Freegle Board Minutes October 2014
Minutes of the Meeting of Directors of Freegle Limited 29 October 2014 at 7.15 by Skype Chat
Chairman
Edward Hibbert
Polling
The meeting commenced at 19.15.
Directors Present
Jacky Barrett, John Carroll, Ollie Clark, Edward Hibbert, Andrew Ludlow, Alison Redway, Tina Willcox (part)
Apologies for Absence
None
Declarations of Interest
Edward is a Director of Recycling Lives. There are no conflicts at present. Edward has a financial interest in a charitable fundraising venture from which Freegle may benefit. He will not receive any financial benefit from donations made via this route to Freegle.
Risk Register
Our main risk is loss of key personnel.
Reports
Fundraising
Careicon
Edward reported that Careicon is in tentative beta. There is some work to do to improve flows through the site. So far we have £109 plus some gift aid raised for Freegle which will start to get paid from Recycling Lives in November.
GAYL
Edward reported that the first GAYL payment covering our period as default charity has arrived and is substantial. There is more to come. Edward is speaking to them on 31 October about Christmas campaign stuff.
Finance
John has presented the Board with a summary of our current financial position and decisions that need to be made. We will discuss the details further on the Yahoo Group.
He is liaising with Unity Trust Bank regarding opening a bank account.
Action: John
Board Secretary
Returning Officer
We have offered the post to a Volunteer and are awaiting a response.
Reps
The terms of office for Jacky, Jane and Richard end on 5 December. This leaves the Reps inquorate. The Reps and Board are discussing how to proceed.
Involving Volunteers in Decision Making
We discussed decision making by the Board following feedback from a volunteer on Central after our last Board meeting.
We all agree that involving volunteers in decision making is an important aspect of volunteer welfare as well as being important for our democracy. We are keen that this should continue.
The minutes of our meetings are brief records of decisions taken and so we think that consultation of volunteers is best carried out before the meetings.
There is a standing agenda now with role holders reporting on the last month’s progress of what has been done or planned during the last month. We will publish the standing agenda on the Wiki and our meeting timetable so that Volunteers may raise issues in advance of meetings. We are also always available for contact at directors@ilovefreegle.org.
We are keen to see discussion on the working groups with start of topic notices to Central. Under our new structure we are also able to form sub-committees of directors and include volunteers who are prepared to do some of the work to implement the decisions.
We are open to feedback or suggestions on how volunteers can be further involved.
Company Secretary
Nothing to report this month.
Volunteer Welfare
The volunteers working in Freegle are our most important asset. We need to value each other and provide appropriate support and opportunities which will give Freegle and the individual the best environment to thrive. Edward has agreed to investigate the cost of an experienced consultant to advise how best to move forward with this in the future.
Action: Edward
Role and Remit
We agreed this.
[Link]
Votes: 6 For, 0 Against, 0 Abstain
Chief Technology Officer
Edward has started work on an improved Freegle Direct interface. This is likely to take a while.
The servers are stable.
Edward will report back on the whether the Amazon SES is helping with the delivery of emails via Hotmail. Chris is making good progress with the mobile phone app.
Media
Carried forward to next meeting.
Health and Safety
We are pleased that Ray Owen has agreed to act as Insurance Coordinator.
Insurance @ ilovefreegle.org
Ollie has agreed to draft brief advice to Volunteers and consider how best to circulate this information.
Action: Ollie
Policy
Jacky reported that the next policy documents to be reviewed are those relating to the Returning Officer work.
Any Other Business
Resignation of Andrew Widgery
We are very sorry to learn that Andrew Widgery has offered his resignation as a Director due to personal circumstances. We are pleased that he will continue to be involved with technical work. We agreed to follow our custom of giving a 7 day period to reconsider the resignation. The Board will discuss filling the vacancy.
Eligibility for Help
We discussed our eligibility for help from outside organisations.
Edward and Jacky have agreed to research this further.
Action: Edward, Jacky
Date of Next Meeting
Tuesday 25 November 2014 at 7.15
December meeting to be agreed.
Action: Alison
CONSENT AGENDA
We agreed:
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
The minutes of the meeting of 24 September 2014 are a true record. https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FreegleBoard/polls/poll/13223639?
Adopt Policies and Procedures[a][b][c]
Freegle Affiliated Group Name and Logo Guidelines
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Freegle Affiliated Group Area Guidelines
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Freegle Affiliation Policy and Freegle Affiliation Application Procedures
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Freegle Affiliation Process Procedures
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Freegle Group Affiliation Team (GAT) Remit
Freegle New Group Support Procedures
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Freegle Disaffiliation Procedure
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The meeting ended at 20.55
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