Skip to main content
Au Revoir to good friends.

Most people I know will be aware I have had to step down from being a NSUN trustee because a fluctuating and worsening physical condition prevents me from guaranteeing travelling ability.

I am quietly coming to the boil about organisations (and I don't specifically mean NSUN) locating themselves in London and excluding disabled people who are unable to travel from participation.

The simple answer these days is the development of on line video conferencing. However, I have a feeling that charity commission and companies house rules don't allow this. I'm going to do some near future research about it.

Anyway, here's the response to my stepping down letter from Tina:

Friday, 16 July 2010

Dear Mike,

Thank you for your letter of 7th July 2010 resigning your place on the board of NSUN.

I am sorry that you find the journey very difficult to Vauxhall as your health condition has worsened. I don’t think people realise how much travelling by public transport can shake you up and be very difficult, if not impossible, if you have certain health issues. And yes, the building we rent is not as accessible as we would like and is accepted good practice in the disability world. I hope when the Afiya Trust, in their desire to find more suitable accommodation, will be looking at more accessible office space. NSUN will certainly flag this up as an issue, if they or their consultants don’t.

I am sorry that you do not feel able to be a trustee of NSUN anymore. As we are now an independent charity and company limited by guarantee, this requires certain standards as required by the regulators. We also have to be mindful of carrying out our activities in certain ways and yes to me this does mean adopting good practice from the business sector. this is purely to ensure good governance of the organisation and to survive. But I am mindful that we don’t adopt too many facets of the business world that would be to the detriment of NSUN. It is a fine balance that we are discovering as we go along. There does need to be a balance of the internal ‘business’ and achieving our aims as an organisation serving our peers and making our point.

Thank you for your continued support of NSUN. This is very welcome. We have a lot to do with limited resource. I have enjoyed and valued your support of and involvement in NSUN.

The board needs to be a mixed group of people with ideas, enthusiasm and experiences to bring to the discussions. You have certainly contributed well.

Take care of yourself and hope to see you around in better health.

Yours sincerely

Tina Coldham.

Chair NSUN

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The DLA and Workfare Scandals.

This ConDem Coalition is exploiting the apparent helplessness of disabled people by taking essential money away from them and forcing vulnerable people, for example, people with mental health difficulties. I remember, when I was a practising social worker, the horror experienced by service users when they received a letter summoning them to undergo a medical examination (25 miles away in Norwich). Some became absolutely terrified at the prospect and the stress of having to get to and face the appointment led to one or two relapses and hospital admissions. Against local authority policy, I always took them to the appointment, went in with them and supported them through the interview acting as advocate. The doctors at these reviews were employed by the Benefits Agency and usually retired from practice. They were also usually empathic with the service user and mostly helped to reduce the terror of the interview. The new 'Workfare' reviews which every DLA claimant will have to und...
2 comments
Read more

SURVIVOR HISTORY NEWSLETTER

>From Andrew Roberts Secretary Survivors History Group http://studymore.org.uk/ studymore@studymore.org.uk telephone: 020 8 986 5251 home address: 177 Glenarm Road, London, E5 ONB Survivor History Group Summer 2012 Newsletter The July London meeting of the Survivors History Group will be held on Wednesday 25.7.2012 from 1pm to 5pm at Together, 12 Old Street, London. Everybody is welcome and refreshments will be provided. The September meeting has had to be moved from a Wednesday to Thursday 27.9.2012 (subject to approval by this Wednesday's meeting) because of the availability of a room at Together.   -------------------------------------------------------------------- The agenda for the July meeting will be drawn up at the beginning of the meeting, but it will include Peter Campbell's regular report back on the research he is leading on the history of Survivors Speak Out and discussion of material received from other people about Survivors Speak Out.  Rick Hennelly has se...
Post a Comment
Read more
Self Advocate’s Support and Action Group Wednesday 08 February 2023 Time: 12:30pm-2:30pm https://us06web.zoom.us/j/97471173675 Meeting ID: 974 7117 3675 1. Present Andrew Ray Olcay Russell Phil Sarah 2. Apologies: Jenny Firielle Chris Peter Vicky Andrew welcomed everyone to the meeting. Our last meeting was 8th February. 3. Check-in Andrew asked how everyone was feeling. Everyone shared how they were feeling and their news. 1 Firielle: told us about her acting work. She finished her tour with the play Milk and is now doing a performance with Dark Horse. They are currently touring. Russell: said he had just been to a face-to-face speaking up meeting, which was really good. He also told us that Joanne won the Derek Russell Award for Outstanding Leadership at the North West Self |Advocate’s conference. Peter: said he has been well. He told us about some of the jokes and play on words that he works on. He shared some that he had worked on earlier. Ray: said he has h...
Post a Comment
Read more