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ME/CFS AUSTRALIA (SA) INC

Registered Charity 698

Mailing address:
GPO Box 383,
Adelaide,
South Australia 5001

Office:
266 Port Road,
Hindmarsh,
South Australia 5007
Ph: (08) 8346 3237
('834 MECFS')

Office Hours:
Wednesdays, 10am-3pm

Support Line:
(Mondays and Thursdays,
10am-3pm)
Ph: (08) 8346 3237

SA country callers:
Ph: 1300 128 339
(local call)

FIBROMYALGIA HELP:
Contact
Fibromyalgia SA
at the
Arthritis Foundation of SA
118 Richmond Road,
Marleston 5033
Ph: (08) 8379 5711

ME/CFS Australia (SA) Inc supports the needs of sufferers of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and related illnesses. We do this by providing services and information to members.

Donate online

Information and Support 2004 is an online appeal that aims to improve our Information and Support Line.

Miscellaneous Reports (continued)

Management Committee Report

As a Management Committee we undertook on the February 10 at a Special general meeting to investigate and report back on the state of the Society, with reference to the outgoing president’s (Harry Hup) report.

Constitution

Advice on our constitution indeed suggests that the most basic template was used to construct our constitution. Whilst there is nothing ‘wrong’ with it, it is indeed need of a review to bring it up to date and more in line with where we are currently at. However the job of fixing it up is no small one – and will require a significant amount of attention to do the job properly, and in one hit. The Management Committee is yet to decide when it will undertake a review of it. We are agreed that any review should be comprehensive not piecemeal, and should involve consultation with members.

Membership

We are pleased to announce that since the last Talking Point (TP), things have picked up and we are up to 360 members. Low membership has been the product of leadership turnovers, run down services and few services for the long-term sick. We have addressed these issues beginning with TP which we have beefed up. Next we will focus on producing a range of information brochures. We have commenced analysis other group’s information brochures, and programs for coping with long term illness.

Management Committee handbook/manual

This Management Committee has begun compiling a reference manual for Committee Members. At this stage we have included useful information regarding the role/responsibilities of Management Committees. Before the year is out we intend to draw up a list of Standing Orders that the Committee is currently using, and we will document the various responsibilities/relationships we have with other organisations. This will help with continuity from this one to the next.

Expenditure

We are puzzled at the references to income/expenditure. The figure $59, 898 is not the surplus for the year ending June 30, 1999 – it is the income. And similarly the figure $30, 878 is not the surplus for the year ending June 30, 2000 – it is the income. There was a fall in income of $29, 020 in the last financial year, as compared with the one before. The higher income was due to a successful grant applications, more donations, a concert and higher membership.

The financial statements therefore show that expenditure was virtually the same in these financial years (around $40,000). Thus the difference in surplus is coincidentally equivalent to the difference in income over these two years. The difference in the profit of $20, 225 to the end of Jun 99 and the loss of $9,208 to the end of Jun 2000 is $29, 433 to be exact.

The question is ‘why this turnaround’ and it is largely due to a smaller income. Administration/office costs seemed to be a little up and we have tried to this point to minimise them, whilst maintaining services for members.

Policies

The new management committee doesn’t believe that volunteers have to be members of the society to help with it. In fact we want to encourage ‘outsiders’ to get involved. The Society benefits enormously from the assistance of those who are not members; parents, friends, recovered former members to good-hearted members of the community. In fact, it would be difficult to maintain our services without their support and we thank them for it.

Is this legal? YES. The constitution requires only that management committee members be members of the society. We can sign on volunteers to work with us without them becoming members. With regard to confidentiality there is no problem. Like most organisations we have strict policies on maintaining confidentiality. Our volunteer manual has a section on this, and all volunteers are referred to that during orientation. Volunteers are required to sign a form agreeing to abide by the Rules and Constitution of the society. We see no problem in volunteers being exposed to members’ information, as they are working under the same conditions and privacy protection requirements that would apply if they were paid staff.

We think it unfair that the Support Line workers were singled out in this document as they do a great job and provide a service to members – and we are especially thankful to those who do not have our condition and give of their time for us. We know from member-feedback that many have appreciated the ‘friendly ear in a time of need’ which these volunteers provide. So in this the International Year of the Volunteer we celebrate all volunteers – members and non-members alike!

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We do not believe that our society can run on membership monies alone – we require serious funding. The new Management Committee has formed a Grants Working Party, which has met several times and is in the process of gathering and writing up the materials necessary to write grant applications. We expect to apply for many grants over the next 12 months.

We are working flat out and to lay the foundations for a strong organisation. Expansion of services will require an expansion of our volunteer team.

Therefore the Society and its Services currently reflect the combined effort of all of us. The Management Committee is currently working on ‘overload’ to bring us into line with the funding achievements of other states – through both government and private sources.

Until we can rely on outside funding, we are dependent on the finance and voluntary support of all members. This is nowhere more apparent than in office and management roles that are carried by paid staff in many similar organisations and sister societies. When this changes it would be a great pleasure for us to drop membership prices, but until this occurs we are left with little choice.

We look forward to a hugely productive and enjoyable year ahead. We thank members for their existing support and welcome your participation in our society’s regeneration. At both a national and state level there are now tremendous opportunities for this society to represent members on the provision of services and education of health care providers.

The Management Committee

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