A face-to-face meeting for the Executive Committee
For what seemed like an eternity, but was in fact about 18 months, the Executive Committee (EC) has been meeting via Zoom. This was, of course, necessitated by the pandemic, but it caused us to think about arrangements for the future.
The advantage of this arrangement has been that we have been able to hold monthly, rather than quarterly, meetings, making the organisation more agile and able to respond to events. Virtual meetings also have the advantage of avoiding travel – in some cases over considerable distances. But there is no getting away from the fact that meeting via videoconference is very different from the immediacy of a face-to-face meeting: it seems remote and makes quiet exchanges in the margins of the meeting impossible.
For those reasons the EC planned to hold at least one face-to-face meeting every year. It proved impossible in 2020 because of the continuing pandemic. But on a cold and snowy day at the end of November 2021, we convened with considerable pleasure at the Studio Venue in Birmingham. Some members were meeting others in person for the first time. And being together in one room allowed the EC to consider, alongside routine matters, some more strategic questions about the future of British Naturism as an organisation. That work is far from complete and needs more work before it is ready for publication.
The meeting also agreed the budget for 2022, adopted financial control, anti-corruption and expenses policies, and corporate objectives for 2022 (dull, some readers might think, but important!)
We also welcomed Lachlan Robertson to the meeting in his new role of partnerships officer, and embarked on a useful discussion about who the key targets and main priorities should be in the field. Lachlan plans to make overtures to the National Trust, as a start, as well as writing to police commissioners in England with a view to creating constructive relationships with both.
As with all EC meetings, you can find the minutes on the members’ online forum under BN News and Announcements and in the Downloads area. (log in required)
Bookkeeping and accountancy arrangements
Regular readers will be aware that it has not yet proved possible to recruit a volunteer finance director for the organisation. Over recent months the Board has been looking at what arrangements could be made to lighten the workload attaching to that role. The simplest way to do this will be to buy in professional services to cover regular bookkeeping and accountancy, allowing a future finance director to focus more on bigger strategic issues. Inevitably a cost attaches to this, and this has been allowed for in the budget for 2022.
We are speaking to a number of people who have the requisite skills to provide support to our organisation in this area, and we would continue to welcome expressions of interest.
Relaunch of regional newsletters
The Board has looked carefully at how, consistently with data protection requirements, regional newsletters could be reintroduced and sent out by email. Their absence had created significant practical difficulties especially for regions themselves. We’re pleased to say the new system, agreed within the EC, was launched in February. It requires members who wish to receive newsletters to actively subscribe – you can do this through the Membership area of the BN website. Check to see whether you are subscribed. You are not limited to your own region – which might be helpful if you live near a regional boundary and would like to know what is going in on in a neighbouring area.
Sunfolk
In January we received the very welcome, if overdue, news that our application for planning permission to redevelop and improve the Sunfolk site near St Albans had been granted. Members of the Board allowed themselves to breathe a collective sigh of relief. But now the real work starts. It will represent a major investment of money by BN and of time by volunteers, but the prize should be a first-class Naturist site that meets the promise made to the former trustees of the Sun-Folk Society that we wanted it to meet a gold standard.
We will be working toward carrying out the most significant work during autumn and winter this year and early next. This will mean ending the summer season early, but we are sure it will be worth it.
Jon Williams, BN Vice Chair, has put a huge amount of time and effort into this project and it’s great to see the vision finally given the green light.
General briefing paper on Naturism
In response to numerous examples of misreporting and misunderstanding of Naturism in the press, we have produced a generalised briefing paper with a view to relevant sections of it being deployed as needed. It sets out clearly the legal position regarding outdoor nudity in public places. It also explains what Naturism is, and lists some of the many positive reasons why people choose to embrace our way of life. There are numerous facts and figures and links to sources for further information. We are very grateful to the members who contributed. We expect to launch it soon - it will be a resource for everyone to use when they see poor or misleading mentions of Naturism.
Ask the Executive
We hosted another online “Ask the Executive” session in the “Forum Live” slot on 13 December. We sought to give the event a little more structure than on previous occasions and it seemed to work well. Among other things, some of the new regional co-ordinators took the opportunity to introduce themselves. The next session takes place next week - 21 March.
Edwin Kilby