Another British Horse Society c**k-up

ViolettaTears

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Daily Telegraph .... two articles ... massive page 3 story and how do the Horse and Hound report it???? Of course not because of the advertising revenue at risk if they did .... so much for balanced and fair reporting #1984 and for my fellow horsey friends who kindly asked me (I note they don't all reveal who they are) I don't want to become another sacked volunteer thank you very much! I hear the CEO turned left yet again on her BA flight from T5 out to China this week where she is presenting at 2pm Hong Kong time. No more club class travel on charity money - shame on you British Horse Society for frittering away thousands on club class travel when a return can be bought for several thousands pounds.
 

Violettears

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Daily Telegraph .... two articles ... massive page 3 story and how do the Horse and Hound report it???? Of course not because of the advertising revenue at risk if they did .... so much for balanced and fair reporting #1984 and for my fellow horsey friends who kindly asked me (I note they don't all reveal who they are) I don't want to become another sacked volunteer thank you very much! I hear the CEO turned left yet again on her BA flight from T5 out to China this week where she is presenting at 2pm Hong Kong time. No more club class travel on charity money - shame on you British Horse Society for frittering away thousands on club class travel when a return can be bought for several thousands pounds.
And shame on you Violetta for writing such ‘tosh’!
 

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The whole north, south and east of England essentially! I think many of the Welsh will be closer to Hartpury than most of the English.

Fortunately, I will be visiting family in Scotland and have already booked to attend the Convention at Morris EC, so will be attending the meeting there. Makes a change for something to actually work out like this for me.
 

JanetGeorge

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PAK

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JanetGeorge

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SO much NEW information coming to light - for those who can find it, lol.

The one that fascinated me was the justification for that very expensive lorries. Apparently, this one is essential for use at the Castration Clinics. And gee, my vet could do at least half a dozen at a time out of the back of his car.
 

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JanetGeorge

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The Group's response to the offer of a meeting (with unacceptable conditions) has now been sent to The Chairman.

"
Dear Chairman,

Many thanks for the invitation for representatives from our group to meet with yourself and board members on the 28th February. After due consideration, we have decided to decline at this stage. I’m afraid your suggestions on how the meeting on 28th would be run, and who would attend, are totally unsatisfactory to those members who signed the original letter about our concerns, and also to the members of our FB Group which currently numbers in excess of 900. Among that group are some former members who have ceased their membership as a result of the unacceptable behaviour towards them. A Chief Executive and staff are responsible to the Trustees; the Trustees are in turn responsible to the Members/shareholders. Far too many Members are frightened to speak out publicly – some of whom are volunteers who have been ‘sacked’ and have no comeback. At least staff members have some chance of redress and even some compensation.

If you, Mr. Chairman, and your fellow Trustees really want to address Members’ concerns then we would be happy to attend a meeting with you and your fellow Trustees – but with no staff present. We would also require your assurance that none of us would be the victims of harassment and bullying by staff as a result of our attempts to seek positive change. We do however note that there are now a series of regional meetings planned to give members better access to the Trustees and to ask questions of them in person. You will no doubt be aware of the subjects that the members of the group have been raising their concerns over, and the questions that they have that have arisen from those discussions - will those present at the open meetings be prepared to discuss & provide answers to the following topics?

1. What steps are being taken to ensure that both staff and volunteers are treated in an acceptable manner?

2. What steps are being taken to control expenditure on projects that do not appear to have been adequately explained? For example - the BHS inroads into China and the UAE in education matters (where welfare is an insurmountable problem!) These are claimed to be self-funding - but the accounts carry no information on income/expenditure.

3. While some information has recently been given on the usage of the small lorry (financed by SEIB award of funds) there is nothing that can be found on the very expensive big lorry, its total capital costs or its total running costs. What was the business case for it, and why are the funds budgeted for it's maintenance and running not shown in the accounts?

4. The commissioning of the puppet generated a huge initial expense. How was it deployed and what are the future plans for its use?

If the answers to these questions are forthcoming - either by e-mail or at the public meetings - a future meeting between Members of our Group and the Trustees (only) may no longer be necessary. While it is regrettable that a situation arose whereby members deemed it necessary to form an action group, it is to be hoped that the Trustees are now aware that there is huge interest in how the society is run and how the funds are spent within the core membership, and this should be borne in mind by them going forwards.

Sincerely,

Members of the BHS Members’ Group
 

Velcrobum

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Excellent response, the letter to the membership was published in H&H today so I feel the January meeting did do something positive and hopefully there will be change in transparency and membership information. The nominations committee leaps to mind!!!!
 

JanetGeorge

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Excellent response, the letter to the membership was published in H&H today so I feel the January meeting did do something positive and hopefully there will be change in transparency and membership information. The nominations committee leaps to mind!!!!

Apparently, there will nw be an 'approved' FBHS on the Nominations Committee - but with no vote!!!!
 

PAK

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Do we know if the Trustees even know about the letters and data sent to them in January? Do we know if they know about the reply JG sent above - or the ones sent from individuals?
 

JanetGeorge

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Do we know if the Trustees even know about the letters and data sent to them in January? Do we know if they know about the reply JG sent above - or the ones sent from individuals?

I think we can be pretty sure the Chairman has kept his fellow Trustees informed - and I'd bet that each of them have friends who would help too. Some of them might not be on FB themselves, but I'd bet most of them have friends who are members of the Group. And this thread has had well over 100,000 views now. They'll be asking questions!
 

JanetGeorge

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We have had a very prompt reply from the Chairman to the e-mail sent last Friday declining the meeting under their 'arrangements'. Of course it came with a confidentiality warning - so I won't copy & paste here, but my reply (his e-mail was sent by me due to a glitch with the Group e-mail and their e-mail security.) You'll get the gist, lol.


