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Structure Group Report 2013-02-28

2013-03-14T20:53:58Z

Wendy: Created page with ''''STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT''' February 2013 http://freegle.it/Structure wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2013-02-28 This is a summary of discussi…'

'''STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT'''

February 2013

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2013-02-28

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st January, covering messages 11617 to 11744. Membership stands at 79 (two less than last month).

'''Getting involved.'''

We are always looking for new people to get involved. All we need is a little of your time. To lead a task you just need to be able to focus discussion a bit and give it a poke if it grinds to a halt.
It is important to have new input and fresh opinions so if you don’t feel you could lead a task it is still great to have new people join our discussions.
Why don’t you join the group and see what you think?

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

'''Group Affiliation Team Procedure Change.'''

POLL QUESTION: Do you agree that the Freegle Group Affiliation Team can change their procedures slightly as per message 11420?

When the Group Affiliation Team receive an application for a new group for an area, they must contact the largest local reuse group that fulfils the following conditions, and give them the first opportunity to affiliate with Freegle.

The group is active (more than 10 posts per month on average in the previous twelve months)
The group appears to be locally moderated
The Group Affiliation Team believe that the group's local moderators have a right to the group membership list.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes I agree, 28 votes, 96.55%
- No I don't agree with you, 1 votes, 3.45%
- Abstain - please explain on group, 0 votes, 0.00%
- Abstain - please explain on group, 0 votes, 0.00%

The route for this decision is now for this group to let the Reps know this is recommended.
'''
Task 96 - Setting Up a Trading Subsidiary'''

Central has voted that this group set up a Working Team to look into setting up a Trading Subsidiary. To do that we will first agree a remit for the Team and thereafter appoint
team members.
We ran a poll.

We should adopt the remit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ijb1y3UcbGntI3El8iJ-Qv5h6FfUq9NaF0hrSXraWL0/edit?usp=sharing should be adopted for the Trading Subsidiary Working Team

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, I agree, 19 votes, 100.00%
- No, I disagree, 0 votes, 0.00%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

So the remit has been adopted and the wiki updated accordingly.

We have decided on a team of 5 people and have had 5 volunteers so a team has been set up. They have started a working group which is to report to Structure.
A closed Yahoo group has been formed, discussions have started and the first monthly report has been presented to Structure.

Task Complete..

'''Proposals for Change to Financial Management and Controls Document.'''

There is a consensus that this amendment is acceptable, so we have amended the wiki appropriately and the document has been updated to include the changes below.

In accordance with the terms of the document
http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Financial_Management_and_Controls (Policy, section 10), the Reps propose the following changes.

Amend 1.1 to the following:
"Financial Management:
1.1 For financial purposes only, a Chairman, Treasurer and two other Signatories will be appointed from within the Reps. These role holders will be signatories on a bank account.
When a Signatory ceases to be a Rep they can, if necessary, continue as Signatory until a replacement Signatory is chosen from the Reps and accepted by the bank. The time taken to enact this changeover should be minimised as far as possible. The other Reps will be responsible for authorising expenditure, and hold the Signatories to account. "

and add the following new section:

"11. Treasurer
11.1 The Treasurer will be appointed from within the Reps and must be a serving Rep at the time of appointment.
11.2 The Treasurer will remain in post until there is another person appointed to the role, whether or not they are still a Rep.
11.3 Serving Reps have a responsibility to appoint a Treasurer as soon as possible once there is an impending or actual vacancy.
11.4 The Treasurer's role and remit are as described in this document.
11.5 The Reps can consider appointing a book-keeper to assist the Treasurer, as long as the process to do this has been agreed by the usual route of proposal on Central."

We are proposing these changes to allow flexibility to ensure that there isn't a hold up with issuing cheques and maintaining the accounts because of Reps coming to the end of office or resigning.

Task Complete.

'''Reps Terms Of Office.'''

The constitution says:

7.3 Elections for Reps will be held annually.

7.4 Reps will serve a term of office of three years.

7.5 At the end of each year at least one third of Reps will stand down
from office and/or come to the end of their term of office.

We've got a bit out of step now, because of people stepping down earlier than 3 years. This means we might either have a situation where we do not have a third of Reps reaching the end of their term of office, or (later) might have considerably more than a third (which might be bad
for continuity).

What method should we use to get back in step? It seems we will have to make a change to the constitution and we have been discussing what change is needed.
We ran two polls:

Poll 1
Question
We should propose a change to the constitution that supports: a. An annual election of Reps, with the aim that at least 1/3 of Reps stand down each year or b. A fixed term of 3 years office for each Rep, with elections held as necessary to accommodate that. We will have further votes on whether either option should be applied retrospectively and the exact wording for the constitutional amendment.

Choices:
We should have annual elections for Reps: 14 votes. 73%
We should have 3 yr terms of office for Reps: 5 votes. 26%
We should neither of the above options (please explain on this group) 0 votes, 0%
Abstain (please explain on this group) 0 votes, 0%

And then, Poll 2.
Question
"This group voted to "propose a change to the constitution that supports an annual election of Reps, with the aim that at least 1/3 of Reps stand down each year". Some members of Structure feel it would be unfair to start this retrospectively as of Dec 2013 because it would mean some Reps would not get to fulfil the complete three year term they were elected to serve. We would therefore like to word this in the constitution so as to bring this new rule in from Dec 2014 so that all present Reps are able to serve their full term."

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Agree, 21 votes, 95.45%
- Disagree, 1 votes, 4.55%
- Abstain, 0 votes, 0.00%

The result of this poll is overwhelmingly in favour of one third of reps standing down each year, with 95.45% of the votes in favour of the new ruling to commence as of December 2014. This will bring the Reps elections back into sync.

Task Complete.

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2013-01-31

2013-02-05T23:35:27Z

Wendy: Created page with ''''STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT''' January 2013 http://freegle.it/Structure wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-01-31 This is a summary of discussio…'

'''STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT'''

January 2013

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-01-31

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st December 2012, covering messages 11148 to 11616. Membership stands at 81 (One more than last month).

'''Getting involved.'''

We are always looking for new people to get involved. All we need is a little of your time. To lead a task you just need to be able to focus discussion a bit and give it a poke if it grinds to a halt.
It is important to have new input and fresh opinions so if you don’t feel you could lead a task it is still great to have new people join our discussions.
Why don’t you join the group and see what you think?

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

'''Reps Terms Of Office.'''

The constitution says:

7.3 Elections for Reps will be held annually.

7.4 Reps will serve a term of office of three years.

7.5 At the end of each year at least one third of Reps will stand down
from office and/or come to the end of their term of office.

We've got a bit out of step now, because of people stepping down earlier than 3 years. This means we might either have a situation where we do not have a third of Reps reaching the end of their term of office, or (later) might have considerably more than a third (which might be bad
for continuity).

What method should we use to get back in step? It seems we will have to make a change to the constitution and we have been discussing what change is needed.
We ran two polls:

'''Poll 1'''

Question
We should propose a change to the constitution that supports:

a. An annual election of Reps, with the aim that at least 1/3 of Reps stand down each year or

b. A fixed term of 3 years office for each Rep, with elections held as necessary to accommodate that. We will have further votes on whether either option should be applied retrospectively and the exact wording for the constitutional amendment.

Choices:

We should have annual elections for Reps: 14 votes. 73%

We should have 3 yr terms of office for Reps: 5 votes. 26%

We should neither of the above options (please explain on this group) 0 votes, 0%

Abstain (please explain on this group) 0 votes, 0%

And then, '''Poll 2'''.

Question
"This group voted to "propose a change to the constitution that supports an annual election of Reps, with the aim that at least 1/3 of Reps stand down each year". Some members of Structure feel it would be unfair to start this retrospectively as of Dec 2013 because it would mean some Reps would not get to fulfil the complete three year term they were elected to serve. We would therefore like to word this in the constitution so as to bring this new rule in from Dec 2014 so that all present Reps are able to serve their full term."

Choices:

Agree.

Disagree.

Abstain.

This poll is still open and if you wish to vote please join us.

'''Task 96 - Setting Up a Trading Subsidiary'''

Central has voted that this group set up a Working Team to look into setting up a Trading Subsidiary. To do that we will first agree a remit for the Team and thereafter appoint
team members.
Discussion continues...

'''Child Protection Guidance.'''

We need to come up with a document outlining basic guidelines for moderators and members when working around children in our capacity as Freeglers.
This task was transferred to us from People a while ago and after organising a working group it has fallen by the wayside as other tasks have become more urgent. We could really use someone to head this task so if there is anyone out there with a modicum of spare time please come and join us...

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

'''Task List'''
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-11-30

2012-12-03T20:45:51Z

Wendy:

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

November 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-11-30

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st October 2012, covering messages 10729 to 10896. Our membership stands at 76 (the same as last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

====Task 93 - Membership List====

Following full discussions on this our conclusion is:

Freegle centrally will not use any group's membership list kept by Freegle Direct without permission from the group Volunteers.
Volunteers are assumed to be those who receive owner-emails for the group.
Permission would be gained by emailing the group -owner address and acted upon with
- explicit permission from one Volunteer, and
- implicit permission from other Volunteers, i.e. assume consent if no conflicting replies are received within 3 weeks (reminder sent after 2 weeks within that period).

This has been recommended to the Reps.

====Paid Moderators====

We are discussing the possibility of someone working within an external company (eg. A council, refuse company or a company with a specialised Freegle group running internally) being paid to run or represent a freegle group as part of their job. We are looking for any conflicts of interest and discussing how we would proceed in such situations.

====Task 21 - Confidentiality====

Re-opening a task which was raised in 2009 but not brought to a close: Consider how confidential items can be discussed v.open democracy.

The question was raised:
“The last view in the thread was that confidential discussions should only be held by elected groups, not by self appointed groups. At the time there were no elected groups.

Are people happy that Freegle has evolved nationally to embrace this concept? Do we need to discuss or do anything further? “

We came to the conclusion that confidential discussion should occur only on groups which have at least one elected person on the group. Closed groups must have an elected Observer.

Since we already have a policy that all closed groups have a Rep Observer we are already covering this requirement.
Task complete.

====Specialist Group Affiliation====

Following the Annual Review of Affiliation Processes a discussion has begun about restricted Freegle groups.

