Members and Trustees
Members
There are over 100 members of POhWER. Members receive two newsletters a year and they can vote at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Only members can become Trustees. Advocates and the Empowerment team support Members at the AGM.
Trustees
- There are 15 places on POhWER’s Board of Trustees. Most Trustees have used services in the past.
- Trustees go to 6 Board meetings a year where they talk about what is happening in POhWER and where POhWER needs to develop.
- There are also six pre-Board meetings. These take place before the Board meeting. This is where the Empowerment team support some Trustees to go through the papers for the Board meeting and prepare any questions they might want to ask at the Board meeting.
- The traffic light cards are used at all Board meetings. This makes sure that everyone is able to take part in the meeting.
- The Empowerment team also supports Trustees by making the minutes accessible. This can involve putting pictures with the words, using easy words, using big writing.
- Each year 1/3rd of the Board has to seek re-election.
- Only members can put themselves forward to be a Trustee and only people who are members of POhWER can vote for who they want to be a Trustee.
- Members are also asked to vote on other things. For example, whether or not POhWER should change its name from POhWER (People Of hertfordshire Want Equal Rights) to just POhWER. This was an important vote because POhWER had wanted to expand its work out of Hertfordshire.
- POhWER now provides an Independant Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) in the East of England, London and the West Midlands as well as Generic Advocacy in Hertfordshire. Trustees have also been involved in consultations, for example the “Single Assessment Process”.