Dear David

I apologize for any confusion caused by my e-mail. It was a last minute action when BHS mimecast repeatedly ‘bounced’ the e-mail address for the Group, no longer the one previously used as the members who held it had left the Group. I was acting as an Admin of the Group – and you are right – I am one of many members who left the BHS (after 35 years as a member) in 2015. You are no doubt aware that I worked for the BHS for 3 years, first as Head of PR and then as Acting CE after the necessary but sudden departure of Hywel Davies.

Only two of the signatories of the Group’s first letter have now left the Group – the rest – and all Members of the Group – have approved both the action and the letter you received.

We are aware of the Meetings – I think perhaps MANY BHS members (in addition to those in the Group) find their locations unhelpful – two very close together – and two wide apart but not helpful to those not living anywhere near them. The questions we have asked are reasonable, and I would suggest the answers should be made public rather than confined to a private meeting. Just as I would suggest that news that Nominations for the Board elections are now open should be on the front page, rather than deeply ‘buried’. There will be many more questions from the Group, which is steadily growing – despite our requirement to answer two very relevant questions satisfactorily. 950 members now – more than 800 of them current members – the remainder, ex-members who would LIKE to rejoin if they saw action to correct the problems identified.

I note your requirement to have your e-mail treated as confidential. I will have to report the basic facts of it to the Group – and will also include my reply on their behalf.

Please contact me if you require any further information. The Group’s e-mail is members@ukhorse.org – the bounce message is below if you wish to contact the Group directly.

regards
Janet George
 

honetpot

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Looking what they want from of a Trustee,
https://www.mi-nomination.com/bhs?u...821-291680-BHS+Election+of+the+Board+Trustees

remember, its an unpaid position and the Charities Commission, do not ask for this level of specific knowledge, more knowledge about the duties and responsibilities of being a Trustee, there is a pretty small pool of BHS members eligible to apply.

Then you have the hurdle of who would want to apply. Then you have to get through the nominations committee, and then there could be a vote, where most of the people likely to be present are BHS employee. About 130 work in the offices and could be members, allowed to vote.
So they can say no one wants to be a Trustee, or they are not suitable. This then allows them to co-opt people to the Trust Board who are not even BHS members.
 

PAK

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Looking what they want from of a Trustee,
https://www.mi-nomination.com/bhs?u...821-291680-BHS+Election+of+the+Board+Trustees

remember, its an unpaid position and the Charities Commission, do not ask for this level of specific knowledge, more knowledge about the duties and responsibilities of being a Trustee, there is a pretty small pool of BHS members eligible to apply.

Then you have the hurdle of who would want to apply. Then you have to get through the nominations committee, and then there could be a vote, where most of the people likely to be present are BHS employee. About 130 work in the offices and could be members, allowed to vote.
So they can say no one wants to be a Trustee, or they are not suitable. This then allows them to co-opt people to the Trust Board who are not even BHS members.
The vote could be done electronically and be open to more members participating. However I agree with your main point. The definition makes it a very narrow shallow pool of potential candidates. And with the gathering storm who would want to join?
 

D66

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The vote could be done electronically and be open to more members participating. However I agree with your main point. The definition makes it a very narrow shallow pool of potential candidates. And with the gathering storm who would want to join?
this ^^^^
My professional body( the RIBA) has an option for electronic voting for the post of chairman and all the board members. We can sit at home, read the candidate's statements and then rate them in order of preference. I can't remember if we still have the postal option, maybe it would be good for the BHS to retain it in parallel if they feel a significant number of members are not computer savvy.
 
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JanetGeorge

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this ^^^^
My professional body( the RIBA) has an option for electronic voting for the post of chairman and all the board members. We can sit at home, read the candidate's statements and then rate them in order of preference. I can't remember if we still have the postal option, maybe it would be good for the BHS to retain it in parallel if they feel a significant number of members are not computer savvy.

Ah - but that would give far too many Members a say - the Chairman would rather just have their proxies.
 

Zebedee

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There has been the option of voting for BHS Trustees elctronically for at least the last two if not three Trustee elections - not sure why people seem to think it has to be done in person or by proxy? They send out emails with the links, post paper forms and include all the onformation in British Horse magazine.
 
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honetpot

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Thanks really interesting. As I understood it, we no longer vote on Trustee, or if we have a vote, its after the filter of,
18.4 Any candidates nominated for election to a Trustee role must be considered by the Nomination Committee in accordance with the Selection Policy and such considerations may include a review of written applications and an interview.
18.6 Any candidate who is nominated for election but is identified as not meeting the requirements of the Selection Policy shall be informed of the decision and given the opportunity to appeal such decision in writing to the Board which shall have ultimate discretion as to whether to override such decision.
So before you even get a chance to vote, you have to get through the interview. This was, and I quote one of the existing Board members, 'because then it becomes a popularity contest'. But they can co-opt people, who not are a member who has nominated to fill the vacancy.
Is this to weed out poor candidates, or candidates that just do not 'fit'. We will never know because if we do not get the chance the vote on them how do we know their skill set.
Just read the 'job descriptions' its a tall order to fill, but not required buy the Charity Commission
The information needed to be given to members about the changes to the Articles of Association was far more important than voting on a new Trustee but the information given was derisory.
We have been told that the only have 64,000 email addresses for 104,000 members, so if you didn't get and email about the nominating a member for the Board, please ring the BHS, and make sure they have it.
 
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Velcrobum

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I didn’t get emails that I knew were being sent, and they did have my email address. I had to change it at New Year so I phoned to tell them the new address.
I also have not received e-mails and yes they have my e-mail address because they have sent me e-mails before!!!
 
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