The AGM will elect a new Board of Directors who will run the chapter for the forthcoming year. The directors also function as Trustees of the charity. Are you able to help out the chapter by becoming a Board member? We expect directors will meet at least once per month and hope that directors will take a lead in chapter projects outside meetings; we are particularly keen to encourage candidates who bring experience of media relations, legal matters, charity administration, project organisation or lobbying. However, there is no requirement to dedicate a certain amount of time to the chapter or to have any particular skills - just disclose what you can bring to the table and let the members decide!

Legal criteria

Before applying to be a candidate, please check that you fulfill the legal criteria to be a director and charity trustee. These are, in summary:

1. You are a member of the chapter, or nominated by a member
   
2. You are 16 years old or over
3. You are prepared to publicly disclose your real name, date of birth, residential address and the names of any other companies you are the director of
4. You are not an undischarged bankrupt, your estate has not been "sequestrated", you have not made an undischarged arrangement with your creditors and you have not granted a trust deed in favour of your creditors
5. You have not been disqualified from acting as a company director or removed as a charity trustee by the Charity Commission, the High Court or the Court of Session (Scotland)
6. You have never been convicted of any offense involving deception or dishonesty which is not a "spent" conviction - even if it was not in the UK

If you have any questions regarding the above you are welcome to contact the Board or take your own legal advice.

Duties

Once elected as a Board member, Directors and Trustees have certain general legal duties and responsibilities. These include:

1. To act only within the powers given to them by the Articles of Association
2. To act in good faith and with integrity to promote the success of the chapter in achieving its purposes, with regard, where necessary to long term effects and the interests of employees, the community, the environment, relations with suppliers and customers, standards of business conduct and fair acting between members of the chapter
3. To use the chapter's resources reasonably and only for the promotion of its purposes
4. To exercise independent judgement and reasonable care, skill and diligence and consider getting external professional advice on all matters where there may be material risk to the chapter, or where the board members may be in breach of their duties
5. To avoid conflicts of interest, declare them where necessary in accordance with applicable law and not to accept benefits from third parties where these may give rise to a conflict of interest
6. To avoid undertaking activities that might place the chapter's assets or reputation at undue risk, ensure that the chapter remains solvent.

In addition, the chapter's Board members are personally required to ensure that the chapter complies with its other legal duties such as those arising from being an employer and its reporting obligations to Companies House and the tax authorities.

Nomination

If you would like to nominate yourself as a candidate for the Board, please send an email to tellers@wikimedia.org.uk by Sunday 5th April (23:59 GMT) which includes:

• Your membership number
• a statement that you would like to nominate yourself to serve as a director and trustee of the chapter and that you fulfill the legal criteria for appointment
• a statement as to whether you are over 18 or not

Note: slightly different election rules apply to candidates aged between 16 and 18

• Full name, any previous names, date of birth, usual residential address, business occupation and the names of any other UK companies which you have been director of in the last five years

Note these details will not be made public unless you are successfully elected, when they will be filed with Companies House

The Tellers will confirm receipt and acceptance of the nomination. The list of validly approved candidates will be sent to all members within a week of the close of nominations on the 5th April. Candidates can withdraw their nomination any time before the results of the election are announced.

If you would like to propose a resolution or an amendment, please email secretary@wikimedia.org.uk before the meeting to discuss.

Resolutions 2, 6 and 7 are Special Resolutions which require a 75% majority of members voting to vote in favour in order to pass. The operative text of these Resolutions is set out at the bottom of this notice. All other resolutions are Ordinary Resolutions which require a simple majority (i.e more than 50% of those voting) to pass. The text of Special Resolutions cannot be amended at the AGM itself because they require special notice; Ordinary Resolutions can be amended at the meeting.

The Board proposes Resolutions 1-6 and encourages all members to vote in favour. They have been drafted after consultation with the community on the email list and the wiki and we believe they are are in the best interests of the chapter.

Resolution 7 has been proposed by a member. Although the Board understands the rationale for the motion, we think it is likely that we will have to make amendments to the Chapter Agreement in the near future. Requiring an Extraordinary General Meeting or a Written Resolution to implement these would be an onerous requirement for the next Board, which would not bring a proportionate benefit; therefore, the Board encourages members to vote against this resolution. Our full argument against is set out at http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetings/2009_AGM/Resolutions.

A statement in support of Resolution 7 is attached.

You have the right to appoint a proxy who can attend the AGM and vote on your behalf. You may revoke the appointment of a proxy at any time. Your proxy doesn't have to be a member but does have to attend the AGM in person.

You may also appoint the Tellers as your proxy, and instruct them to vote in a certain way. This can be used as a way of voting electronically, and you can still attend the meeting if you wish. If you would like to do this, please email the following message to tellers@wikimedia.org.uk, no later than 2pm on Friday 24th April, replacing the text within [ ] as appropriate:

I, [name], of the above email address, being a member of Wikimedia UK, membership number [num] hereby appoint the Tellers (1) as my proxy to vote in my name on my behalf at the general meeting of the charity to be held on 26 April 2009 and at any adjournment thereof:

1. Setting the maximum number of Directors to seven:     [insert "For" or "Against"]
2. Requiring the permission of the members to amend the Election Rules:     [insert "For" or "Against"]
3. Appointing those people elected under the Election Rules as directors:     [insert "For" or "Against"]
4. Adoption of the Membership Rules:     [insert "For" or "Against"]
5. Setting the Membership fee to £12 per year and £6 for concessions:     [insert "For" or "Against"]
6. Requiring the permission of the members to terminate the Chapter Agreement:     [insert "For" or "Against"]
7. Requiring the permission of the members to terminate or amend the Chapter Agreement:     [insert "For" or "Against"]

Unless otherwise instructed, the proxy [insert "may vote as they think fit or abstain" or "must abstain"] from voting.