Structure Group Report 2010-02-12

STRUCTURE GROUP REPORT 12th FEBRUARY 2010

Our group has 54 members, and is open to any member of Freegle UK Central who would like to join: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Freegle-Structure/

The spokespeople for this group are Edward (Edinburgh) and Jacky (Great Yarmouth). The owner is Jacky.

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 27th January 2010, messages 1860 to 1943. We warmly welcome input and comments from everyone on Central about any of the issues we are presently discussing or yet to be discussed (live and pending topics detailed below).

LIVE TOPICS

Organisational Structure

Having established that Freegle at present is an Unincorporated Association, the question was raised on whether a document should be produced which describes how Freegle works as such, pending any proposed changes in status to another type of structure. This wasn't resolved as the discussion moved on to what Freegle could/should be in the future.

Advice hasn't been received as yet from Legal about the possibility of having a very loose and informal structure. The Charity Commission has been approached by a Structure member - Sue - but this has elicited no concrete advice other than they will not consider Freegle as a charity until it has funds of over £5k.

Different types of structure have been outlined in a document as an informal guide, https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ARDLE82mEn2jZGhnN2ZwbW1fMzFkM3dxMjhmaw&hl=en and some discussion embarked upon regarding what might work.

Finance

Discussions continue about the need for a bank account, but stalled somewhat because the management of funds is tied in with the type of formal structure Freegle adopts. The consensus seems to be that whatever system is adopted it should be as transparent as possible, needs to protect individuals and Freegle from accusation or fraud, and be workable on a day to day basis.

Group Remit

A brief remit for the group was agreed (by default of cessation of discussion!). Parts of the original proposed draft remit, which included guidelines for how all groups should work in conjunction with the Reps and Central is still pending (Reps and others please refer to Structure messages 1805 and 1808).

Structure Poll

The Poll results have just been received, so discussion will now embark upon the decisions and points made. Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll and to Jacqui for doing a great job as Returning Officer. A spreadsheet showing results summaries of polls run to date can be found at http://freegle.it/PollResults

PENDING TOPICS

Mission Statement=

Discussions about the desirability for a succinctly worded 'mission statement' to head up any formal document that is adopted has stalled. Suggestions would be very welcome from Central.

'Other Groups'

The question of inclusion of 'other groups' (eg. Cafe groups) in Freegle was voted on in poll 4, so we still have this on our agenda to bear in mind and discuss in length at some point.

Regional Groups

This discussion has stalled. The question was raised on 5th January on Central but has only elicited 4 responses to date. We encourage comments about this to be aired on Central - the original message was no. 6513, further comments messages 6516, 6520, 6521 and 6550.

Published Information and Email Addresses

The proposal to adopt a wiki format for moderators handbooks etc was made to Tech and they agreed the suggestion However, work on published moderator resources is delayed because Richard, our guru who has devised and runs the brilliant One Stop Shop facility is currently not well. Work continues on drafting the handbook by Caroline.

The use of Google Apps is now being initiated by Tech, so new email addresses are being issued to the various teams/individuals that need them.

Copyright and Licensing

This is still a live topic, though stalled at present, as we need to look into how to secure flexible, workable solutions, but to retain security for Freegle.

Comments Received on Poll 2

This is still a pending item on the group as we are aware that comments made in Poll 2 have been logged, noted, but not discussed. We now have more comments from Poll 4. It is suggested that the Reps initiate conversations on Central based on the comments received.

Working Group Reports

We proposed that summaries of working groups should be shared more widely. The last report of Structure was summarised in the FreeSpOut newsletter, but we'd like comments from other Working Groups and Central members about whether this is the way to distribute the reports or are there better methods.

Back to Freegle Structure or Structure Group Report 2010-01-27, or fowards to Structure Group Report 2010-03-01