We have run two polls.

Poll Questions: Freegle private in-house organisational groups could be set up under the specialist group affiliation processes.

QUESTION 1: Would it be acceptable to proceed affiliation of such a group if a local group does not respond to consultation by GAT?

CHOICES AND RESULTS

- Yes, it is acceptable, 13 votes, 86.67%

- No, it isn't acceptable, 2 votes, 13.33%

- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

- Abandon (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

QUESTION 2:Would it be acceptable to proceed with affiliation if a local group is, after discussion, against the idea of such a group?

CHOICES AND RESULTS

- Abstain (please explain on group), 2 votes, 14.29%

- Yes, it is acceptable, 2 votes, 14.29%

- No, it isn't acceptable, 10 votes, 71.43%

- Abandon (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

So, we have a majority view of:

Freegle private in-house organisational groups affiliation:
Proposed groups are subject to the same procedures as other specialist group applications. If there is no response from existing groups to consultation by GAT it is acceptable to proceed with the application. If a local group, after discussion, is against affiliation, it is not acceptable to proceed.

The question was then asked:
Are there any other special considerations that GAT might have to take into account over affiliation of these types of groups?

Discussion continues...

====Trading Arm====

The discussion at the AGM seemed to be generally in favour of this, so this group is discussing how to proceed. It has been suggested we:

* Poll on a few questions to get the key principle(s) approved or not.
* Flesh out those principles in more detail.
* Give someone authority to do it - recognising that some of those details may need to change depending on what is possible or practical legally, financially or in terms of time.
Discussion continues...

'''Reps Elections.'''

The Returning Officers consulted with the group about some of the procedures involved with the Reps election.

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

====Task List====
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-11-30

2012-12-03T20:42:03Z

Wendy:

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

November 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-11-30This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st October 2012, covering messages 10729 to 10896. Our membership stands at 76 (the same as last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

====Task 93 - Membership List====

Following full discussions on this our conclusion is:

Freegle centrally will not use any group's membership list kept by Freegle Direct without permission from the group Volunteers.
Volunteers are assumed to be those who receive owner-emails for the group.
Permission would be gained by emailing the group -owner address and acted upon with
- explicit permission from one Volunteer, and
- implicit permission from other Volunteers, i.e. assume consent if no conflicting replies are received within 3 weeks (reminder sent after 2 weeks within that period).

This has been recommended to the Reps.

====Paid Moderators====

We are discussing the possibility of someone working within an external company (eg. A council, refuse company or a company with a specialised Freegle group running internally) being paid to run or represent a freegle group as part of their job. We are looking for any conflicts of interest and discussing how we would proceed in such situations.

====Task 21 - Confidentiality====

Re-opening a task which was raised in 2009 but not brought to a close: Consider how confidential items can be discussed v.open democracy.

The question was raised:
“The last view in the thread was that confidential discussions should only be held by elected groups, not by self appointed groups. At the time there were no elected groups.

Are people happy that Freegle has evolved nationally to embrace this concept? Do we need to discuss or do anything further? “

We came to the conclusion that confidential discussion should occur only on groups which have at least one elected person on the group. Closed groups must have an elected Observer.

Since we already have a policy that all closed groups have a Rep Observer we are already covering this requirement.
Task complete.

====Specialist Group Affiliation====

Following the Annual Review of Affiliation Processes a discussion has begun about restricted Freegle groups.

We have run two polls.

Poll Questions: Freegle private in-house organisational groups could be set up under the specialist group affiliation processes.

QUESTION 1: Would it be acceptable to proceed affiliation of such a group if a local group does not respond to consultation by GAT?

CHOICES AND RESULTS

- Yes, it is acceptable, 13 votes, 86.67%

- No, it isn't acceptable, 2 votes, 13.33%

- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

- Abandon (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

QUESTION 2:Would it be acceptable to proceed with affiliation if a local group is, after discussion, against the idea of such a group?

CHOICES AND RESULTS

- Abstain (please explain on group), 2 votes, 14.29%

- Yes, it is acceptable, 2 votes, 14.29%

- No, it isn't acceptable, 10 votes, 71.43%

- Abandon (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

So, we have a majority view of:

Freegle private in-house organisational groups affiliation:
Proposed groups are subject to the same procedures as other specialist group applications. If there is no response from existing groups to consultation by GAT it is acceptable to proceed with the application. If a local group, after discussion, is against affiliation, it is not acceptable to proceed.

The question was then asked:
Are there any other special considerations that GAT might have to take into account over affiliation of these types of groups?

Discussion continues...

====Trading Arm====

The discussion at the AGM seemed to be generally in favour of this, so this group is discussing how to proceed. It has been suggested we:

* Poll on a few questions to get the key principle(s) approved or not.
* Flesh out those principles in more detail.
* Give someone authority to do it - recognising that some of those details may need to change depending on what is possible or practical legally, financially or in terms of time.
Discussion continues...

'''Reps Elections.'''

The Returning Officers consulted with the group about some of the procedures involved with the Reps election.

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

====Task List====
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-11-30

2012-12-02T00:04:44Z

Wendy: Created page with 'STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT November 2012 http://freegle.it/Structure wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-11-30This is a summary of discussions sinc…'

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

November 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-11-30This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st October 2012, covering messages 10729 to 10896. Our membership stands at 76 (the same as last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

'''Task 93 - Membership List.'''

Following full discussions on this our conclusion is:

Freegle centrally will not use any group's membership list kept by Freegle Direct without permission from the group Volunteers.
Volunteers are assumed to be those who receive owner-emails for the group.
Permission would be gained by emailing the group -owner address and acted upon with
- explicit permission from one Volunteer, and
- implicit permission from other Volunteers, i.e. assume consent if no conflicting replies are received within 3 weeks (reminder sent after 2 weeks within that period).

This has been recommended to the Reps

'''Paid Moderators.'''

We are discussing the possibility of someone working within an external company (eg. A council, refuse company or a company with a specialised Freegle group running internally) being paid to run or represent a freegle group as part of their job. We are looking for any conflicts of interest and discussing how we would proceed in such situations.

'''Task 21 - Confidentiality'''

Re-opening a task which was raised in 2009 but not brought to a close: Consider how confidential items can be discussed v.open democracy.

The question was raised:
“The last view in the thread was that confidential discussions should only be held by elected groups, not by self appointed groups. At the time there were no elected groups.

Are people happy that Freegle has evolved nationally to embrace this concept? Do we need to discuss or do anything further? “

We came to the conclusion that confidential discussion should occur only on groups which have at least one elected person on the group. Closed groups must have an elected Observer.

Since we already have a policy that all closed groups have a Rep Observer we are already covering this requirement.
Task complete.

'''Specialist Group Affiliation.'''

Following the Annual Review of Affiliation Processes a discussion has begun about restricted Freegle groups.

We have run two polls.

Poll Questions: Freegle private in-house organisational groups could be set up under the specialist group affiliation processes.

QUESTION 1: Would it be acceptable to proceed affiliation of such a group if a local group does not respond to consultation by GAT?

CHOICES AND RESULTS

- Yes, it is acceptable, 13 votes, 86.67%

- No, it isn't acceptable, 2 votes, 13.33%

- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

- Abandon (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

QUESTION 2:Would it be acceptable to proceed with affiliation if a local group is, after discussion, against the idea of such a group?

CHOICES AND RESULTS

- Abstain (please explain on group), 2 votes, 14.29%

- Yes, it is acceptable, 2 votes, 14.29%

- No, it isn't acceptable, 10 votes, 71.43%

- Abandon (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

So, we have a majority view of:

Freegle private in-house organisational groups affiliation:
Proposed groups are subject to the same procedures as other specialist group applications. If there is no response from existing groups to consultation by GAT it is acceptable to proceed with the application. If a local group, after discussion, is against affiliation, it is not acceptable to proceed.

The question was then asked:
Are there any other special considerations that GAT might have to take into account over affiliation of these types of groups?

Discussion continues...

'''Trading Arm.'''

The discussion at the AGM seemed to be generally in favour of this, so this group is discussing how to proceed. It has been suggested we:

* Poll on a few questions to get the key principle(s) approved or not.
* Flesh out those principles in more detail.
* Give someone authority to do it - recognising that some of those details may need to change depending on what is possible or practical legally, financially or in terms of time.
Discussion continues...

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

`

`

Structure Group Report 2012-10-31

2012-11-01T21:46:49Z

Wendy:

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

October 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-10-31

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 30th September 2012, covering messages 10667 to 10728. Our membership stands at 76 (the same as last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

'''Task 82 - Health and Safety Document.'''

There is no legal requirement for Freegle to have a written H&S policy, but we have a moral duty of care to those working on national stuff on behalf of us all. In order to ensure that we don't tie ourselves up in knots with a huge document that we can't monitor it was suggested that we adopt a simple statement (not a policy) that sums up Freegle's position on health, safety and the well-being of volunteers.

During the discussion we have taken some legal advice. which has made us view with caution the liability of Freegle nationally should we adopt a statement or policy. With this in mind and after some discussion it has been decided that we shouldn’t proceed with this document and that this task has been completed.

'''Review of affiliation processes, 30/10/2012, 1:00'''

As part of task 78 we agreed to review affiliation processes annually. We considered the following:

Annual Review of Affiliation Processes October 2012
Since GAT was formed, the team has dealt with 534 cases, resulting in 174 groups approved to be affiliated, (97 new, 75 from other networks, 2 pending launch at the moment).

During that time the team have had changes in personnel and have worked not only on affiliating groups, but also in addressing the issues surrounding the procedures that needed to be adopted to ensure membership of their own team and processes for affiliation were fair.

At this point, the team has 6 members with 2 observers and have recently flagged up the need to recruit another team member. The way the team works has fluctuated with the availability of the members, but they have continued to deliver a consistent flow of results despite peaks of applications due to promotion of Freegle or changes in other networks. Mapping of group core areas has been ongoing throughout this past year.

The Affiliation Processes have had two amendments during the year:
- area guidelines were agreed for groups
- protocols for naming new groups were agreed

There have been no ‘official’ complaints received about the affiliation processes.

