MikeP Posted February 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 On 2/12/2022 at 2:24 PM, gardenofeden said: we currently have committee vacancies for an events organiser, show organiser, enquiries officer, secretary, asst journal editor, newsletter editor, assistant chair and prob membership secretary...if we don't get these filled there aint gonna be any events Where is this being publicised? I can’t see any announcements on the Society website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robs Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 This matter is not new I joined two years ago by paypal I haven't heard anything . Paid again about three months ago nothing again no replys to messages . Very good at taking money off you . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fangfarrier Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 That’s starting to get to the level of a charity commission’s investigation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 4 hours ago, MikeP said: Where is this being publicised? I can’t see any announcements on the Society website. Publicised at the last AGM, recent newsletter and in 2 email shots. Ironically there is no-one maintaining the website, but the list of committee members does show several vacancies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robs Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 If someone lets me know what positions aren't filled I will consider taking one on . I can't attend the meetings due to not being able to travel because of medical needs . It's a waste of time sending messages to cps as they don't answer them looks like due to lack of people getting involve . Have a nice day . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fangfarrier Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 So that’s two willing volunteers here. Can anyone let the CP Soc know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 As said earlier there are vacancies for almost all committee positions including an events organiser, show organiser, enquiries officer, secretary, asst journal editor, newsletter editor, assistant chair and prob membership secretary... anyone who wants to help can message me with an email address and a mobile or phone number that would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeP Posted February 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 If you send me a summary of the duties for the vacant spaces I’ll seriously consider taking one on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dar Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 I have been considering becoming a member for some time and this thread came up again. I did the tiniest amount of digging around the website only and it seems that most of the people 'involved' in the charity have not even logged into the forum for months and in some cases it's years. The last time 'Ron' (Seeds) was here was over five months ago. Although there maybe another 'Ron' in the membership. I think it might be time now for the board of trustees to come here, and explain what is going on. Why they are not fulfilling their obligations to the charity and its members (yes I understand a lot of things may be legitimate), and what exactly they intend to do about the obvious problems that are stopping the charity from growing at a time when interest in carnivorous plants has never been higher. I look forward to the board of trustees making some kind of statement. I would happily give up some time to maintain and grow membership and interest, and at the same time I'm not going to waste my time (or money) when the higher ups are disengaged from the membership and any potential future members. All the complaints in this thread are legitimate and deserve full and frank answers from the board of trustees. No sane person would give their hard earned money for membership to this organisation the way things appear at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dar Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 Also it looks like in a moment of madness I paid for membership a year ago. I haven't had a single piece of correspondence from you in a year. Seriously.... I expect a reply from the board of trustees or I am raising a concern with the charities commission and the RHS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKR Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 Considering the core of UK based carnivorous plant discussion has shifted to facebook, which is far more active than here, is it not right that a post with a full set of job descriptions is made there? I know there was discussion within the comments of a recent post there, but really for full visibility a standalone, possibly pinned, post where the whole of the UK carnivorous plant community can see it would help push things along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted February 20, 2022 Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 (edited) 18 hours ago, Dar said: I have been considering becoming a member for some time and this thread came up again. I did the tiniest amount of digging around the website only and it seems that most of the people 'involved' in the charity have not even logged into the forum for months and in some cases it's years. The last time 'Ron' (Seeds) was here was over five months ago. Although there maybe another 'Ron' in the membership. I think it might be time now for the board of trustees to come here, and explain what is going on. Why they are not fulfilling their obligations to the charity and its members (yes I understand a lot of things may be legitimate), and what exactly they intend to do about the obvious problems that are stopping the charity from growing at a time when interest in carnivorous plants has never been higher. I look forward to the board of trustees making some kind of statement. I would happily give up some time to maintain and grow membership and interest, and at the same time I'm not going to waste my time (or money) when the higher ups are disengaged from the membership and any potential future members. All the complaints in this thread are legitimate and deserve full and frank answers from the board of trustees. No sane person would give their hard earned money for membership to this organisation the way things appear at the moment. That's not going to happen. There are only three trustees, two of them are unwell, even so some of them are still carrying out some membership and seedbank duties to try and keep the society functional. The third trustee is Phil Wilson who is also chair, and treasurer and Internet officer, and enquiries etc and does not come on here. The best place to ask trustees questions is at the AGM, that is what is its for. The only interface here is me, as a committee member, and I'm happy to answer any questions that I can. Edited February 20, 2022 by gardenofeden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted February 20, 2022 Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 14 hours ago, AKR said: Considering the core of UK based carnivorous plant discussion has shifted to facebook, which is far more active than here, is it not right that a post with a full set of job descriptions is made there? I know there was discussion within the comments of a recent post there, but really for full visibility a standalone, possibly pinned, post where the whole of the UK carnivorous plant community can see it would help push things along. Yes, that's a good point. Most traffic has switched to Facebook in recent years. We realise there are problems with the email forwarder that the society uses, so some emails don't arrive, this works both ways. We have just added the messenger button to the CPS Facebook page to hopefully make contact easier. Main issue is finding someone who has the time to write the post, as the people who have the knowledge don't have the time…I'll see what can be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeP Posted February 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 Unless I am looking at the wrong Facebook page there doesn’t seem to be any activity there since my post there 7 weeks ago? I don’t want to make life any more difficult for the society but some idea of when I might get the seeds I ordered would good….