There is a very good reason why this membership push is vital.

Our gates are not good enough to pay for our tenancy of the LSV and to have a decent team on the park a fantastic coach and a reserve side.

Warrington's equivalent of LISA cannot be compared because the club its' members support has average gates of over 10000 per game and are in receipt of quite a wod of cash from Sky.

When Leigh are in the same situation as Warrington then we could conceivably alter what our fundraising is for.

Until then if you want to watch a pro RL club in the town you need to join LISA if you can afford it.

The only thing I've 'had a go at' is the 'having a go at others'.

With respect to the set-up I'm definitely not 'having a go'. Not my intention at all.

I apologise if I upset you as you have poured so much into LISA over the years you deserve the freedom of the town.

What I am trying to say is that what is there does not have to be seen as cast in stone and, in my view, would benefit from a bit of a revamp and since you're doing what is effectively a relaunch perhaps now's the time to make sure you have strong message.

It would make it a far easier sell, especially to the more cynical amongst us who will be more inclined to question (and spread scurrilous rumours about) what is being done with the money.

Thing is ML I know how hard it is for Lynda to get assistance in anything she does behind the scenes for LISA and most things get shoved on her plate because she has no one to delegate these things to and she works tirelessly long hours doing it all so naturally she is sensitive re all things LISA and long may she remain so as for the last few years she has been LISA mostly on her own.
I once went to a LISA meeting and asked one member 'so if Leigh were really struggling and wanted £5K to pay a bill or else the person owed to would issue a winding up order, you would let that happen even if LISA could pay that bill?' the reply 'YES THE LISA MONEY IS FOR PLAYERS ONLY' unbelievable but true.

If you want to support junior players at Leigh , please set up an organisation specifically to do so

That is true that Fred.
However whilst weRe trying to get new members for such an important reason, all suggestions and changes need to take a back seat imafraid.

Where you a member from the start ? , did you help in its setting up ? , have you ever been to a meeting and suggested it change ? , LISA is what its members currently want it to be , an organisation that raises money to give to the club to pay 1 st team players contracts , that is it , its members wanted it that way , if at some stage the membership wants to vote to change its purpose then fine , until then it stays the same as it currently is , all comparisons with other organisations be they supporters assocciations or trusts is irrelivant

Not having a dig , just telling it like it is

Re junior team scholarships academies there goods news re funding on the way, so they will have funding, so let's give the club money for first team players. Some people will get a big shock when they see our budget next season!
So more money. LISA makes, the quality of team we have improves.

Thanks Frank you sum it up correctly, I did speak to the people at warrington a couple of year back.
I would think the only way of doing something similar is having two Lisa accounts one for first team players one for youth teams, upon joining you nominate wrong you want your money going too. That would be easy to set up and run I would think.


Lynda

I've made my views/opinions on Lisa on here before, and thats why I have previously never joined as there's lots of things which it coud do rather than what appears 'just giving' to the club, youth development, possibly employ a marketing person to promote the club and lisa, but as I said the other day, at this moment in time (probably at least the next 2 years) its best to just get on with it, and join.

If enough people join and have other ideas on the future direction, in three years time there could be enough members with similar views to vote for a change. or even dare I say enough members to do several things.

See Steves post on page 5 posted yesterday at 4.44 pm , it sets out all we need at the moment , as for the future , let's make sure we have one , then decide how we want it to be funded and how we contribute

The reason I have just joined is because the club are in trouble and need as much help as possible and if that means using my subscription for the purpose of keeping a Leigh rugby team then so be it ,like as been said ,lets get over this huge hurdle before trying to change what LISA does as there is plenty of time for that in the future oh and Linda you are doing a fantastic job

When Leigh entered SL in 2005, with all the SL revenue streams available to the club (including SKY money), LISA members voted to change it's mandate to provide funding for junior development - This was the obvious course of action as first team players were no longer a priority (ie they wold have been brought in anyway, The money was there regardless if LISA existed or not)

The the following season LISA members voted, and again the members decided to continue with a youth development strategy in an attempt to see this investment come to fruition. I remember Kirk Haggerty being one player that was sponsored, along similar lines to Warrington's current ISA.

Then we all know what happened at the end of 2006 the club imploded (again), first team players left in droves and there was a string of other resignations one 'Black Thursday' in October that year.

Suddenly youth development was very much on the 'back burner' and another first team squad was required. LISA funding has been required for the first team ever since. Remember we were very nearly 'relegated' to champ1 in 2009.

So LISA members are pretty much receptive to the 'needs must' of the club rather than resisting change (They have already changed the mandate twice) albeit admittedly in the format they believe is best for the club.

The off field situation at Leigh right now, simply can not be compared to another clubs aims and goals

Also as Frank suggests, If Warrington are unlucky enough to find themselves not only outside SL but in our predicament as well, does anyone really truly believe their ISA will continue to be funding youth development? I do not.

as has been stated this is a battle for survival at present and that should be the one focus, do not get distracted. Agree with every good idea and remind them about the present suggesting I am sure we could do that if the members wanted to when this mess is sorted.

I simply said that the mandate, or constitution, as it is written, does little to attract the 'floating voter'. It's good to know that the purpose can change - but I still think that having that stated more clearly would be a positive move and help attract new members.

And I only put the Wolves one up as an example of a statement with the terms of reference more clearly stated.

You shouldn't need to ask whether I was there from the start because you know I have only just signed up. However if LISA is a club and not a clique, the fact that I'm a new boy should not devalue my opinion in any way.

Waterfields Finest - I do agree that a clear mandate will help in the longer term, and some people, like us, like to focus on stuff like that. The simple truth is that the mandate is currently very simple, we need money or Leigh will go bust. If people withhold their funds because they don't like the sound of it, then I am afraid I think the chances of getting their money for any other purpose would be quite slim!

I can now see the logic of not clouding the clear and urgent message about the need for funds just at the moment. But don't lose the thought, we should definitely revisit it...