VIQI have provided an update - click here.
Headline stats:
- As of December 2019, we had 1250 paying members in VIQI.
- As of February 2020, we had 1207 paying members in VIQI.
- As of July 2020, we had 1131 paying members in VIQI.
Donations:
- March 2019 - December 2019 - £269,000
- June 2020 (latest payment) - £54,000 Retention/Recruitment of Players 2020 season.
Heartening to see that there are still over 1100 members!
As one of the people on here asking for an update, I'm really pleased to see this and fair enough to them for responding.
I do think seeing the figures in black and white gives a clear indication of the impact of the scheme and long may it do well.
It's good to see it laid out, as CJ91 alluded to there's often a frustration that VIQI aren't always forthcoming with detail as to how the monthly payments are being used. I think this gives a bit of comfort.
I know it's not what VIQI was set up for, and they've been very clear with that in the past, but I think bringing in a way in which people could buy equity in the club is something that should be looked at. We've got potentially people paying £200k above the cost of their season tickets etc. per year, I for one know I would pay more than I am now for the ability to own a small amount of the club and attend some sort of AGM with voting rights on the general direction of the club (you wouldn't want to overdemocratise things in terms of on the field stuff it would descend into chaos).
I suppose that would be the difference between VIQI and the Trust, however the idea of fan representation went out the window under the previous regime, I have no idea whether the current ones think about it. We don't have a rich backer, but I think it would be worth a survey to see how many people, and what cost could we would need to get a rich collective backer i.e. us.
I may be wrong but I see our club making some sort of history in the game in that the 'town/borough' and beyond subscribed to right a wrong that had taken 'our' club to the brink of disaster. It could be a pattern for other clubs struggling to stay solvent.
Personally I am happy to subscribe to the scheme without my direct involvement and trust that the 'club' is in good hands. That of course is prone to disaster if unscrupulous hands get into the administration and we have to guard against that.
The set up, as I understand it, means that VIQI holds volunteered funds to support the club, but that it is not part of the club and therefore its funds are not at risk if another administration situation were to arise. It seems that some sort of guaranteed donation to the club is essential to justify the club's salary cap level.
I am not a lawyer or anything like a lawyer but there must be some sort of an option that could give representatives of the subscribers some non-executive role to keep an eye on things. This could be something for the future of course. At the moment I have nothing but admiration for the club staff and VIQI for the way that they are conducting the club's business.
What must be avoided would be representatives who regard themselves as fully fledged 'Board Members' seeking to run the club via the back door!
I also have lots of admiration for VIQI and realy pleased that the funds being generated are not in the club accounts
so please do not try to fix what is obvoiusly not broken
(( What must be avoided would be representatives who regard themselves as fully fledged ‘Board Members’ seeking to run the club via the back door! ))
it must remain a sponser of some sorts doing an admarable job
i for my humble part will continue to support in any way i can
(( What must be avoided would be representatives who regard themselves as fully fledged ‘Board Members’ seeking to run the club via the back door! ))
My point exactly! I will continue to support and so will many more but there are always those who are suspicious of anyone doing something for nothing! Believe me I have run scouts and youth clubs and there are many who think you make money out of it!
I think a regular detailed update once every few months, like today's, is all what I've seen people (myself included)ask for. If people can see, for instance, the £54000 donated this summer, it shows that the scheme is successful and people feel more strongly that it is worth being part of. It could be a positive in helping sustain the good numbers.
VIQI is hugely important to the club. It also has a big membership (larger than a number of Championship attendances!) so its natural that upscaling to 1000+ members at short notice would be a lot of work and on a voluntary basis too. I think the majority do genuinely appreciate that.
Spot on!
I've thought about the equity point in the past, but the thing is it's effectively a 100% depreciation every year. We run from season to season anyway so you wouldn't really own anything by the end of each September.
What enthuses me is the speed at which Sheens seems to be putting a really decent team together. Playing exciting footy and being there or thereabouts is what'll fill our coffers and boost the memberships.
