The FOTH AGM this year will be held via Zoom on July 29th at 19:30
Registration is available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/foth-agm-tickets-112198560916.
Registration is not essential but it's handy so we have an idea of numbers.
Topic: Friends of Therfield Heath AGM via Zoom
Time: Jul 29, 2020 19:30 PM London
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88060558740?pwd=UDdiSEZZYzlhV2dqUmgvRWFIUndMQT09
Meeting ID: 880 6055 8740
Password: FOTH
Voting will be carried out using the ‘chat’ feature with messages going to the host only. The session will be recorded so there is a record of the voting. Please can you ensure your ‘screen name’ allows the host to identify you in order to match you to our membership list.
Sally will be online from 7pm on the day, if you are unsure of how to use Zoom or change your name or use the chat feature, please feel free to log in early so she can assist.
Constitution changes
The Friends of Therfield Heath Committee is recommending we change our constitution in order to be more transparent, fundraise more effectively and limit any risks which could arise for the committee. Whilst these changes won't alter the purpose of FOTH or our activities, we want to make sure that our members can review and vote on them at our forthcoming AGM to ensure we have your support.
At present, FOTH is an association with a clear constitution dating from our foundation. As an association we are not obliged to register with the Charity Commission, we cannot claim Gift Aid on donations and our committee don't have a defined liability for anything that might go wrong with our activities or events.
We are proposing to adopt a new constitution which will allow us to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). This means we would become a registered charity with the Charity Commission and our accounts and regular reports would be available to everyone. We would also be able to claim an extra 25% in Gift Aid for most of the fundraising that we undertake, giving us more funding to look after the Heath. Finally we would limit the liability of our committee in case anything ever went wrong with our activities.
We are not winding up FOTH as an organisation, simply changing our constitution for a new one which will establish us as a CIO. We believe the best way to do this is by presenting everything to our members and asking them to approve this measure at a vote at our AGM. Here are some questions you may have connected to this change:
Will the change cost anything ?
The change will not cost anything and will help us raise up to 25% more funds through claiming Gift Aid which we cannot do under our present constitution.
What will happen to FOTH funds ?
FOTH funds will be unchanged and continue to be held in our current bank account managed by the committee. We will publish more transparent accounts through the Charity Commission when we transition to become a CIO.
Will FOTH have different objectives or powers ?
All our current objectives as an organisation and our powers are being transferred from our old constitution to our new CIO constitution. FOTH will have the same objectives and undertake similar activities - but with more resources to conserve the Heath and run events for our members.
What will happen to the committee ?
The committee will be selected in the same way as today, through votes from our members. The committee members will be elected for the same terms and the same limit of three successive terms applies. We will still have our Chair, Secretary and Treasurer as officers.
Does anyone need to approve this change - for example the Charity Commission ?
At present, we are not registered with the Charity Commission as there is no requirement for us to be registered. If we adopt the new constitution then we will register with the Charity Commission and file documents regularly which will make us more transparent and accountable.
What does the old constitution say about adopting a new constitution ?
Our current constitution sets out that amendments to the constitution can't stop the association being a charity, alter the objects of the association or amend the clauses referring to income & property, benefits and payments to trustees and connected people and dissolution without prior consent of the Charity Commission. We have copied all these sections of the old constitution into the new or made sure the new constitution has similar conditions because we don't want to change any of these things. The old constitution also states that amendments should be approved by 2/3 of the members present at our AGM - this is why we're asking for your support.
What happens next ?
If our new constitution is adopted, we will register with the Charity Commission immediately and send them our new constitution. We will keep everyone informed as we go through this process. We will also start to collect Gift Aid on donations where we can. Otherwise, our work will continue and you might not even notice the change !
Below are copies of both our old and new constitutions so you can review the details and we encourage you to post any questions on our Facebook post (https://www.facebook.com/friendsoftherfieldheath/posts/680884642758735) or email us direct any time between now and the AGM so we can answer them. We'll also be answering questions on the evening of the AGM.
At present, FOTH is an association with a clear constitution dating from our foundation. As an association we are not obliged to register with the Charity Commission, we cannot claim Gift Aid on donations and our committee don't have a defined liability for anything that might go wrong with our activities or events.
We are proposing to adopt a new constitution which will allow us to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). This means we would become a registered charity with the Charity Commission and our accounts and regular reports would be available to everyone. We would also be able to claim an extra 25% in Gift Aid for most of the fundraising that we undertake, giving us more funding to look after the Heath. Finally we would limit the liability of our committee in case anything ever went wrong with our activities.
We are not winding up FOTH as an organisation, simply changing our constitution for a new one which will establish us as a CIO. We believe the best way to do this is by presenting everything to our members and asking them to approve this measure at a vote at our AGM. Here are some questions you may have connected to this change:
Will the change cost anything ?
The change will not cost anything and will help us raise up to 25% more funds through claiming Gift Aid which we cannot do under our present constitution.
What will happen to FOTH funds ?
FOTH funds will be unchanged and continue to be held in our current bank account managed by the committee. We will publish more transparent accounts through the Charity Commission when we transition to become a CIO.
Will FOTH have different objectives or powers ?
All our current objectives as an organisation and our powers are being transferred from our old constitution to our new CIO constitution. FOTH will have the same objectives and undertake similar activities - but with more resources to conserve the Heath and run events for our members.
What will happen to the committee ?
The committee will be selected in the same way as today, through votes from our members. The committee members will be elected for the same terms and the same limit of three successive terms applies. We will still have our Chair, Secretary and Treasurer as officers.
Does anyone need to approve this change - for example the Charity Commission ?
At present, we are not registered with the Charity Commission as there is no requirement for us to be registered. If we adopt the new constitution then we will register with the Charity Commission and file documents regularly which will make us more transparent and accountable.
What does the old constitution say about adopting a new constitution ?
Our current constitution sets out that amendments to the constitution can't stop the association being a charity, alter the objects of the association or amend the clauses referring to income & property, benefits and payments to trustees and connected people and dissolution without prior consent of the Charity Commission. We have copied all these sections of the old constitution into the new or made sure the new constitution has similar conditions because we don't want to change any of these things. The old constitution also states that amendments should be approved by 2/3 of the members present at our AGM - this is why we're asking for your support.
What happens next ?
If our new constitution is adopted, we will register with the Charity Commission immediately and send them our new constitution. We will keep everyone informed as we go through this process. We will also start to collect Gift Aid on donations where we can. Otherwise, our work will continue and you might not even notice the change !
Below are copies of both our old and new constitutions so you can review the details and we encourage you to post any questions on our Facebook post (https://www.facebook.com/friendsoftherfieldheath/posts/680884642758735) or email us direct any time between now and the AGM so we can answer them. We'll also be answering questions on the evening of the AGM.
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