Experiential Gathering including the EGM
When: Saturday 3rd December 2022, 10:30am-6:00pm (postponed from October 29th)
Where: The Open Centre, Old Street, London, EC1V 9FR.
Programme:
10.30am Arrival
11.00am Kundalini Meditation with Jill Hall
12.30pm Open Forum: Exploring the relevance of Humanistic Psychology at this time.
1.30pm Lunch: Bring and share
3.00pm Extraordinary General Meeting. For details, see the email sent to members on 26/11/2022.
Tea
Five Rhythms Dance with Tim Broughton
6.00pm Close
The gathering will be free of charge.
Here are the full details:
Dear Members.
Thank you to those of you who have already responded to the recent news update. It means a lot to us that you have responded and is very helpful.
If you have yet to respond, please, please, please respond to this email.
Please reply to lucyscurfield@freeuk.com
It will help us a lot to know from each of you whether or not you are coming to the Gathering on 3rd December. If you are not able to come for the whole day and you can still come for the Extraordinary General Meeting beginning 3:00pm please let us know. You are very welcome.
It will also help the Association a lot to know in advance of the 3rd December meeting how many of you are willing to put yourself forward as new Directors of the Association.
Dina Glouberman recently resigned as a Director which has precipitated the Association into a state of being legally inquorate. Adrian Barker has also resigned from the Board of Trustees. Lucy Scurfield, Richard House and Tim Broughton will be considering their positions, depending on the outcome of the 3rd December meeting.
In order for the Association to continue, the Private Company with Charitable status requires there to be three suitable members of the Association coming forwards to be nominated and seconded by two other members as a Director Trustee.
In the absence of three paid up members being elected or re-elected as Directors of the Company on 3rd December, the Company will remain inquorate to function and steps will immediately need to be taken to dissolve the Company and Charity that is the Association of Humanistic Psychology in Britain. This means the Association will close down.
Earlier in the year there were discussions within the Board of Trustees meetings questioning why the Association was a charity. Some of us felt being a Private Company with Charitable Status is an unnecessary, overbearing and onerous set of responsibilities which, when we really started to look into this in detail, led us to understand that we may have been significantly not fulfilling our legal responsibilities. We were going along acting in good faith taking the Association very seriously at the same time as not fully embracing and discharging the significant responsibilities of the Private Company and Charity. We say this because when the three Directors took on the posts from those previously resigning some years ago, the handover was in retrospect far from adequate.
Thinking things through we came to realise we had options. We could actually cease being a Company and stop being a Charity and revert to being what the Association originally was, a wholly independent Association standing on its own two feet and solely accountable to you the members. See details below. The bureaucratic quagmire we find ourselves in could be done away with and bringing the Association once again under the responsibility of the whole membership, an arrangement which seems much more in alignment with Humanistic Psychology principles.
The fact is everyone serving on the board offered to join in order to promote Humanistic Psychology in Britain. They wanted to publish Self & Society, run Conferences and other Events. They were interested in furthering the educational aims of an Association. Running a Private Company Limited by Guarantee with additional responsibilities to the Charities Commission was not what they wanted to do.
The existential crisis that we all now face (that has been creeping up on us for many years) is :
1. The collective life of the Association does seem to have diminished over quite some years, due in part but not wholly to Covid-19. Is there sufficient energy within our existing membership to maintain the existing structure, and if not is there sufficient energy to move to a simple Association structure?
2. In this 50th year of AHPb, and given the existential crisis in Britain and the world at large, is it time to recognise it has served its purpose and it is time to close down, recognising Humanistic Psychology itself is very much alive and well?
We hope to see an open-minded, honest and respectful conversation about these vital questions at the 3rd December meeting.
Please reply to lucyscurfield@freeuk.com
With love,
Lucy Scurfield, Richard House and Tim Broughton
Board of Trustees
Re-scheduled
AHPb
Experiential Gathering
Free of charge
including
EGM
Saturday 3rd December 2022
The Open Centre, 188 Old Street,
London, EC12V 9FR
10:30am – 6:00pm
| We are wishing to support at a grass-roots level the hunger and search for a deeper, more connected living, and unfolding of our human potential, finding our inner resources and creativity, and experiencing the support and encouragement that’s possible in a vibrant network of connectivity. 10.30 Arrival 11.00 am Kundalini Meditation with Jill Hall 12.30pm Open Forum: Exploring the relevance of Humanistic Psychology at this time. 1.30pm Lunch – Bring and share 3.00pm Extra General Meeting (See details below) Tea Five Rhythms Dance with Tim Broughton 6.00pm Close |
Association for Humanistic Psychology
in Britain
Extraordinary General Meeting
Saturday 3rd December 2022
The Open Centre, 188 Old Street,
London, EC12V 9FR
3:00pm
| We were going to run an Annual General Meeting but since the resignation of one of the Directors this is no longer possible because a minimum of three directors is required. Instead an Extra General Meeting will be convened for the same business in the same place at the same time. Those present, whose subscriptions are up to date, will be able to vote on resolutions presented. Note: There has been no AGM since at least 2014. Lack of resources and Covid have it made it very difficult to organise one. Agenda Welcome: Present: Apologies: Presentation of Trustees Annual Report and accounts for the year ending December 2021. See below for summery of the accounts. Re-appointment of Auditors for the coming year ending 31st December 2023 Nominations to join the Board of Trustees – Directors and Ordinary Trustees. Election of Directors onto the Board of Trustees to serve for a year until the next Annual General Meeting: Election of Ordinary Trustees onto the Board of Trustees to serve for a year until the next Annual General Meeting: Election of Directors and Ordinary Trustees into the following roles: Chair Treasurer Secretary The way forward. It is the view of the Board that we need to simplify our structure with a view to making it possible for the Board to fulfill its function by minimising administration and making it easier to oversee the Association and ensure that it realises its aims. Possibilities 1. AHPb remains a Charitable Company and a Registered Charity. 2. AHPb de-registers from Companies House and becomes a CIO [Charitable Incorporated Organisation] 3. De-registers from Companies House, closes as a Registered Charity and immediately reforms as a wholly independent ‘not for profit’ association. 4. AHPb closes down completely. |
Options each to be explored before a vote.
