Annual General Meeting 2021
Last year Trustees, in line with Charity Commission guidance at the time, decided to cancel the AGM. This year, Trustees have made arrangements to hold an Annual General Meeting on Saturday 20th November. To ease participation from our widely scattered membership, and to prove our arrangements against the reintroduction of any restrictions, the meeting will primarily be held online, with an opportunity for a small number of members to attend in person.
Members are asked to make full use of the facility for proxy voting, either by post or email, that is permitted by our Articles of Association. In your copy of ‘Apples and Pears’ you will find a proxy voting paper. If you wish you can complete and return this by post. Those with access to the internet will also find the voting paper on MAN’s website (MAN AGM2021 Proxy Voting form). From there you can download a copy, complete and return it by email. Our articles require that votes are received at least 48 hours before the meeting.
If you wish to attend the AGM in person, or if you wish to follow the AGM by Zoom, please let us know at last 48 hours in advance so that we can advise you whether a place is available and/or provide you with a link to the virtual meeting. You will find full details of how to do this on the Proxy Voting Form.
We will need to achieve a quorum of 15 (or16?) (David to confirm) for our AGM. We have allowed for a maximum of twelve members, including at least one Trustee, to be present in person. Those present will ensure oversight of the proceedings and tallying of votes. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Members are also invited to join the meeting using the Zoom conferencing facility, where they will be able to follow the proceedings, including the announcement of results of the voting. All members are asked to exercise their proxy vote in advance, whether or not they plan to attend the meeting in person, by Zoom or not at all. Proxy voting will be limited to motions on the agenda.
There will be an Open Forum session at the end of the meeting, to allow for Questions and Answers to be raised and addressed through Zoom. On this occasion, there will be no provision for online voting, either digitally or by show-of-hands. Any issue raised by a member during the Open Forum can be passed to the Trustees for a response or, if required by members, an Extraordinary General Meeting may be held by video link once Articles have been amended.
As is usual, a number of Trustees will retire this year, including some that do not intend to seek re-election. For this year, any member willing to serve as a Trustee can be co-opted. This simplifies the process and gives nominees an opportunity to experience the role before deciding whether to stand for election next year.
Notice of the AGM:
Notice is hereby given that the 26th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING will be held at Frank P Matthews Ltd, Berrington Court, Tenbury Wells, Worcs, WR15 8TH on Saturday 20th November at 11:00.
AGENDA
- Apologies for absence
- To receive and approve the Minutes of the 25th AGM held on Saturday 17th November 2019
- Matters arising
- To receive and approve the Trustees’ Annual Report 2020-21
- To receive and adopt the Annual Accounts 2020-21
- Election of Directors
- To determine to appoint Examiners for Accounts 2021-22
- Open Forum where Trustees will be available to answer questions
- Any other business
The current DIRECTORS AND TRUSTEES are:
Peter Austerfield, Jim Chapman, Jackie Denman, Nick Dunn, Sir Andrew Large, Andy Pillow, Mike Porter, Stephen Ainsleigh Rice and David Smith.
Four Directors will be retiring. Mike Porter, Jim Chapman, and Jackie Denman are due to retire at the end of their current term; Stephen Ainsleigh Rice was co-opted by Trustees in November 2020 to serve until the coming AGM.
We are keen for members to become Trustees. Indeed, it is now critical for MAN’s future, the future of your Charity and Company and all that has been achieved and yet to do. Places are available as we know of several Trustees who will be retiring during the next years. For simplicity we propose co-option for the first year and election by the membership subsequently.
If willing to serve, you may contact any Trustee or the Secretary secretary@marcherapple.net
Andy Pillow
Company Secretary
Brock House, Pelham Road, Upton Magna, Shropshire SY4 4UA
Future changes for 2022 and beyond
Government advice suggests that we should review our Articles of Association and, where not currently allowed, change our rules to allow more flexibility in the way that we meet, especially for our Annual General Meeting. There is a strong case for building in flexibility and avoiding any but necessary prescription.
MAN’s membership is widely distributed and new developments in technology are making it more possible to include our remote members.
In response, Trustees are actively considering changes to MAN’s Articles of Association.
- to enable Trustees to hold an AGM (or EGM) in any way that best suits the membership and ensures flexibility while maintaining controls already built into Articles. The experience of holding a video meeting this year will influence detailed planning for subsequent years.
- to hold Trustee Meetings in any way that best suits their collective circumstances and convenience, with the ability to hold meetings in-person, by video, via e-mail or any other recognized method of communication.
By the Spring of 2022 Trustees will send members suggested changes to our Articles of Association to cover these proposals. Comments from members will be most welcome. Final proposed changes will then be provided to members in advance of the AGM currently scheduled for November 2022.
Over the last 20+ years, much of MAN’s ‘operational’ business has been conducted via a Management Committee. Almost all Committee members are also Trustees, and not so young as they once were. Given the greater emphasis by Charity Commission on Trustees exercising oversight of activities, it is broadly agreed that the Management Committee should be dissolved over the next months and replaced by two or three sub-Committees including Members and Trustees covering at least:
- Technical (maintenance and curation); and
- Public (audience development and engagement).
