: 0845 166 6002 / www.socialanimal.co.uk
Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival
1 – 19 October 2008> www.mhfestival.com> Call 0141 572 0125 to receive a brochure in the post.

FMC GOES LIVE!

Our friends at the Firhill Music Collective will be holding their first gig on Saturday. According to their promo material:

Things will kick off at half 12 with the event wrapped up at 14.30. The Primary School and Maryhill boys, The Echo Session will be each playing an acoustic set.

Entry is free, though if you think you've had a good time, feel free to stick a couple of quid into the bucket on the door, the FMC is not run for profit and all monies raised will go towards the Jags Trust and local charity Westgap which has a project set up to assist under priviledged children learn to play musical instruments.

Maryhill Juniors are providing the facilities for free, and all the bands are playing for free. We hope to see you all there, children of all ages are more than welcome and covered in Maryhill juniors Licence.

In addition, match tickets for the Dundee game will be on sale at the gig (although if you want a concession ticket, you will still need to get that from Firhill). 

The Jags Trust will be represented at the gig and taking applications for membership of the Trust and the 1876 Club. This is in addition to our regular presence on matchdays at the Aitken Suite.

Best of luck to this exciting new addition to the pre-match build up in Maryhill!

ALAN ARCHIBALD TESTIMONIAL DINNER - SPECIAL OFFER

We are pleased to announce that the Alan Archibald Testimonial committee have kindly offered a discount on the ticket price for Archie's testimonial Dinner. This discount is exclusively for Jags Trust members. Normal ticket price is £50 but Jags Trust members can purchase a ticket for £40. This represents a 20% discount and is equal to the JT annual individual membership fee. 

Furthermore, Jags Trust tables will be created as and when the tickets are purchased. The idea is to try and make the evening more accessible for ordinary supporters.

The dinner is on Sunday 9th November at the Crown Plaza Hotel, Glasgow. Speakers include top comedian Joe Camay and former Grade One comedian Willie Young. It should be a great night for Archie and all Jags fans who want to pay tribute to his long service to the club.

If any Jags Trust member wants a ticket(s), please pm Colin Quinn (Red Monkey) on the Jags Forum with contact details or contact the Trust directly. We will then collate requests and pass them onto Dougie McCrea.

If you want details about the dinner itself, or any other of the Testimonial events, you can contact Dougie directly.

Full details of Archie's testimonial can be found on the testimonial website.

First Winners for the 1876 Club....

The first ever monthly draw for the 1876 Club was made this morning. The lucky winners are;-

• Two pairs of hospitality tickets in the Alan Rough Suite went to Martin Heron and Steven McDonald
  
  
• A pair of tickets allowing access to the David McParland Lounge for the home games at Firhill in October and November went to;-
  
  v Dundee (4/10) - Paul Bowers
  v Airdrie (12/10) - Douglas Mathers
  v Queen Of The South (1/11) - Sandy Wilkie
  v Clyde (8/11) - Mrs C Thompson
  v Livingston (22/11) - Erik Geddes
  
  
• A £50 voucher for Borders was won by Morris Forbes
  
  
• And finally, a £50 voucher for Greaves was won by Kieron Dempsey

Congratulations to this first group of winners. There will be many more in the coming months and years.

All draws will take place at the end of each month. The draw at the end of October will include the home games to be played at Firhill in December.

Just £10 per month can help you assist the Trust in acheiving one of its' primary goals as well as being entered in the monthly draw. If you're not already a members, then why not join up now!!

Brick Update....

As you may be aware, the Trust have been in communication with the Club in connection with the new sign on the Jackie Husband Stand. The erection of this has resulted in some of the Trust-sponored bricks being covered up so that the inscriptions are no longer visible.

When this was first pointed at the last game of the season, the Trust was advised that this was a temporary structure which would be rectified for the start of the new season. This did not happen and the matter was raised with the Club again. Notwithstanding the information we received at the time, the sign is not temporary and does not give the appearance of ever having been intended to be so.

It is clearly entirely inappropriate that this sign should have been erected without any consideration being given to the impact on the bricks positioned at that section of the wall. That it was not self-evident that the structure would create an issue seems incredulous.

There have been exchanges of e-mails on the matter but these have not yet resulted in either a satisfactory explanation of how this situation arose in the first place or a suitable resolution to the issue. Rather than continue to attempt to deal with it in this manner, our new Club Board Rep Kieron Dempsey will take the matter up directly with the Board.

