Jeanfield Swifts Community FC became a registered charity during lockdown. Because of the various restrictions at the time and then people being busy with getting the football back running after lockdown, we've not yet had our first AGM. So we intend to hold this on Wednesday 13 July at 7pm at Riverside Church, Bute Drive, Perth.

The way the charity is set up (as a SCIO - Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation), we need to recruit a minimum of 20 "members", from whom we will elect 6 trustees (committee members) at the meeting. Because of the plans for community development, and to satisfy the requirements of the charity regulator, when setting up the charity we defined the membership criteria based purely on our geographic community. That means that anyone living within the Perth City council wards (Perth City North, Perth City South, Perth City Centre) can become a member.

There is a token membership fee of £20 per year. All members who have paid their membership fee and meet the criteria can stand for election as a trustee and vote at the AGM. Anyone who doesn't live within the Perth City council wards can still be associated with the club on payment of the £20 fee, but they are not able to vote or stand for election. According to our constitution (link below) we will also ask the two local community councils to appoint to an additional trustee each and then we can also co-opt trustees to round off the skills we need on the board.

The constitution requires members standing for election to be nominated by two other members, and nominations must be submitted at least 7 days before the meeting. Provided we get more than 6 nominations, there will be an election on the night. If there are fewer than 6 then all the nominated members will automatically join the board.

What we need you to do now:

• If you want to support the aims of the Community Club, especially if you live in the area outlined above, please become a member
• Once you've become a member, please consider standing for election as a trustee. Trustee duties can be found in the constitution (link below). There is no specific nomination form, nominations can be sent by email to iwan.davies@jeanfieldswifts.co.uk, just copy in your two nominators.
• If you don't meet the membership criteria because you live outwith the Perth City wards, you can still support us by joining as an associate or donating to the charity. As a non-profit organisation, after covering the costs of running the organisation every penny we receive goes to creating fantastic opportunities for people in Perth to participate in healthy activities focused on football to improve their physical and mental wellbeing.
• If you have a background in business and an interest and access to a network in football and the third sector, we would love to hear from you. There are options for co-opting trustees and we're eager to work with people who support our aims.

Finally, why should you bother with this? Well, as you'll have been aware over the past couple of years, the Community Club has become increasingly active, both within the community and in terms of managing what the organised teams need to train and play football. From lunch clubs to after-school provision, and securing lets at facilities such as North Inch Community Campus and Bertha Park during the winter, not to mention cutting and lining pitches each week, a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly. If you want this to continue and expand, please consider stepping up. The current team is small, yet we've accomplished so much so far. Join us to help us grow further!