Registered Charity No. 1093675

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on

Friday 26 September 2008 at 3.30pm at

St. Dunstan’s, 12 – 14 Harcourt Street, London,W1H 4HD

Present:

Stephen RemingtonAction for Blind People

(Chairman)

Nick AstburyRoyalCollege of Ophthalmologists

(Vice Chairman)

Michael WolffeCollege of Optometrists/Look

(Treasurer)

Graham AckersABDO

Jill Allen-KingNFB UK

Ron BramleyThomas Pocklington Trust

Tom BremridgeMacular Disease Society

Richard BrookSENSE

Dolores ConroyFight for Sight

Jayne GeorgeGuide Dogs

Fazilet HadiRNIB

Anne KlepaczKeratoconus Support Group

Yvonne NeedhamRCN Ophthalmic Forum

Bryony PawinskaCollege of Optometrists

David Scott-RalphsSeeAbility

Sir John Wall SOVIL

Mike BraceChief Executive

Margaret AlexanderSecretary

Apologies

Anne BristowADASS

Joe ByrneOpsis

Lance ClarkeNALSVI

Tom PeyGuide Dogs

Robert LeaderSt. Dunstan’s

Anita LightstoneRNIB

Claire HicksImpact

Michele ActonFight for Sight, BERF

Rosie AuldBIOS

Michael LewingtonCalibre

Carolyn FullardNBCS

Jennifer BrowerABDO

John HarrisMSB

13 Members in good standing were present and eligible to vote and the meeting was quorate.

  1. Minutes

The Minutes of the last AGM held on 11 September 2007 were agreed as a true record.

The Minutes of the SGM held on 11 September 2007 were agreed as a true record

The Minutes of the SGM held on 18 July 2008 were agreed as a true record.

  1. Annual Report and Accounts

Presenting his last report prior to his retirement as Chairman, Stephen Remington said he was pleased to have witnessed an increasing mutual respect between organisations, which were now communicating more effectively. This gradual improvement had led to the production of the UK Vision Strategy, which was also due to the enthusiastic involvement of RNIB. Stephen urged all members to get behind the Strategy and stressed the need to be coherent about what they were doing. He thanked all for their support and it was encouraging to note that the only members lost to VISION 2020 UK had been as a result of mergers.

Michael Wolffe presented the Accounts and drew attention to the increasingly small surplus. This year the budget had just achieved a break even position. He had on previous occasions stressed that the organisation was too dependant on membership fees and a small group of Trustees had been set up to look at alternative sources of funding. Income during the year had declined with the ending of the grants for Network 1000 and Section 64.

He thanked Mike Brace for his well presented Accounts, which had been approved by the Executive Committee.

It was proposed by Sir John Wall, seconded by Tom Bremridge and AGREED unanimously to adopt the Annual Report and Accounts for Year Ended 31 March 2008.

3.Appointment of Auditors

In the light of concerns about the current arrangements, it was AGREED to defer to the Executive Committee, the appointment of Auditors for the year 2008/9.

4.Resolution

Although a previous AGM had agreed an annual 3% increase, the resolution had not made it clear that this was an ongoing proposal, i.e. 3% per year, unless otherwise specified and the meeting was asked to approve a resolution which strengthened this wording.

It was pointed out that the current RPI is 5% as opposed to 3% and it was suggested therefore that a higher rate of increase would be appropriate. A number of points arose in discussion including:

  • Setting an increase of 3% could risk a reduction in resources if expenditure rises
  • The importance of ensuring all organisations accept the need for a higher annual increase
  • There are informal mechanisms to assist small organisations
  • If the increase is calculated in line with the RPI at a date nearer to the end of the financial year, this would have implications for member organisations’ budgets – an earlier date needs to be set.

It was proposed by Michael Wolffe, seconded by Stephen Remington and AGREED unanimously that:

a) the percentage increase in subscriptions to take effect from 1 April 2009, will be 4.7%, in line with the RPI.

b)the same formula will be use to calculate the annual increase in subsequent years, i.e. the increase to be index linked against the RPI one month prior to the AGM,

unless decided by a further resolution at the AGM.

5.Election of Executive Committee

Mike Brace reminded those present about the changes to the membership structure, which had been agreed at the SGM in July and he then explained the three areas of voting. These changes had been made in response to the UK Vision Strategy and the need for guaranteed representation from the various sectors. Executive Committee also needed to ensure that it was best constituted to suit the needs of VISION 2020 UK in the future.

The position as regards representation, at the commencement of the AGM, was follows:

Primary Care Group (2):1 in place

Secondary Healthcare Group (1): 1 in place

Not for Profit (6): 7 in place (to be adjusted)

Michael Wolffe had been appointed in 2006 as Honorary Treasurer for the period 2006/9. The changes in the Constitution in July 08 created the opportunity to appoint Trustees. Therefore, Michael stood down as the nominated representative from the Primary Eye Care sector, thus creating a vacancy, which Rob Hogan was elected to fill.

Under the new Constitution, the election of Chairman and Vice Chairman, was to take place in the Executive Meeting, which would follow the AGM. Nick Astbury was the only nomination for Chairman and David Scott-Ralphs the only nomination for Vice Chairman.

6.Retirement of Chairman

On behalf of Trustees, Mike Brace thanked Stephen for his excellent period of Chairmanship. In 1999, VISION 2020 UK was just an initial germ of an idea developed by the then Visual Handicap Group. Various procedures were set up and Stephen had initially been appointed as interim Chair until 2002. He was then was elected as Chairman for a further 6 years at the first AGM. On a personal note, Mike thanked Stephen for his great support, particularly to Mike when he arrived as the new Chief Executive in 2002 - his guidance had been invaluable. Never had there been support at this level from the voluntary sector and much had emanated from Stephen’s leadership.

Stephen was presented with a gift from VISION 2020 UK. He thanked all Trustees who had served VISION 2020 UK so well and given their time over the past 6 years. Particular thanks were due at this time to Sir John Wall for all of his support and the establishment and running of VISION 2020 UK. Sir John, together with Robert Leader were also retiring Executive Members, having completed 6 years on the Executive.

Stephen expressed his great appreciation to Mike Brace for his work for VISION 2020 UK, which was often over and above the call of duty. He also thanked the small team who worked for the organisation. He extended his best wishes to Nick Astbury, his likely successor.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 4.15pm, and there followed a small reception for Members to network.