Minutes of Cherubs UK AGM Leicester Forest 27th February 2011
Present: Brenda Lane Chair, Beverley Power begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting Secretary, Donna Fahey begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting Treasurer. Kevin Lane, Tony Power.
Secretary’s Welcome 1pm.
Chairperson’s Report, Brenda Lane.
Minutes of last year’s AGM were read and accepted by all present.
Treasurer’s Report for period ending 7th June 2010 presented. Discussed and accepted.
Changes to Constitution wording Clauses E and U were discussed ,in order to define who is a fully subscribed member of Cherubs UK and so has the right to vote at the AGM.
Changes to our Constitution as outlined with the Charities Commission to include Scotland in our registration were seen to be a priority. An enquiry to be made to Harrison Foote Goddard. to see how much it would be to get the constitution re-drawn up.
Proposal to vote on the change of name for Cherubs UK. Possible ways to do this and a majority vote was passed.
Any other business: none.
AGM closed at 2.15pm
AGM
Chairpersons Report February 27th 2011.
Good afternoon. Welcome to the Annual General Meeting of Cherubs UK .Thank you so much for finding the time to travel to our AGM and to show an interest in how we, as a charity function.
It has been a very busy year since our last AGM in March 2010.The main work which has been carried out which has been the development of the new website with the dedicated help of my fellow committee members Bev Power and Donna Fahey in conjunction with the chase creative design consultants, The end result has been well worth it despite some difficult co – ordination problems which had to be overcome during the course of the design and launch of the new website.
With the launch of the new website and interactive media networks, we have seen an increase in the exposure and use of Cherubs UK sites and calls for information from families’ friends and professionals has increased. As a knock on effect of more exposure our fundraising has also been boosted by more supporters getting involved in local events to them on behalf of Cherubs UK
Also we have fore filled our action plan of developing new information booklets to send out to hospitals and newly diagnosed families. These booklets have been very well received by the majority of people but we will continue to develop them as and when required. The actual running and functionality of the Charity has greatly improved since last year with the determination of my fellow committee members who actively give up much of their free time to further the aims of the charity
One of the high spots of the year was for Cherubs UK to be invited to attend a conference in Rome, under the heading of ‘More Questions than Answers?’ It was a really good opportunity for Cherubs UK to introduce themselves to both professionals from the UK and other European countries. The networking has led us to several areas where we may be able to be active in the future in collaboration with other professional groups or organizations. The trip was self funded by both Brenda Lane and Beverly Power .Both committee members felt it was an invaluable experience in an effort to help families affected by CDH
As the past year progressed it has become clear that we need to define the role of the charity i.e that is that we help any family who travels the CDH journey irrespective of the prognosis and outcome. Many families of non survivors felt that we should be offering more support ?, However we feel that we cannot take on the role of a bereavement Charity and that we must find suitable ways to referee our families on to specialist charities who have the resources and experience to help these families. In doing so we can use our time more effectively raising funds to help pay for these services rather than trying to do this in house.
This year we are also intending to have more than one get together in different geographical areas so that hopefully more families will get an opportunity to attend without have to travel quite such vast distances to do so .We hope that both the families and the children will benefit from these get togethers.
Since our Charity was first registered in Sept 2003 the way people communicate and what their expectations are have changed dramatically .With theses chances it has become necessary for us to look at our rather wordy constitution and to suggest some amendments to it, which we will be voting on later in the meeting. The constitution is something which needs to be reviewed on a regular basis so that our development is not hampered by the changing face of society in general.
It is hoped that Cherubs UK will also become registered in Scotland as well so that we can help families from their too. If successful at registration, then that will be an area for development for the charity in the future.
I will close my dialogue now, by saying a big thank you for the opportunity to work alongside two very dedicated ladies in pursuing my dream of creating a safe place for families to come to after being given the dreadful news that their unborn child has CDH.
Brenda Lane
Chair
