Extraordinary General Meeting - 30 September 2024

The BDA are making plans to bring new ways for members of the public to engage with and have a say in the charity’s activities. Over the past 18 months we’ve worked hard to find out what our stakeholders really want from our charity and the current barriers to getting involved with us. We’ve learnt that there is high demand for:

• Feeling part of a community
• Access to support groups, information and advice
• Opportunities to network, share stories and best practice and learn from peers
• Getting involved in awareness events and helping us to raise funds
• Participation in advocacy groups, campaigning on policy matters and identifying matters of concern to lobby policymakers about
• Formal representation in discussions with government, policymakers and national and local institutions

There are concerns about cost barriers and the provision of impactful outreach to disadvantaged and vulnerable groups whereas there is little or no interest in participating in the formal governance of the charity itself.

We would like to introduce free Individual membership to adults with dyslexia/suspected dyslexia and to the family and supporters of people of all ages with dyslexia/suspected dyslexia to expand and strengthen our community. This will be in addition to the ongoing improvements to the benefits and services available to Professional Members and to LDA Members.

We are therefore proposing a revised Articles of Association to reflect these findings.

The proposed Articles of Association:

• Assign voting rights to the Board of Trustees (who are also the Company Directors) who already have independent control over, and legal responsibility for, the charity’s management and administration
• Retain non-voting Associate Membership which the charity will continue to provide to Individual Members, Professional Members and LDA Members
• Retain the same number of Trustees (Directors) with a quorum of six Trustees
• Reduce the administrative costs of the charity and the associated complications in administering the current Articles
• Ensure that the interests of all charity stakeholders and all Associate (non-voting) Members are suitably represented by Board members and that no single group has disproportionate over-representation
• Enable the offer of free Individual membership to the general public, expanding and strengthening our community and reinvigorating our movement for change.

People get involved with the BDA because they are passionate about supporting individuals with dyslexia and campaigning for a world where people with dyslexia can flourish. We hope you will be able to attend the Extraordinary General Meeting to hear more and vote on the proposal to adopt the revised Articles of Association.