Following this report a discussion has begun about restricted Freegle groups. We have an example at the moment of an organisation which has affiliated as an in-house Freegle group. Their original intention was to set up a Freegle-like scheme internally on their Intranet, but they were persuaded to use a private group which we host on Freegle Direct. This is good publicity for us, and also allow us to make it easier for people who start freegling in their office to become active members of other local groups (e.g. at home where they live).

Our current procedures (for specialist groups) means that the existing local group had to be happy with this, which they were. However, if they were not happy, or couldn’t be contacted, then we would have had to tell the organisation that we couldn’t proceed. We are discussing what we can do if there is no response from local groups in this situation.

We have run two polls.

Poll Questions: Freegle private in-house organisational groups could be set up under the specialist group affiliation processes.

QUESTION 1: Would it be acceptable to proceed affiliation of such a group if a local group does not respond to consultation by GAT?

CHOICES AND RESULTS

- Yes, it is acceptable, 13 votes, 86.67%

- No, it isn't acceptable, 2 votes, 13.33%

- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

- Abandon (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

QUESTION 2:Would it be acceptable to proceed with affiliation if a local group is, after discussion, against the idea of such a group?

CHOICES AND RESULTS

- Abstain (please explain on group), 2 votes, 14.29%

- Yes, it is acceptable, 2 votes, 14.29%

- No, it isn't acceptable, 10 votes, 71.43%

- Abandon (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

Discussion continues...

'''Update on Charity Incorporated Organisations.'''

Charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs) are likely to be available in January, as a simpler form of legal identity for organisations to adopt, to then be able to get charitable registration in England and Wales. It will be available first to new charities (i.e.those which are not already registered with the Commission) with income over £5000, then to existing charitable unincorporated associations and trusts with income over £5000, with a staggered timetable starting with the largest. Charitable companies will not be able to become CIOs until January 2014 at the earliest.

The final regulations have yet to be been laid before Parliament and it is still unclear if the draft model constitutions have been revised. This is a model which might be suitable for Freegle in the future, although the difficulties in getting this launched by the Charity Commission probably indicates that we should be wary of being a guinea pig for this new structure.

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-10-31

2012-11-01T21:43:47Z

Wendy: Created page with 'STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT October 2012 http://freegle.it/Structure wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-10-31 This is a summary of discussions sin…'

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

October 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-10-31

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 30th September 2012, covering messages 10667 to 10728. Our membership stands at 76 (the same as last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

'''Task 82 - Health and Safety Document.'''

There is no legal requirement for Freegle to have a written H&S policy, but we have a moral duty of care to those working on national stuff on behalf of us all. In order to ensure that we don't tie ourselves up in knots with a huge document that we can't monitor it was suggested that we adopt a simple statement (not a policy) that sums up Freegle's position on health, safety and the well-being of volunteers.

During the discussion we have taken some legal advice. which has made us view with caution the liability of Freegle nationally should we adopt a statement or policy. With this in mind and after some discussion it has been decided that we shouldn’t proceed with this document and that this task has been completed.

'''Review of affiliation processes, 30/10/2012, 1:00'''

As part of task 78 we agreed to review affiliation processes annually. We considered the following:

Annual Review of Affiliation Processes October 2012
Since GAT was formed, the team has dealt with 534 cases, resulting in 174 groups approved to be affiliated, (97 new, 75 from other networks, 2 pending launch at the moment).

During that time the team have had changes in personnel and have worked not only on affiliating groups, but also in addressing the issues surrounding the procedures that needed to be adopted to ensure membership of their own team and processes for affiliation were fair.

At this point, the team has 6 members with 2 observers and have recently flagged up the need to recruit another team member. The way the team works has fluctuated with the availability of the members, but they have continued to deliver a consistent flow of results despite peaks of applications due to promotion of Freegle or changes in other networks. Mapping of group core areas has been ongoing throughout this past year.

The Affiliation Processes have had two amendments during the year:
- area guidelines were agreed for groups
- protocols for naming new groups were agreed

There have been no ‘official’ complaints received about the affiliation processes.

Following this report a discussion has begun about restricted Freegle groups. We have an example at the moment of an organisation which has affiliated as an in-house Freegle group. Their original intention was to set up a Freegle-like scheme internally on their Intranet, but they were persuaded to use a private group which we host on Freegle Direct. This is good publicity for us, and also allow us to make it easier for people who start freegling in their office to become active members of other local groups (e.g. at home where they live).

Our current procedures (for specialist groups) means that the existing local group had to be happy with this, which they were. However, if they were not happy, or couldn’t be contacted, then we would have had to tell the organisation that we couldn’t proceed. We are discussing what we can do if there is no response from local groups in this situation.

We have run two polls.

Poll Questions: Freegle private in-house organisational groups could be set up under the specialist group affiliation processes.

QUESTION 1: Would it be acceptable to proceed affiliation of such a group if a local group does not respond to consultation by GAT?

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, it is acceptable, 13 votes, 86.67%
- No, it isn't acceptable, 2 votes, 13.33%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%
- Abandon (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

QUESTION 2:Would it be acceptable to proceed with affiliation if a local group is, after discussion, against the idea of such a group?

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Abstain (please explain on group), 2 votes, 14.29%
- Yes, it is acceptable, 2 votes, 14.29%
- No, it isn't acceptable, 10 votes, 71.43%
- Abandon (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

Discussion continues...

'''Update on Charity Incorporated Organisations.'''

Charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs) are likely to be available in January, as a simpler form of legal identity for organisations to adopt, to then be able to get charitable registration in England and Wales. It will be available first to new charities (i.e.those which are not already registered with the Commission) with income over £5000, then to existing charitable unincorporated associations and trusts with income over £5000, with a staggered timetable starting with the largest. Charitable companies will not be able to become CIOs until January 2014 at the earliest.

The final regulations have yet to be been laid before Parliament and it is still unclear if the draft model constitutions have been revised. This is a model which might be suitable for Freegle in the future, although the difficulties in getting this launched by the Charity Commission probably indicates that we should be wary of being a guinea pig for this new structure.

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-09-30

2012-10-02T21:57:45Z

Wendy: Created page with ''''STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT''' '''September 2012''' http://freegle.it/Structure wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-09-30This is a summary of disc…'

'''STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT'''
'''September 2012'''

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-09-30This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st August 2012, covering messages 10623 to 10666. Our membership stands at 76 (two more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

'''Mediation.'''

POLL QUESTION: Mediation:

There are occasions when mediation might be useful between a group member and group Volunteers. We would like the Ombudsmen and Mediation Pool to discuss and recommend a way to deal with this, including drafting any extra guidelines over and above http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Mediation_Service that might be required for either the Ombudsman to deal with directly, or for the panel to do so as part of their role. The Mailbox can supply anonymised examples to help the discussion. The recommendation to be given to Structure by the end of November 2012

CHOICES AND RESULTS

- No, I disagree with sending this request, 1 votes, 5.56%

- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

- Discuss further on the group, 0 votes, 0.00%

- Yes, I agree to send this request, 17 votes, 94.44%

With a majority vote, the request has been passed to the Ombudsman and the mediation pool.

'''National Polling.'''

POLL QUESTION: National Polling.

We propose to Central that the following National Poll be set up:

"We propose a simplification of our current national polling procedures in order to increase the
democratic process by ensuring it is used more often."

Essentially the change is to move most polling to Freegle UK Central, notifying via Special Notice, instead of mailing to all owner addresses. Polling on the Constitution, constitutional matters and all elections will remain as 'owner address' notifications.

The changes required in current procedures are detailed here (http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/2012_Poll).

The highest number of votes for any option presented will be considered as a binding majority decision.

Yes / No / Abstain"

The result of this poll here will be decided by a simple majority.

CHOICES AND RESULTS

- Yes, I agree that we send this national poll proposal to Central, 19 votes, 100.00%

- No, I disagree with sending this national poll proposal to Central, 0 votes, 0.00%

- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

A Special Notice was posted to Central announcing a 7 day consultation period.

'''Task 84 - What Resources Do Groups Want?'''

Brainstorm what resources groups would value.

This is part of the strategy - "To provide more (and more importantly,
easier to use) resources to local groups"

This is next on our Structure task list but on consideration it has been decided that it is a task more suited to Growth, and has been passed to them for further discussion.

Task complete.

'''Task 82 - Health and Safety Document.'''

There is no legal requirement for Freegle to have a written H&S
policy, but we have a moral duty of care to those working on national
stuff on behalf of us all.

In order to ensure that we don't tie ourselves up in knots with a huge
document that we can't monitor it has been suggested that we adopt
a simple statement (not a policy) that sums up Freegle's position on health, safety and the well-being of volunteers.

A draft has been prepared and a Start Of Topic notice has been sent to Central.

We are looking for someone to set Google Alerts for relevant H&S stuff then we
can set an annual review date in our calendar here to check the
document which would take account of legislative changes over that
period.

Comments are very welcome on the draft and on the conclusions we have
made in drawing it up - especially from any of you that have
experience in this area.

Please come on over to Structure to have your say.
http://freegle.it/Structure

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-08-31

2012-09-06T19:56:26Z

Wendy:

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

August 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-08-31This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st July 2012, covering messages 10448 to 10622. Our membership stands at 74 (two more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

[[Task 78 and 80 - Check Affiliation and Complaints are Working.(Continued...)]]

POLL QUESTION: Task 78 and 80: Check Affiliation and Complaints are working.

We should adopt the following procedure:

1. Mark group calendar dates for annual reviews of Affiliation (end Oct) and Complaints processes.(end March).

2. Group's coordinating team will produce a brief report of year's activities for process under review.

3. This group to discuss and make appropriate recommendations.

CHOICES AND RESULTS

- Yes, I agree with this proposal, 12 votes, 100.00%

- No, I disagree with this proposal, 0 votes, 0.00%

- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

Group calendar dates have been duly marked and this task is complete.

[[Task 84 - What resources do groups want?]]

Brainstorm what resources groups would value.
This is part of the strategy - "To provide more (and more importantly,
easier to use) resources to local groups"
Discussion continues...

