GALE Governance Dispute
UPDATE 14th September 2023: All references in the blog below to the ‘Articles of Association’ refer to the version of said Articles which were in force at the time of publication. GALE’s current Articles of Association can be found here.
Statement from Gairloch and Loch Ewe Action Forum to dispel some of the myths, misinformation and misunderstanding regarding its governance. We wish to cover the regular recurring themes which have arisen over our twenty-five year history and to give clear and transparent answers herein.
Firstly we wish to set out a few things about GALE, so you have a good opportunity to understand who we are, what we do and how we do it.
What is GALE?
GALE is Development Trust whose aim is to help our neighbourhood flourish through community-led activity, partnership working and enterprise. We have been involved in many projects over the years but our biggest and best known is The GALE Centre. Our twenty-five year history would take too long to discuss here but is covered well in The GALE Story. GALE is one of over 300 Development Trusts in Scotland and our nearest neighbours are Wester Loch Ewe Trust to the North and The Garve and District Development Company to the East.
What is GALE's Purpose?
GALE is a social enterprise, whose aim is to bring social, environmental and economical benefits to the residents of Gairloch and Loch Ewe. Our main charitable purpose is the advancement of citizenship and community development. GALE operates within the third sector. This means that instead of providing statutory services it delivers charitable activities and the only trade GALE carries out is for the furtherance of its charitable purpose. The GALE Centre is the principal source of our economic activity and delivers a whole range of community wealth building activities. Surpluses are put back into the community and charitable activities and not distributed to shareholders.
We have a significant impact on the local economy employing around 25 people and supporting over 50 local producers and suppliers. In 2022 our financial benefit to the local community was over £340K – GALE paid £285,824 to thirty-three local employees; fifty-two local producers and suppliers received payments totalling £27,431; our seventeen Community Bakers were paid £25,766 and nine local charities and community groups received payments of £1,778.
GALE has a group of dedicated volunteers who enjoy their time with us and are an integral part of our team – last year thirty-four volunteers gave 2,495 hours to further GALE’s aims. We also provided 116 hours of counselling to locals, whom otherwise would have needed to wait months to access NHS services.
If GALE did not exist nearly thirty people would have no job, our community would be deprived of £340K per annum to its local economy, volunteers would lose out on important social interactions and those in need of counselling would be left with long waiting times for support. These people and the benefits to our community are why we do what we do.
GALE has proudly worked in partnership with many local groups and provided assistance when it was needed. Some of these projects would not now exist in their current forms without the help provided by GALE. Namely, Poolewe Village Hall, Laide & Aultbea Community Wood, The Gairloch and District Times, Gairloch Aid & Mobility Support, the Den Youth Café, Gairloch and District Show, and Poolewe Market.
How is GALE Governed?
GALE is an independent organisation. We are governed by our members, through our Board of Directors and not by any statutory body, government agency or funder. GALE operates within the legal frameworks set by statutory bodies but is not governed by them.
GALE is a leading member of the Development Trust Association of Scotland (DTAS) and as such operates within and exemplifies the standards set by DTAS for its members. Like every charity and company GALE is registered with our regulators The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and Companies House. An overview of our income and spending and published accounts are available to review on their websites.
GALE holds an Investing in Volunteers award which means we operate at the UK quality standard for good practice in volunteer management.
As GALE is member owned it means that our members have the responsibility and privilege to deliver on our aim of making our area a better place for people of all abilities to live, work and thrive. To achieve this the members elect a Board of Directors from their number who oversee the work of the organisation.
Over the past 25 years we have had 43 local people serve as Board Members. All have contributed to making the organisation what it is today by putting their heads above the parapet and taking their turn at the helm. We’re all standing on the shoulders of giants and are responsible for carrying on their legacy.
Our constitution, or as it is more formally referred to our Articles of Association is the rule book by which we operate. It is updated from time to time to keep in line with changing legislation
GALE's Area of Benefit
We proposed a number of changes to the Articles at our 2022 AGM in order to bring them up to date with current Company Law and reflect the changing environment in which we operate
The proposed change which created the greatest discussion, was GALE’s Area of Benefit. Currently this is defined as “Wester Loch Ewe, Aultbea and Gairloch Community Council areas and those neighbouring areas as the Board of Directors sees fit”. Most of us consider Inverness our neighbour but would not wish to consider it part of our Area of Benefit. GALE has in the past been involved in Highland wide projects and joint projects with other development trusts in Wester Ross.
