2021 AGM - Chairs report
Due to Ivor being on a sabbatical, it was decided to have a low key AGM this year. Attendees had agreed that we would add a 20 minute slot at the beginning of our EMS Steering group meeting and invite members through the newsletter circulated. Sidra had prepared the regular paperwork for the AGM.
Ivor Moody expanded on a few points, notably the very successful Essex Mind & Sprit first and second phases of their project to audit the faith/belief led initiatives/projects across the county and form the report. EMS has been overwhelmed by the positive response that the project has received from people of faith/belief and spirituality across Essex; as well as the keen interest shown by statutory and voluntary organisations serving the County. Ivor thanked Bill Coomber from Praxis Proactive Solutions for his assistance and guidance and commented that another bid for funding would be applied for before the next County Conference due to take place in April 2017. He expressed gratitude for the continuing work of the Cluster Groups which bring awareness and training opportunities to local communities around Essex.
2015 AGM
The Essex Mind and Spirit AGM was held on Tuesday 24th March 2015 at the Chelmsford Cathedral Chapter House. Ivor Moody expanded on a few points, notably the very successful Essex Mind & Sprit first phase of their project to audit the faith/belief led initiatives/projects across the county. Since the early autumn EMS has been engaging with residents in the four EMS cluster areas and distributing our questionnaires for completion. EMS has been overwhelmed by the positive response that the project has received from people of faith/belief and spirituality across Essex; as well as the keen interest shown by statutory and voluntary organisations serving the County. Ivor thanked Bill Coomber from Praxis Proactive Solutions for his assistance and guidance and commented that feedback from the received questionnaires would be given at our next mini-conference, due to be held on 19th May 2015. He expressed gratitude for the continuing work of the Cluster Groups which bring awareness and training opportunities to local communities around Essex.
Ivor commented on the links between EMS and the Mid-Essex Inter Faith Forum which he also Chairs and the National Spirituality and Mental Health Forum which receives regular updates of our work here in Essex and which helps to promote groups like ours across the country. Ivor mentioned that the brand new EMS website was now up and running. Jan Hutchinson presented the accounts, and was thanked for all her work, especially for managing the £10,000 grant received from Awards for All for the so effectively.
Ivor also thanked Sidra for all her invaluable hard work as secretary, in particular in managing an ever increasing database of contacts for EMS, and for the quarterly newsletters which continue to do much good work in promoting EMS across the region.
Ivor was re-elected as Chair, Sidra as Secretary and Jan as Treasurer for another year. The AGM ended with the prize draw of £100 for returning one of the completed questionnaires! The lucky winner was Richard Poole from Colchester
2014 AGM
Thank you very much for attending our AGM today, and a warm welcome to you all!
In writing this report, it is always a useful exercise to look back to last year’s one if only to realise how much water has flowed under the bridge, and how and why, in these challenging times, we are all so grateful that EMS has been able to continue. And that, of course, is largely due to a wonderful team of people who surround me in our common task to raise the profile of faith and spirituality in trying to understand mental health issues, and its positive role in mental health recovery. I wish here to record my profound thanks to Sidra Naeem, without whose incredible hard work and commitment EMS would simply not be where it is today, to Jan Hutchinson who so ably and efficiently keeps the accounts in order – no mean feat this year particularly, with a £10,000 grant from Awards for All to have to manage; and all the members of the Steering Group, many of them also Cluster Group Chairs, who organise locally managed events in their own right and who meet with me regularly to help manage and direct EMS and all that it seeks to do…
Ivor commented on the links between EMS and the Mid-Essex Inter Faith Forum which he also Chairs and the National Spirituality and Mental Health Forum which receives regular updates of our work here in Essex and which helps to promote groups like ours across the country. Ivor mentioned that the brand new EMS website was now up and running. Jan Hutchinson presented the accounts, and was thanked for all her work, especially for managing the £10,000 grant received from Awards for All for the so effectively.
Ivor also thanked Sidra for all her invaluable hard work as secretary, in particular in managing an ever increasing database of contacts for EMS, and for the quarterly newsletters which continue to do much good work in promoting EMS across the region.
Ivor was re-elected as Chair, Sidra as Secretary and Jan as Treasurer for another year. The AGM ended with the prize draw of £100 for returning one of the completed questionnaires! The lucky winner was Richard Poole from Colchester
2013 AGM
This year has seen many changes in Essex Mind and Spirit,
both on the Steering Group and with the Cluster Groups and the pace of the organisation and the people it seems to be reaching is positively breathtaking. Sidra reports constant traffic on her mobile phone and the EMS email! After years of Chairing the Mid Essex Cluster Group, Rev’d Simon Garwood has stepped down, although he and Rev’d Canon Dr Graham Blythe still want to be members of the Steering Group which is truly heartening. A recent addition to the Steering group is Rev’d Karen Best, vicar of Roxwell who I am delighted to report is re-launching the Mid Essex Cluster Group and has agreed to convene it.
Another farewell, although again he wants to continue his association with EMS, is Peter Goble who was responsible for the creation and launch of the South-West Essex Cluster Group; and again, we are extremely fortunate that Safia Hussain who is the secretary of Women Together in Basildon has agreed to represent the South West Essex Cluster Group in the same way Sidra does with her Brentwood BME group. As well as ensuring the continuance of an EMS Cluster Group in this important area, EMS will benefit from an immediate and wider networking with the community through Women Together and some of the issues that are of concern to both organisations.
Other welcome additions to the Steering Group are Chelmsford and Southend MIND, Mark Dale, Chairman of Basildon Disability and Equality Forum and…
