Transform the BHS - Not vitriol but vision

[PAK]

Meeting programme from FAQ page on BHS site.
Q. What will be the programme of events at the General Meeting?

A. Proposed timetable:

10.30 Registration and Coffee
11.00 Welcome
11.05 Proposed changes to the Constitution
11.10 Questions from members followed by the vote
12.00 The British Horse Society Strategic Plan and questions from members
13.00 Lunch and depart

Q. Why is The British Horse Society proposing changes to the way Trustees can be elected?

A. As a charity The British Horse Society are bound by the regulations of the Charities Commission. There are also other codes of governance which make recommendations for Charities to follow, including the Sport England / UKSport A Code for Sports Governance. These recommendations include guidance on Board structure, role descriptions, diversity and how Trustees can be elected or appointed.

These can be viewed here:

• http://www.uksport.gov.uk/resources/governance-code
• https://www.charitygovernancecode.org/en

Q. Why does The British Horse Society adhere to the Sport England / UKSport A Code for Sports Governance?

A. The British Horse Society is fortunate to receive funding from Sport England. In the past the Participation Project was funded and more recently Sport England have committed to funding the Access 2026 project. To be eligible for this funding the Code must be adhered to. A key element of A Code for Sports Governance is the structure of the Board and the election or appointment of the Trustees.

Question: So the composition of the Board is being determined by another organisation as a criteria for accepting funding. Who decided that, when and why? How much money are we talking about relative to the membership income? I understand these forums are in the public domain so perhaps its better to save this discussion until the 5th.

 

[Suechoccy]

How can questions be added to this EGM by members? Or is it too late?
My question is please can the BHS reconsider their decision to charge affiliated bridleway groups £100 per year (up from £40) for public liability insurance. (Please see my separate thread on H&H). It's hard enough to raise bridleway funds for bridleway work without having to also raise £100 a year to give to BHS in order to carry out, on a voluntary basis, work which is of direct benefit to and also a charitable aim of the BHS (bridleway protection/maintenance/enhancement/development) and it grates when the volunteers of the bridleway group committee are also already paying BHS gold membership cost each as well. My proposal would be the BHS cap the cost at £50 and cover the extra £50 themselves for each group each year in return for the huge amount of free work which we are doing on their behalves. Cheap at the price! Thank you.

 

[honetpot]

I think there are a lot of issues that need to be discussed before we vote, even that we can vote on the proposed changes at all as there are so many holes in the proposal.
I have forwarded a list of questions, so perhaps we will get some answers.
Sue, I am going down the night before so if you want me to ask a question I will do. Is anyone else going from Cambridge.

 

[PAK]

How can questions be added to this EGM by members? Or is it too late?
My question is please can the BHS reconsider their decision to charge affiliated bridleway groups £100 per year (up from £40) for public liability insurance. (Please see my separate thread on H&H). It's hard enough to raise bridleway funds for bridleway work without having to also raise £100 a year to give to BHS in order to carry out, on a voluntary basis, work which is of direct benefit to and also a charitable aim of the BHS (bridleway protection/maintenance/enhancement/development) and it grates when the volunteers of the bridleway group committee are also already paying BHS gold membership cost each as well. My proposal would be the BHS cap the cost at £50 and cover the extra £50 themselves for each group each year in return for the huge amount of free work which we are doing on their behalves. Cheap at the price! Thank you.

That's an excellent topic. It would be a good one for AGM if we still had them. It is unclear to me how the agenda has been set and if/how questions will be taken. If you can - please go the meeting and try to raise your question.

 

[JanetGeorge]

Q. Why is The British Horse Society proposing changes to the way Trustees can be elected?

A. As a charity The British Horse Society are bound by the regulations of the Charities Commission. There are also other codes of governance which make recommendations for Charities to follow, including the Sport England / UKSport A Code for Sports Governance. These recommendations include guidance on Board structure, role descriptions, diversity and how Trustees can be elected or appointed.

Good thing I won't be there because that answer is bo**ocks. The changes are to suit the CE/Chairman getting more yes men on the Board - the current constitution and means of electing Trustees is totally in compliance with the Charity Commissioner's requirements.

 

[Suechoccy]

Honetpot - I think Lynda Warth (BHS County Access officer for Cambridge) is going to the EGM.

Without AGMs and only with an EGM, I don't see how us ordinary members are able to present questions for discussion of the sort which I've raised here.