[[Group Assessment Team (GAT) Recruitment Process (Continued)]]

POLL QUESTION: We should propose that the Reps endorse a change to http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Group_Affiliation_Team_Role_Remit_Membership:
Membership: "If GAT need additional team members, the vacancy will be advertised on Freegle UK Central Group and/or GAT will approach likely candidates. Any Freegle Volunteer can apply and also have the opportunity to log their interest at any time via the Volunteer Coordinator. GAT will record the selection process/rationale and will decide who they would like to join the team. This decision must have the support of all of the GAT members. The name(s) will be put forward to the Reps for ratification and the decision will then be final. A list of the names of suitable candidates who were not selected will be retained by GAT and Reps for consideration for future vacancies."

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- No, I disagree with this proposal, 1 votes, 4.55%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%
- Yes, I agree with this proposal, 21 votes, 95.45%

[[Freegle Direct (FD) and Member Lists.]]

We're trying to establish what happens to membership lists if a group decides to leave Freegle Direct. (The info available to Freegle via FD doesn't include whether a member is also a mod or owner.)
We ran a poll.

This poll is to establish the principle of who should be able to use the group membership list kept by Freegle Direct.
Q: Is it acceptable for Freegle centrally to use the list without permission from the group's Volunteers?
We will discuss the implications/alternatives to this whether the majority answer is yes or no.
This question will be carried by a simple majority.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, it is acceptable, 4 votes, 17.39%
- No, it isn't acceptable, 19 votes, 82.61%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

Discussion continues...

[[Equality and Diversity Policy:]]

As we have group autonomy and don't have resources to monitor policies
to any great extent, we need something that is simple but states quite
clearly what we commit to. The policy should be for Freegle, as a
central network.
POLL QUESTION: Equality and Diversity Policy:
The policy document
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17toA4u2kMHoi--0nhBXvc7a-Bj0I7ULvPtKxOPcbO-c/edit
should be recommended via the Reps for adoption.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, we should propose adoption via the Reps, 16 votes, 100.00%
- No, we should discuss further, 0 votes, 0.00%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

[[Mediation:]]
There are occasions when mediation might be useful between a group member and group Volunteers. We would like the Ombudsmen and Mediation Pool to discuss and recommend a way to deal with this, including drafting any extra guidelines over and above http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Mediation_Service that might be required for either the Ombudsman to deal with directly, or for the panel to do so as part of their role. The Mailbox can supply anonymised examples to help the discussion. The recommendation to be given to Structure by the end of November 2012

o Yes, I agree to send this request
o No, I disagree with sending this request
o Abstain (please explain on group)
o Discuss further on the group

This poll is still running. If you would like to vote please join us.

[[Full Volunteer Polls.]]

We've not had many of these recently, and part of that is because it's quite a lot of hassle all round to run. So we've shifted more to an approach of announcing things on Central to see if people are OK with them.

That's not a bad approach, but there are a couple of problems:

It means that we pay most attention to the people who are most vocal, either for or against whatever it is.
It means our decisions have less democratic legitimacy.

We are considering whether we could have a scheme whereby we run polls on Central.
If the results are close, we trigger a full-blown poll with mails to -owner etc.
If there is a two-thirds majority, we treat it as binding in the same way in which we would if we'd done the full procedure.

Maybe if we had that, we'd do a few more such polls, and that this would be good for Freegle's participation levels.
Discussion continues...

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-08-31

2012-09-06T19:55:52Z

Wendy:

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

August 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-08-31This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st July 2012, covering messages 10448 to 10622. Our membership stands at 74 (two more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

[[Task 78 and 80 - Check Affiliation and Complaints are Working.(Continued...)]]

POLL QUESTION: Task 78 and 80: Check Affiliation and Complaints are working.

We should adopt the following procedure:

1. Mark group calendar dates for annual reviews of Affiliation (end Oct) and Complaints processes.(end March).

2. Group's coordinating team will produce a brief report of year's activities for process under review.

3. This group to discuss and make appropriate recommendations.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, I agree with this proposal, 12 votes, 100.00%
- No, I disagree with this proposal, 0 votes, 0.00%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

Group calendar dates have been duly marked and this task is complete.

[[Task 84 - What resources do groups want?]]

Brainstorm what resources groups would value.
This is part of the strategy - "To provide more (and more importantly,
easier to use) resources to local groups"
Discussion continues...

[[Group Assessment Team (GAT) Recruitment Process (Continued)]]

POLL QUESTION: We should propose that the Reps endorse a change to http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Group_Affiliation_Team_Role_Remit_Membership:
Membership: "If GAT need additional team members, the vacancy will be advertised on Freegle UK Central Group and/or GAT will approach likely candidates. Any Freegle Volunteer can apply and also have the opportunity to log their interest at any time via the Volunteer Coordinator. GAT will record the selection process/rationale and will decide who they would like to join the team. This decision must have the support of all of the GAT members. The name(s) will be put forward to the Reps for ratification and the decision will then be final. A list of the names of suitable candidates who were not selected will be retained by GAT and Reps for consideration for future vacancies."

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- No, I disagree with this proposal, 1 votes, 4.55%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%
- Yes, I agree with this proposal, 21 votes, 95.45%

[[Freegle Direct (FD) and Member Lists.]]

We're trying to establish what happens to membership lists if a group decides to leave Freegle Direct. (The info available to Freegle via FD doesn't include whether a member is also a mod or owner.)
We ran a poll.

This poll is to establish the principle of who should be able to use the group membership list kept by Freegle Direct.
Q: Is it acceptable for Freegle centrally to use the list without permission from the group's Volunteers?
We will discuss the implications/alternatives to this whether the majority answer is yes or no.
This question will be carried by a simple majority.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, it is acceptable, 4 votes, 17.39%
- No, it isn't acceptable, 19 votes, 82.61%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

Discussion continues...

[[Equality and Diversity Policy:]]

As we have group autonomy and don't have resources to monitor policies
to any great extent, we need something that is simple but states quite
clearly what we commit to. The policy should be for Freegle, as a
central network.
POLL QUESTION: Equality and Diversity Policy:
The policy document
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17toA4u2kMHoi--0nhBXvc7a-Bj0I7ULvPtKxOPcbO-c/edit
should be recommended via the Reps for adoption.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, we should propose adoption via the Reps, 16 votes, 100.00%
- No, we should discuss further, 0 votes, 0.00%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

[[Mediation:]]
There are occasions when mediation might be useful between a group member and group Volunteers. We would like the Ombudsmen and Mediation Pool to discuss and recommend a way to deal with this, including drafting any extra guidelines over and above http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Mediation_Service that might be required for either the Ombudsman to deal with directly, or for the panel to do so as part of their role. The Mailbox can supply anonymised examples to help the discussion. The recommendation to be given to Structure by the end of November 2012

o Yes, I agree to send this request
o No, I disagree with sending this request
o Abstain (please explain on group)
o Discuss further on the group

This poll is still running. If you would like to vote please join us.

[[Full Volunteer Polls.]]

We've not had many of these recently, and part of that is because it's quite a lot of hassle all round to run. So we've shifted more to an approach of announcing things on Central to see if people are OK with them.

That's not a bad approach, but there are a couple of problems:

It means that we pay most attention to the people who are most vocal, either for or against whatever it is.
It means our decisions have less democratic legitimacy.

We are considering whether we could have a scheme whereby we run polls on Central.
If the results are close, we trigger a full-blown poll with mails to -owner etc.
If there is a two-thirds majority, we treat it as binding in the same way in which we would if we'd done the full procedure.

Maybe if we had that, we'd do a few more such polls, and that this would be good for Freegle's participation levels.
Discussion continues...

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-08-31

2012-09-06T19:54:32Z

Wendy:

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

August 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-08-31This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st July 2012, covering messages 10448 to 10622. Our membership stands at 74 (two more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

[[Task 78 and 80 - Check Affiliation and Complaints are Working.(Continued...)]]

POLL QUESTION: Task 78 and 80: Check Affiliation and Complaints are working.
We should adopt the following procedure:
1. Mark group calendar dates for annual reviews of Affiliation (end Oct) and Complaints processes.(end March).
2. Group's coordinating team will produce a brief report of year's activities for process under review.
3. This group to discuss and make appropriate recommendations.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, I agree with this proposal, 12 votes, 100.00%
- No, I disagree with this proposal, 0 votes, 0.00%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

Group calendar dates have been duly marked and this task is complete.

[[Task 84 - What resources do groups want?]]

Brainstorm what resources groups would value.
This is part of the strategy - "To provide more (and more importantly,
easier to use) resources to local groups"
Discussion continues...

[[Group Assessment Team (GAT) Recruitment Process (Continued)]]

POLL QUESTION: We should propose that the Reps endorse a change to http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Group_Affiliation_Team_Role_Remit_Membership:
Membership: "If GAT need additional team members, the vacancy will be advertised on Freegle UK Central Group and/or GAT will approach likely candidates. Any Freegle Volunteer can apply and also have the opportunity to log their interest at any time via the Volunteer Coordinator. GAT will record the selection process/rationale and will decide who they would like to join the team. This decision must have the support of all of the GAT members. The name(s) will be put forward to the Reps for ratification and the decision will then be final. A list of the names of suitable candidates who were not selected will be retained by GAT and Reps for consideration for future vacancies."

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- No, I disagree with this proposal, 1 votes, 4.55%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%
- Yes, I agree with this proposal, 21 votes, 95.45%

[[Freegle Direct (FD) and Member Lists.]]

We're trying to establish what happens to membership lists if a group decides to leave Freegle Direct. (The info available to Freegle via FD doesn't include whether a member is also a mod or owner.)
We ran a poll.

This poll is to establish the principle of who should be able to use the group membership list kept by Freegle Direct.
Q: Is it acceptable for Freegle centrally to use the list without permission from the group's Volunteers?
We will discuss the implications/alternatives to this whether the majority answer is yes or no.
This question will be carried by a simple majority.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, it is acceptable, 4 votes, 17.39%
- No, it isn't acceptable, 19 votes, 82.61%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

Discussion continues...

