Another British Horse Society c**k-up

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pink unicorn

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24.2 "states the GM to be held at such time and in such place as the board shall appoint", it can be when and where they want but that doesn't give the board the right to ignore the law and not set a date ( Members' power to require directors to call general meetings (sec303 - sec304), If the request is properly made, the directors must within 21 days call the meeting for a date not more than 28 days after the date of the notice calling the meeting)

maybe the 1000 plus members of these threads and the FB members page should throw a £10 in the pot, for a lawyer to sort this board out

a GM is the fairest option to allow any concerned member attend
 
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Cowpony

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pink unicorn said:
24.2 "states the GM to be held at such time and in such place as the board shall appoint", it can be when and where they want but that doesn't give the board the right to ignore the law and not set a date ( Members' power to require directors to call general meetings (sec303 - sec304), If the request is properly made, the directors must within 21 days call the meeting for a date not more than 28 days after the date of the notice calling the meeting)

maybe the 1000 plus members of these threads and the FB members page should throw a £10 in the pot, for a lawyer to sort this board out

a GM is the fairest option to allow any concerned member attend
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Can't whoever submitted the request just contact them and point out that the 21 days have passed so they are now in breach of the Articles of Association? You don't need a lawyer for that.
 
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onemoretime

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pink unicorn said:
24.2 "states the GM to be held at such time and in such place as the board shall appoint", it can be when and where they want but that doesn't give the board the right to ignore the law and not set a date ( Members' power to require directors to call general meetings (sec303 - sec304), If the request is properly made, the directors must within 21 days call the meeting for a date not more than 28 days after the date of the notice calling the meeting)

maybe the 1000 plus members of these threads and the FB members page should throw a £10 in the pot, for a lawyer to sort this board out

a GM is the fairest option to allow any concerned member attend
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I keep trying to e mail David Sheerin to ask for the date of the EGM but the e mail keeps bouncing back to me, no doubt deliberately!
 
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ECB

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pink unicorn said:
24.2 "states the GM to be held at such time and in such place as the board shall appoint", it can be when and where they want but that doesn't give the board the right to ignore the law and not set a date ( Members' power to require directors to call general meetings (sec303 - sec304), If the request is properly made, the directors must within 21 days call the meeting for a date not more than 28 days after the date of the notice calling the meeting)

maybe the 1000 plus members of these threads and the FB members page should throw a £10 in the pot, for a lawyer to sort this board out

a GM is the fairest option to allow any concerned member attend
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Thank you. I agree with your correction. So this week they must call the meeting and it must be with 28 working days. I like your idea about the tenners. Are you able to create the mechanism to collect the funds? And I agree the GM is the fairest & most appropriate next step.
 
honetpot

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pink unicorn said:
24.2 "states the GM to be held at such time and in such place as the board shall appoint", it can be when and where they want but that doesn't give the board the right to ignore the law and not set a date ( Members' power to require directors to call general meetings (sec303 - sec304), If the request is properly made, the directors must within 21 days call the meeting for a date not more than 28 days after the date of the notice calling the meeting)

maybe the 1000 plus members of these threads and the FB members page should throw a £10 in the pot, for a lawyer to sort this board out

a GM is the fairest option to allow any concerned member attend
Click to expand...
You keep reading my mind.
 
