Harry welcomed everyone to the meeting, and reminded everyone if they needed to speak to go through Amanda.
1. Roll Call
Harry Mason, Chair,
Shirley Grant, Vice chair and Vice Treasurer,
John Wells, Treasurer,
Mark Tyler, Webmaster and Memberships,
Amanda Burt, Secretary,
Alicey Hartog, Ann Saunders, Brian Clayton, Christine Brown, David Richards, Dianne Hamilton, Gary Price, Greg Hamilton, Ian White, Janet Mortimer, Jaye Ayres, Jim Bradley, Jim Welch, John Hosch, Justin
Macleod, Katie Myers, Ken Scott, Leon Gilbert, Linda Tyler, Lynette Norton, Maurice Pothecary, Michelle Collins, Michael Brown, Miriam Raymond, Monique Lannott, Ned Benton, Peter Hallam, Peter Beasley,
Roann Clarke, Roma Creech, Rosemary Bradley, Sal Pitts, Stanley Saunders, Stephen Evans, Stephen Hassall, Steve Pallett, Sue Pallett, Trevor Franklin,
2. Apologies
David Norton, Elisabeth Standen, John Wilsher, Lisa Peck,
Malcolm Price, Martin Foden, Paula Barton, Phil Hartog, Richard Kelly, Sharon Bowell, Tony Bowers,
3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting
Proposed by Greg Hamilton, seconded by Maurice Pothecary.
4. Matters Arising from the Minutes
None.
5. Chairman’s Report
Harry has been involved in the weekly Executive meetings. Various draft letters have needed to be written, and the general administration of the running of the charity.
Regarding the matter of Chris Payne, there is no fresh news to report at this meeting. Shirley will be having a meeting with Derbyshire police around the 20th of July, and thereafter hopefully there will be more to
report on.
6. Treasurer’s Report
At the last meeting, the total balance was £15,845.08. Today’s balances are as follows: Lloyds current balance which is the main account, £5,372.94; the second account which will be left open due to the ongoing
situation with Chris Payne, has a mere balance of £0.38; the PayPal account now has a credit balance of £500.57; Scottish Widows the main account has a balance of £10,395.46; the interest for the past quarter on
that account was £10.34; the second account with Scottish Widows has a balance of £79.73, on which we only received £0.08. This gives us an overall balance of £16,349.08.
John also informed the meeting that he has received an e-mail today from Lloyds informing him that we have internet access because initially we did not. We could access the account, but could not make payments
out but this has now been resolved.
Harry confirmed the accuracy of the figures given above by John.
Monique asked if we knew why two separate bank accounts have been opened with Lloyds. John said we actually have 4 accounts with Lloyds, but 2 have nil balances so he does not quote these. He said the
reasons for this were simply for “fiddling” purposes. This way, money can be transferred from one account to another and so on, then conveniently lost in the system.
7. Membership Report
This month we saw 6 new guests, of which 4 of the 6 became full TAFN members. 6 members were also removed and they were Musafa Ali due to moving and having no internet access, Sue Cohen due to
health problems, Billy Whitcombe no reason given, Janaleen Wolf due to having an XP machine and having lots of internet issues, John Wilkinson no reason given, Gregory Turner.
Member’s alternative contact number – it was felt by the Exec that it may be a good idea for members to send to Mark an alternative contact phone number. This of course is optional. This could be anyone, a
family member, carer etc. If this could be sent to mark@tafn.org.uk he will add this to the database.
Helpdesk – it has been suggested that the helpdesk will now be available from Monday to Friday between 9 am and 5 pm. Therefore if someone does contact the helpdesk on a Saturday, they will not be contacted
until the following Monday. This does give the helpdesk team a break for the weekend.
Leon asked Mark how many members TAFN has altogether and is there a list of all members available in the member’s area. Mark said we currently have 222 members, and there is a list in the member’s area
which is updated on a monthly basis.
8. Secretary’s Report
Amanda said she had had a reasonably busy month. She had been helping out with the voting for the Events Co-ordinator. Amanda thanked Mark Tyler and Gladys Taylor for their assistance with the vote count
as she was unable to do this. Amanda has also attended the DMA meetings as the Exec Rep. She has also been sending out the events e-mails and any other announcement e-mails, plus list management.
