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!!