 

[sywell]

In Article 2.1.2 It mentions breeding and this is surprising as the CEO disbanded the Horse and Pony Breeds committee.
In 12.11 Why cannot all persons applying to be a member of the boards go on the voting list and not just applicants selected by the nominations committee you will always get unsuitable persons appliying and the members will no doubt not vote for them but the nominations committee will no allow anyone on to the voting paper that has opinions they do not like.

 

[PAK]

Good thing I won't be there because that answer is bo**ocks. The changes are to suit the CE/Chairman getting more yes men on the Board - the current constitution and means of electing Trustees is totally in compliance with the Charity Commissioner's requirements.

I agree that it would appear that the current constitution and proposed changes may be compliant with the law HOWEVER the actions of the organisation are not ; for example, muddle about membership, lack of transparency, etc.

 

[PAK]

I agree that it would appear that the current constitution and proposed changes may be compliant with the law HOWEVER the actions of the organisation are not ; for example, muddle about membership, lack of transparency, etc.

I am very sorry to hear you won't be there. You have made such a valuable contribution.

 

[PAK]

Dear H&H readers - please note that, despite repeated questions, I have not had a response from H&H about attendance at the meeting on Saturday. Might this indicate bias?

 

[Suechoccy]

Another question, as an ordinary gold BHS member, which I'd like to ask the BHS organisation (but have no way of doing without there being an annual AGM) is:

Why haven't the BHS taken the stance of launching a campaign against/fighting against/launching a petition to lobby government against the cutoff date in 2026 for recording historical rights of way onto the Definitive Map? There's absolutely no need whatsoever for a cutoff date for such work and it's a piece of legislation from the CROW Act which needs repealing. As a charitable organisation one of whose aims is to ensure and enhance safe off-road riding opportunities for horseriders and a less fragmented bridleway/byway network, then campaigning to have the cutoff date removed would be a very sensible move and totally in line with the BHS's stated objectives too.

 

[PAK]

Another question, as an ordinary gold BHS member, which I'd like to ask the BHS organisation (but have no way of doing without there being an annual AGM) is:

Why haven't the BHS taken the stance of launching a campaign against/fighting against/launching a petition to lobby government against the cutoff date in 2026 for recording historical rights of way onto the Definitive Map? There's absolutely no need whatsoever for a cutoff date for such work and it's a piece of legislation from the CROW Act which needs repealing. As a charitable organisation one of whose aims is to ensure and enhance safe off-road riding opportunities for horseriders and a less fragmented bridleway/byway network, then campaigning to have the cutoff date removed would be a very sensible move and totally in line with the BHS's stated objectives too.

Good question! And yes, without any AGM how does one get it raised publicly? It would appear not to be a priority greater than "China".

 

[Velcrobum]

According to the board the International arm of BHS currently functioning in China and UAE is self funding and profitable. They are now looking to expand to USA and India. Stated in the presentation today at BHS HQ.

 

[PAK]

According to the board the International arm of BHS currently functioning in China and UAE is self funding and profitable. They are now looking to expand to USA and India. Stated in the presentation today at BHS HQ.

And where is this information, in detail, available to members?

 

[Velcrobum]

And where is this information, in detail, available to members?

Sadly no idea it was a statement made today so I sincerely hope it will be made available to the membership.

 

[PAK]

Sadly no idea it was a statement made today so I sincerely hope it will be made available to the membership.

Chance would be a fine thing.

 

[honetpot]

For those who are interested, the meeting went on far longer than the Trust Board anticipated, and the meeting finished about 15.30, with lots of question still unresolved.
The vote was adjourned and the Trust has gone to reconsider its format and perhaps content. A form was presented for members to call an EGM.
I will try and do some notes from what I remember but it was all a bit of a muddle as so many issues were raised.
There were so many things covered in the meeting, it hard to take it all in and some are not resolved. There are more questions to be asked.

One of the points raised was the lack of ability for local reps to contact members, and that all communication had to go the Regional Office. The reasoning for this was compliance with GDPR, and lack of secure computers do hold email addresses at local level. Although on the face of it this sounds plausible, they spent £1.4m pounds on IT last year, and I was assured the computer system was now working well, it seems a strange reason.
Having spent that amount of money on IT I can not believe that they can not set up a system where you can opt in and out of various email alerts for various interests and groups, such as Google io https://groups.io/,
https://groups.io/static/features

On this thought I was thinking of setting up a BHS members resource group, as at the moment our information is poorly disseminated, and BHS management for various reasons is unlikely for to want use to disseminate information with the membership list they have.
I do only have basic social media skills, so would anyone be interested in this project or have any other suggestions
Read more at https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/...ety-c-k-up.767675/page-18#biXc4orOugoJZmrM.99

 

[onemoretime]

Sounds like a good idea Honetpot. I only have basic internet skills but happy to help in any way I can.

