The View from the chair

Dear BPEC members,

My name is Merlin and this is my first message to you as the new Chair of BPEC. I was recommended by Mike Butler, whose office I work in running Re~Cycle, a charity I set up shipping used bicycles to Africa (http://www.re-cycle.org).

There are some other new Management Committee (MC) members too: Dov, who's also the volunteer coordinator and Desmond, the Secretary. I'm delighted that Stacia is also joining the MC even though we will miss her in her role as the BPEC co-ordinator, and we thank her for all her good work and wish her well. The MC is working on improving the structure of the organisation and and creating a strategic plan, with action points. These will be available on our amazing new website. Funding is a critical area at the moment, and another key project is our registration as a charity.

Personally, I took part in the recent Faitrade event at Coombe Road Primary School (running the chocolate tasting, a privilege of rank, as well as an area of interest and expertise!) and we are delighted at the progress in our project for DFID (the Department For International Development).

The MC is now looking for new members, particularly women or those from ethnic minorities (although white middle-class men are equally welcome!), and we especially need a treasurer. The MC meetings are usually for around a hour on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7:15pm and minutes are available in the Centre and (will be) on the website. If you've got skills going to waste or want to find out how to run a dynamic voluntary sector organisation, why not get involved and contact the BPEC office...

Cheers, Merlin