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ye olde greymare

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Wendy Suddes 26/04/19
In the midst of continued speculation, to clarify my personal situation and to draw a line under this period in my life, I would like to make the following statement:
I was a member of staff, based in the North of England at The British Horse Society, for almost eighteen years until my dismissal at the end of May 2018. I am a BHS member of almost thirty years and an Accredited Professional Coach (BHSI).
My background is in Education but I have an all round interest in the Societies’ work, having run several Approved Centres, hosted a Riding Club Championship at my home and in more recent years been more involved in welfare. I had an exemplary work record with the BHS including many Grade 1 ‘mastery’ appraisals to my credit. I have a reputation for being a straight talker, courageous and a workaholic. I am also recognised for integrity, fairness and honesty in my dealings with colleagues both within and outside the organisation.
Many important BHS projects have been instigated in the North over the years – including the grading scheme for Approved Centres, unique collaborative work with the RSPCA, the BHS Castration/ID Scheme, BHS branded hi-viz and the Tired of 20 Metre Circles? initiative aimed at encouraging people to tackle Historic Research of paths prior to 2026.
However, for those who do not know me, it is fair to say that I may have most recently been described in less than positive terms.
Back in December 2015, in support of a colleague and in the spirit of openness for which I am known, I voiced concerns with regard to staff morale. From that point onwards I was treated as an outsider. Prior to that point, I was led to believe that changes at the top represented a breath of fresh air for the organisation and I enjoyed what I felt were positive working relationships. However, it seems that once I had the temerity to challenge the status quo, attitudes towards me changed.
In February 2017, after careful consideration, I whistle-blew in writing, to the Chairman and the Board with regard to my continued concerns. I was later interviewed by a Barrister, tasked by the BHS to investigate. The subsequent sequence of events has seen nothing short of a witch hunt and great pains have been taken to accuse me of being vindictive and a trouble causer. People who have never met me have preconceived ideas with regard to my character and motives.
The pain of this is acute, however, this pales compared to what some of my colleagues, including those on the payroll and in voluntary positions, have been forced to endure.
After a series of events which can be best described as stranger than fiction, I was dismissed from my role in May 2019. Having fought tirelessly to clear me of any wrong doing and avoid dismissal, I initially fought to get my job back and then progressed to a Tribunal application for Unfair Dismissal.
Sadly, due to sheer exhaustion and stress caused by a tremendous burden carried for too long, (and as a result of what I believe to be failures by the HR Director and the Board to protect me and failure of the Chairman to properly act on evidence provided to him), alongside confusion with emails from ACAS, I have somehow missed the appeal deadline for submission to Tribunal (less than one day late).
It has taken months to discover that, due to clear rules in law, appealing the judges decision to reject my claim due to the lateness, would be futile.
I am devastated, not just for myself, losing my dream job but also for the many brave, talented people who have suffered injustice too and stood by and supported me in the hope that a Tribunal would shed light on the problems. Even now, when very little has been addressed or rectified, there are people reluctant to come forward and speak up for fear of losing their job or jeopardising their valuable connection to the Society.
I (and others), believe that those in positions of influence at the BHS have lost sight of why the organisation exists as a charity. The Society’s raison d’etre should mean that the horse comes first - and its people and resources should be valued and respected in the process.
As a long-standing BHS member, I believe that we owe it to the staff, volunteers and members, (all of whom buy into the fundamental aims of this hugely important organisation), to press for transparency and accountability. Ironically, I now have personal experience of the appalling HR practices previously relayed to me by colleagues and the seriously flawed and improper relationship between the HR Director and CE.
Those who have, perhaps naively, failed to question the perpetual self-praising propaganda, emanating from the organisation, now need to demand evidence and clarification. Cronyism is rife and there is a need to seek out and recognise the truth, before further damage is caused to the fabric of this invaluable organisation.
Thankfully, many staff and volunteers have remained unaware or unaffected. However, for those who have been affected, I have observed the very best (and indeed the very worst), in human nature. It has been a salutary lesson in psychology.
I have no regrets concerning my actions and if I found myself in the same position again, I would not hesitate to react accordingly. I am truly thankful for the new friends I have made during this dreadful period and the old friends to whom I am so much closer - and who are now priceless to me.
With transparency and proper accountability there can be recognition that mistakes have inevitably been made. This will help to restore trust and identify the solutions needed to secure a bright future for the BHS.
Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures.
To that end and for those with an interest in reading the true account of my personal experiences further, I will make available separately on the British Horse Society Members Facebook Page, the Witness Statement prepared for the Tribunal along with a number of relevant documents.
 
