SMISA's July £2 spend ballot contains two projects on which members are being asked to vote....
In April members voted overwhelmingly in favour of a proposal to use £50,000 of SMISA money towards the relaying of the astrograss surface at the club’s training ground at Ralston, which sees SMISA become the main sponsors of the club’s youth academy for the next two years.
As explained at the time, we are funding that using £5,000 from each quarterly spend for the next eight spends (£10,000 has already been committed), meaning there will only be approximately £3,000 available to spend per quarter (rather than the usual £8,000) for the next two years.
This ballot has two projects for you to vote yes or no on. If either is rejected by the membership, the money allocated to it will stay in the £2 pot for potential future use. If you have any ideas you would like us to look into for future spends, please email [email protected]
As always, your link to the secure online ballot will follow shortly in a separate email.
Project one – Community programmes (£1,500)
The SMISA committee recently met St Mirren’s assistant head of youth Ross Paterson, who is responsible for the club’s community programmes, who presented a few ideas which SMISA funding could make happen.
These would strengthen the links between the club and community by bringing into St Mirren adults and children from Renfrewshire who could benefit from extra support. We have chosen two, which would work as follows.
We’re on our way - lifestyle programme for adults (16s+), male and female, focusing on health and wellbeing. Weekly one-hour sessions covering diet, nutrition and physical activity, with the focus on getting fitter, losing weight, living better, achieving goals and having fun.
Super Saints - Fun and interactive football sessions for young people with additional support needs aged six-12 years old. Weekly one-hour sessions at the St Mirren Airdome, with the focus on fun football themes, games and activities, with participation from parents/guardians/support workers.
A budget of £1,500 would allow the club to run both of the above for 20 families for 20 weeks. The money would be spent on facility hire, staff, equipment and marketing.
Project two – pre-match family entertainment (£1,500)
You will remember last season SMISA supported a programme of pre-match entertainment in and around the family stand before home games. This was a partnership effort between different fan groups, co-ordinated by the club’s two supporter liaison officers – John White and John Allison – and Colin Bright (aka Paisley Panda), funded by us and the SMFC Fans Council.
The aims were to get families to the ground early, improve the matchday experience, and bring new fans into the club. We saw it as an investment in St Mirren’s future – if it attracts even one new young fan who becomes an adult season ticket holder, that’s worth a lot of money to the club.
The two Johns sought feedback on last season’s trial via social media and comments received included:
“Convinced my 4 year old to come with me. She enjoyed face painting and balloon guy. If anything it got another adult on a seat as I wouldn’t have gone if she said no. Brings out great family atmosphere in stand” @Brydo86
“My nephew definitely enjoyed it and absolutely added to the match day experience. Presents the club exactly as it should be- a proud family club” @GarryW1lliamson
“As one of the buskers, I loved the chance to play some music at the ground for my team. Think it makes a great atmosphere having some party events happening.” @Cwhyte25
“My two boys have a season ticket with their Dad & they loved the pre match entertainment, they liked the face painting, meeting Panda, the balloons etc… Elizabeth Irvine
“Thought it resulted in a lovely family atmosphere in and around the ground” @John37064395
The scheme is going to run again this year and the Fans Council plan to put £1,500 towards it. We would like SMISA members to contribute the same – with a budget of £3,000 and a cost of £300 per game, the scheme could run at 10 home games this coming season.
The money would be used for – though isn’t necessarily restricted to – hiring entertainers and other attractions, such as live musicians, face painters, balloon artists, giant inflatables etc.