Posting this in a personal capacity only, but I think may be relevant.
Two of the organisers (named) contacted Supporters' Direct regarding setting up a Supporter's Trust. Jaquie Forster of SD rang me (as Secretary - our Chairman was in the middle of giving a radio interview at the time) yesterday afternoon, asking if we knew anything about them doing so (we did not) and wondering why they were looking at setting up a ST when we already have one established. She was especially concerned not to see fragmentation of the fans' voices.
I brought her up to date with the current situation, although she was already pretty well briefed, and she explained she is familiar with Guilfoyle from working with the established supporters' trusts in previous administrations such as Plymouth Argyle and Leeds United.
She asked permission to pass Bullbuilder (The Bradford Rugby League Supporters' Society Limited) contact details on to them (said she had to ask first) which of course I gave. Details on the website anyway.
In case anyone is unaware, there are quite a few legalities involved in setting up a supporters' trust - and the board takes on the same legal responsibilities as directors of a limited company - which is what a supporters trust actually is. For all practical purposes, you need model rules (the equivilent of the Articles of Association of a trading company), suitably tailored, that have already been registered with the financial authorities by Supporters Direct, and they have to sponsor you.
And you need time, not least waiting on the authorities. You then need more time (and a load more legalities) to set up the bank account. I think it took us about three months to establish Bullbuilder, although it could be done a fair bit quicker at need. I subsequently gave the benefit of our experience to those who were setting up their own supporters' trust at Wakey, and again time was a big issue there. We had in turn received considerable and much-appreciated assistance from the Warrington supporters' trust, on which our was loosely modelled. The RL family is alive and well amongst the dedicated fans!
Supporters Direct, and the financial authorities, are extremely keen on the corporate governance and democracy aspects, and there have to be strict rules and processes for appointing board members and various other decisions and activities. Trusts also have to be audited each year, or subject to independent financial examination up to certain income limits. The objects (purposes) of the trust need to be quite widely drawn to demonstrate benefit the wider community - just saying e.g. "our sole purpose is to save the Bulls and make sure it all never happens again and hang the buggers high" is probably what many people would love to see happen, but has some chance of inviting rejection!
Hope some of that is informative.
