Board of Trustees Report - July 2011

The Association's Board of Trustees met on 15/16 July 2011 in Kettering, where they:

• supported grant applications for care centres in Nottingham and South Wales, specifically welcoming the South Wales application to expand the current Cardiff centre to cover a huge geographical area including south, west and central Wales.

• approved the appointment of Dr Martin Turner to the Biomedical Research Advisory Panel.

• adopted the Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Association to 31 January 2011.

• ratified applications for Honorary Membership for Dr C J K Ellis, Patron of East Dorset and New Forest Branch and also for Prof Colin Blakemore, President of the MND Association and our Oxfordshire Branch.

• re-appointed co-opted trustee Barbara Howe to the Board for a second two-year term.

• approved the Research Knowledge Strategy after Director of Research, Brian Dickie presented on the need for researchers worldwide to have the capacity to share knowledge and thus avoid duplication of work.

• approved the Volunteering Strategy with the provisos that there is ongoing trustee engagement and that additional focus be given to the retention of ‘good quality’ volunteers.

• agreed in principle to adopt the Carers’ Strategy, which is in its early stages, and addresses the recognition for the need for support for carers of people with MND.

• agreed to support the Information and Knowledge Strategy, to build an infrastructure to create and maintain an efficient and accessible knowledge and understanding to address the needs of people with MND. This is subject to committed trustee engagement and a firmer picture of cost implications.