SIGN UP IN THE AITKEN SUITE THIS SATURDAY

A reminder to everyone that the Jags Trust will have a table in the Aitken Suite at tomorrow's game from 1pm onwards. Several JTB members will be on duty, including new PTFC director Kieron Dempsey, so stop by if you want to talk to us about anything Jags-related.  

Anyone wanting to join the Trust can do it right there and then. Members wanting to renew are also welcome. And we will have a supply of standing order mandates to get you into the 1876 Club competition (exclusive to JT members) in time for the first monthly draw. Just bring your bank details, sign up and you'll be in the hat for one of these great prizes:  

A pair of tickets for PTFC's excellent hospitality package at a match to be arranged. Two of these prizes are up for grabs this month!

A pair of tickets to the new McParland Suite hospitality. We have these for every home fixture in October and November, including the Airdrie semi-final - there will be a winner for every game!

£50 of vouchers for Greaves Sports.

£50 of vouchers for Borders Books.  

This will be your last chance to sign up for the 1876 Club in time for the first draw, which will take place at the end of the week. Don't miss out. We've got some great games coming up at Firhill and you could be watching them in style.  

Jags Trust annual membership is £10 for individuals, £5 for the unwaged, £20 for families. 

1876 Club subscriptions are £10 per month.

JAGS TRUST NEW CHAIRMAN: RAYMOND ROSE

With Sandy Wilkie having indicated that he wished to step down from his role as Chairman of the Jags Trust Board, Raymond Rose was unanimously selected at Monday night's meeting to take over the post with immediate effect.

We'd like to express our thanks to Sandy for his considerable efforts over the past year, travelling through from Fife for meetings and events as well as Jags games, despite pressures of work and having a young family. Sandy remains on the JTB this year and still has much to contribute.

More news from the JTB meeting will be posted here over the next day or two, including a report from Kieron Dempsey on his first PTFC board meeting. 

NEWS ROUND UP

The Jags Trust main website has recovered and is back online now, so everybody relax. Thanks to Graham Lang, recently retired JT attack dog, for taking up this customer service issue and getting it resolved so quickly.

You might be interested to read our brief article about the Firhill Music Collective which swings into life at lunchtime on October 4th before we play Dundee, bringing Jags fans the chance of a gig and a game to get your Saturday off to a great start. Best of luck to this new venture from everyone at the Jags Trust.

Kieron Dempsey attended his first Partick Thistle FC board meeting as the new JT rep at the end of last week. More details will come out over the next few days, but after a period of interruption we are delighted to be back in the club boardroom representing our members' views.

The newly-elected Jags Trust Board meets up for the first time on Monday, 15th September at 7pm in the Maryhill Community Halls. We will bring you news of the meeting as quickly as possible and a full set of minutes will be available at a later date. It's not intended as a public meeting, but members can attend if they wish to observe the JTB in action. This one could be long on procedural matters, though, so be warned...

And remember: you can still sign up to the 1876 Club in time for the first monthly draw! Get in at the beginning!

JAGS TRUST MAIN WEBSITE - TEMPORARILY OFFLINE

A little unscheduled maintenance going on tonight!

Please bear with us while we try to get the website back online. In the meantime, have a look around our lovely little blog.

SUICIDE PREVENTION WEEK 2008 - ‘Don’t hide it. Talk about it’

The West of Scotland has one of the highest young male suicide rates in Europe. Just the sort of guys who go to football games. In pursuit of one of the Jags Trust objectives in community involvement we thought it appropriate to highlight Suicide Prevention Week 2008. If it helps someone out there, it will be worth it.

In Scotland alone an average of two people die every day from suicide. The Mental Health Division of the Scottish Government Health Directorates and Choose Life NHS Health Scotland are working to change this statistic by dispelling the myth that talking about suicide promotes suicidal behaviour.

The national suicide prevention campaign - ‘Don’t hide it. Talk about it’ - will be launched during Suicide Prevention Week (SPW) (8 –14 September 2008). The campaign is a key element of implementing Choose Life, Scotland’s 10 year strategy and action plan for preventing suicide. Choose Life was launched in December 2002 and sets out a plan for national and local action to prevent suicide and help those affected by or bereaved by suicide. Specifically, this means raising awareness of suicide and its prevention and encouraging a better understanding of its risk factors among the general public. The aim is to encourage people to seek help early and to empower others to help those at risk.