[[Equality and Diversity Policy:]]

As we have group autonomy and don't have resources to monitor policies
to any great extent, we need something that is simple but states quite
clearly what we commit to. The policy should be for Freegle, as a
central network.
POLL QUESTION: Equality and Diversity Policy:
The policy document
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17toA4u2kMHoi--0nhBXvc7a-Bj0I7ULvPtKxOPcbO-c/edit
should be recommended via the Reps for adoption.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, we should propose adoption via the Reps, 16 votes, 100.00%
- No, we should discuss further, 0 votes, 0.00%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

[[Mediation:]]
There are occasions when mediation might be useful between a group member and group Volunteers. We would like the Ombudsmen and Mediation Pool to discuss and recommend a way to deal with this, including drafting any extra guidelines over and above http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Mediation_Service that might be required for either the Ombudsman to deal with directly, or for the panel to do so as part of their role. The Mailbox can supply anonymised examples to help the discussion. The recommendation to be given to Structure by the end of November 2012

o Yes, I agree to send this request
o No, I disagree with sending this request
o Abstain (please explain on group)
o Discuss further on the group

This poll is still running. If you would like to vote please join us.

[[Full Volunteer Polls.]]

We've not had many of these recently, and part of that is because it's quite a lot of hassle all round to run. So we've shifted more to an approach of announcing things on Central to see if people are OK with them.

That's not a bad approach, but there are a couple of problems:

It means that we pay most attention to the people who are most vocal, either for or against whatever it is.
It means our decisions have less democratic legitimacy.

We are considering whether we could have a scheme whereby we run polls on Central.
If the results are close, we trigger a full-blown poll with mails to -owner etc.
If there is a two-thirds majority, we treat it as binding in the same way in which we would if we'd done the full procedure.

Maybe if we had that, we'd do a few more such polls, and that this would be good for Freegle's participation levels.
Discussion continues...

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-08-31

2012-09-06T19:52:44Z

Wendy:

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

August 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-08-31This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st July 2012, covering messages 10448 to 10622. Our membership stands at 74 (two more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

[[Task 78 and 80 - Check Affiliation and Complaints are Working.(Continued...)]]
POLL QUESTION: Task 78 and 80: Check Affiliation and Complaints are working.
We should adopt the following procedure:
1. Mark group calendar dates for annual reviews of Affiliation (end Oct) and Complaints processes.(end March).
2. Group's coordinating team will produce a brief report of year's activities for process under review.
3. This group to discuss and make appropriate recommendations.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, I agree with this proposal, 12 votes, 100.00%
- No, I disagree with this proposal, 0 votes, 0.00%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

Group calendar dates have been duly marked and this task is complete.

[[Task 84 - What resources do groups want?]]
Brainstorm what resources groups would value.
This is part of the strategy - "To provide more (and more importantly,
easier to use) resources to local groups"
Discussion continues...

[[Group Assessment Team (GAT) Recruitment Process (Continued)]]
POLL QUESTION: We should propose that the Reps endorse a change to http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Group_Affiliation_Team_Role_Remit_Membership:
Membership: "If GAT need additional team members, the vacancy will be advertised on Freegle UK Central Group and/or GAT will approach likely candidates. Any Freegle Volunteer can apply and also have the opportunity to log their interest at any time via the Volunteer Coordinator. GAT will record the selection process/rationale and will decide who they would like to join the team. This decision must have the support of all of the GAT members. The name(s) will be put forward to the Reps for ratification and the decision will then be final. A list of the names of suitable candidates who were not selected will be retained by GAT and Reps for consideration for future vacancies."

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- No, I disagree with this proposal, 1 votes, 4.55%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%
- Yes, I agree with this proposal, 21 votes, 95.45%

[[Freegle Direct (FD) and Member Lists.]]
We're trying to establish what happens to membership lists if a group decides to leave Freegle Direct. (The info available to Freegle via FD doesn't include whether a member is also a mod or owner.)
We ran a poll.

This poll is to establish the principle of who should be able to use the group membership list kept by Freegle Direct.
Q: Is it acceptable for Freegle centrally to use the list without permission from the group's Volunteers?
We will discuss the implications/alternatives to this whether the majority answer is yes or no.
This question will be carried by a simple majority.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, it is acceptable, 4 votes, 17.39%
- No, it isn't acceptable, 19 votes, 82.61%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

Discussion continues...

[[Equality and Diversity Policy:]]
As we have group autonomy and don't have resources to monitor policies
to any great extent, we need something that is simple but states quite
clearly what we commit to. The policy should be for Freegle, as a
central network.
POLL QUESTION: Equality and Diversity Policy:
The policy document
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17toA4u2kMHoi--0nhBXvc7a-Bj0I7ULvPtKxOPcbO-c/edit
should be recommended via the Reps for adoption.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, we should propose adoption via the Reps, 16 votes, 100.00%
- No, we should discuss further, 0 votes, 0.00%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

[[Mediation:]]

There are occasions when mediation might be useful between a group member and group Volunteers. We would like the Ombudsmen and Mediation Pool to discuss and recommend a way to deal with this, including drafting any extra guidelines over and above http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Mediation_Service that might be required for either the Ombudsman to deal with directly, or for the panel to do so as part of their role. The Mailbox can supply anonymised examples to help the discussion. The recommendation to be given to Structure by the end of November 2012

o Yes, I agree to send this request
o No, I disagree with sending this request
o Abstain (please explain on group)
o Discuss further on the group

This poll is still running. If you would like to vote please join us.

[[Full Volunteer Polls.]]
We've not had many of these recently, and part of that is because it's quite a lot of hassle all round to run. So we've shifted more to an approach of announcing things on Central to see if people are OK with them.

That's not a bad approach, but there are a couple of problems:

It means that we pay most attention to the people who are most vocal, either for or against whatever it is.
It means our decisions have less democratic legitimacy.

We are considering whether we could have a scheme whereby we:

Run polls on Central.
If the results are close, we trigger a full-blown poll with mails to -owner etc.
If there is a two-thirds majority, we treat it as binding in the same way in which we would if we'd done the full procedure.

Maybe if we had that, we'd do a few more such polls, and that this would be good for Freegle's participation levels.
Discussion continues...

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-08-31

2012-09-06T19:28:02Z

Wendy: Created page with 'STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT August 2012 http://freegle.it/Structure wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-08-31This is a summary of discussions since …'

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

August 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-08-31This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st July 2012, covering messages 10448 to 10622. Our membership stands at 74 (two more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

Task 78 and 80 - Check Affiliation and Complaints are Working.(Continued...)
POLL QUESTION: Task 78 and 80: Check Affiliation and Complaints are working.
We should adopt the following procedure:
1. Mark group calendar dates for annual reviews of Affiliation (end Oct) and Complaints processes.(end March).
2. Group's coordinating team will produce a brief report of year's activities for process under review.
3. This group to discuss and make appropriate recommendations.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, I agree with this proposal, 12 votes, 100.00%
- No, I disagree with this proposal, 0 votes, 0.00%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

Group calendar dates have been duly marked and this task is complete.

Task 84 - What resources do groups want?
Brainstorm what resources groups would value.
This is part of the strategy - "To provide more (and more importantly,
easier to use) resources to local groups"
Discussion continues...

Group Assessment Team (GAT) Recruitment Process (Continued)
POLL QUESTION: We should propose that the Reps endorse a change to http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Group_Affiliation_Team_Role_Remit_Membership:
Membership: "If GAT need additional team members, the vacancy will be advertised on Freegle UK Central Group and/or GAT will approach likely candidates. Any Freegle Volunteer can apply and also have the opportunity to log their interest at any time via the Volunteer Coordinator. GAT will record the selection process/rationale and will decide who they would like to join the team. This decision must have the support of all of the GAT members. The name(s) will be put forward to the Reps for ratification and the decision will then be final. A list of the names of suitable candidates who were not selected will be retained by GAT and Reps for consideration for future vacancies."

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- No, I disagree with this proposal, 1 votes, 4.55%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%
- Yes, I agree with this proposal, 21 votes, 95.45%

Freegle Direct (FD) and Member Lists.
We're trying to establish what happens to membership lists if a group decides to leave Freegle Direct. (The info available to Freegle via FD doesn't include whether a member is also a mod or owner.)
We ran a poll.

This poll is to establish the principle of who should be able to use the group membership list kept by Freegle Direct.
Q: Is it acceptable for Freegle centrally to use the list without permission from the group's Volunteers?
We will discuss the implications/alternatives to this whether the majority answer is yes or no.
This question will be carried by a simple majority.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, it is acceptable, 4 votes, 17.39%
- No, it isn't acceptable, 19 votes, 82.61%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

So, we now need to define "use", "permission" and "Volunteers"
Discussion continues...

Equality and Diversity Policy:
As we have group autonomy and don't have resources to monitor policies
to any great extent, we need something that is simple but states quite
clearly what we commit to. The policy should be for Freegle, as a
central network.
POLL QUESTION: Equality and Diversity Policy:
The policy document
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17toA4u2kMHoi--0nhBXvc7a-Bj0I7ULvPtKxOPcbO-c/edit
should be recommended via the Reps for adoption.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, we should propose adoption via the Reps, 16 votes, 100.00%
- No, we should discuss further, 0 votes, 0.00%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

Mediation:

There are occasions when mediation might be useful between a group member and group Volunteers. We would like the Ombudsmen and Mediation Pool to discuss and recommend a way to deal with this, including drafting any extra guidelines over and above http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Mediation_Service that might be required for either the Ombudsman to deal with directly, or for the panel to do so as part of their role. The Mailbox can supply anonymised examples to help the discussion. The recommendation to be given to Structure by the end of November 2012

o Yes, I agree to send this request
o No, I disagree with sending this request
o Abstain (please explain on group)
o Discuss further on the group

This poll is still running. If you would like to vote please join us.

Full Volunteer Polls.
We've not had many of these recently, and part of that is because it's quite a lot of hassle all round to run. So we've shifted more to an approach of announcing things on Central to see if people are OK with them.

That's not a bad approach, but there are a couple of problems:

It means that we pay most attention to the people who are most vocal, either for or against whatever it is.
It means our decisions have less democratic legitimacy.

We are considering whether we could have a scheme whereby we:

Run polls on Central.
If the results are close, we trigger a full-blown poll with mails to -owner etc.
If there is a two-thirds majority, we treat it as binding in the same way in which we would if we'd done the full procedure.

Maybe if we had that, we'd do a few more such polls, and that this would be good for Freegle's participation levels.
Discussion continues...