Amanda thanked Tony for helping with this, and Justin for teaching her to use the Mailman and Mark for adding new members.
9. Webmaster’s Report
A photo of Tim Bentick, also known to many as David Archer, has been added to the webpage. Also a link to read a bit about Tim, who is our TAFN Patron. Another new item added is a full list of all bonus ball
players and numbers. Beside any number which is not currently being used is the words “for sale”. To access this list, members should go to tafn.org.uk/bonus ball or go through the member’s area into events
zone, where this list can be found. If members then wish to purchase a number members should e-mail bonusball@tafn.org.uk and Mark will then arrange this. Mark has also been updating the weekly events
page on a regular basis. The member’s minutes were also put up for June. Thanks to Sharon Bowell for taking these minutes, and to Greg Hamilton for coding them up for the website. Mark thanked Elisabeth for
contacting him as there was a problem with her gardening page. Elisabeth has also been contacted by a couple of people about her pages, one being Gardeners World. Mark has checked these gardening pages
for Elisabeth, and they are now all working properly. Mark has also started to put together a links page to TAFN member’s personal webpages, and if anyone would like their page included in this to contact
webmaster@tafn.org.uk. This link can be made either public or private, the choice is yours, so it can be seen either by just TAFN members, or by anyone. Also Mark is creating a list of favourite websites, for
example, White Stick, if members want a site put up on this part of the webpage e-mail Mark at webmaster@tafn.org.uk giving details of the site.
John Wells asked members if they do take up one of the bonus ball numbers please could they let Mark and himself know the account number and sort code of their account, in case they do win. That way if they do
win the money can be paid into their account. Also could members give a reference number such as bonus ball, so Mark and John know what the payment being made is for. Harry asked if it would be beneficial
for members to give their name as well as a reference. John said there isn’t always enough room to do this, so a reference would be better.
10. Events Report
Tony is not available to give this report tonight, so Harry asked if anyone else on the events team could give a report. Justin said he did have a recorded report from Tony if people would like to hear it.
Tony opened his report by apologising for not being available to give the report in person. He went on to say that the events team has been formed and is as follows: Tony Bowers, Events Team Co-ordinator;
Katie Myers, Sal Pitts, Liz Jones, Margaret Hoy, Stephen Evans, and John Hinchcliffe. The new Team were unable to hold any meetings until yesterday due to technical problems with dropbox and personal
problems within the team. However they were able to meet yesterday and plenty of things were put on the table for discussion. Also last week Tony had a meeting with Elisabeth Standen in which several things
were discussed, one of which will be a feather in the cap of TAFN. More of that to come. On Sunday 19th July at 10 am a new event will be starting. Catherine McManus will be hosting bandstand, a musical event
of music and old memories. Tony has created two new rooms on the communicator, the AGM room and a memorial room for Kim Freedman. This memorial went very well, and was well attended. Tony finished
his report by letting people know that if they need to contact the events team for cancellations etc to contact eventsinfo@tafn.org.uk. If members wish to write directly to the events team, please write to
events@list.tafn.org.uk.
Mark informed the meeting that Tony has sent him the recording of the Kim Freedman memorial which Mark will put up on the website very shortly. Also the on an island will be up shortly too.
11. List Mods Update
Amanda said that due to the summer holidays etc, the list mods have not quite been set up properly yet. However everyone is now on the List mods mailing list who should be. Amanda thanked Jacqui, Sandra
and John Hinchcliffe for taking on this role, Sandra being the team leader.
12. DMA Report
Monique gave this report. The members of the committee are Catherine McManus, Monique Lannott, Sal Pitts, Stephen Hassall and Steve Hyde-dryden. Amanda is the Executive rep for this committee. There
have been no complaints for this month. The committee are working on a few ideas for a survey and focus groups. More information on this survey will be sent out to members over the next month or so. If anyone
needs to contact the MDA committee, please e-mail mad@tafn.org.uk.