The Key campaign messages are:

If you are feeling suicidal, don’t hide it – talk about it

It’s OK to talk about feeling suicidal

Talk to someone you trust, or phone a helpline (Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87 or Samaritans 08457 90 90 90).

There will be a host of local and national activity during SPW. Each local authority in Scotland has a dedicated Choose Life Co-ordinator who will engage with their local communities in order to raise awareness of local suicide prevention events and activities. The national campaign will consist of a week long programme of radio advertising, online advertising - via websites and MSN Messenger and Hotmail - and a week long programme of coverage in the Sun newspaper.

JAGS AND TIGERS

Another exciting prize has been secured for 1876 Club members! 

In conjunction with Glasgow Tigers we are pleased to offer the following: A family day out (for four people) to an agreed meeting at Ashfield in 2009 which would include entry to the Stadium, a chance to meet the riders and a pits tour and a chance to watch one heat from the centre green, right in the heart of the action!

The Tigers season starts up again in March 09 and this will be one of our additional monthly draw prizes, so sign up to the 1876 Club now and give yourself a chance to win! 

In addition we are in conversation with Borders to see if we can have our discount arrangement for all 1876 Club members extended to all Scottish stores.

Thanks to Borders and to Glasgow Tigers for their continued support. And thanks to Ian Adam (www.ianadam.co.uk) for the great photos.

BARGAINS AT BORDERS

We can announce that Borders (whose Buchanan Street branch has a massive selection of books, CDs and DVDs) have generously agreed to offer an ongoing 10% discount to all card-carrying 1876 Club members, excluding any items already reduced by more than 10%.

They will also offer a number of special 20% off weekends over the course of the year if members provide an email address for vouchers to be sent to. This is in addition to vouchers which they are already providing as part of the prize for the monthly draw.

Many thanks to Borders in Glasgow who have been incredibly supportive of what we are trying to do. The Jags Trust is delighted to make this the first exclusive benefit available to Thistle fans through the 1876 Club.

WHAT IS THIS 1876 CLUB?

You can read the detailed version on the main website, but here are the basics: 

At the moment, the Trust owns around a million shares in the club, given in return for the money raised by Thistle fans around the world during the dark days of the Save the Jags campaign. However, we all know that a one-off injection of cash doesn't get the job done and so one of our aims is to increase that shareholding, year after year. It's a sign of our continuing commitment to moving Thistle forward.

The 1876 Club, launching this season, is the main way we're trying to do this. We're taking out a sponsorship package with the club called Thistle Partners. For £5,000 or so that the club gets from us now, the Trust get a number of places at matchday hospitality for all games throughout the season. These provide the basic prizes that will be given out in a monthly draw to lucky 1876 Club members.

On top of that, we're working hard to secure some exciting extra prizes to spice things up a bit and we're negotiating a range of discounts and special offers that will be available to every 1876 Club member, so that you can be a winner even if your name doesn't come out of the hat at the end of the month. Keep checking back here for details!

A deal to buy extra shares in the club is not quite finalised, but it has been agreed in principle with the board. The plan is for us to buy shares in batches of 15,000, each batch costing around £6,000. As soon as the funds from the 1876 Club hit that mark, the money will go from us to the club. Then we start working towards the next £6,000.

It's no secret how tight things are for Thistle and how hard it is to find outside investors. Any extra money that goes in from us will ultimately make life easier for Ian McCall as he tries to sign up a team to do us all proud.

For only £10 a month, you can be a part of this:

you get an entry in the monthly draw (£20 will get you two!) 

you get exclusive access to the discount deals we're putting together

you get to invest in the club and see the Trust strengthen its influence

you get to help the manager take us to the SPL.

Sign up to the 1876 Club today. Download the standing order form and send it to us care of Firhill. Tell your friends about it and sign them up, too!

WELCOME TO THE JT BLOG

This is a new site we will be using to bring you the fastest news of what's going on with the Trust. With the elections over and the new committee about to meet for the first time, we'll be picking up the pace again with a number of events around the club and out in the community.

The big news for Trust members this season is the launch of our major fundraiser, the 1876 Club. We'll be adding more details about the thinking behind the scheme, the benefits for everyone who signs up to it and the great prizes to be won, so keep an eye on this page for some exciting offers. We will also try to explain more about the Trust and why you, as a Thistle fan, should join up to be a part of it.

In the meantime, why not check out the photos and videos from our highly successful Player of the Year night? And leave us a comment - we're always keen to hear what the members have to say and to answer any questions you might have.