AGM 2020 cancelled

Dear members,

Owing to the restrictions imposed by the UK Government on March 23, EAB's AGM is now postponed. We do not currently have an alternative date to announce.

EAB's trustees are obliged to hold an AGM before October 1. They therefore have plenty of time to consider solutions to the restrictions on gathering in public and unnecessary travel. The Charity Commission advises that charities which have a clause in their governing document providing for General Meetings to be conducted virtually should consider using it; EAB, however, does not have this option available. I'm afraid that holding the AGM digitally is therefore not currently a possibility.

Several members have submitted postal votes for the trustee elections and nominated proxies to represent them at the AGM. Since the announced AGM has now been postponed, the postal votes will be discarded and proxy arrangements cancelled. I'm sorry that this will cause inconvenience for some of you down the line, but it seems preferable to start afresh than risk confusion several months hence.

Owing to a constitutional amendment made in 2014, meetings of the trustees can be held virtually, which means that trustee meetings will still go ahead. The trustees will hold a short virtual meeting in a month or so's time to formally confirm a decision made in email to co-opt Simone Davis, a candidate for trusteeship, on the basis that she would almost certainly have been appointed by the members in the AGM. Since Rich Smith and Damon Lord would have stood down at the AGM, they will be recorded as having done so. This process means that the trustees' working weekend, scheduled for May 2-3, will have those people present who were originally intended to be.

Please do note that Esperanto House is currently off limits to visitors and purchases from the bookshop might not arrive quite as quickly as usual. La Brita Esperantisto was sent to the printer's last week and so should be with you soon. Once things become clearer regarding the AGM, we will be in touch to make you aware.

In the meantime, restu sanaj kaj sekuraj.