13. File Sharing
Harry said that over the past few weeks’ members have been getting in touch with the Exec regarding the fact that TAFN e-mail addresses are being blocked by certain internet service providers. This is a serious
matter for the charity because they are blocking us because they are assuming that we are a file sharing site, which of course we are not. The Exec Committee have taken a serious look at this matter, because
illegal file sharing using TAFN e-mail addresses is something as a charity cannot be allowed to continue. The situation could become very grave for TAFN as a charity, and also TAFN could get into all sorts of
bother with the Charities Commission as a result of this. TAFN has been in communication with some of the ISP’s who have blacklisted TAFN, advising them that we are not a file sharing site, and also advising them
as to what steps we propose to take in order to ensure that TAFN e-mail addresses are not used on file sharing sites.
Harry advised all members that as from tonight, TAFN e-mail addresses must not be used on file sharing sites. If members wish to continue using file sharing sites they will need to change to another e-mail account
to continue to do this. Members will have 2 weeks to change to a different account to do this, but if after 2 weeks members continue to use TAFN e-mail addresses on file sharing sites they will at least have their e-
mail account suspended and it could be withdrawn altogether. TAFN would appreciate the co-operation of members in this matter as we do need to make sure that TAFN is always working within the law as the
Charities Commission expect that from us.
Mark echoed what Harry had just said, and pointed out that once you have been blacklisted with an ISP it is a very difficult job to be unblocked. ATT, an American company, have already put TAFN on a 3 month
suspension where they are not willing to unblock us until they have proved that this is not continuing. Mark also did state that this does not include dropbox. Members do not need to remove their TAFN e-mail
addresses from a dropbox account. Mark did stress that if members contact the helpdesk regarding how to change their address on a file sharing site, it is not up to the helpdesk to assist with this, and they won’t be
able to help. The reasons for this being it is not TAFN related and secondly we would be condoning file sharing.
Ned asked how this charge came about and what are the charges against TAFN. Mark said that a TAFN member who is with AT&T contacted TAFN as when they send any e-mails from their TAFN address the
e-mails are not allowed through. This is also happening to a UK member with another provider. The e-mails are just bouncing saying they have been barred.
Monique wanted to clarify if this applied to dropbox, and if not what does it apply to. Dropbox is a means of sharing files etc, and this is completely legal. Sites or mailing lists that are set up for sharing music etc is
the problem. This is because copyright laws do not allow this. Bit torrent sites are also a problem.
Steve Pallett asked if this applies to Sendspace. Mark said yes it does. However if it is used properly just between friends it should be ok.
David asked if ex-members of TAFN still had their e-mail address. Mark said know. Any member who leaves TAFN is asked to make alternative arrangements for their e-mails as their e-mail address is deleted
after 14 days.
Pete H felt it was very unfair for some ISP providers to block e-mail addresses on the assumption of file sharing. Pete asked if any of these companies had given any indication of specific sites that people have
allegedly been using. Mark said yes he had got a list of sites that people have been using, which he did not wish to mention. Pete also asked if Mark had any e-mail addresses of members who had taken part in
this activity. Mark said not from the company as they wouldn’t be allowed to share them.
Lynette wondered if it may be a good idea to give people a list of these sites that had been coming up as some members may not realise they shouldn’t use their TAFN address to do this. Mark felt that anyone
sharing copyrighted material should know not to use the TAFN address as Harry had made clear in his statement.
14. Fundraising and Publicity
John Wells said that a while ago e-mails were sent out about forming a sub-committee with the intention of promoting TAFN and also acquiring some funds. Regrettably no names were put forward to form this
committee apart from one person, Elisabeth. John asked if anyone had any further thoughts on this committee.
Justin wanted to echo the frustration John must be feeling over the lack of interest for this committee. Justin felt that publicising TAFN is very important and also fundraising for TAFN too.
John W said that he had just had 2 volunteers whilst this discussion was taking place. They are Lynette and Michelle.
Trevor said he was only too willing to help with publicity or fundraising. He would willingly hold a race night. However he did say that when we did have a chance to speak and publicise something e.g.
sponsoring some guide dogs and getting some advertising, the suggestion was rejected and the money was put in the wishing well instead.
Monique did feel that the previous Exec committees did reject any suggestions she made. This may have had a negative effect on members as a whole.
Harry encouraged members to contact John and join the fundraising committee, and thanked the 2 members who had volunteered during this meeting.
