Constitution, Office Bearers and Membership

TES has received enormous support from schemes like the Scottish government’s Climate Challenge Fund (CCF), allowing us to do some pretty amazing stuff. To receive funding or hold a bank account it is essential for a community group to have a constitution.

TES is currently a voluntary association.  This is the simplist kind of structure and seemed attractive to start off with, however we have now begun to realise it has its drawbacks, including no limitation of liability for members and lack of a legal personality which makes having contracts difficult.  This can be pretty scary when we are now an employer (albeit our staff are only on 1year max contracts as our current project funding is only for 1 year) and need to make sure we fulfill all our employment responsibilities properly.  The current constitution can be downloaded here, however we are urgently considering other legal structures which will be better suited to delivering for the community whilst also supporting and protecting our members.

TES has a small number of Office Bearers whose role it is to help steer things in an productive and creative direction and to ensure that TES is arranged in the most effective way to meet its objectives. To find out more about the role of office bearers see officer roles .

The current office bearers are:

Chair:  Patricia Abel, Vice Chair: Jane Campbell, Treasurer: Michael Meighan, Secretary: vacant.

Recently retired from office are:  Vice Chair: Michele Hipwell, Treasurer: Mike Hall, Secretary: Bjorn Schulte-Herbruggen; Jean Carletta.

BECOMING A MEMBER:

To participate in TES projects and activities there is no need to be a TES member, indeed it's probably best to get to know the organisation a bit before signing up. Having said that it's really helpful to have enthusiastic and motivated folk signed up as members because there's a heap of work that needs to be done in the background to help support our projects and activities and, once you learn more about TES, being a member allows you to vote when decisions are being made which need to be voted upon. 

Although over the last couple of years TES has been lucky enough to receive funding enabling us to have a few employees, fundementally we are a voluntary organisation and it is the voluntary membership, other volunteers and local participants who provide the drive and energy to move us forward.  We want to keep the activities of TES as community and participant led as possible.  If you'd like to become a member please read the constitution first and then complete our membership form

Anyone is allowed to attend public meetings like general meetings (space permitting), so our decision-making and organisational process is open to community scrutiny. Though only members can vote at official gatherings, all pertinent voices will be heard and, really, if you are keen enough to turn up, your ideas and concerns must be relevant.