Structure Group Report 2010-04-25

The Freegle Structure working group can be found at http://freegle.it/Structure.

This is a summary of discussions since our last report of 11th April 2010, covering messages 2583 to 2662. Do have a look at our Task List http://freegle.it/StructureTasks for more info about what we are up to. We have 59 members and would warmly welcome more if you are interested!

Live Topics

Governing Document/Polls

Once the Reps and Legal have approved the draft submitted, adoption of this document will be subject of the next poll. We also intend to poll on clarification of the number of terms of office a Rep should serve, as we haven't got a clear mandate for this from previous polls. If other Working Groups have any items they wish to go to Member poll, these can be added as well. A proposal to formalise a procedure for instigating future Member polls has yet to be discussed.

Working Groups

A draft proposal for roles to be instigated in Working Groups was submitted to the Reps for their discussion/approval on 23rd April. The three roles are Cooordinator, Spokesperson and Task List Compiler. If anyone has niftier titles for these roles, suggestions would be appreciated!

Organisational Structure

A discussion has started on where Working Groups fit into the 'organisational structure' of Freegle. We would welcome any thoughts on this.

Dissemination of Information to Members

This discussion has been shared with People group as there is a proposal that as much information as possible should be stored on the Wiki. Other information could be decided upon on a case by case basis and perhaps utilise Central files for storage. We would welcome input from 'occasional readers' on how best they feel Freegle can ensure information is shared with Members.

Charitable Status

Jane Loveday received clarification from the Charity Commission for England and Wales that they would definitely not consider charitable status for organisations operating with less than £5k per annum. The simplified status of Charitable Incorporated Orgnisation (which we believe might be a good model for Freegle) was also confirmed as being unavailable until 2011.

A suggestion has been made that Freegle consider registering for charitable status in Scotland, where there is no minimum income requirement for organisations.

Maintaining a Healthy Workforce

The suggestion of asking Members what skills, talents and interests they have has been raised again and clarification sought from all working groups on what they would each find helpful. It is hoped that but explaining what skills may be useful to Freegle, members will have a clearer idea of how they might contribute.

Pending Topics

Our task list shows the other items that been identified by and for us to consider: http://freegle.it/StructureTasks. Tasks completed have been moved to the bottom and highlighted in green, 'dormant' tasks have been similarly moved to the bottom and highlighted in purple. Several of the other tasks are pending discussion or decisions by other groups or the Reps. Please have a look at the list and let us know if you feel we have prioritised items incorrectly, have missed anything, or if you would like to volunteer to lead or help with any of the tasks.

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The spokespeople for this group are Jacky (Great Yarmouth) and Edward (Rep, Edinburgh and pedestrian). Owners are Wendy (Woodley) and Jacky.

Back to Freegle Structure or go to next report Structure Group Report 2010-05-30