View from the Chair

Dear BPEC supporter,

Charity Status: I’m delighted to say that BPEC is now a registered company (number 6166971), thanks to the pro-bono (free) work by Simmons & Simmons. The documents are now with the Charity Commission and we should get charity status in approx 1-2 months. For clarity, the organisation will be both a charity and a company – there will only be one organisation. The current BPEC “association” will be closed down when the charity status is through.

We will have to close the exiting bank account, so those of you with standing orders will need to redo them, please and thank you. The rest of you, you know who you are, please do help out with a standing order, no matter how small. It all adds up, helps leverage other funding and assists with planning/budgeting ahead.

Legacy Campaign: the workshop has been moved to 27 June, at BPEC, from 7-9pm. The event is run by solicitor James Mead. Attendance is free. It gives an overview of what’s involved in writing a will and the tax effective aspects of charity donation. N.B. you don’t need to put BPEC in your will (we won’t know!), though it would be
greatly appreciated. There will also be a chance for questions and answers, as well as short private questions if need be. PLEASE mention
this to friends. Wills are not just for people of a certain age, one never knows what might happen, and a will saves people you care about trouble and ensures your wishes are carried out.

Job Shuffle: By the time you get this, BPEC may well have a new centre coordinator (thanks to Mike Butler and Linda, BPEC’s HR team, for arranging this, finding some great applicants).

Mandy, our fantastic DFiD worker, has cut her work back to 2 days per month. Mareike (who was the coordinator) has been appointed as the
Development Education worker, doing most of Mandy’s job and other education work. I wish to take this opportunity to thank Mareike very much indeed, she’s really helped BPEC’s development, and fund raising.

Happy 25th Birthday: I greatly enjoyed the Dhol foundation music event – and here is advance notice of our main birthday party: 22 September at BPEC. There’s also the Peace Picnic on 22 July (see the
events list for details). Please get involved.

Merlin, Chair