with thanks to the Lincolnshire Echo

Without being complacent our Trust, like the club, seems to be enjoying a reasonably successful time at the moment. Our position in the club is solid with us now holding the important Fans’ Share, our membership amounting to around 6000, and with two of our board sitting on the club board of directors. 
In terms of the latter, Phil Scrafton is now fully registered as a club director and has impressed in the way he’s approaching this important role.
We looked to ‘future plan’ as the Fan Led Review moved towards the more formal Football Governance Bill, and as a result we’ve got some new people on board keeping us old Trust stalwarts on our toes.
Emma Crellin is a well-known Imps fan and has had a successful career in marketing. She’s now our joint Fan Engagement Lead where we look to serve our members well, at the same time as enhance the club’s award-winning work in making our supporters genuinely feel part of the club they so avidly follow. 
It must be an interesting time in the Crellin household. Emma’s husband is a keen Carlisle United fan and their fortunes are in stark contrast to those at the LNER stadium. Next to bottom in League Two their Trust chair recently put out a statement refuting claims made against him and his colleagues. He says they’ve been accused of being a closed shop, they don’t communicate, they’re too close to the club, they make bad decisions, and are in it for the perks. Phew.
From what I can see Carlisle United Supporters Trust do stuff pretty much exactly like we do – honorably, openly, and properly. It just goes to show that anger over bad footballing times can cloud the judgement of those who lash out.
So future planning is important. The good times are great but we have to be ready for if and where they’re not. It’s what the club does, and it’s what your Trust does too. If you want to know a bit more on this or any other Trust matter, then seek us out in the Fan Village. This column tries to keep you up to speed but you can’t beat a face to face natter to get our messages out.