Sparrow Harrison addressing the SGM

At the Special General Meeting on May 12th 2001 in London, the members of the British Stammering Association voted to accept to proceed with the incorporation of the BSA.

There are three main changes from the old Constitution which was adopted in 1995 and which changed the name from Association for Stammerers to British Stammering Association and which gave the right to vote and to stand in elections to the General Committee to parents of stammering children under the age of 16.

We have slightly amended our charitable object and, on the suggestion of the Charity Commission, we have added a second one. Charitable objects are what charities are legally allowed to do - they are legally entitled to do ONLY what the objects allow. Our original object was the relief of people suffering from the speech impairment of stammering, whereas the new primary object is "the relief of people whose lives are affected by stammering", to bring it in line with our vision and mission statement. As we are also increasingly involved in raising awareness, we have now added a second charitable object, namely "to advance the education and training of the public in all matters relating to stammering".

The legal status of the BSA will change from being an unincorporated association to that of a charitable company. This has the advantage that, for the first time, BSA itself will have the status of a legal person - currently, as an unincorporated association, the law only recognises the body of trustees who are, in a peculiar way, the "owners" of the BSA. All contracts, from employment contracts down to the lease for the photocopier and a purchase order for stationery, are currently in effect not between BSA and the other party, but between the trustees personally and the contractor. This has the obvious drawback of imposing a heavy burden of personal financial liability on trustees which makes it increasingly difficult for us to find people willing to take on this burden. This might have been an appropriate structure in BSA's early days (12 years ago our annual turnover was £16,000) but with the increased and ongoing growth in the BSA's annual income (1999/2000 income of £236,000, 2000/2001 approx. £300,000) this is no longer feasible. Most charities of BSA's size are operating as a charitable company.

This allows the company to take on most of the financial liabilities thus distancing the trustees from this aspect. It also gives BSA a greater degree of freedom in many other ways, especially when it comes to activities we would wish to undertake and where there may be doubt as to whether they are charitable or not (e.g. provision of awareness training).

The other big change is that BSA is abolishing the distinction between Full members (i.e. those who stammered beyond the age of 16 or a parent/carer of a stammering child under the age of 16) and Associate members (i.e. everybody else). Under the current Constitution, only Full members were allowed to vote or stand in the elections to the General Committee. Under the new Constitution, everyone is able to participate fully in the governance of the Association with one proviso: the general rule is that a majority of members on the board must be people who stammer. There are several very specific regulations in the new Constitution to ensure that this is adhered to as far as possible and we are having discussions with the Charity Commission - who have already accepted the principle of a majority of stammerers on the board - as to the best way of achieving this.

Making sandwiches

This will enable the BSA to draw on all those who are willing to bring their talents and commitment to the Association without giving up our claim to be the only national organisation for adults and children who stammer, run by people who stammer. It also gives out a signal that we are happy to be an inclusive organisation, and that we do not believe that people who stammer need in any way to be "sheltered" but that they are working in the BSA on an equal footing with those who do not stammer.

Where do we go from here? The trustees will now form a company with the memorandum and articles of association incorporating the changes outlined above. Once formed, a submission will be made to the Charity Commission to grant charitable status to the company. Once the Commission grant charitable status, then the assets and liabilities of the "old" BSA will be transferred to the "new" BSA. We will then have to ask all members to become members of the "new" BSA (as members of the company, similar to shareholders in a commercial company). As a charitable company, company members cannot profit from their membership, but equally their liability - should the company fail - is reduced to a symbolic amount (usually £1). This is a normal procedure and if you are, for example, members of the RSPCA, the National Trust, English Heritage or other large charities, you will most probably have joined under the same scheme.

I would like to express my thanks to BSA volunteer Allan Tyrer whose input into this process has been enormous, and whose work has been made even harder by the length of time it took him to explain things to me in words of one syllable! To be absolutely certain we were getting things right, the trustees asked a firm of specialist charity lawyers to check the draft memorandum and articles of association after Allan had prepared them - and the reply was that, in essence, Allan's draft could not be improved upon!

Our youngest visitor

London Summer Social

The 12 May 2001 also saw the third London Summer Social. Many thanks to Rachel, Lisa, Tabitha, and everyone else who came along to help on the day and to make it a success!

The event, preceding the Special General Meeting, was held in the gardens of St Margaret's House, just outside the BSA offices. As always, food, soft drinks and wine were available. And for the first time, the weather really did not leave anything to be desired. If anything it was almost too hot outside. And despite the wonderful weather and the FA Cup Final, about 35 people turned up to eat, drink, chat (and those who were Full members, vote).

Many thanks, too, to our guest speaker Sparrow Harrison who entertained the audience with stories from the early days of stammering self-help as well as asking what people thought might have caused them to stammer. This kicked off a hugely interesting debate which almost threatened to overwhelm the agenda for the following SGM - if it hadn't been for the firm action of our Chair, Rachel Everard. However, I am sure that this debate will be revived, perhaps at the Liverpool National Conference?

From the Spring 2001 edition of Speaking Out