From reading the RL press and also these forums, it seems there is a great deal of concern amongst the supporters about the future sustainability of the club in its current guise. Whilst you seemingly have a very good side on the field, there does not appear to be a great source of revenue to back this up and I wondered if any of you have considered the idea of a supporters trust?

My name is Laura Harrison and I am the Rugby League Development Officer for Supporters Direct, the umbrella organisation for supporters trusts in the UK. Our aim is to see clubs returned to their community under sustainable models of ownership to hopefully put an end to the boom and bust model which is prevalent in most sports nowadays.

There are a number of ways a trust could work but all of them centre around the supporters gaining influence within the ranks of their professional clubs. After all, you pay money every year supporting your club but if the club is being badly run (which a number are) then that money is not being used in the best possible way to develop the club for the future.

Whilst the main bulk of our work centres around football, I hve been working for the past 13 months to develop supporters trusts within rugby league and I am now working to develop a partnership approach between clubs and their supporters rather than the more 'hostile' relationship that exists in football. Trusts can work with their club to develop crowds, local playing talent, community activities, playing facilities etc but need to ensure they receive something in return. Ideally we would like to see trusts holding shares in their clubs or having a director on the board but this return could also come in other forms.

Whilst I appreciate that it is difficult for clubs to compete when they don't have the 'sugar daddy' investment, it is also vital to remember that most of the clubs that take this route, would not survive if the sugar daddy decided to walk away and there is no reason cooperatively run clubs cannot be successful - Bramley Buffaloes are currently one of the most successful amateur clubs in the country whilst Hornets RL are currently enjoying an excellent season in only their second year as a trust owned club. Perhaps the most successful cooperatively run club of them all is Barcelona FC - a great example of what can be achieved.

If a trust sounds like something that may be of interest to you, please feel free to contact me on 07985 628215 or alternatively via email on Laura.Harrison@supporters-direct.org or you can visit our website at www.supporters-direct.org

Thanks, Laura

From reading the RL press and also these forums, it seems there is a great deal of concern amongst the supporters about the future sustainability of the club in its current guise. Whilst you seemingly have a very good side on the field, there does not appear to be a great source of revenue to back this up and I wondered if any of you have considered the idea of a supporters trust?

My name is Laura Harrison and I am the Rugby League Development Officer for Supporters Direct, the umbrella organisation for supporters trusts in the UK. Our aim is to see clubs returned to their community under sustainable models of ownership to hopefully put an end to the boom and bust model which is prevalent in most sports nowadays.

There are a number of ways a trust could work but all of them centre around the supporters gaining influence within the ranks of their professional clubs. After all, you pay money every year supporting your club but if the club is being badly run (which a number are) then that money is not being used in the best possible way to develop the club for the future.

Whilst the main bulk of our work centres around football, I hve been working for the past 13 months to develop supporters trusts within rugby league and I am now working to develop a partnership approach between clubs and their supporters rather than the more 'hostile' relationship that exists in football. Trusts can work with their club to develop crowds, local playing talent, community activities, playing facilities etc but need to ensure they receive something in return. Ideally we would like to see trusts holding shares in their clubs or having a director on the board but this return could also come in other forms.

Whilst I appreciate that it is difficult for clubs to compete when they don't have the 'sugar daddy' investment, it is also vital to remember that most of the clubs that take this route, would not survive if the sugar daddy decided to walk away and there is no reason cooperatively run clubs cannot be successful - Bramley Buffaloes are currently one of the most successful amateur clubs in the country whilst Hornets RL are currently enjoying an excellent season in only their second year as a trust owned club. Perhaps the most successful cooperatively run club of them all is Barcelona FC - a great example of what can be achieved.

If a trust sounds like something that may be of interest to you, please feel free to contact me on 07985 628215 or alternatively via email on Laura.Harrison@supporters-direct.org or you can visit our website at www.supporters-direct.org

Thanks, Laura