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-07-31

2012-08-03T20:27:48Z

Wendy:

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

July 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-07-31
This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 30th June 2012, covering messages 10301 to 10447. Our membership stands at 72 (one more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

[[Unused or redundant groups:]]

This discussion is about whether or not we should delete or archive old Yahoo groups no longer being used.
We ran the following poll:

Yahoo groups set up in the name of Freegle nationally which end up unused or made redundant should have ownership passed to centralmods@ilovefreegle.org and reps@ilovefreegle.org addresses. The members of the group will be consulted either before change of ownership or after to ensure that there is general agreement to close it. The group will be set to full moderation to effectively 'close' the group without deleting the archive of information. Access to the archives will be available to the members of the group, and to Freegle Volunteers by request to the owner address. The home page of the group will be changed to reflect its status and a pointer to a replacement group given if that is applicable.

Groups set up specifically to deal with appeals or personal information will be kept by the owner for a period of not less than 6 months after the last message is posted relating to the appeal or sensitive situation. The group members should preferably set a minimum time limit for keeping the group open as part of their work. The group can then be deleted, after notifying the Reps at least 7 days before doing so.

All groups that have been archived or deleted will be listed on the Freegle wiki.

[[CHOICES AND RESULTS]]

- Yes, we should propose adoption via the Reps, 14 votes, 100.00%

- No, we should discuss further, 0 votes, 0.00%

- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

This result was sent to the Reps proposing they recommend adoption of the process.

[[Freegle Direct (FD) and Member Lists.]]

Edward asked the group to consider two points:

The first being if a group is on FD and then decides it doesn't want to be.

Should we remove the details of users from FD and give the group mods a list of the real email addresses of the members that they have lost from the Yahoo group (because the FBUser
addresses will no longer work). They can then invite/add/email them.

Do the group think this is reasonable?

And also...

If a group is on FD and decides to leave Freegle.

Are there any circumstances under which we would use the email addresses we have
on FD,?

Discussion continues...

[[Task 78 and 80: Check Affiliation and Complaints are working.]]

We ran the following poll:

Task 78 and 80: Check Affiliation and Complaints are working.
We should adopt the following procedure:

1. Mark group calendar dates for annual reviews of Affiliation (end Oct) and Complaints processes.(end March).

2. Group's coordinating team will produce a brief report of year's activities for process under review.

3. This group to discuss and make appropriate recommendations.

o Yes, I agree with this proposal

o No, I disagree with this proposal

o Abstain (please explain on group)

This poll is still running so please feel free to join this group and vote.

[[Group Assessment Team (GAT) Recruitment Process]]

A year or so ago GAT agreed to a recruitment process which has proved to be time consuming and
difficult.
They are requesting the discretion to approach & recruit people who they believe can be of immediate use to GAT, because they have already seen their skills, knowledge
and diplomacy in action.

Following a discussion we are running the following poll:

We should propose that the Reps endorse a change to http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Group_Affiliation_Team_Role_Remit_Membership:

Membership: "If GAT need additional team members, the vacancy will be advertised on Freegle UK Central Group and/or GAT will approach likely candidates. Any Freegle Volunteer can apply and also have the opportunity to log their interest at any time via the Volunteer Coordinator. GAT will record the selection process/rationale and will decide who they would like to join the team. This decision must have the support of all of the GAT members. The name(s) will be put forward to the Reps for ratification and the decision will then be final. A list of the names of suitable candidates who were not selected will be retained by GAT and Reps for consideration for future vacancies."

o Yes, I agree with this proposal

o No, I disagree with this proposal

o Abstain (please explain on group)

This poll is still running so please feel free to join this group and vote.

[[Structure Group Progress Update (Or Light At The End of The Tunnel)]]

Jacky posted this to the Structure group and I felt it worth sharing.

“Well, we were getting there, but the stabilisation strategy items added a few more :-)

We do keep ticking them off, and it is amazing that this task is no 92 - who would have thought we could have generated 92 separate structural issues to discuss! Once the two current polls have finished, we will have 32 left to do, which sounds more work than it probably is.

The task list is here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhDLE82mEn2jdGE5a0F0N0JPbXBE.

There are several sheets (look at the tabs along the bottom) the first one being our current 'to do' list. If Anyone* feels the priorities are incorrect or wishes to take the lead on any of them, please do say!

Jacky - coordinator.

* “Anyone” means anyone who is a Freegle volunteer - just join Structure to have your say!

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-07-31

2012-08-03T20:22:18Z

Wendy: Created page with 'STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT July 2012 http://freegle.it/Structure wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-07-31This is a summary of discussions since ou…'

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

July 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-07-31This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 30th June 2012, covering messages 10301 to 10447. Our membership stands at 72 (one more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

[[Unused or redundant groups:]]

This discussion is about whether or not we should delete or archive old Yahoo groups no longer being used.
We ran the following poll:

Yahoo groups set up in the name of Freegle nationally which end up unused or made redundant should have ownership passed to centralmods@ilovefreegle.org and reps@ilovefreegle.org addresses. The members of the group will be consulted either before change of ownership or after to ensure that there is general agreement to close it. The group will be set to full moderation to effectively 'close' the group without deleting the archive of information. Access to the archives will be available to the members of the group, and to Freegle Volunteers by request to the owner address. The home page of the group will be changed to reflect its status and a pointer to a replacement group given if that is applicable.

Groups set up specifically to deal with appeals or personal information will be kept by the owner for a period of not less than 6 months after the last message is posted relating to the appeal or sensitive situation. The group members should preferably set a minimum time limit for keeping the group open as part of their work. The group can then be deleted, after notifying the Reps at least 7 days before doing so.

All groups that have been archived or deleted will be listed on the Freegle wiki.

[[CHOICES AND RESULTS]]

- Yes, we should propose adoption via the Reps, 14 votes, 100.00%

- No, we should discuss further, 0 votes, 0.00%

- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

This result was sent to the Reps proposing they recommend adoption of the process.

[[Freegle Direct (FD) and Member Lists.]]

Edward asked the group to consider two points:

The first being if a group is on FD and then decides it doesn't want to be.

Should we remove the details of users from FD and give the group mods a list of the real email addresses of the members that they have lost from the Yahoo group (because the FBUser
addresses will no longer work). They can then invite/add/email them.

Do the group think this is reasonable?

And also...

If a group is on FD and decides to leave Freegle.

Are there any circumstances under which we would use the email addresses we have
on FD,?

Discussion continues...

[[Task 78 and 80: Check Affiliation and Complaints are working.]]

We ran the following poll:

Task 78 and 80: Check Affiliation and Complaints are working.
We should adopt the following procedure:

1. Mark group calendar dates for annual reviews of Affiliation (end Oct) and Complaints processes.(end March).

2. Group's coordinating team will produce a brief report of year's activities for process under review.

3. This group to discuss and make appropriate recommendations.

o Yes, I agree with this proposal

o No, I disagree with this proposal

o Abstain (please explain on group)

This poll is still running so please feel free to join this group and vote.

[[Group Assessment Team (GAT) Recruitment Process]]

A year or so ago GAT agreed to a recruitment process which has proved to be time consuming and
difficult.
They are requesting the discretion to approach & recruit people who they believe can be of immediate use to GAT, because they have already seen their skills, knowledge
and diplomacy in action.

Following a discussion we are running the following poll:

We should propose that the Reps endorse a change to http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Group_Affiliation_Team_Role_Remit_Membership:

Membership: "If GAT need additional team members, the vacancy will be advertised on Freegle UK Central Group and/or GAT will approach likely candidates. Any Freegle Volunteer can apply and also have the opportunity to log their interest at any time via the Volunteer Coordinator. GAT will record the selection process/rationale and will decide who they would like to join the team. This decision must have the support of all of the GAT members. The name(s) will be put forward to the Reps for ratification and the decision will then be final. A list of the names of suitable candidates who were not selected will be retained by GAT and Reps for consideration for future vacancies."

o Yes, I agree with this proposal

o No, I disagree with this proposal

o Abstain (please explain on group)

This poll is still running so please feel free to join this group and vote.

[[Structure Group Progress Update (Or Light At The End of The Tunnel)]]

Jacky posted this to the Structure group and I felt it worth sharing.

“Well, we were getting there, but the stabilisation strategy items added a few more :-)

We do keep ticking them off, and it is amazing that this task is no 92 - who would have thought we could have generated 92 separate structural issues to discuss! Once the two current polls have finished, we will have 32 left to do, which sounds more work than it probably is.

The task list is here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhDLE82mEn2jdGE5a0F0N0JPbXBE.

There are several sheets (look at the tabs along the bottom) the first one being our current 'to do' list. If Anyone* feels the priorities are incorrect or wishes to take the lead on any of them, please do say!

Jacky - coordinator.

* “Anyone” means anyone who is a Freegle volunteer - just join Structure to have your say!

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-05-31

2012-06-03T14:49:49Z

Wendy:

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

May 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-05-31

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 30th April 2012, covering messages 10099 to 10231. Our membership stands at 71 (two more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

Task 68 - Local Group Mediation.

In the case of a member being dissatisfied with their local moderating team to the point of
making a complaint the mailbox handles it in a sort of 'unofficial' way by trying to calm the
waters and attempting to offer support to both parties. The mailbox can only really offer a few
platitudes.

The Reps have suggested that the Ombudsmen could act as mediators in this situation.
To this end, is has been suggested that the Ombudsmen will work with the existing Mediation
volunteer pool to come up with a process for offering mediation to group members. It has also
been suggested that the Ombudsmen should work in an organisational role within the Mediation
team rather than mediating themselves.
Discussion continues...

Task 23 - Trademark.

The Reps have looked into this (probably several times over the past 2 years!) and have
concluded that it would not be in our interests to try to trademark the name Freegle.
The Reps monitor the Intellectual Property Office weekly to check if anyone else is
laying claim to the name.
Task Completed.

Policies Requested.

Chris will be putting in an application to be part of a lottery bid which requires us to have various policies, most of which we already have, but we will also need a Health and Safety policy and an Equal Opportunities policy.
We already have an Equality and Diversity policy on our task list and we have now added Health
and Safety policy as a new task.

Task 77 - Freegle Strategy - Structure Task List.

It was agreed last year on Central that we should adopt the 'stabilisation strategy' proposed
by the Reps. A breakdown of the objectives in that strategy has been produced to identify
tasks that can achieve it. The discussion follows two main questions.

