Annual General Meeting 2024!
Dear Walkspace Members,
Our Annual General Meeting 2024 is rapidly approaching. It takes place online on Sunday 6th October at 6pm and this year we will have the opportunity to discuss and vote on a very important motion to constitute Walkspace as an unincorporated co-operative as discussed at our previous general meeting in May. You will find your invitation to join via Zoom at the bottom of this email.
Adopting a constitution will allow Walkspace members to open a bank account. A bank account will allow us to collect subscriptions from members which will cover Walkspace’s basic costs such as the website and newsletter. It will also allow Walkspace members to receive grants and other payments if we win commissions or applications as an organisation.
This is a significant step along the Walkspace journey and we need to make sure this decision is a collective one made by as many members as possible.
A draft constitution has been prepared by the Walkspace Future Development group following some very helpful and informative sessions with the West Midlands Ownership Hub who offer advice to organisations thinking of becoming cooperatives. You will find the constitution document attached to this email.
Please read the constitution ahead of the AGM so that you can make an informed decision when it’s time to vote. The first three pages in particular we hope give a clear idea of the sort of organisation we are proposing Walkspace should become. If you have any questions, concerns or general feedback you’d like to give ahead of the AGM please reply to this email by Saturday 5th October.
We appreciate that the constitution may seem quite intimidating in its length and density but a lot of it is simply checks and balances required in a cooperative to ensure democratic decision making. It’s important to note that adopting this constitution doesn’t commit Walkspace to any drastic changes of direction - it doesn’t make us a registered company or anything like that. It does mean that we’ll have at least two general meetings a year on top of the AGM and that a new Committee will be formed.
The members of the Future Direction group feel that this route should strike the right balance, allowing Walkspace to become a truly members-led organisation that can go for more opportunities but without losing the more casual, social side of Walkspace that many members value.
Join the Committee?
Adopting the constitution will require us to form a new Committee, the members of which will take overall responsibility for the coordination of Walkspace activity and for managing the finances. At the very least we require a treasurer (keeps financial records), a secretary (takes minutes and communicates dates of meetings) and a chairperson (coordinates governance matters and chairs meetings) but we would also benefit from having additional committee members to take responsibility for certain areas of Walkspace activity eg. the walks programme, website maintenance, the newsletter, exhibitions, fundraising/commissions, salons/socials etc. (note: “take responsibility” does not mean “do all the work yourself” - subgroups and teams can be formed to share the work equitably)
If you would like to join the committee and feel that you’d be good at any of these roles (or if you have a role of your own you’d like to suggest) please reply to this email to nominate yourself ahead of the AGM. If you’re interested but still have some questions please reply to this email before Saturday 5th and we’ll do our best to answer. The Committee roles will last for one year until the next AGM when a new Committee will be formed. As these roles are voluntary it is understood that members will only be able to offer as much time as they are able to spare.
This is an exciting opportunity for Walkspace which will allow us to develop, increase the range of opportunities and remove the unfair situation where some members are paying out of their own pocket for essential parts of Walkspace which we all benefit from. There will be opportunities to ask questions during the meeting and feel free to discuss in the WhatsApp members’ group.
All the best,
Andy, Dan, Rachel, …kruse, Andrew - the Future Development group
AGM Invitation:
Topic: WalkSpace AGM
Time: Oct 6, 2024 06:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89250194580?pwd=FhGuUCSfw6ZhrSdOdP5wSihGdVQuXJ.1
Meeting ID: 892 5019 4580
Passcode: 317961