The Wycombe Wanderers Trust’s community share scheme was officially launched at Adams Park last night with an announcement that pledges are already approaching £600,000.

That amount is the figure that has so far been pledged by Trust members taking into account their commitment to the scheme over five years.

Chairman of the Trust Trevor Stroud announced at the meeting on Thursday night that he hopes the pledges will now turn into payments after the launch and that they are in the process of collecting contributions.

Stroud also revealed that football club chairman Andrew Howard had pledged the maximum amount of £100,000 to the scheme over the five year period in which it’s hoped £2million plus will be raised.

Cash flow is key for Wanderers survival in the immediate future as they still find themselves in a “difficult” financial situation.

The share scheme is seen as the answer to providing the necessary working capital to keep the club functioning, and to achieve their aims of survival, stability and success.

Wanderers are currently the highest placed fan owned club in the country, above Portsmouth, Exeter and AFC Wimbledon in League Two, and they hope to become the most successful with the help of the share scheme.

Exeter, for example, have been owned by a supporters’ trust since 2003, but they encountered cash flow problems in the summer which led to a transfer embargo being placed upon them before they received a loan from the Professional Footballers’ Association to help with running costs.

Both Howard and Stroud hope that the share scheme will end the need for working capital loans to be pumped into the club from wealthy businessmen which have kept the club afloat since the Trust took over in 2012.

A company called Chairboys Funders, made up of 30 loyal fans, was set-up in 2013 and put £450,000 worth of loans into the club in May 2013 to keep the club in business.

More recently Howard has himself put in a working capital loan to help with running costs.

With no support from the banks the success of the share scheme could dictate whether the club stays in the hands of the Trust in the long term.

In the community share scheme document it says: “We (the Trust) believe that community ownership is the model most likely to bring the Club sustainable success, and by opening up the ownership to more people it will give us a competitive advantage over our rivals.”

The initial aim is to raise £500,000 to “maintain control of the Club for the supporters and community, providing a stable base for the Club to operate efficiently,” while the longer term aim is to use the money for specific projects.

The Trust plan to make better use of the stadium by “positioning Adams Park as an attractive venue for the business community which would require various upgrades to the common areas”.

They also plan to enhance the match-day experience with improvements to food and beverage areas, hospitality offering, and toilet facilities. It is hoped that this, along with continued improvement on the pitch, will raise attendances by 21 per cent season on season.

They also plan to “modernise the changing facilities, improve the floodlights and replace the pitch to improve our chances of staging other events such as the Under 21 international games.”

You can read more about Stroud’s assessment of the club’s current financial situation by clicking here.