1. Overall, do we think that the tasks allocated to us to achieve the strategy are adequate and
appropriate?

2. Are we happy that the tasks we have on our list at present cover all the strategy aims?

We are updating our Task List accordingly and discussion continues...

Task 77 - Freegle Strategy - Structure (Objective 2.)
To provide more (and more importantly, easier to use) resources to local groups.

So far on this, we have identified two existing tasks which might be applicable:
Task 24 - Group Constitutions: provide model constitutions for groups
Task 64 - Creation and remit of Wiki Editing Team
Discussion continues...

Task 81 - Keep Up To Date On Legislation.

This task is to put in place a system of regular checking of new and changing legislation that
might impact on Freegle.
We are discussing the best way of doing that.
Discussion continues...

Task 83 - Website Editing.

At the moment we assume (rightly) that the geeks are a sensible bunch and can tweak and
change the website as they feel is appropriate and works best, but there is no particular
mandate for them to do that. We are discussing whether there is a need to put in place a
procedure for getting changes to the website?

A poll is being run:

We propose that the main Freegle website maintenance, updating
and editing is the responsibility of the geeks team under
direction from reps as they feel appropriate.
A record of any changes would be useful for future reference.
The result of this poll will be by simple majority and will
be passed on to the Reps for consideration/implementation.

o Yes, I agree with this proposal

o No, I disagree with this proposal

o Abstain (please explain on group)

Task 81 - Cookies.

We are looking into whether any of our current applications falls under the new
legislation on the use of Cookies and if they do, what action we need to take if any.
We have looked at the need to have a new ‘Cookie disclaimer’ and have devised the wording.
We are now deciding where we will need to use this.
Discussion continues...

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-05-31

2012-06-03T14:46:55Z

Wendy:

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

May 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-05-31

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 30th April 2012, covering messages 10099 to 10231. Our membership stands at 71 (two more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

Task 68 - Local Group Mediation.

In the case of a member being dissatisfied with their local moderating team to the point of
making a complaint the mailbox handles it in a sort of 'unofficial' way by trying to calm the
waters and attempting to offer support to both parties. The mailbox can only really offer a few
platitudes.

The Reps have suggested that the Ombudsmen could act as mediators in this situation.
To this end, is has been suggested that the Ombudsmen will work with the existing Mediation
volunteer pool to come up with a process for offering mediation to group members. It has also
been suggested that the Ombudsmen should work in an organisational role within the Mediation
team rather than mediating themselves.
Discussion continues...

Task 23 - Trademark.

The Reps have looked into this (probably several times over the past 2 years!) and have
concluded that it would not be in our interests to try to trademark the name Freegle.
The Reps monitor the Intellectual Property Office weekly to check if anyone else is
laying claim to the name.
Task Completed.

Policies Requested.

Chris will be putting in an application to be part of a lottery bid which requires us to have various policies, most of which we already have, but we will also need a Health and Safety policy and an Equal Opportunities policy.
We already have an Equality and Diversity policy on our task list and we have now added Health
and Safety policy as a new task.

Task 77 - Freegle Strategy - Structure Task List.

It was agreed last year on Central that we should adopt the 'stabilisation strategy' proposed
by the Reps. A breakdown of the objectives in that strategy has been produced to identify
tasks that can achieve it. The discussion follows two main questions.
1. Overall, do we think that the tasks allocated to us to achieve the strategy are adequate and
appropriate?
2. Are we happy that the tasks we have on our list at present cover all the strategy aims?
We are updating our Task List accordingly and discussion continues...

Task 77 - Freegle Strategy - Structure objective 2.
To provide more (and more importantly, easier to use) resources to local groups.

So far on this, we have identified two existing tasks which might be applicable:
Task 24 - Group Constitutions: provide model constitutions for groups
Task 64 - Creation and remit of Wiki Editing Team
Discussion continues...

Task 81 - Keep Up To Date On Legislation.

This task is to put in place a system of regular checking of new and changing legislation that
might impact on Freegle.
We are discussing the best way of doing that.
Discussion continues...

Task 83 - Website Editing.

At the moment we assume (rightly) that the geeks are a sensible bunch and can tweak and
change the website as they feel is appropriate and works best, but there is no particular
mandate for them to do that. We are discussing whether there is a need to put in place a
procedure for getting changes to the website?

A poll is being run:

We propose that the main Freegle website maintenance, updating
and editing is the responsibility of the geeks team under
direction from reps as they feel appropriate.
A record of any changes would be useful for future reference.
The result of this poll will be by simple majority and will
be passed on to the Reps for consideration/implementation.

o Yes, I agree with this proposal

o No, I disagree with this proposal

o Abstain (please explain on group)

Task 81 - Cookies.

We are looking into whether any of our current applications falls under the new
legislation on the use of Cookies and if they do, what action we need to take if any.
We have looked at the need to have a new ‘Cookie disclaimer’ and have devised the wording.
We are now deciding where we will need to use this.
Discussion continues...

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-05-31

2012-06-03T14:42:50Z

Wendy:

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

May 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-05-31

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 30th April 2012, covering messages 10099 to 10231. Our membership stands at 71 (two more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

Task 68 - Local Group Mediation.

In the case of a member being dissatisfied with their local moderating team to the point of
making a complaint the mailbox handles it in a sort of 'unofficial' way by trying to calm the
waters and attempting to offer support to both parties. The mailbox can only really offer a few
platitudes.

The Reps have suggested that the Ombudsmen could act as mediators in this situation.
To this end, is has been suggested that the Ombudsmen will work with the existing Mediation
volunteer pool to come up with a process for offering mediation to group members. It has also
been suggested that the Ombudsmen should work in an organisational role within the Mediation
team rather than mediating themselves.
Discussion continues...

Task 23 - Trademark.

The Reps have looked into this (probably several times over the past 2 years!) and have
concluded that it would not be in our interests to try to trademark the name Freegle.
The Reps monitor the Intellectual Property Office weekly to check if anyone else is
laying claim to the name.
Task Completed.

Policies Requested.

Chris will be putting in an application to be part of a lottery bid which requires us to have various policies, most of which we already have, but we will also need a Health and Safety policy and an Equal Opportunities policy.
We already have an Equality and Diversity policy on our task list and we have now added Health
and Safety policy as a new task.

Task 77 - Freegle Strategy - Structure Task List.

It was agreed last year on Central that we should adopt the 'stabilisation strategy' proposed
by the Reps. A breakdown of the objectives in that strategy has been produced to identify
tasks that can achieve it. The discussion follows two main questions.
1. Overall, do we think that the tasks allocated to us to achieve the strategy are adequate and
appropriate?
2. Are we happy that the tasks we have on our list at present cover all the strategy aims?
We are updating our Task List accordingly and discussion continues...

Task 77 - Freegle Strategy - Structure objective 2.
To provide more (and more importantly, easier to use) resources to local groups.

So far on this, we have identified two existing tasks which might be applicable:
Task 24 - Group Constitutions: provide model constitutions for groups
Task 64 - Creation and remit of Wiki Editing Team
Discussion continues...

Task 81 - Keep Up To Date On Legislation.

This task is to put in place a system of regular checking of new and changing legislation that
might impact on Freegle.
We are discussing the best way of doing that.
Discussion continues...

Task 83 - Website Editing.

At the moment we assume (rightly) that the geeks are a sensible bunch and can tweak and
change the website as they feel is appropriate and works best, but there is no particular
mandate for them to do that. We are discussing whether there is a need to put in place a
procedure for getting changes to the website?
A poll is being run:

We propose that the main Freegle website maintenance, updating
and editing is the responsibility of the geeks team under
direction from reps as they feel appropriate.
A record of any changes would be useful for future reference.
The result of this poll will be by simple majority and will
be passed on to the Reps for consideration/implementation.

o Yes, I agree with this proposal
o No, I disagree with this proposal
o Abstain (please explain on group)

Task 81 - Cookies.

We are looking into whether any of our current applications falls under the new
legislation on the use of Cookies and if they do, what action we need to take if any.
We have looked at the need to have a new ‘Cookie disclaimer’ and have devised the wording.
We are now deciding where we will need to use this.
Discussion continues...

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-05-31

2012-06-03T14:42:02Z

Wendy:

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

May 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-05-31

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 30th April 2012, covering messages 10099 to 10231. Our membership stands at 71 (two more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

Task 68 - Local Group Mediation.

In the case of a member being dissatisfied with their local moderating team to the point of
making a complaint the mailbox handles it in a sort of 'unofficial' way by trying to calm the
waters and attempting to offer support to both parties. The mailbox can only really offer a few
platitudes.

The Reps have suggested that the Ombudsmen could act as mediators in this situation.
To this end, is has been suggested that the Ombudsmen will work with the existing Mediation
volunteer pool to come up with a process for offering mediation to group members. It has also
been suggested that the Ombudsmen should work in an organisational role within the Mediation
team rather than mediating themselves.
Discussion continues...

Task 23 - Trademark.

The Reps have looked into this (probably several times over the past 2 years!) and have
concluded that it would not be in our interests to try to trademark the name Freegle.
The Reps monitor the Intellectual Property Office weekly to check if anyone else is
laying claim to the name.
Task Completed.

Policies Requested.

Chris will be putting in an application to be part of a lottery bid which requires us to have various policies, most of which we already have, but we will also need a Health and Safety policy and an Equal Opportunities policy.
We already have an Equality and Diversity policy on our task list and we have now added Health
and Safety policy as a new task.

Task 77 - Freegle Strategy - Structure Task List.

It was agreed last year on Central that we should adopt the 'stabilisation strategy' proposed
by the Reps. A breakdown of the objectives in that strategy has been produced to identify
tasks that can achieve it. The discussion follows two main questions.
1. Overall, do we think that the tasks allocated to us to achieve the strategy are adequate and
appropriate?
2. Are we happy that the tasks we have on our list at present cover all the strategy aims?
We are updating our Task List accordingly and discussion continues...

Task 77 - Freegle Strategy - Structure objective 2.
To provide more (and more importantly, easier to use) resources to local groups.

So far on this, we have identified two existing tasks which might be applicable:
Task 24 - Group Constitutions: provide model constitutions for groups
Task 64 - Creation and remit of Wiki Editing Team
Discussion continues...

Task 81 - Keep Up To Date On Legislation.

