As you know, we are now an independent group that has lots of activities planned. For this to be facilitated, we need an organised structure and a team of members to manage the group on behalf of all members. We also need official paperwork to be able to open a bank account and to receive donations and grants. To these ends, a handful of members have been working on a constitution for the group.
The constitution is a change to the group, because it makes the group official and accountable, but without legal status. The constitution sets out how the group is run and what it wants to do. It states the groups objectives, activities and powers; and how membership works, including equal opportunities. It also states how the group holds meetings and how it will be managed.
Key changes are that we will be now asking you to register as a member, and that we will be having a committee with set officers. Whilst there is no requirement to register as a member, registering as a member supports the group officially and it’s free. Registered members will receive a membership number and will collectively control the group, as they will have voting rights at General Meetings and can stand for the committee.
Members of our social media groups who do not register, will continue to be unregistered members of our group. Social media members will have the same access to all of our meetings as registered members, but are less accountable, so will not have the same rights as registered members. The group will continue to be open to everyone; members, social media members and anyone else can participate in our activities and support us.
Please do read the draft constitution for the group, which is available via this link. If you have any comments or suggested amendments, please comment below or email wellingboroughecogroup@outlook.com
Thank you for your continued support,
Jonathan, Judy, Simon, Sophie and Julian