The Vegan Society’s AGM and Trustee elections on Saturday 27 June marked a turning point in the charity’s 70-year history, where important proposals to improve the effectiveness of the organisation were voted on.
As a result of the Trustee elections, the Board of trustees (Council) has grown from four to 12 members. Elections for the role of Chair, Vice-Chair and Treasurer will take place soon. The following members are now serving on Council:
- Alex Kapila, Acting Chair
- Menna Jones, Acting Treasurer
- Tim Barford
- Stephen Walsh
- Ruth Jenkins
- Jenifer Vinell
- Paul Crouch
- Sagar Shah
- Helen Wright
- Edward Daniel
- Felix Hnat
- Constantin Imbs.
This was the first time for more than seven years that Vegan Society members had voted in a competitive Trustee election, demonstrating the interest in supporting the growth of The Vegan Society.
Alex Kapila commented: “We are delighted that so many candidates put themselves forward for the Trustee elections. We look forward to working together making the organisation even more effective and efficient. We need to work hard to achieve our mission of making veganism an easily adopted and widely recognised approach to reducing animal and human suffering, and environmental damage, by means of meaningful, peaceful and factual dialogue with individuals, organisations and companies.”
The meeting resolved to adopt, in principle, the Charity Commission’s Model Articles of Association, and a consultation will be held before the final draft text is put to the members at the next meeting. This will modernise the organisation and bring it in line with the way other effective medium to large charities are governed.
Vegan comic relief was provided by comedian Chris Stokes after the formalities had closed.
At a time of global interest in veganism and the society’s growing profile in the media, we are optimistic that we will continue to go from strength to strength during the next couple of years.