 

[PAK]

Excerpt from BHS Annual Report 2017
The international influence of our education marque was consolidated in 2017, particularly in China, where we have started to rise to the challenge of meeting demand and maintaining standards by working in partnership with Equuleus International Riding Club - with a view to enhancing the inspection and assessment environment.

Chasing "burgeoning" profit - a ultra luxury riding school. Soon to be expanded from China and Mid East to India and USA

 

[PAK]

For those who are interested, the meeting went on far longer than the Trust Board anticipated, and the meeting finished about 15.30, with lots of question still unresolved.
The vote was adjourned and the Trust has gone to reconsider its format and perhaps content. A form was presented for members to call an EGM.
I will try and do some notes from what I remember but it was all a bit of a muddle as so many issues were raised.
There were so many things covered in the meeting, it hard to take it all in and some are not resolved. There are more questions to be asked.

One of the points raised was the lack of ability for local reps to contact members, and that all communication had to go the Regional Office. The reasoning for this was compliance with GDPR, and lack of secure computers do hold email addresses at local level. Although on the face of it this sounds plausible, they spent £1.4m pounds on IT last year, and I was assured the computer system was now working well, it seems a strange reason.
Having spent that amount of money on IT I can not believe that they can not set up a system where you can opt in and out of various email alerts for various interests and groups, such as Google io https://groups.io/,
https://groups.io/static/features

On this thought I was thinking of setting up a BHS members resource group, as at the moment our information is poorly disseminated, and BHS management for various reasons is unlikely for to want use to disseminate information with the membership list they have.
I do only have basic social media skills, so would anyone be interested in this project or have any other suggestions
Read more at https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/...ety-c-k-up.767675/page-18#biXc4orOugoJZmrM.99

Check out the new facebook page and apply to join

https://www.facebook.com/groups/membersBHS/​

 

[PAK]

From the source of the petition
With regard to the call for an EGM delivered to the CEO of the BHS on the morning of Saturday 5th Jan 2019, an EGM can only deal with the subject matter, in this case "Loss of confidence in the Chairman and Board of Trustees of the BHS" no other subject matter can be included or discussed. In order to allow for thorough questions a general meeting would have to be held after the EGM. The decision of the group who tabled the summons was to withdraw the EGM covenant as it was felt that with at least 2 meetings in the offing it could lead to voter fatigue and loss of support. The BHS resolution has been adjourned, consequently any 12 members of the BHS can still table another EGM with specific proposals at any time until the resolution is carried.

 

[PAK]

Horse & Hound presented a misleading view of the 5 Jan meeting. Neglecting to mention the petition "loss of confidence in the Chairman and Board".

 

[PAK]

I have not received any minutes yet. Has anyone?

"Thank you for your enquiry requesting further clarity on some of the topics discussed in the General Meeting of the British Horse Society held on Saturday 5 January. Notes from the meeting will be made available by close of business on Friday 11 January. If these notes do not answer your query then please emailgeneralmeeting@bhs.org.uk

Best wishes

Sarah (Phillips) COO"
Read more at https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/bhs-meeting-update.771333/page-3#Uwi2ck5HD3YZGOp2.99

 

[PAK]

Dear BHS –

This morning when I was mucking out, I got a text from our bank. Our joint account was overdrawn.

They told me about some shocking payments that I had no idea you had made. Lorries, drivers, puppets, computer systems, lots of other fancy things like uniforms, and designer gins- all kinds of things that we have never discussed and I thought we were “one team”.

When we got together, I believed that you genuinely cared for me. That our relationship wasn’t just all about the money. And that we shared a common love of horses. But now I see that isn’t true. You’re spending so much money, without my knowing, on things that don’t really matter to me.

After I finished the call with the bank, and all the mucking out, I checked the horses and sat down with a coffee. I was rather tempted to add a large dollop of brandy to pick my spirits up but I did not. I opened the newspaper and there on the front page was a picture of you at a fancy place in another country hob-nobbing.

I am off out to see a lawyer now. I am getting a divorce.

Your former "better half"
A. Member

Read more at https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/bhs-meeting-update.771333/page-3#WlC2deVCZTX0ii4y.99

 

[PAK]

 

[PAK]