The Chairman Opened the Meeting and Welcomed All Present

Talking News FederationMinutes of Committee Meeting:11th August 2015

Talking News Federation
Minutes of Committee Meeting
Tuesday 11th August 2015, 11.00am – 3.00pm
Northampton Marriott Hotel,
Eagle Drive, Northampton, NN4 7HW

1Welcome.

The chairman opened the meeting and welcomed all present.

Those present were:-

Brian Watts, Chairman
Barry Symonds, Secretary
Richard Black, Treasurer
Jessica Thurtell
Amanda Reed
Tony Vale
Mike Wood, Vice President

Steve Barrett-White arrived late because of traffic holdups.

2Apologies for Absence

Apologies had been received from Peter Wroe. Peter sent his regards but is currently receiving medical treatment. He hopes to be with us again in the near future.

Wishes for a speedy recovery were expressed by all present.

3Minutes of last meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Tuesday 2nd June 2015, had been previously distributed.

Amendmentsin relation to the minutes of the previous meeting.

Mike Wood pointed out that the money held in the Ronald Sturt fund, reported at the last meeting as “given to TNF for the furtherance of talking newspaper objectives so therefore can be used in any way that the committee sees fit” does have a stipulation that it is to be used for “Training”

This would be noted and the stipulation adhered to.

Action:-

Barry Symonds
and Richard Black

Amanda Reed pointed out that in relation to Item 9 of the previous meeting, Mike Wood had been asked to review the types and quantity (not the quality) of the item held in stock at the office.

Action:-

Mike Wood (on-going)

4Matters arising from that meeting

TNF ‘CD’ covers.

The TNF CDs complete with the new covers are now available for distribution at TNF events and can be supplied to local TNs. They were on display at Sight Village, Birmingham and several had been issued from there.

New/revised constitution

It was confirmed by Mike Wood that the new/revised constitution accepted by the committee at the meeting on Tuesday 2nd June 2015 had now been distributed to the membership along with the AGM papers. The membership would be asked to accept it by a vote at the next Annual General Meeting on Saturday 26th September 2015.

Action:-

Barry Symonds
Richard Black
and Mike Wood

2016 Conference

Jessica Thurtell asked at this point, to mention that provisional agreement had be made for the TNF Annual Conference for 2016 to be held at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Filton, Bristol over the weekend of Friday 30th September to Sunday 2nd October. There were some matters to settle,but the intention is to announce this during the 2015 Conference.

(This paragraph has been copied to Item 7 of these minutes for continuity.)

5Chairman’s Report

The Chairman had previously distributedhis report and it was acknowledged by all present.

In this he agreed that it is useful to familiarise oneself with a new venue for the National Conference. It also helped us to focus on arrangements for our National Conference.

He told of his visit to the 50+ Exhibition at London Olympia but said that although it was obviously targeting older people, there was little specifically aimed at the disability sector.

However, his attendance at Sight Village, Birmingham to participate with TNF volunteers at our stand was fulfilling.

The Chairman’s report is filed with these minutes.

6Treasurer’s Report

Prior to the meeting a draft of the TNF Annual Report had been distributed to the committee and the Vice-president, and is the subject of item 9 of these Minutes. The Annual Financial Report is part of that document.

Also provided by Richard was a report of the situation of TNF finances as at 31st July 2015.

This shows that Membership income to that date was approximately £8,500 with a further £420 from donations and other income.

Conference bookings to date amount to in excess of £8,000.

The total Funds held by the organisation is £70,954.

Copies of theTNF Annual Report and Current State report
are filed with these minutes.

72015 Conference

A few days prior to the meeting, Jessica Thurtell had distributed a report to the committee outlining the state of Conference.

At the meeting, Jessica gave an update to her written report by adding that there were now 60 residential and 17 day bookings for delegates.

Our President, Peter White is staying over onFriday night,which always adds to the atmosphere of the occasion.

There was a discussion regarding the different strategies of our exhibitors as to their ways of providing information about their products. We also discussed how the number of TN Equipment providers has decreased in recent years.

