Progress Report

Open or Anonymous email list?



Hi everyone,



I’ve had some responses already to my query about whether we should have an open or an anonymous or Bcc email list. One of you made the following, very pertinent, comment:



“I have found that it’s not the people on the ‘open’ list who do the damage but the people to whom they forward the email because ‘you’ll find this interesting’, who then forward it to someone else for the same reason, and so on, ad infinitum. As dealing with spam represents a huge waste of my time, I go to some considerable lengths not to be its recipient!”



I’ve had that kind of thing happen, so maybe it’s best to keep the list Bcc for now. With this concern in mind, I’ve prepared a progress report which doesn’t name anyone – apart from me.



Plants For A Future Charity – Progress Report



We had what I think everyone there agreed was a very successful meeting at The Field at Penpol in Cornwall on 20 July. I took notes in the morning and someone else took over in the afternoon. I wrote up our notes afterwards and used them to draw up the Next Steps, an analysis of the outcome of the meeting, and then used the analysis to identify a set of Agreed Priorities, which were:



Priorities



1. Initiate the research project (see TOR: http://www.plantsforafuture.org.uk/researchTOR.htm ) by asking for a scoping study to be carried out.

2. Looking at what the Charity might do to facilitate our founder’s planned move abroad, where he plans to extend his research into tropical plants with a view to creating a tropical plants database.

3. Seeking someone to take over management of the PFAF website and database.

4. Investigating the legal status and future development of the PFAF Land Club.

5. Resurrecting and managing the PFAF membership scheme.

6. Pursuing the possibility of getting planning permission for people to stay longer than is currently allowed on The Field, PFAF’s experimental site in Cornwall.



[This list is based on an internal document with some details altered to avoid referring to people personally, so I could put the list on the website: www.plantsforafuture.org.uk/#priorities .]



I’ll report our progress to date against that list.



Progress



1. Initiate the research project (see TOR) by asking for a scoping study to be carried out.



A letter requesting the scoping study was sent on 22 July and the planning stage is underway, potential members of the study team are being contacted, and a meeting to clarify the terms of reference is pencilled in for 28 or 29 August.



2. Looking at what the Charity might do to facilitate our founder’s planned move abroad, where he plans to extend his research into tropical plants with a view to creating a tropical plants database.



There has been a very positive exchange of letters on this subject and I’m sure we shall be able to help. However, there are some personal issues involved, and so there will be no further reports until plans are more advanced.



3. Seeking someone to take over management of the PFAF website and database.



Two people are keenly interested in taking over and further developing the website and database. A letter was sent on 8 August asking them to draw up a proposal, and they have agreed. There has been a discussion forum set up to discuss this, a number of people have joined, and there have been interesting posts.



4. Investigating the legal status and future development of the PFAF Land Club.



One of the Charity trustees is liaising with the Land Club with a view to preparing a brief for a solicitor and seeking a solicitor who will understand the situation and be sympathetic.



5. Resurrecting and managing the PFAF membership scheme.



A number of people have come forward to express interest in this, and in the office administration function generally and discussions are ongoing.



6. Pursuing the possibility of getting planning permission for people to stay longer than is currently allowed on The Field, PFAF’s experimental site in Cornwall.



This would require the preparation of a business plan to make the case for the site having commercial potential, probably for plant propagation and sales, and/or for further research into unusual plants which could usefully be grown, from which it may be possible to argue that the value of the plants and special tending they need does require 24/7 care for at least part of the year.



This subject will remain on hold until people come forward with a business plan or suggestions which could form the basis of a plan.



It may be that ideas will emerge once the research study is underway, and if so an interim report could be prepared.



Other points



At the time of writing, we are still short of a trustee, but four people have expressed an interest, and the two current trustees are soon to be meeting someone who has actually said ‘I’ll do it.’



It is taking me a while to get up to speed on what I need to do as Company Secretary and Treasurer. The accounts for October 2007 (yes, really!) have just been sent to me by our accountant, and will soon be winging their way to Companies House, just ahead of the deadline of the end of August. I’ve notified the Charity Commission of the changed email address and requested a password so that I can get the various details changed and do the annual return online. There are various other accounts associated with the PFAF presence on the internet. Some of that may well change when the new team take over, and then I’ll need to get clear on what I need to do about those as Treasurer. The accounts for the current financial year need to be brought up to date and I am considering employing someone locally to assist with this.

Chris Marsh, trustee