Proposal to incorporate WSDC as a charity in the United Kingdom

The Executive Committee of the World Schools Debating Council – on the advice of its Finance Working Group, which is chaired by Trevor Sather – would like to propose the following:

1. Incorporating the World Schools Debating Championships as a limited company, based in the United Kingdom.

2. That we apply for charitable status for that company.

3. That, once this is done, elections be held for nine Trustees to oversee the charity, and ensure that it is well-run and meets its financial obligations.

4. That a ‘Development Board’, including certain Trustees and co-opted others with relevant professional experience, also be created to handle the day-to-day running of the charity.

5. That we define the voting members of the charity as the existing and future voting delegates of the World Schools Debating Council, who elect the Trustees


These initial moves do not require changes to existing Rules of the World Schools Debating Championships. But we would like the support of the World Schools Debating Council before proceeding and so we are now asking World Council delegates to vote in a ‘ratification ballot’.

If a decision is taken to go ahead with the incorporation, the Finance Working Group will then propose amendments to the Rules concerning the election of Trustees, which will be presented to the Council in time to be voted on at the World Council meeting in Seoul. We may also aim to hold the first elections of Trustees then (depending on the speed with which charitable status can be obtained from the UK Charities Commission).

Voting in the postal ballot to approve this incorporation initiative opens now and will remain open until Sunday 17 June.

The World Council representatives from the 31 countries which have entered a team in at least two of the last three World Schools Debating Championships are eligible to vote in this ballot. According to my records, the current voting delegate from each of these countries is as follows:

1. Argentina - Magdalena Benvenuto

2. Australia - Todd Golding

3. Bermuda - Trevor Leitch

4. Canada - Janet Webster

5. Czech Republic - John Wickham

6. England - Alastair Endersby

7. Estonia - Ragnar Siil

8. Germany - Raka Gutzeit

9. Greece - Effie Giannakouri

10. Hong Kong - Sam Greenland

11. Hungary - Szilvia Mandli

12. Indonesia - Ria Nuri Dharmawan

13. Ireland - Dick Wafer

14. Israel - Hayah Goldlist

15. Kuwait - Andrew Kenning

16. Lithuania - Virginija Paksiene

17. Netherlands - Jeannette Baljeau

18. New Zealand - Claire Ryan

19. Pakistan - Ahmad Siddiqi

20. Peru - Sixto Ramos

21. Philippines - Fabian Mangahas

22. Romania - Simona Mazilu

23. Scotland - Diana Gotts

24. Singapore - Mark Gabriel

25. Slovakia - Andrej Schulcz

26. Slovenia - Bojana Skrt

27. South Africa - Garikai Nyaruwata

28. South Korea - Joshua Park

29. Sri Lanka - Ashan Walpita

30. USA - Phyllis Hirth

31. Wales - Martin Pollard

Unless I am informed otherwise, each country’s voting delegate in this ballot will be the person named above. If your country wishes to change its voting delegate, please send me an e-mail informing me of this BEFORE submitting your ballot form.

Members of the WSDC community are welcome to circulate their opinions regarding the issues being voted on in this postal ballot for others to consider. The most effective way to do this is probably to send an e-mail containing your thoughts to the WSDC Listserve address: wsdc@netpals.lsoft.com

If you have any questions regarding this proposal, you may want to e-mail Trevor Sather at trevor@squareeye.com

If you have any questions regarding the procedures for voting in this postal ballot, please feel free to e-mail me at mark.gabriel@iname.com

I look forward to receiving the ballot forms from the voting delegates.

Regards,
Mark Gabriel
Secretary
World Schools Debating Council Executive Committee