Notice is being distributed to members that an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the Swindon Panel Society will be held on Sunday 23rd November at the Railway Centre. (This is within the existing “Swindon Panel Sunday”).

The EGM is being convened for the purpose of approving or disapproving an alteration to the constitution. In accordance with paragraph 8(a) of the constitution, amendments may only be made at an AGM or EGM.

The meeting will start at 1pm and will last approximately 15 minutes. All members are entitled to attend the meeting. Following the meeting there will be an opportunity to look round the site of the building works and discuss the progress and plans for the building and the panel. So even though the meeting is relatively short, this is a great opportunity to see the progress that has been made on the site over the last few months.

The proposed change to the constitution has been prompted by a request from the Charity Commission in order to bring our constitution in line with their ideal format and wording for a charitable organisation’s governing document as a final requirement of our obtaining of Registered Charity status.

The obtaining of Registered Charity status opens a lot of doors for the Society, and therefore this is a very important issue. However, we appreciate that most members will not wish to travel all the way to Didcot for such a short meeting, so we are requesting those members to proxy their vote either to another member of their choice, or to the chairman, Tom O’Flaherty (Contact Details). You may instruct your proxy to vote on your behalf in favour or against or ‘as they see fit’. Notification of appointment of a proxy must be made to the Secretary by 1800 on Friday 21 November.

Here are the details of the proposed change:

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Proposal from Danny Scroggins (Secretary) for an alteration to the Society constitution (governing document), which has been requested by the Charity Commission:

2(a) “The objects of the Society are to secure, for the benefit of the public, the preservation, restoration, use and maintenance of the Western Region signalling panel known as ‘Swindon Panel’ (hereafter referred to as ‘the panel’), and the associated equipment and artefacts. To use the same panel and equipment as a working exhibit, demonstrating railway signalling history and practice of the period, and other general railway signalling interest.”
to REMAIN.

2(b) “The Society shall operate within any restrictions imposed by the host site and the law of England.”
to be DELETED from the constitution but to remain an internal policy of the Society.

2(c) “The Society shall maintain an agreement with the governing body of the host site, for access to, and operation of, the panel.”
to be DELETED from the constitution but to remain an internal policy of the Society.

All of section 2(d) to REMAIN but to be made its own separate section headed ‘Powers’, and subsequent sections renumbered accordingly.

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