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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

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