Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting
Wednesday, 14thAugust at 6:45pm for 7:00pm
John Muir’s Birthplace, 126 High Street, Dunbar
Agenda
(i) Welcome and Introduction
(ii) Motion: Waiving of membership dues
Current members will vote on the motion to waive membership dues. Non-members are also welcome to attend as after the EGM business there will be an opportunity to review, and celebrate, the achievements of the charity during the 25 years since its inception on 27thJuly, 1994 and to chat about possibilities for the future.
Some background: as reported in the last newsletter in the Membership News: Early Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting announcement, there has been discussion at several, recent, Friends’ Council Meetings about the question of membership dues and whether or not these should be waived as the number of members has been in steady decline. The income generated by membership dues is now a relatively minor proportion of our income in comparison to funds raised from the sales of Wee Books, donations, etc., so the Council has considered various options to mitigate the amount of effort, and cost, incurred in maintaining membership accounts and the production of paper copies of the newsletter. One possible option being considered is to do away with membership fees and, instead, to concentrate on building up the numbers of supporters (Friends) and to then approach them when a specific project – such as an exhibition – needs donations to help fund it.
Given the importance of this issue and the potential departure from existing practice the Council has arranged this EGM to sound out members and to come to a decision on the way forward. On behalf of the Council I would like to encourage everyone to reflect on what our charity has achieved in the past 25 years and how best to meet future challenges.
Duncan Smeed, FoJMB Convener