So the Board proposed that we tighten the definition and indeed the potential geographic area covered, by defining it as ‘IV21 and IV22’. It has been suggested that GALE was looking to expand its Area of Benefit. Nothing could be further from the truth – an attempt was made to define the area more accurately and reduce the size of the potential Area of Benefit.
Members suggested they were happy that the Area of Benefit should have a better definition, however, it turns out, our suggested definition of ‘IV21 and IV22’ was not acceptable to some neighbouring communities in the IV22 area. As such, it was decided to go back to the drawing board and come up with another description for further consideration by the members at a future date.
Membership
Membership of GALE is both a privilege and a responsibility. Our members proactively engage with and support the mission, vision and values of GALE and do so with integrity, honesty and respect for each other and everyone in our community.
To become an individual member is easy. Just live in our area of benefit, complete the application form which is then considered by the Board of Directors and finally pay the £5 membership fee. At that point you are on the Register of Members. (The finer details can be found in items 2.1 – 2.15 in our Articles of Association.)
GALE has always had a strong membership which fluctuates a little from year to year. Membership currently stands at over 120 members.
Are members ever expelled or applications declined? In GALE’s twenty-five year history, only two members have ever been expelled and until January 2023 no application for membership had ever been declined.
Local Democracy
GALE’s charitable purpose is about community development and active citizenship. Democracy and community empowerment are at the heart of this. We want everyone in our community to have a say over the things that matter to them, whether they are rich or poor, young or old, decendents of local lairds or crofters or have just moved to the community last week. We believe everyone should have a voice, not just the loud, articulate and well educated, but also the quiet voices, that struggle to be heard, the vulnerable that are unable to speak and the gentle that don’t push in.
We actively work to break down barriers so that the harder to reach can be heard and we use many methods to reach out and listen to local voices. Over the past 12 months we have spoken to more than 500 people in our community about their hopes and aspirations for the area, their views on our current work and future plans – that’s 25% of our population that have shared their views, and had a say over the things that matter to them, in just the last 12 months. And it doesn’t stop there we continue to do this on a daily basis – it’s how we work, always have done and always will.
The Importance of Our Values
GALE is a values led organisation. This means all decisions are run through a set of core values. Staff and volunteers are recruited on their alignment with these values; members are expected to uphold them and the Board and senior staff team are expected to exemplify them.
Common Good: Nothing at GALE is done for personal gain, instead it is done for the benefit of people and the planet. The benefits of GALE are spread amongst as wide a number of local people as possible. So in 2022, GALE employed 33 locals; supported over 50 local producers and businesses; had the services of 17 community bakers; used the services of 9 charities or community groups – in all more than 5% of the local population received some form of financial benefit from GALE. By harnessing its economic and social power, GALE acts as an anchor institution to create wealth that is shared locally and stays local.
Inclusivity and Diversity: It’s about fair opportunities for all – giving everyone a chance. We support all our staff and volunteers with hidden disabilities by exercising respect, kindness, empathy and non-judgement. Breaking down barriers to inclusion so that the vulnerable and less able can participate too. We listen to and include those who have quiet voices, those who don’t push their own views over those of others, those who are overlooked and often not heard. We recognise that the loud and strong voices are not the only or most important ones. We stand up to bullying and aggressive behaviours and actively work to listen and engage with our whole community.
Integrity, Kindness and Respect: We act with integrity and treat each other with kindness and respect to promote and champion the Gairloch and Loch Ewe community as a great place for people of all abilities to live, work and thrive.
Social Enterprise: A Powerful Other Way
Social enterprises and development trusts the world over frequently come up against opposition and GALE has certainly had its fair share of opposition over its twenty-five years. We recognise that opposition is symptomatic of not just a local problem but a much wider issue, that social enterprise is misunderstood. Research carried out by Social Enterprise Magazine found that nearly half the adult population is unsure what a social enterprise is, despite this type of business being the fastest-growing in the UK economy.