Amanda Reed is dealing with the Exhibitors and liaising with them during the Conference.

Also discussed were the arrangements for implementing Amanda’s suggestion for enabling delegates to have confidential discussions with TNF personnel or with distributers.

Barry Symonds is liaising with the Northamptonshire TNs regarding their help with ‘on the day’ admin assistance.

Action:-

Barry Symonds

He is also to find supplier of marketing material for both TNF and for TNs

Action:-

Barry Symonds

Jessica outlined the plans for TNF funding some of the speakers, printing, Brailing and audio versions of Conference material.

(Steve Barrett-White arrived at this point.)

Steve Barrett-White is to carry out a risk assessment of the venue for Talking News Federation.

Steve is also to provide ‘Recording Rights Clearance Forms’ relating to TNF Audio Recordings made at the Conference.

Action:-

Steve Barrett-White

Jessica’s report is filed with these minutes.

8Secretary’s Report

Barry Symondsconfirmed with Mike Wood that the appropriate documents relating to the AGM had been distributed to all relevant TNF members.
Mike confirmed this.

Barry reported that he had received a reply from ‘Post Office Customer Care’ regarding the adhesive payment labels that some local post offices are affixing to TN Wallets handed in for return.

Sara Peace, the Customer Care officer dealing with our complaint, assured us that she had contacted the Management Team responsible for the Franchise branches. The Franchised Branches are to be reminded of the correct procedure when accepting such items of mail.

This is probably all we can expect to happen.

Copies of the letters are filed with these minutes.

9Annual Report and Accounts

Electronic copies of the TNFAnnualReportandAccounts for the 20142015FinancialYear had been distributed prior to the meeting.

There were some minor errors pointed out, which were agreed.

The document was accepted for publication.

Action:-

Barry Symonds
Jessica Thurtell
Richard Black

10Office Report; Paper from Mike Wood

Mike Wood had previously distributed a report regarding the activities at the Swindon TNF Office since the previous meeting.

There had been some difficulty in staffing the office because of holidays and also illness among the volunteers.

This situation has now improved and there is no backlog of work.

The Generic email addresses and Google Calendar facilities are proving useful.

The membership level is currently 25 TNs below expectations at present but stands at 264.

Mike’s document contains a table of Statistics relating to email enquiries which shows the breakdown of the 1,610 emails typically received per year into 19 categories.

Mike’s document is filed with these minutes

11Local Support: Paper from Tony Vale

Tony Vale had previously distributed a report containing information relating to TNF participation in Local TN activities and Exhibition attendances.

• TNF had representation at Sight Village, Birmingham 0n 14th and 15th July 2015, led by Amanda Reed. She had been joined and assisted by Barry, Brian and Mike at various times during the exhibition.
  Amanda is providing a feedback report about that event later in the meeting as Item 14.
• A reminder that TN Week 2015 is to be 5th to 13th September.
• A reminder that TNF would be exhibiting at Sight Village, London on Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th November 2015.

Tony lists three potential contacts who would be prepared to provide various levels of support for TNF local forums in various parts of England: South West, North West and London, the latter possibly linked with the London Sight Village event. It was pointed out in the ensuing discussion that Greater London has 32 individual County Boroughs.

• Tony has provisionally arranged for the 2016 Eastern Region Conference to be held at Wymondham, Norfolk on Saturday 9th April 2016. This Tony’s home TN and the town is situated on the A11, about 12 miles from the centre of Norwich.

Tony’s report is filed with these minutes.

12Progress with TNF Training Video
Steve Barrett-White

Steve gave a verbal update on the progress of the Training Videos that were introduced at last year’s Conference.

The concept has had a major revision and Steve outlined his plans for this. Further discussion is planed between Mike Wood and Steve.

Steve suggested that when the project is complete, some form of ‘Road-show’ could be put in place to introduce it to TNs in various Regions of the country.