This task is to put in place a system of regular checking of new and changing legislation that
might impact on Freegle.
We are discussing the best way of doing that.
Discussion continues...

Task 83 - Website Editing.
At the moment we assume (rightly) that the geeks are a sensible bunch and can tweak and
change the website as they feel is appropriate and works best, but there is no particular
mandate for them to do that. We are discussing whether there is a need to put in place a
procedure for getting changes to the website?
A poll is being run:

We propose that the main Freegle website maintenance, updating
and editing is the responsibility of the geeks team under
direction from reps as they feel appropriate.
A record of any changes would be useful for future reference.
The result of this poll will be by simple majority and will
be passed on to the Reps for consideration/implementation.

o Yes, I agree with this proposal
o No, I disagree with this proposal
o Abstain (please explain on group)

Task 81 - Cookies.

We are looking into whether any of our current applications falls under the new
legislation on the use of Cookies and if they do, what action we need to take if any.
We have looked at the need to have a new ‘Cookie disclaimer’ and have devised the wording.
We are now deciding where we will need to use this.
Discussion continues...

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-05-31

2012-06-03T14:39:02Z

Wendy: Created page with 'STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT May 2012 http://freegle.it/Structure wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-05-31 This is a summary of discussions since o…'

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

May 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-05-31

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 30th April 2012, covering messages 10099 to 10231. Our membership stands at 71 (two more than last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

Task 68 - Local Group Mediation.

In the case of a member being dissatisfied with their local moderating team to the point of
making a complaint the mailbox handles it in a sort of 'unofficial' way by trying to calm the
waters and attempting to offer support to both parties. The mailbox can only really offer a few
platitudes.

The Reps have suggested that the Ombudsmen could act as mediators in this situation.
To this end, is has been suggested that the Ombudsmen will work with the existing Mediation
volunteer pool to come up with a process for offering mediation to group members. It has also
been suggested that the Ombudsmen should work in an organisational role within the Mediation
team rather than mediating themselves.
Discussion continues...

Task 23 - Trademark.

The Reps have looked into this (probably several times over the past 2 years!) and have
concluded that it would not be in our interests to try to trademark the name Freegle.
The Reps monitor the Intellectual Property Office weekly to check if anyone else is
laying claim to the name.
Task Completed.

Policies Requested.

Chris will be putting in an application to be part of a lottery bid which requires us to have various policies, most of which we already have, but we will also need a Health and Safety policy and an Equal Opportunities policy.
We already have an Equality and Diversity policy on our task list and we have now added Health
and Safety policy as a new task.

Task 77 - Freegle Strategy - Structure Task List.

It was agreed last year on Central that we should adopt the 'stabilisation strategy' proposed
by the Reps. A breakdown of the objectives in that strategy has been produced to identify
tasks that can achieve it. The discussion follows two main questions.
1. Overall, do we think that the tasks allocated to us to achieve the strategy are adequate and
appropriate?
2. Are we happy that the tasks we have on our list at present cover all the strategy aims?
We are updating our Task List accordingly and discussion continues...

Task 77 - Freegle Strategy - Structure objective 2.
To provide more (and more importantly, easier to use) resources to local groups.

So far on this, we have identified two existing tasks which might be applicable:
Task 24 - Group Constitutions: provide model constitutions for groups
Task 64 - Creation and remit of Wiki Editing Team
Discussion continues...

Task 81 - Keep Up To Date On Legislation.

This task is to put in place a system of regular checking of new and changing legislation that
might impact on Freegle.
We are discussing the best way of doing that.
Discussion continues...

Task 83 - Website Editing.
At the moment we assume (rightly) that the geeks are a sensible bunch and can tweak and
change the website as they feel is appropriate and works best, but there is no particular
mandate for them to do that. We are discussing whether there is a need to put in place a
procedure for getting changes to the website?
A poll is being run:

We propose that the main Freegle website maintenance, updating
and editing is the responsibility of the geeks team under
direction from reps as they feel appropriate.
A record of any changes would be useful for future reference.
The result of this poll will be by simple majority and will
be passed on to the Reps for consideration/implementation.

o Yes, I agree with this proposal
o No, I disagree with this proposal
o Abstain (please explain on group)

Task 81 - Cookies.

We are looking into whether any of our current applications falls under the new
legislation on the use of Cookies and if they do, what action we need to take if any.
We have looked at the need to have a new ‘Cookie disclaimer’ and have devised the wording.
We are now deciding where we will need to use this.
Discussion continues...

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.

Structure Group Report 2012-04-30

2012-04-30T20:12:44Z

Wendy: Created page with 'STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT April 2012 http://freegle.it/Structure wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-04-30 This is a summary of discussions since…'

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT

April 2012

http://freegle.it/Structure

wiki link -http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Structure_Group_Report_2012-04-30

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 31st March 2012, covering messages 10043 to 10099.
Our membership stands at 69 (the same as last month).

The topics we have discussed this month are below.

Task 14: Groups leaving Freegle.

We had this task on our list a while ago and marked it as complete as it was shifted over to Start.
Start had long and thorough discussions on this, ending with a poll on the group and an entry being
put in the wiki detailing what was decided - http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Disaffiliation

This is the only task from the Start group that was shifted to us now we have changed our remits. We have been deciding whether this task is complete or whether this disaffiliation procedure should be subject to wider poll for adoption, given that affiliation of a group is subject to national agreement.
A poll was taken.

POLL QUESTION:
Task 14: Start has devised a procedure for disaffiliating groups - - http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Disaffiliation.
Should adoption of this procedure be by national Volunteer poll at the earliest opportunity?
Or should we ask the Reps to recommend it for a trial period of up to 8 months (until the AGM), subject to ratification by national poll.
Or should it be by notification to Central by the Reps for a 7 day period of discussion/opportunity to object then adoption if acceptable.

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Reps to recommend for trial period, 3 votes, 20.00%
- Reps to propose to Central for 7 days objection/adoptoin, 10 votes, 66.67%
- None of the above (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%
- National Volunteer poll, 2 votes, 13.33%
- Abstain (please explain on group), 0 votes, 0.00%

This gives us a clear majority vote so the Reps have been handed the task to put to central.
Task Complete.

Task 52 - Asset Security
a. It is important that Freegle has secure assets
b. Our assets were identified as:
- Server access (which geeks have and is therefore not tied to an individual).
- IPR for code (which currently rests with the people who wrote it).
- Bank account (which the Reps collectively manage).
- Domain names :
freegle.in, freegle.it, frgl.it (Paul owns)
ilovefreegle.org (Neil Morris owns)
copyright in the logo (Ollie owns some)
freespout.org.uk (Edward owns)
ilovefreegle.org.uk (Edward owns)
c. We contacted Neil who has given access to ilovefreegle.org to Edward.
d. Paul confirmed he is happy to pass over ownership of the names he
holds; geeks have access to them at the moment.
e. Jane is looking into a legal entity that could hold the various
assets on behalf of Freegle, rather than individuals.
f. Until a separate entity is sorted out, the geeks collectively have
the access needed to run Freegle and the Reps collectively manage the
bank account.

Task 34 - Access Security.
Two years ago Paul flagged up that it is normal practice for IT
people to sign a confidentiality agreement (message 3667). This was
agreed to be taken over to People group by Ray, the Returning Officer
at the time. An agreement hasn't been drawn up, and Ray is no longer
the RO, so Jacky asked:

1. Do we need an agreement for Freegle?
2. If we do, does anyone wish to lead this task?

There was a brief discussion on this and we agreed that there was no point
because in a commercial environment, you sign this to allow legal action if you
breach it. We would never take such action, so we rely on trust.
Signing such an agreement might put some volunteers off, and would have
no power anyway.
Task complete.

Task 48 - Panel Pool Members
Kathy has posted the message asking for panelists on Central, so we have marked this task as complete.

Task 58 - Cross Links and Partnerships.
This task was discussed here and then passed to Media, where it has
had sporadic discussion.

The latest consensus on Media was that it was too difficult to come up
with succinct criteria for what constituted an acceptable link for our website,
so the decision should lie with the Reps on a case by case basis.
Partnerships were not discussed.
We are discussing here what could be the best route to get decisions on
links and partnerships made.
Poll:
Task 58: We should recommend that the Reps propose the following procedure to Central for adoption:
LINKS AND PARTNERSHIPS:
1. The Reps consider any partnerships and links and make a
recommendation to Central.
2. Central has 7 days for discussion and objection/endorsement.
3. If there are a number of objections the Reps will reconsider
and come back to Central with an alternative recommendation, a recommendation
to deny a link or partnership or explanations on why the original
recommendation stands.
4. The recommendation will be adopted after 7 days unless the 10%
poll procedure (http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/10%25_Poll_Procedure) is
invoked and then that will decide one way or the other.
The results were:
Yes, we should propose adoption via the Reps 11 votes, 100%
No, we should discuss further 0 votes, 0%
Abstain (please explain on group) 0 votes, 0%
Task complete.

Translations
We have talked about getting some basic information about Freegle translated into other languages. Maybe in the form of a ‘factsheet’.
We raised the questions who is going to write this, what will it cover and, given that we are not commissioning official translators, how will we verify the content. Also we wondered if we should have a disclaimer covering the translations. Discussion continues...

Task 17 - Document Management
This task was raised in August 2010 by Paul - message no. 5017. This
was the early days of discovering how useful google documents were to
use. He set up http://freegle.it/docs , which he proposed as a
central repository for Freegle files and also the appointment of a
document manager and/or document team.
Edward said
“In theory if we had someone with suitable skills to manage our whole library of
documentation, then that would be a good thing - someone who does
technical writing for work and has free time, for example. But we
haven't managed to find anyone so far. So I think we should stick with
the current position that documents are owned and managed by the
people/teams who use them.”
The group agreed that current practises are working fine in the absence of a suitable volunteer.

If any of the above topics interest you, or if you have proposals about the structure of Freegle to suggest, please do join our group. http://freegle.it/Structure

Task List
Our Task List can be viewed at http://freegle.it/StructureTasks

The Coordinator for this group is Jacky (Great Yarmouth) Deputy Coordinator is Peter Johnson (Hunts) and Secretary is Wendy (Woodley) Owners are Jacky, Peter and Wendy.