I assume £130k of the £269K figure was the money raised by the cash funder when the club went into administration. I too welcome this information & am pleased the numbers are holding up well. However I still think a monetary figure of what has actually been received in the last month from the 1,131 members would give us a better indication of what is currently being received monthly.
I assume £130k of the £269K figure was the money raised by the cash funder when the club went into administration. I too welcome this information & am pleased the numbers are holding up well. However I still think a monetary figure of what has actually been received in the last month from the 1,131 members would give us a better indication of what is currently being received monthly.
I think this is a fair point. It's difficult to ascertain how much 1,131 contribute. At a conservative average estimate of £10 per person, that's generating £11,310 per month (or £135,720 per year). It's good to know how much is being contributed (£108k in 2020), but does that mean VIQI has the difference (say) £27k in the bank?
Also, VIQI does have equity in the club (1 share).
It is quite remarkable that such a small number can generate such support. Nothing in comparison to the Lenehan's of the game but life blood to our club.
I was donating a nominal £5 pm until Pat Cluskey put the arm on me!!!Looking at what you can spend on garbage newspapers in a month made me ask the question 'which do get most pleasure out of?'. Just doubling our numbers would make a massive difference. Bigger crowds next season could see a boost.
I assume £130k of the £269K figure was the money raised by the cash funder when the club went into administration. I too welcome this information & am pleased the numbers are holding up well. However I still think a monetary figure of what has actually been received in the last month from the 1,131 members would give us a better indication of what is currently being received monthly.
I think this is a fair point. It’s difficult to ascertain how much 1,131 contribute. At a conservative average estimate of £10 per person, that’s generating £11,310 per month (or £135,720 per year). It’s good to know how much is being contributed (£108k in 2020), but does that mean VIQI has the difference (say) £27k in the bank? Also, VIQI does have equity in the club (1 share).
Sorry James, i really don't know what some of you want from them at all. Do you want to know exactly how much each individual pays; its as if you don't trust them. You have made a fine calculation which i think is much higher. Try 500 x £10 plus 500 x £15 and 131 x £25, this equates to £15775 per month or £189000 per year, a fantastic amount. There are more people paying in to this scheme than some clubs see coming through the gates. We should be singing its praises not looking for reasons to go into more detail
The amount coming in should be a source of great pride to the club and the borough tbh. Doubling that number, if only at £5 per month would be massive.
It should be a hint to other clubs who are struggling, rather than looking for a sugar daddy, look closer to home!
I assume £130k of the £269K figure was the money raised by the cash funder when the club went into administration. I too welcome this information & am pleased the numbers are holding up well. However I still think a monetary figure of what has actually been received in the last month from the 1,131 members would give us a better indication of what is currently being received monthly.
I think this is a fair point. It’s difficult to ascertain how much 1,131 contribute. At a conservative average estimate of £10 per person, that’s generating £11,310 per month (or £135,720 per year). It’s good to know how much is being contributed (£108k in 2020), but does that mean VIQI has the difference (say) £27k in the bank? Also, VIQI does have equity in the club (1 share).
Sorry James, i really don’t know what some of you want from them at all. Do you want to know exactly how much each individual pays; its as if you don’t trust them. You have made a fine calculation which i think is much higher. Try 500 x £10 plus 500 x £15 and 131 x £25, this equates to £15775 per month or £189000 per year, a fantastic amount. There are more people paying in to this scheme than some clubs see coming through the gates. We should be singing its praises not looking for reasons to go into more detail
Singing its praises and asking for transparency aren't mutually exclusively things, of course it's a great success. It's not about trust either - I have no doubt that Jason does what's best for the club. We've just come out of the back of the most dire situation in the club's history.
Ultimately, the 1,131 people are paying in to something that has a share in Widnes RLFC and a place on the board, so why shouldn't they have a say on, for example, who is elected to the VIQI board, given that these are the people who decide what to do with the money that the 1,131 people are putting in every month?
I don't think we need to know particularly how much is going in month to month, but maybe an annual position of what's come in, what's gone out, what's left etc to be issued to those who are members would be a step forward (maybe via an AGM as per supporters groups at other clubs).