Action:-

Steve Barrett-White and
Mike Wood

13Safeguarding Policy

A document from Amanda Reed had been distributed prior to the meeting relating to ‘The Care Act – Protecting adults from abuse or neglect’.
The document has a Factsheet appertaining to the Act, a summary of Key ‘Safeguarding Adults’ Duties, and a ‘Safeguarding Policy and Procedures’ created by Todmorden Talking Newspaper.

Amanda Reed explained that it is her understanding that this Government Act became law as from 1st April 2015.It appears to have impact on some activities of our Member organisations.

It would seem to make it necessary for any volunteer required to visit a listener to be certified under the DBS procedure or to be accompanied by such a person.

It would also appear that a TN or similar organisation that has volunteers visiting or in contact with adults subject to this Act, would have a responsibility to notify the local authority of any client that they suspect of being subjected to abuse or neglect.

A discussion ensued and it was agreed that TNF needs to explore the effect that this act will have on our members.

It was suggested that we should consult NCVO relating to this as well as any other knowledgeable organisation.

Action:-

Amanda Reed
and others

Amanda’s document is filed
with these minutes.

14Sight Village, Birmingham:Feedback

The TNF Stand at this year’s Birmingham Sight Village event, on Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th July was staffed on both days by Amanda Reed and Barry Symonds, with Mike Wood also there spending time at our display but also in networking with other organisations.

Brian Watts was on hand on the Wednesday.

Amanda Reed provided some statistics relating to ‘visitors’ who showed more than a passing interest in our stand. These are tabulated below.

Classification / Tuesday
14th / Wednesday
15th / Totals
Social or Rehab Workers / 19 / 11 / 30
New Listeners / 6 / 14 / 20
Charity Workers / 7 / 6 / 13
TN Members / 7 / 7 / 14
‘Others’ / 10 / 8 / 18
49 / 46 / 95

We were also asked if TNF could address the following situations:-

• Arrange for a talk explaining our activities and services to be given to a ladies’ group based in Birmingham.
• Andrea Gordon of ‘Guide Dogs’ was interested in the possibility of a new TN at Swansea
• Look at setting up more TNs in Wales, Wolverhampton and in the Torbay area of Devon.

Amanda was thanked for this information.

The London Sight Village event was mentioned, with agreement confirmed that we would be exhibiting there, with sufficient Committee and others willing to participate.

15Any Other Business

• Mike Wood told the committee that we would be receiving a donation of £250 from Peter White. He had nominated Talking News Federation as a recipient of his prize money as a contestant in a television quiz show. This will be broadcast later in the year so the details are not disclosed until then.
• Amanda Reed informed the meeting that Thomas Pocklington Trust is believed to be entering into a working arrangement with ‘Visionary’.

(Barry Symonds has confirmed this since the meeting. The Thomas Pocklington Trust website has an item that confirms this.)

• Brian Watts asked for confirmation that Mike Wood would need to resign his honorary position of Vice-president in the event him being re-appointed to the Executive Committee. This was confirmed by reference to the TNF Constitution.
• Tony Vale Raised an insurance point, A member of a TN who has Trustee Liability Insurance through the TNF scheme has been asked if he has had any ‘adverse publicity’ during the previous 3 years. Brian Watts replied that he had no direct answer to this but that such things could have some relevance to the cost of a policy.

16Date & Venue of next Meeting

The next Committee meeting is to be held at the Marriott Hotel, Northampton,on Saturday 26th September 2015,the venue for the 2015 Conference.
This meetingwill take place in order to vote on Committee personnel following the Annual General Meeting.

At the Committee meeting held on 11th November 2014, dates and venues for the 2015 Committee meetings were agreed. One such date was Saturday14thNovember2015 at Stevenage,Hertfordshire. This date and venue will need to be confirmed or changed as a result of the makeup of the Committee after the AGM.

The meeting closed at approximately 2.45 pm. Those present were then joined by Stefanie Weldon from Northampton Association for the Blind and all were shown the facilities of the Hotel that will be at our disposal during the conference.

Barry Symonds
TNF Secretary;
14th August 2015

Acceptance of Minutes

The text carrying the acceptance statement is ‘hidden’.

These minutes were accepted at the TNF Committee Meeting held on

Chairman

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