AGM 2011 Structure Report

Structure Group Report 03/10/09 to 20/09/11

The Structure Working Group was started in September 2009 with the remit to help develop proposals for how Freegle will work as an organisation.
After over 18 months of discussion and polls we produced a governing document which was adopted as the Freegle Constitution by Volunteers in May 2011. Although this has been our single most important piece of work, we have also dealt with a lot of other structural issues. These include:

Working Groups

• 01-10-09 - Devised a rule about how many central groups one person can own.
• 26-2-10 - Considered how working groups should operate for efficient decision making that is democratic and inclusive.
• 5-4-10 - Considered how information/reports are disseminated most effectively from Groups to membership.

Reps

• 12-2-10 - Clarified Reps Term of Office as poll didn’t give a clear answer.
• 30-8-10 - Reps submitted draft job description based on earlier suggestion of this group.
• 06-07-10 - Clarified process for electing reps.
• 07-07-10 - Discussed how to best time the 2010 elections for Reps of elections.
• 07-07-10 - Drafted a remit for Reps.
• Document produced outlining the Reps working practice.

Financial

• 14-2-10 - Banks were contacted to find out what accounts were on offer.
• 14-2-10 - A set of financial procedures were devised and proposed.
• 26-6-11 - Financial procedures were reviewed and amended where necessary. Drew up Auditor remit.
• 7-11-10 - Established costs incurred so far in setting up and maintaining Freegle nationally.
• 13-11-10 - Discussed what mechanisms/structure we need to raise the funding needed to run Freegle centrally.
• 24-3-11 - Constitution devised (required to open bank account).

Appeals/Mediation/Complaints

• 30-7-10 - Appeals Panel - procedure discussed and adopted.
• 30-7-10 - Mediation Service - procedure discussed and adopted.
• Review Adjudication procedures - When the first Panel process finished, we reviewed the process in place to see if it works and is effective and fair to all parties.

Teams and Elected Posts

• 8-3-11 - Outlined the role, remit, appointment and leaving office procedures for the Ombudsmen and Returning Officers.
• 04-03-10 - Group Affiliation Team - Procedures were decided for GAT
• 11-1-.10 - Put together a document that outlines the role and remit of the Central Mods/Owners. *Elected posts - Looked into whether we should adopt the 'next highest candidate' automatic replacement if the role holder stands down.
• 17-02-10 Suggested appointing a Freegle Historian to ensure records are kept of Freegle's development.
• 21-03-10 Maintaining a healthy workforce *Devised a list of skills which would be useful for Structure and Legal groups.
• 15-07-10 Liability issues - Considered teams forming own limited liability company where the initial aim would be to supply Tech support to Freegle, to mitigate liability.

Communication

• 12-02-10 Owner address reliability - Checked whether all people with moderator privileges receive emails to owner address so we have a reliable method of contacting members about important issues, polls etc.
• 11-04-10 - Review poll - ‘How we are doing' poll proposed for groups, survey launched June 2010
• 26.5.10 - Worked with the Returning Officer to establish some policies for polls - where held, length of time etc.
• 09-08-10 - Suggested that a system of collaborative drafting and proofreading is needed for all mass mailings.

Membership of Freegle

• 28-2-10 - Volunteer status (changed to National Volunteers) - Defined 'volunteer' for voting and other Freegle purposes.
• 01-11 - Propose which ‘other groups’ could be affiliated to Freegle and the conditions of affiliation.
• 17-02-10 - Freegle elsewhere - Looked at ways to address issues raised by enquiries received for Freegle outside of the UK.
• 05-03-10 - Procedure was decided for groups leaving Freegle.
• 04-4-11 - Needed to clarify Jan 2010 poll results on affiliation requirements which were open to misinterpretation.

Legal/Constitutional issues

• 10-02-10 - Considered the implications of Freegle being a charity.
• 20-06-10 - Devised a clear statement of aims and ethos for Freegle and a separate one for groups.
• 11-07-10 - Suggestion that Freegle has an AGM, incorporated in constitution.

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