JanetGeorge

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Downton Dame said:
have just read Wendy suddes statement on FB. The goings on in the beggar belief. Something needs to be done !
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Wendy's sacking was the atrocity that led me to start this thread and I didn't know then JUST how appalling her treatment had been. Having now read it all - and heard so much more about the mis-treatment of other staff members and volunteers - I personally will NOT stop! It is not JUST the CE who behaved very badly indeed - but also some of her 'minions' who are still there - no doubt with their eyes on the CE's job.
 
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ViolettaTears

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Wendy Suddes is clearly an outstanding horsewoman with huge integrity, my husband and i are totally shocked to read her statement. Wendy, you have our total support and utter respect! The HR Director and CE should be stopped from ever working for a charity again and the HR Director should be sacked for Gross Inadequacy. We need an EGM to hold the Chairman and Board to account so that we as members can have a public, open discussion about the way the charity has and is being run. What on earth has happened to the EGM date. Surely it should be in June? Why don't we all just turn up to the 'General' meeting at Stoneleigh and make it into an EGM ???? The charity is OUR charity, not the Board's, or the staff's or the CEs, it belongs to us as members. Horse and Hound, you may be owned by Private Equity but you too are complicit in acting more like 'Hello' magazine, you should be printing balanced articles, rather than being a puppet for the charismatic but fundamentally flawed personalities. By the way we have also heard that the Chairman is staying on over his 6 years (which should end in July, which is when AGMS were held until the cowardice of the board of trustees and CE meant they cancelled them rather than face us members). We hope it isn't true, but this is the BHS we are talking about.
 
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Violettears

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ViolettaTears said:
Wendy Suddes is clearly an outstanding horsewoman with huge integrity, my husband and i are totally shocked to read her statement. Wendy, you have our total support and utter respect! The HR Director and CE should be stopped from ever working for a charity again and the HR Director should be sacked for Gross Inadequacy. We need an EGM to hold the Chairman and Board to account so that we as members can have a public, open discussion about the way the charity has and is being run. What on earth has happened to the EGM date. Surely it should be in June? Why don't we all just turn up to the 'General' meeting at Stoneleigh and make it into an EGM ???? The charity is OUR charity, not the Board's, or the staff's or the CEs, it belongs to us as members. Horse and Hound, you may be owned by Private Equity but you too are complicit in acting more like 'Hello' magazine, you should be printing balanced articles, rather than being a puppet for the charismatic but fundamentally flawed personalities. By the way we have also heard that the Chairman is staying on over his 6 years (which should end in July, which is when AGMS were held until the cowardice of the board of trustees and CE meant they cancelled them rather than face us members). We hope it isn't true, but this is the BHS we are talking about.
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What a load of tosh!
 
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Violettears

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JanetGeorge said:
Wendy's sacking was the atrocity that led me to start this thread and I didn't know then JUST how appalling her treatment had been. Having now read it all - and heard so much more about the mis-treatment of other staff members and volunteers - I personally will NOT stop! It is not JUST the CE who behaved very badly indeed - but also some of her 'minions' who are still there - no doubt with their eyes on the CE's job.
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What a load of tosh.
 
Goldenstar

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Just my thoughts I also worked with Wendy when I was invovlved with the BHS she was exceptional.
I went from meeting with her thinking how lucky the BHS was to have her she managed the sometimes difficult interface between volunteers and HQ so well.
I quit my volunteering when I got a whiff of what being described they expected expected a lot but did not have your back .I won’t share what happened to me but in a second my eyes opened and I managed myself away as quick as possible .
 
Tiddlypom

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Velcrobum said:
Perhaps someone needs to print off Wendy's statement (as this is a public forum) and leave copies at regular intervals in the BHS tent at Badminton. Anyone know where Martin Clunes lives - Beaminster Dorset is as close as I can find.
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I'm happy to breeze by the BHS tent at Badminton with a copy of Wendy's statement and pass on my disgust at the current shenanigans in person.
 
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