15. Constitutional Update
Harry asked Justin to explain the constitutional changes proposed by the Executive Committee. Following the ~Chris Payne crisis, the Exec has been looking at overhauling all of TAFN’s guidelines. This is the first
batch of amendments the Exec wish to propose, and there will be others later on in the year. These changes are relating to committee structure and notice period to convene a special meeting for both members,
plus the Exec committee. The Executive Committee structural amendments are to make it mandatory for the Exec to have the positions of Vice-chair, Vice-treasurer, Financial Overseer and Data Controller.
Previously the Exec has not been obliged to have a Vice-treasurer.
The notice period amendments are to enable the Committee to convene emergency Executive meetings on 36 hours’ notice as opposed to the previous 7 days. As for Members meetings, currently the constitution
states that 21 days must be given before a special meeting can be held. The amendments for the constitution state that this can be on a flexible basis and can be shortened to 48 hours’ notice if necessary
depending on the circumstances of the matter.
A week’s consultation period starting from today’s date will follow, where members can make any suggestions on the amendments to the constitution. The voting period will then start on 16th July and continue until
the 31st July. A special meeting will then be held but no date has been set yet. Justin pointed out that this should take place on 31st July, 21 days after this meeting. Harry said everyone will be receiving an e-mail
with the changes outlined and people will have the opportunity also to vote on each individual point outlined above. Point G will be voted on as one block, J and P will be voted on separately, so 3 sections in total
will need a vote. Justin pointed out that if anyone does not like any part of G, now is the time to speak, during the consultation period.
Stephen Hassall said he would not be able to attend the special meeting on 31st July, and was concerned if this may affect his vote. Justin pointed out that this was simply another means for people to vote, but a
voting e-mail would also be sent out so people can vote in that way if they prefer.
16. Any Other Business
Mark just reminded people that if anyone does want to take part in bonus ball, there is still time to do so. There are approximately 7 numbers still available, each number costs £5, and the £5 covers one month.
Each time you take part there is a possibility of winning £12.50. A list of the numbers is on the website, www.tafn.org.uk/bonusball, and next to any free number are the words “for Sale”. If anyone wants a number,
send an e-mail to bonusball@tafn.org.uk and Mark will send the relevant information. Mark also encouraged people to come along to the bingo, either to play or just to listen to see what it’s like. Bingo is £3 for one
card or £15 for all cards per month. Cash prizes can be won. If anyone is interested, please send an e-mail to mark@tafn.org.uk, and Mark will arrange this for you.
Katie said she felt it was important that any new member who has a TAFN mail address is told the do’s and don’ts on using it. Justin replied that the Exec has already discussed the code of conduct to make this
aspect of things more explicit. This will be explained in the welcome pack that new members receive.
Greg asked on behalf of his wife Diane, if there was going to be an auction held this year. Diane is keen to make some jewellery to be sold at the auction.
In answer to Greg’s question regarding the auction, Justin said there will definitely be one this year.
Greg also had an idea about increasing membership throughout Europe. He wondered if it may be an idea to add to our website a page in French, German, Spanish, and possibly Italian. These pages could give
a brief overview about what TAFN does. Obviously these pages would need to be translated, by someone who speaks the relevant language. Trevor said he may be able to assist with the translation of these
pages, if someone could write down for him what needs to be translated. Mark also said there is a plugin available for WordPress, which can translate pages into any languages required.
Peter Beasley felt strongly that TAFN is an English language group so he wondered why we need to go down the route of all these foreign languages. Greg said he would not be happy with an automatic
translation, he would much prefer someone to write the content out, also he agreed we are an English language speaking organisation, and if people do join us they will speak English, however if we are able to put
information on what we do into foreign languages and have the facilities to do it, he felt we should.
Harry said that this was a good idea, and it would be taken back to the Exec to be discussed in detail. The exec will of course let the members know what is going to happen regarding this idea in due course.
Monique said that TAFN used to have Facebook and twitter at some point, but this seems to have disappeared. She wondered if there were any plans to start these up again. Justin said that would be up to the
fundraising and publicity committee. Social media is a big part of publicity in this day and age and we don’t have people on TAFN as far as we are aware, with the expertise to run a social media campaign for us.
Roma said that she had heard on several occasions Trevor offering to do a race night. She had not yet heard any more details on this, and felt we should take up Trevor’s offer as soon as possible. Trevor said
this will take place but later in the year.
17. Date of Next Meeting
Thursday 13th August commencing at 8 pm.