All charities need to have people who are responsible in law for running them. These people are called trustees and we elect ours at the AGM. The current trustees would like to invite suitable candidates to stand for election in Dover.
The trustees communicate primarily by email and meet up to five times a year, whether in person at Esperanto House or online using Skype. There have to be at least four and there are currently seven, a mixture of people who have been involved in Esperanto for decades and some fresh faces coming via the Duolingo route or returning to Esperanto after a little time away. That means there is space for others to come on board to help run EAB.
Trusteeship puts you in a unique position to make decisions and influence the direction and work of the charity. If you have a vision for EAB, trusteeship is the best way to realise it. It isn't a paid role although you will be reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses incurred, such as travel costs to attend meetings.
Don't feel that you can't carry out the role if you're not fluent in Esperanto; meetings are held in English. It doesn't even matter if you're new. What counts is having ideas and being willing to work with the other trustees in the best interest of the charity.
Trustees come from a range of backgrounds. There isn't a particular model to follow, though some people may find themselves feeling at home in the role a bit more than many others, such as people who have previous experience of being a charity trustee. If that's you, then we'd love to hear from you, as we would from, say, people who run their own business or work in management or with budgets. If any of these things apply to you, then you could well thrive in the role, to the benefit of EAB.
If you think you might be interested, you should feel absolutely free to speak with Viv, Tim or one of the current trustees to get an idea of what is involved. There won't be any commitment assumed if you make an enquiry but we would really like to welcome new people with new ideas on board.
How to send in a nomination
To make your nomination known, please email Viv (eab@esperanto.org.uk) and make her aware that you wish to stand for election as a trustee. You must be a paid-up member of EAB and will need to be backed by two members, so please provide their names. She will then contact them herself to confirm that they wish to back you. Please ensure that emails reach Viv by 12:00 on Friday, February 8; nominations received afterwards unfortunately won't be accepted. If you submit a nomination from Viv but don't receive confirmation of receipts within a reasonable timeframe, please don't automatically assume your email arrived but check with her to be sure before the deadline.
Candidates will have the opportunity to present themselves in up to 200 words in the following issue of Update, so don't worry if you're new and don't know many people. All of us were new once!
