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Britain Zimbabwe Society

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Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Britain Zimbabwe Society
Held at National Children's Bureau, London 20th November 2004

Present: Oliver Phillips, Margaret Ling, Marieke Clarke, Iain Whyte, Isabel Whyte, Yvonne Kassim, Frances Chinemana, Joan Weir, Jonathon Leavens, John Reed, Geraldine Khumalo
Apologies: Victor de Waal, Hazel Barkham, Richard Brown, Clayton Peel, Michael Aho, Terry Ranger, Richard Lamerton, Katrina Phillips, Pat Akhurst, Lesley Coppin, Rajana and Bill Ash, Martin Williams, Theresa and Ronald Watts, Terence Gavaghan, Diana Cheater, Alan Brookes, Peter Cotton, Silu Pascoe

Welcome: As Vice Chair of the, Oliver Phillips welcomed everyone to the meeting. As the meeting was not quorate, given the small number of members present, it was agreed that as per the Society's Constitution, members be invited to a meeting to be held in 2005 at which time they could comment on any matters raised at the AGM

Minutes of the 2003 AGM held on 22nd November were accepted. The one correction noted was that Sandra Nyaira's name was mis-spelt on page 2.
Matters arising: There were no matters arising

Chair's Report: In the absence of the Society's Chair, Diana Jeater, Oliver Phillips read out her report for the year. The report noted the Society's key events in 2004, thanked the officers of the Society for their work and highlighted the initiatives which the Executive would be discussing for 2005. A copy of the report is attached.

Treasurer's Report. Iain Whyte, the acting Treasurer, reported that he had now been able to finalise the accounts to date, and the reserves were still healthy. He noted that he would not recommend any rise in membership fees in such a situation. The audit is still to be organised, and some confusion remains around donations and membership payments, so the system needs to be reviewed. Money received from the South West Arts Council might be available for use with the Bristol Zimbabwe group, and this is to be discussed with Nick James. Iain was thanked for his work throughout the year.

Secretaries' Reports:
Minutes and correspondence
Nothing to report.

Publications
Marieke Clarke reported that four Newsletters had been produced in the course of 2004, with support from Joan Weir, together with Reviews on the media crisis, the Zimbabwean economy and farmworkers, the 2004 Research Day and food insecurity. Marieke also reported that topics for Reviews in 2005 would include the economy, the state of education in schools and 2005 Research Day. It was suggested that a fourth edition might focus on anti-retroviral treatments for HIV/AIDS.

Membership
There was no report as the outgoing Membership Secretary was unable to attend.
Information

Margaret Ling reported that 96 members were on the BZS e:mail information list, and that with help with Richard Brown, the website was being maintained. The Society is represented in the Zimbabwe Action Network and the Human Rights NGO Forum. Following on from the Open Forum in 2004, there are interesting possibilities for work in 2005 on the South African/Zimbabwean diaspora in the UK, particularly during the Zimbabwean elections. Links are also maintained with CCETSA and ACTSA, and the John Conradie Memorial Trust which is supporting an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe.

Other Reports:
Scotland Joan Weir reported on a busy year where the elected Committee had been involved with fundraising, including a successful 'Burns and Freedom Night' which raised £4000 for two Trusts in Zimbabwe. The Committee has been trying to respond to the needs of the increasing number of Zimbabweans in Scotland, and also maintains links with ACTSA in Scotland, a cross-party group on asylum, Impact AIDS and SOLAS. Iain Whyte proposed thanks to Joan for her work in Scotland and on the newsletter, and noted that a constitution for the Scotland group would be finalised after their next AGM.

Marieke Clarke noted that Asylum Watch which was set up in Oxford offering support from legal advisers, youth workers and a befriending scheme, had much useful information for services being established in other areas, and she offered to develop a position paper on this.
Motions for Debate No motions for debate were put to the meeting.

Elections
President Terence Ranger (acclaimed)
Vice-President Edgar Moyo (acclaimed)
Chair Diana Jeater (Proposed by Marieke Clarke and seconded by Iain Whyte)
Vice Chair Oliver Phillips (Proposed by Margaret Ling and seconded by Frances Chinemana)
Secretary - Minutes and Correspondence: Frances Chinemana (Proposed by Yvonne Kassim and seconded by Joan Weir)
Secretary - Publications: Marieke Clarke (Proposed by Diana Jeater and seconded by Oliver Phillips)
Secretary - Membership: Geraldine Khumalo (Proposed by Marieke Clarke and seconded by Margaret Ling)
Treasurer Iain Whyte (Proposed by Margaret Ling and seconded by Yvonne Kassim)
Information Officer Margaret Ling (Proposed by Richard Brown and seconded by Katrina Phillips)
Executive members The following three additional people, duly proposed and seconded, were elected to the committee: Victor de Waal, Yvonne Kassim and Clayton Peel. Frances Chinemana agreed to find out from other Executive members whether they prepared to stand again, and to ask any other members if they were prepared to join the committee. Oliver Phillips undertook to ask Sara Rich Dorman if she wished to stay on the committee.
It was agreed that the new post of Database Officer be discussed at the January Executive meeting.
Programme for 2005 The Executive Committee would be holding a strategy meeting on Saturday 15th January at which details of the 2005 programme would be worked out. A programme for Research Day, planned for Saturday 11th June was being developed.

Any other Business John Reed gave further details about the work of the educationalist John Conradie, who died in 1998. The money from the Trust established in his name has been used to refurbish a farmhouse as an orphanage. He described the Rhodes University Appeal, to support Zimbabwean students studying there, and noted that some of the funds from the Memorial Trust might be devoted to this.

The formal proceedings of the meeting closed at 11.45am.

Frances Chinemana
01/03/05

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