Below are Special Resolutions 1 – 4 in no particular order. They can only be passed by three fourths of the votes cast by fully paid up members present at the meeting:
1. For the Association to continue in its existing form – i.e. a Private Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee, at Companies House and registered as a Charity with the Charities Commission known as The Association For Humanistic Psychology Britain.
A minimum of three new Directors will need to come forward from the membership and be voted on to the Board of Trustees at the EGM on 3rd Dec. We also hope additional members will come forward and be voted on to the Board of Trustees as Ordinary Trustees to help with the running of the charitable Association. This is a registered charity with a corporate structure with wider membership. You are a member of this wider membership. See attached current AHPb constitution.
2. For the Association (Companies Registration Number 04263707) to convert to another form of Charity (Registered Charity Number 109479) – i.e. a registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and will adopt a new constitution [see below]. and continue to be known as The Association For Humanistic Psychology in Britain. The Association would no longer be a Private Company.
A minimum of three new members will need to come forward and be voted on to the Board of Trustees at the EGM on 3rd Dec.
We also hope additional members will come forward and be voted on to the Board of Trustees as ordinary Trustees to help with the running of the charitable Association. This is still a registered charity with a corporate structure and with wider membership. You are a member of this wider membership. See attached model constitution for a CIO.
3. For the Association to dissolve itself as a charity and immediately reform again as we understand it was originally – i.e. a wholly independent ‘not for profit’ Association For Humanistic Psychology in Britain.
A minimum of three members will need to come forward and be voted on to an Executive Committee at the EGM on 3rd Dec to help run the Association. Lucy, Richard and Tim are ready to put themselves forward to be voted onto the proposed Executive Committee.
We would also like additional members to join this committee and share in the running of the Association.
The Association would not be registered with the Charity Commission or any other regulator. It would be solely governed by the wider membership with a Constitution. We understand this was the original form of The Association For Humanistic Psychology in Britain. See attached old AHPb Constitution dated July 1997.
4. For the Association to dissolve itself altogether, thereby bringing the Association to an end completely.
Summary of Accounts for Extraordinary General
Meeting 3rd December 2022
The Association for Humanistic Psychology in Britain
Company Limited by Guarantee
Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)
Year ended 31 December 2021
5.Charitable activities
| Unrestricted Funds | Total Funds 2021 | Unrestricted Funds | Total Funds 2020 | ||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Membership fees & subscriptions. | 7,499 | 7,499 | 7,417 | 7,417 | |
| Sales of publications. | – | – | 82 | 82 | |
| ─────── | ─────── | ─────── | ─────── | ||
| 7,499 | 7,499 | 7,499 | 7,499 | ||
| ═══════ | ═══════ | ═══════ | ═══════ |
6.Expenditure on charitable activities by fund type
| Unrestricted Funds | Total Funds 2021 | Unrestricted Funds | Total Funds 2020 | ||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Promotion of educational events and publications. | 8,472 | 8,472 | 6,039 | 6,039 | |
| Support costs. | 1,946 | 1,946 | 1,648 | 1,648 | |
| ─────── | ─────── | ─────── | ─────── | ||
| 10,418 | 10,418 | 7,687 | 7,687 | ||
| ═══════ | ═══════ | ═══════ | ═══════ |
7.Expenditure on charitable activities by activity type
| Activities undertaken directly | Support costs | Total funds 2021 | Total fund 2020 | ||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Promotion of educational events and publications. | 8,472 | 1,346 | 9,818 | 7,087 | |
| Governance costs. | – | 600 | 600 | 600 | |
| ─────── | ─────── | ─────── | ─────── | ||
| 8,472 | 1,946 | 10,418 | 7,687 | ||
| ═══════ | ═══════ | ═══════ | ═══════ | ||