St Francis Animal Welfare

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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - 12 MARCH 2008

The Trustees and St Francis would like to update all their supporters on the incident which occurred at the Charity’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the evening of Wednesday 12 March at Fair Oak Village Hall.

The Trustees had been warned to expect a possible hostile take-over bid by unconfirmed members of the charity, and had genuine concerns that the AGM would be hijacked, due to recent events at a previous meeting of the Committee, at which a group of people turned up uninvited. That group had proceeded to aggressively, and invalidly, declare themselves to be part of the Committee, forcing the Chairman, Mr David Whitmore, to adjourn the meeting.

The Trustees and Committee felt it necessary to protect their genuine members, some of which are elderly. A decision was therefore taken to declare the AGM a ‘members only’ event and to request assistance from the Chief Inspector of Eastleigh Police, who – understanding the situation – deployed two officers to ensure that public order was maintained, and that the safety of genuine members of the Charity who attended the meeting was secured.

As feared, a group gathered at the entrance of the hall and demanded admittance to the AGM, declaring themselves to be ‘paid-up members’. Neither details of their names, nor confirmation of payment of membership fees, was provided to the Committee by the Membership Secretary, Miss Mary Windebank, despite repeated requests by the Honorary Secretary, Mrs Freemantle, who records all such information on the Charity’s Membership Database.

The Committee therefore relied on the information provided in the up-to-date Membership Database in their possession.

The small group of unconfirmed members became so agitated and abusive, that the police in attendance felt it necessary to call additional resources to the venue.

Thanks to the police presence, St Francis Animal Welfare were able to hold their AGM without interruption, with some 60 genuine members in attendance. There was overwhelming support for the vote to re-elect the standing Committee Members.

As a result of the votes, the current Committee of St Francis Animal Welfare are as follows :-

- Mr David Whitmore – Chairman and Trustee
- Mrs Beryl Freemantle – Honorary Secretary and Trustee
- Mr Sandy Arnold – Trustee
- Mr Gerry Crawford – Trustee
- Mr Matthew Myatt – Constitutional Affairs Officer
- Mrs Carol Mann – Jumble Sale Co-ordinator
- Mrs Julia Howard – Membership Secretary

Constitutional Affairs Officer, Matthew Myatt, said he felt that the actions of a few to disrupt the meeting was a sad indictment on those concerned, especially as the Charity’s Committee carry out their duties on a voluntary basis, solely for the welfare of animals in need.

The Trustees and Committee hope that this matter can now be put behind us, in order to concentrate on the day-to-day running of the Charity and its core business of animal welfare.

SFAW Committee

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St Francis Animal Welfare
Sunnyside Cottage
Mortimer's Lane • Fair Oak
Hampshire SO50 7EA
Tel: 02380 693282

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