Announcement from the Trustees - June 2024
Thank you for participating in the debate and vote on the recent governance changes. The decision you made was to carry on with the status quo and as a Board we respect that. We said from the start that the vote was in your hands and now you have spoken.
When the Trustees met this week, for the first time since the EGM , the consequences of your decision were discussed. Whilst the Trustees are obviously disappointed that the proposed changes which we put forward in the belief that these were in the best interests of the charity, and would ensure its sustainability going forwards, were not approved, we naturally accept the democratic process and result.
At the AGM on 23 August, four elected Trustees are due to reach the end of their term. None will seek to stand for re-election. In addition the Treasurer is due to end his 3 year term as a Co-opted Trustee at the AGM and will not seek a second term. Following the result of the general meeting, a consultation period, and subsequent communications, all but one of the remaining Trustees, including the Chair, will resign from office at the AGM.
Sufficient valid nominations have been received and there will be an election for 5 Trustees (increased from the 4 previously announced) to ensure that the new Board will have the minimum number of trustees required by the Articles. Election details will follow now that the nomination period has closed. It will then be for the new Board to decide on any further co-options as it deems fit. The Charity Commission has been notified of these changes.
The existing Trustee Board is committed to a managed handover to the new Board and wish them every success. We are now taking steps to ensure that this can be delivered whilst maintaining the overall financial stability of the organisation centrally, and of local Societies.
Some fundamental issues remain and will be for the new Board to address; these include the decline in both the number of societies and of the membership over a prolonged period of time, changes in social behaviour since inception, the demographic of the membership and the impact that a declining membership has on the service recharge per member.
It is important to note that, whilst we are a membership-based organisation, the assets are those of the charity and can only be used in furtherance of the charitable objects and not to support individual societies.
It is this paradox in terms of aims that led the outgoing Board to believe that the current model of governance was not sustainable and was in conflict with guidance from the Charity Commission regarding the need for trustees to govern only in the interests of the charity and not for the purposes of any other organisation.
We hope that the new Board, together with the Member Societies, will find another way to bridge this conflict and deliver the charitable objects in the context of the social, economic and technological challenges that we had hoped to overcome with our agenda. We will continue to support our local Societies as Members and enjoy what The Arts Society has to offer.
The Board of Trustees
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