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted February 20, 2022 Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 2 minutes ago, MikeP said: Unless I am looking at the wrong Facebook page there doesn’t seem to be any activity there since my post there 7 weeks ago? I don’t want to make life any more difficult for the society but some idea of when I might get the seeds I ordered would good….. This is the society Facebook page The Carnivorous Plant Society | Facebook Mike, it looks like we haven't had anyone doing seed for several weeks. We have a new volunteer who has offered to take on the seedbank so hopefully will get things moving again soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeP Posted February 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 Thanks. Yes that’s the page I was referring to. thanks for the update on the seeds. is there a description of the duties for the vacant posts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted February 20, 2022 Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 5 minutes ago, MikeP said: Thanks. Yes that’s the page I was referring to. thanks for the update on the seeds. is there a description of the duties for the vacant posts? there is a basic list here Welcome to The Carnivorous Plant Society (thecps.org.uk) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeP Posted February 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 Has this years AGM been organised? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted February 20, 2022 Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 5 minutes ago, MikeP said: Has this years AGM been organised? No Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKR Posted February 20, 2022 Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 3 hours ago, MikeP said: Unless I am looking at the wrong Facebook page there doesn’t seem to be any activity there since my post there 7 weeks ago? I don’t want to make life any more difficult for the society but some idea of when I might get the seeds I ordered would good….. More referring to the carnivorous plants UK page which is de facto where all discussion is taking place at this point and so where people are most likely to be actively checking; CPS members may not be checking e-mails or this forum about open positions but may be browsing facebook. Additionally, if the society is willing to consider people who are not already members but who can nonetheless prove their credentials for the relevant positions then it doesn't matter that it's not the official CPS page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeP Posted February 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 I’ve submitted a request to join this one as well… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dar Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 22 hours ago, gardenofeden said: That's not going to happen. There are only three trustees, two of them are unwell, even so some of them are still carrying out some membership and seedbank duties to try and keep the society functional. The third trustee is Phil Wilson who is also chair, and treasurer and Internet officer, and enquiries etc and does not come on here. The best place to ask trustees questions is at the AGM, that is what is its for. The only interface here is me, as a committee member, and I'm happy to answer any questions that I can. I really don't know how to reply to this. "Phil Wilson who is also chair, and treasurer and Internet officer, and enquiries etc and does not come on here." I snorted tea down my nose. :) Thank you for your time replying to this thread, and also your kind offer to answer questions. I have one or two. I haven't had a single email from the charity since I joined as a member nearly a year ago. It seems others here are in the same position. Could you forward me the missing newsletters, and also the minutes from the last annual meeting? Could you let us know how many members the society has? This forum says around 5800 is this broadly, approximately accurate? The last accounts for the charity available on the Charities Commission website are from 2017. I have attached them here. Could you send me the most recent ones or post them here? All these things should be easily available to a comittee member of any charity and all of them should be available to the membership. I would like to offer my time to help in any way I can, and at the same time something is telling me I need to ask questions before I do. report.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 49 minutes ago, Dar said: I really don't know how to reply to this. "Phil Wilson who is also chair, and treasurer and Internet officer, and enquiries etc and does not come on here." I snorted tea down my nose. :) Thank you for your time replying to this thread, and also your kind offer to answer questions. I have one or two. I haven't had a single email from the charity since I joined as a member nearly a year ago. It seems others here are in the same position. Could you forward me the missing newsletters, and also the minutes from the last annual meeting? Could you let us know how many members the society has? This forum says around 5800 is this broadly, approximately accurate? The last accounts for the charity available on the Charities Commission website are from 2017. I have attached them here. Could you send me the most recent ones or post them here? All these things should be easily available to a comittee member of any charity and all of them should be available to the membership. I would like to offer my time to help in any way I can, and at the same time something is telling me I need to ask questions before I do. report.pdfUnavailable Dar, If you were new member you should have got a welcome pack with the current newsletter, current journal (Planta Carnivora), and a growing guide, although the newsletter may have been emailed to you. If you have not received any of this then it is likely your membership has not been processed. If you are a renewing member you will not have received any pack. The accounts from the AGM were published in the last newsletter, if you give me an email I can send you a copy. Members wise, it's about 350, it's a very small member-run society and much smaller than many other societies, or people think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeP Posted February 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 Is it possible for an amateur to help with the website? Basic updating etc? I don’t have the skill set for most of the vacant posts but could try and assist with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dar Posted February 21, 2022 Report Share Posted February 21, 2022 3 hours ago, gardenofeden said: Dar, If you were new member you should have got a welcome pack with the current newsletter, current journal (Planta Carnivora), and a growing guide, although the newsletter may have been emailed to you. If you have not received any of this then it is likely your membership has not been processed. If you are a renewing member you will not have received any pack. The accounts from the AGM were published in the last newsletter, if you give me an email I can send you a copy. Members wise, it's about 350, it's a very small member-run society and much smaller than many other societies, or people think! I took the "if" at the beginning of your reply seriously. I checked statements from my bank. You have my apologies, and my admission that I am an idiot! I have just applied for membership today and I really hope that this goes some way toward making up for my earlier stupidity in the thread. I had no idea how small the membership was and I can see that it must be a lot of work for very few people with little thanks at the end. If I can help in any way at all I would be happy to do some of the more tedious work for the charity. I do have some previous experience keeping a constantly changing website up to date. I also have experience of being in charge of social media for the same company. Other than that I would be happy to help wherever needed. If you guys are struggling to keep up with things let me know how I can help once my membership has been processed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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