By The MKDSA Media Team
Minutes of the MKDSA Committee MeetingWednesday 21 st September 2022 held via Zoom at 7.30pm.
ATTENDEES
Aiden Gray (AG), John Bullard (JoB), Alfie Burr (AB), Jackie Burr (JaB), Arthur Harris (AH), Amanda Lansbury (AL), Steve Manning (SM), Jeff Newall (JeN), Jo Newall (JoN), James Rees (JR), John Samuel (JS), Franco Volpe (VP) and Louise Walsh (LW).
Minutes taken by Louise Walsh.
CHAIRMAN TO OPEN MEETING & WELCOME
AG opened the meeting at 7.32pm. The committee introduced themselves.
AG intends to initially hold monthly meetings.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
None.
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The minutes of the meeting held on 21 st April 2022 were reviewed and agreed. Proposed by JaB and seconded by AG.
MATTERS ARISING
None.
CO-OPTION OF NEW MEMBERS AND WELCOME TO COMMITTEE
The following members were co-opted onto the committee.
John Bullard: Proposed by SM, seconded by AG and agreed.
Franco Volpe: Proposed by AH, seconded by AG and agreed.
Amanda Lansbury: Proposed by JaB, seconded by AH and agreed.
John Samuel: Proposed by JeN, seconded by SM and agreed.
AG welcomed the new committee members.
VACANT ROLES & ADOPTION OF NEW ROLES
The Vice Chair role is vacant. AG proposed Franco Volpe for the role, this was seconded by AH and agreed.
Colin Butler stepped down from the Chair’s role at the AGM last week. Although he is no longer a member of the committee Colin will continue to maintain the MKDSA website.
AG proposed that Amanda Lansbury undertakes a new role of Diversity and Inclusion officer linking in with the Young Dons. Proposed by AG, seconded by FV and agreed.
LW remains as Secretary but she also has a new role as one of two MKDSA representatives on the new Supporters Board with JS. She may find her workload too great and so AG has asked Jackie Burr to share the Secretary’s role to assist LW when required. Proposed by FV, seconded by AH and agreed.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Items that AG will cover later in the meeting include the future of Lewington’s and the Oxford United incident.
AG wanted to discuss how we see the MKDSA moving forward, approaching from a fans and members perspective, holding the club to account. Some discussions we have will be confidential.
SECRETARY’S REPORT
The first Supporters Board meeting will take place tomorrow when a Chair will be elected and the terms of reference will be reviewed.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The bank balance currently stands at £6043.76. The new TV and wall bracket for Lewington’s has been purchased and are in the bar area. Within the balance is £900 collected for the MK Dons FC Fans Facebook Group Player sponsorship which will be paid to the club imminently. A meeting will need to be arranged with Metro Bank to make JeN a signatory on the account. Transfer of the login to the square account will also be arranged.
MEMBERSHIP REPORT
SM gave an update on new memberships. There was a discussion about promoting new memberships and renewals. JaB will arrange for the membership email account to be transferred to SM.
DISABILITY OFFICERS REPORT
There has been no update regarding the sensory room but JoN & JeN have a meeting next week. They are liaising with Antoni regarding updating the club website with disability related information.
JoN & JeN continue to have regular meetings with Level Playing Field and write reviews for them. They also have regular meetings with Andy Standen regarding accessible gaps e.g the concrete at the lip of Gate 5 still requires repair.
Jo & Jeff are already in contact with Antony Yates, disability representative on the Supporters Board. The Soccer Sight headsets were to be replaced in time for the Euros in the summer but there’s been no confirmation yet that this was done.
LEWINGTON’S UPDATE
A meeting was held yesterday regarding Lewington’s which was attended by Pete Winkelman, Hannah Alker, Andy Gibb, Aiden Gray, John Brockwell and Louise Walsh.
Andy Gibb raised the Council’s concerns regarding fire safety and crowd control as Lewington’s is a change of use for what was originally a concourse area. The Young Dons Zone is also under review. The club has been given 30 days to come up with a proposal of how to address the Council’s concerns. A fire safety review will be conducted this weekend.
AH pointed out that there is an unused bar area further along the concourse on the same level. AG explained that this is above the Arena and therefore could not be used when events were taking place. Lewington’s needs to be in an area that can be permanently used.
USE OF PYRO & FAN SAFETY
The incident at Oxford United was discussed where one of our own supporters needed medical treatment following the use of a pyro. This incident is being investigated by Thames Valley Police and those involved have been identified. JeN thanked everyone for their assistance at Oxford. AG has posted a statement and is liaising with the Club regarding a joint statement.
MKDSAFE was briefly discussed. This is a system which has been in place for several years for supporters to report issues by text message to the control room on matchdays.
MEMBERSHIPS
Previously covered.
PROGRAMME SHOP INCOME
JR gave an overview of sales which have totaled £1465 so far this season and have already exceeded last season’s total.
DRAFT REVIEW OF CONSTITUTION
John Brockwell and Colin Butler have reviewed the constitution, a copy of which has been circulated to committee members for review. The current constitution will remain in place until the next AGM when the changes can then be adopted.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
AH raised the issue of there being no hot water in the Lewington’s toilet area. JoN explained that she had complained to Cambridge United last season about their lack of hot water. She was surprised to learn that there is no requirement for hand washing facilities to have hot water.
CLOSE MEETING
There being no other business the meeting was closed at 9.22pm. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 19 th October at 7.30pm.
Signed on this day as a true record ………………………………………………………………………………………….
Chairman ……………………………………………………………………… Aiden Gray
Secretary……………………………………………………………………… Louise Walsh
