FIELD NOTES
APRIL 2002 continued....
EDITORIAL
As many of you will be aware , the Hertfordshire Natural History Society (HNHS) is experiencing some difficulties . There has been no Hertfordshire Naturalist since 1999 , membership is falling and vacancies on the Council are difficult to fill .
This is not necessarily a problem specific to the HNHS . Many societies experience similar phases where the burden of running the society falls on the shoulders of the same few individuals until everything grinds to a halt . However , once the symptoms have been identified , the condition is rarely terminal and can be cured by an injection of fresh enthusiasm and new ideas .
Council discussed the future of the Society at a Special Meeting held on the 28th November 2001 . They reviewed a number of papers submitted by members detailing the problems being experienced by the Society and options for the future . The vast majority of the Council Members present supported the continuation of the Society and elected a Focus Group of seven members to :
- review the HNHS objectives
- assess the management structure required to meet the objectives
- produce an outline proposal for the Way Ahead
- report back to Council prior to the AGM
The Focus Group concluded that , for the HNHS to be successful in the future and achieve its objectives , fairly radical change was required . First of all , it was felt that the current Constitution was over-prescriptive and that a simpler version in line with the new Charity Commission model would be more suitable . This would allow interest groups in birds , mammals , dragonflies , moths etc to flourish without excessive bureaucracy . In any case , it will be necessary to update the Constitution to comply with changes in Charity Law . Secondly , Council is too large with an unwieldy meeting structure , which made the management of the Society slow and indecisive . Thirdly , there was no action in place to halt the decline in the membership .
The recommendations presented to Council therefore included a new draft Constitution which , whilst providing a framework for the Society to work within , also allowed the Management Committee a degree of flexibility in the day-to-day running of the Society .
The Focus Group also recommended that the current two-tier management structure should be replaced by a slimmed-down Management Committee meeting more regularly , thereby being able to provide a more hands-on management over the affairs of the Society . The recommendations were accepted by Council and were presented for information at the AGM . The next step is to review and update the new Constitution and supporting presentation paper to be discussed and voted
on at an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held later in the year .
However , in the meantime , remedial action on some of the perceived shortcomings has already been put in place. The Hertfordshire Naturalist has now been completed and is with the publishers . In addition , the first membership drive for some time was launched when the HNHS , the Herts Bird Club and the Herts Dragonfly Group shared a stand at the first ever Lee Valley Bird Fair held at Hayes Hill Farm on the 23rd and 24th February 2002 ( see later ) .
The Fair was a great success , resulting in the HNHS recruiting thirteen new members ( including two joint memberships ) , the first increase in membership for many years. A further seven members were recruited at the Bird Club Conference ( see later ) . More promotional events are planned .
And finally , to improve communication with our members , we have launched this new look newsletter FIELD NOTES, which we hope will include something for all tastes .
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