Social enterprises come in many different forms but they all have the same guiding principle – the quest for social and community benefit rather than personal wealth. Just like its social enterprise cousins around the world, GALE applies commercial strategies to maximise improvements in social and environmental well being, rather than maximising profits for individuals or shareholders. That’s why we trade like a commercial business while also carrying out community and environmental projects.
GALE has operated as a social enterprise for more than twenty-five years. It is distinct from both the private and public sector. It offers a powerful ‘other’ way of doing business and at GALE, it is the preferred means of developing our local economy and delivering local services. We work side by side with individual entrepreneurial businesses and the public sector. We believe all have their merits and should be allowed to co-exist happily.
The Recent Controversy
Before the December 2022 AGM meeting, GALE received applications for individual membership from over twenty people. For our small organisation this is a large increase in the monthly rate of applications which usually runs around two to three. Membership applications are considered at the next available Board meeting in line with our Articles of Association (Item 2.8). There were a significant number of applications from individuals who have in the past and remain, very vocal in a negative way to GALE and its objects (Memorandum Item 3.1 a – g).
The Board was unsure of the motivation behind the applications, coming in such large numbers, in such a short space of time and from many who have been publicly unsupportive of GALE. Therefore after taking the applications under consideration (Articles of Association Item 2.8), it was decided to ask all applicants to answer some simple questions as follows:
- Why do you want to become a member of GALE?
- Please confirm : I support GALE’s Vision, Mission, Values and Strategic Priorities
- Please confirm: I agree to abide by GALE’s Articles of Association
The 2022 AGM
Like many organisations GALE holds an AGM each year. It is an opportunity to update members on our activity and fulfill the legal obligations of the organisation.
For twenty-five years GALE has been freely permitted to hold AGMs without incident or hindrance. Sadly in 2022 a small group of non-members forced entry into the meeting, aggressively shouting at, belittling and intimidating GALE staff, members and volunteers. The Police had to be called due to the seriousness of the aggression.
While it may be understandable that some people were disappointed to be unable to attend a private meeting, the subsequent behaviour of some is unacceptable under any circumstances. GALE has a zero tolerance to aggressive and bullying behaviours towards staff and volunteers.
Membership Applications post-AGM
At every GALE Board meeting new membership applications are considered by the Board. At the January 2023 meeting nineteen complete membership applications were presented to the Board and considered.
Thirteen were approved but sadly six were rejected by the board. In making this decision alignment of applicants with GALE’s mission, vision and values was considered as well as the behaviours of individuals at our 2022 AGM.
The Board felt that it was totally unacceptable for GALE staff, volunteers and members to be subjected to intimidating, verbal and physically aggressive behaviours and was unable to reconcile these with the values of the organisation.
The Social Media Fallout
GALE has been made aware of the publication on social media of our decision to decline membership. Most of this conversation has taken place away from GALE’s social media pages and therefore is not for us to moderate; hence anyone who has been following will have noticed an absence of any comment from us. What is written on other’s timelines is for them to moderate and we will leave you to decide upon the veracity and appropriateness of the comments made in general.
What we would like to say, is that the effects of the social media output have been numerous and profound. GALE is not some faceless organisation, as you have read above, we are collection of locals who work hard to try to make the place we live better for people of all abilities. We have had several staff being questioned about their morals for working for GALE. Events have had to be cancelled to protect our staff and service users from further abuse.
We work with a number of vulnerable people, providing the support that they themselves have decided they need. As a direct result of comments made on social media and for the protection of our staff, volunteers and the individuals, regrettably for the short term the support provided by GALE has had to be suspended.
Moving On
There is a lot in this article and we thank you for persevering to the end. We would like to move on but are aware that some of what is written here may require a bit of face time. Please come and talk to us, if there is anything you have read that causes you concern.
We will answer what we can, while protecting those for whom we have a duty of care. It is time to put local rivalries, gossip and misplaced anger behind us. For the health and well-being of all our community.