Executive View
- Moving forward to meet our goals
- End of an era
- Our new logo
- Governance Reform Progress Report
- Policy on public attendance at Board meetings
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Moving forward to meet our goals
Paula Daye, Acting Chief Executive
The last three months have been busy and exciting ones for the Foundation. As Acting CEO, I have enjoyed the challenges I have faced and I"m pleased to inform you of progress on a number of our projects.
A combined position paper on the "Strategy for the Education of Children and Young People who are Blind or Vision Impaired" was presented by the VEA, RNZFB, PVI, ABC, Homai and the NZ Association of Teachers of Learners with Vision Impairment to the Minister of Education and Ministry of Education representatives in late April.
This is the first time both service providers and consumers have united in their commitment and concern about young members and their future and lobbied the government with one voice.
We have been assured of a response from the Minister and Ministry of Education and were complimented on the excellent paper and presentation.
The RNZFB has made 21 written and oral submissions on the 21 District Health Boards' draft strategic plans to ensure the needs of the Foundation's members are brought to the DHB's attention and the Foundation's work is recognised.
Low vision service research is continuing and Dunedin Hospital's Eye Department has just come on board and joined the project.
In late April, the RNZFB Bill was debated in Parliament and the Bill was referred on to Parliament's Education and Science committee. A more in depth article about the governance process is on page 4 of this issue.
Finally, the Adaptive Technology department began it's first 10-week training course with members in early April. Eight students tackled the basics about the PC, Windows, Word and Excel and graduate early this month. The course received partial funding from Skill New Zealand.
End of an era
Gordon Sanderson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
The passing of the Bill to legislate changes to the Foundation's new governance will mark the end of a protracted period of deliberation which has lasted throughout my entire term of office as Chairman.
I have felt constrained during this time to make any public comments either in support of or against the
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proposed changes, not wishing to be seen as trying to influence the process.
I believe the job has been done well and we are all indebted to those who have given so generously of their time to get us to the stage we are at now. The results of the referendum which the Board insisted on before committing the organisation to this major change, showed that the members agreed with the changes we proposed and have given us the mandate to proceed.
I believe this is the right moment for me to step aside and create an opportunity for a new Chairperson, hopefully one that will stand for election under the new system, to take charge and enable a smooth transition to occur.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who has supported me during my term as Chairman. I have enjoyed it enormously, I have learnt a lot and hope the changes the Board have made during this time have made a significant improvement to the quality of the services that we deliver.
Our new logo
At the February 2002 Board meeting, the RNZFB Board of Trustees approved the design and implementation of a new logo for the organisation.
The new logo is black and white with a shape that relates to the eye. The new logo aims to embrace the RNZFB values and also bring its public image right up to date by portraying the RNZFB as innovative, progressive and dynamic. It is a sufficiently strong departure from the current logo to challenge existing views of what the Foundation stands for and what the reality of blindness is.
At the moment it is still in development as we ascertain the extent of the current logo's use and work on how the new logo will need to be applied to all the material we produce. Following that a corporate standards manual needs to be completed before it can be presented to staff and other interested parties early next year.
We plan to launch the new logo at the same time as the new name - The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind - is legally and constitutionally passed. This is because the logo also incorporates the name of the organisation.
In the meantime we ask for your patience while we move through this process.
We will keep you up-to-date with our progress as we move towards launching the new logo.
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Governance Reform Progress Report
Our private Bill titled "The Royal NZ Foundation of the Blind Act 2002" was introduced into the House of Representatives and had its first reading during April. It has been referred to the Education and Science Select Committee for further study and receipt of submissions.
The Bill handles the transition of the Foundation from a statutory body governed by the RNZFB ACT 1963, initially to another statutory body to which the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 applies and finally to an incorporated society. This latter step will be taken only following a further referendum. However, there is no indication of what factors may influence the timing of the Bill's passage through the House. An early election is just one example of what might slow progress.
Once the Bill has received the Royal Assent,(i.e. has been signed off by the Governor General to complete the legislative process), we will then be in a position to take the next step. This will be to seek the approval of all Foundation members for a special resolution giving consent for the adoption of a constitution setting out the rules that will guide the future governance of the Foundation.
This mail-out will also include a simple and straightforward guide to the constitution written in a plain English style. The full and legal version of the constitution will also be available to those who request it.
For further information email grit
Policy on public attendance at Board meetings
The RNZFB welcomes public attendance at its Board meetings, however, for practical reasons the following guidelines have been established.
We can accommodate up to 10 observers in the boardroom (level 2, Awhina House). People wishing to attend the Board meeting are asked to give three days prior notice to the Awhina House receptionist, but an agenda will not be available to observers and priority for seating will be given to those who have given prior notice. We invite observers to share morning and afternoon tea (lunch will not be provided). We ask observers to respect our policy of not speaking unless invited to do so by the Chairperson and to leave the Boardroom if/when the Board goes into Committee. Finally, as attendance is voluntary, no costs incurred by observers to attend the meeting will be covered by the Board or the RNZFB.