The Destitution Project held its Annual General Meeting on Monday 21st June in Victoria Hall with a live audience unlike last year when the AGM was zoomed. It was the shortest AGM I have ever been to on the longest day of the year.
Never-the less it was ably chaired by Paul Martin in his inimitable friendly way. In his report he traced the main events of the year and paid tribute to the volunteers and staff who had played their part during the difficult times for all. Just over 30 people attended: DP team members, representatives from other organisations, and some of our service users.
The business included reports from the DP Caseworker, Kath our Treasurer ably supported by her husband Geoff. These reports covered the activities and the financial detail during a year of lockdown where only essential services for our asylum seeker and refugee service users were maintained such as food parcels and gifts of clothes plus of course the ongoing specialised support and mentoring provided by the Casework Team. The final report was from our Vice Chairman, David, who updated us on DP’s transition to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) which recently got its charity number, therefore the transition should be completed by the end of August.
These reports were interspersed with two unique video items. Firstly, the story of one of our new service users, Kovan, who told how he left Syria as a 16 year old and, after many trials and tribulations, finally obtained the right to remain having been support by his local church in Bolton and the expert help of his DP caseworker. The video can be viewed below:
The second one was from one of the younger volunteers, Mark, who provided a statement on what it meant to him to volunteer for DP. He said how much it had helped him as a person and how much he felt strongly about the work we do for our service users. Mark's video can be viewed here >
We also had the formalities of AGMs, when our six Trustees were reappointed plus the receipt of the resignation of Minesh Dhokia , who still offers us legal support as and when necessary.
Finally, our Madame Mayor, gave an impromptu speech, thanking DP for the work done in welcoming and helping the many asylum seekers who arrive in Bolton, including many who live in her Halliwell Ward. The Chairman thanked her for her presence and her kind words and closed the meeting announcing the date of the next AGM to be on 20th June 2022.
Let us hope that will be reporting on a more normal year for DP, albeit with its new legal status.
Paul Barnes, Drop-in Coordinator
AGM 2021
