A SUPPORTERS' campaign to bring Blackburn Rovers into community ownership has already received £1 million in pledges – just one month after its launch.

Blackburn Rovers Supporters Investment Trust (BRSIT) is bidding to raise a minimum £10m through a protected share issue to launch a summer bid to Venky’s, due to their deep concern about the future of the club.

Each share costs £1,000, with a maximum holding of one per cent for any individual, with £1.2m so far pledged.

Poultry giants Venky’s have continually stressed the club is ‘not for sale’ but the trust is determined to continue its efforts to offer the owners a “dignified exit” if they do decide they want to sell their investment.

The news of the milestone was revealed at a special question and answer session BRSIT organised for invited guests.

The meeting was attended by the group’s new non-executive director – Rovers’ record league goalscorer Simon Garner.

The million pounds in pledges has come from Rovers fans from across the globe. High profile supporters of the campaign include local MPs Jack Straw, Jake Berry and Graham Jones; Kate Hollern, leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council and Sir Bill Taylor.

Some of the business community is also backing the trust, including Colin Mustoe, founder and chairman of Senator International, the UK’s largest manufacturer of office furniture, which employs more than 1,000 people mainly at its Hyndburn headquarters.

The aim of the Trust is to ‘take ownership of Blackburn Rovers for the sole benefit of the club, the supporters and the community now and for the future’.

BRSIT is the brainchild of Wayne Wild, director of Darwen-based WEC Group Limited and fellow fan and finance expert, Dan Grabko.

Wild said: “To have reached this milestone in pledges so quickly is fantastic. We have had the support of fans of Blackburn Rovers in all corners of the globe, who all want to see their club in their ownership.

“The passion and enthusiasm we have seen for our campaign and the will that exists out there for it to succeed just highlights what Blackburn Rovers means to its community and why it should be owned by the supporters.

“We need to keep the pledges coming in from supporters and the business community to show we are the most credible and attractive option for when the current owners decide they would like to sell the club.

“We are here to offer them a respectful and dignified exit strategy from their investment and, in the spirit of what is best for them and for Blackburn Rovers, we will keep asking for a dialogue with the owners or their representatives.”

The trust has set a notional target of £10 million, initially, as a clear demonstration that the majority of fans are behind the bid.

They are working on a unique shareholder return scheme it calls the Rovers Club Cash incentive that could give fans investing in the trust’s plan an effectively ‘free’ season ticket for the next 20 years.

A board of directors would be voted in by shareholders and would be expected to run the club within its means, like a “prudent business”.

Rovers fans are growing increasingly disillusioned with Venky’s running of the club, claiming promises have not been kept, and that there is a lack of investment and communication. They are also upset at the owners’ absence from Ewood Park.

During Rovers’ crucial 2-0 home win over Norwich on Saturday, a chant of ‘Venky’s out’ could be heard from all stands at Ewood as concern grows over the future.

Club record goal scorer Garner admitted that was why he decided to put his backing behind the Trust.

He said: “I am not backing this because the club are struggling in the league. I am here because I am a Rovers fan and I fear if there isn’t change at the top the whole club’s existence could be under threat.”

Rovers owners Anuradha Desai, Venkastesh and Balaji Rao were unavailable for comment yesterday when the Lancashire Telegraph attempted to contact them.