Review of Charities Act 2006

HBA has today (16th April 2012) submitted its response to Lord Hodgson's Review of the Charities Act 2006. Members can view it in the Filestore.

Gift Aid Small Donation Scheme

HMRC are currently consulting on the details of the proposed Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme - see the consultation document via HMRC website.

HBA will be formulating a response to this consultation, as the scheme could potentially significantly benefit many hospital radio stations if implemented correctly. Your views would welcome.

Membsership fees now due

HBA membership fees are now due. All members will have recently received an e-mail and/or letter from our newly-appointed Membership Manager, Grant McNaughton, inviting them to renew their membership.

Full membership (for hospital broadcasting organisations) costs £42.50. Individual Associate membership costs £15.

If you'd like further information, or would like to check that your station has paid this year's fees, please contact Grant.

2012 Awards Online!

The audio and video from the 2012 National Hospital Radio Awards are now available online.

The audio can be downloaded from:

http://www.4shared.com/folder/X-0PX-CP/HBA2012Audio.html

Note - This is a large file and should only be attempted on a fast internet connection!

The video can be watched on Youtube:

http://youtu.be/U7J_AvJYv3k

Awards photos available

If you would like to download photos of the event they are available here:

http://www.4shared.com/dir/hsYoh-fF/HBA2012.html

Click on view thumbnails to see the title descriptions.

You are free to use these images for publicity purposes but please credit the photographer, Andy Langford.

Award Winners Revealed

The National Hospital Radio Awards winners for 2012 have now been announced and revealed online.

Last night's ceremony, held as part of our Annual Conference, was a chance to celebrate the great work done by volunteers around the country.

If you couldn't make the event, be sure to check out the categories now and find out who won. You can even see photos from the event and listen to the top three entries in each category.

Congratulations to all of this year's winners!

Hospital Radio Awards Online

On the 31st March Matt Wade will again be live blogging from the National Hospital Radio Awards being held in Northampton.

You can get to the live blog by going to www.bit.ly/hbaawards or click on the live page at the top of the main On-Air Podcast website.

You will have the ability to send in comments via e-mail, directly through the application or via twitter using hashtag #hbauk2012.

This year our coverage has been kindly sponsored by Psquared which has allowed us to purchase an eye-fi card to enable better quality phots of the event being sent to the live blog.

After the event you can win this card simply by being part of it. All those who take part in the event or use the hashtag #hbauk2012 will ve entered into a draw and the card will be yours.

Hospital Broadcasting Week

Hospital Broadcasting Week 2012 is Coming!

It's almost that time of year again - a chance to celebrate the good work of Hospital Radio volunteers across the UK.

Hospital Broadcasting Week will be launched on Saturday March 31st as part of the HBA Conference Weekend in Northampton and this year it'll run for nine days, taking in the Easter Weekend, so the "week" won't officially end until Easter Monday, April the 9th.

Many stations will be producing special programmes to highlight the work they do, with outside broadcasts, guest interviews and even station link-ups being planned. If you've an event then please email us and share what you're doing.

The launch of Hospital Broadcasting Week 2012 will also include the National Hospital Radio Awards Ceremony, with once again the winner's of ten categories being revealed on the stage in Northampton. Radio Academy Chief Executive John Myers and Sky News Radio Editor Louise Hastings will be among the guests announcing the winners and helping launch the week.

Future Strategy Survey

The Trustee Board is undertaking a fundamental review of the services that the HBA provides to its beneficiaries. As part of that, we have created a survey, which we would like as many station management committees and individual hospital broadcasting volunteers as possible to complete before 30th June.

Please do take the time to tell us what you think HBA should (and should not) be doing. The answers we get from this survey will be instrumental in setting the future direction of the association.

As an incentive, we are offering a free year's membership of HBA (for the 2013/2014 membership year) to three stations whose names are drawn from a hat (or some other suitable container) holding the names and stations of everyone who completes the survey - so the more of your volunteers who fill in the survey the more chances you have to win! The draw will take place at the National Training Day in October.

You can complete the survey either by filling in and returning a copy of the paper survey, which will be arriving via Royal Mail in the next few days, or you can complete the survey online. Copies of the hardcopy version can also be downloaded from our website, and I would suggest that you download this and consider your answers even if you intend to complete the survey online.

PDF version of survey: http://www.hbauk.com/?file_id=314
Online survey: http://bit.ly/yK6L0Q

If you have any questions about the survey, please send them to survey@hbauk.com.

Annual General Meeting 2012

The Annual General Meeting of the HBA will be held at 2pm on Saturday 31st March 2012, at the Park Inn, Silver Street, Northampton, NN1 2TA, as part of the Association's National Conference.

Representatives of all members are welcome (and encouraged) to attend the meeting, even if not attending the conference. There is no charge to attend the AGM and the subsequent informal meeting. If no-one from your station is able to attend the meeting, you may appoint a proxy to vote on your station's behalf.

Agenda
1. To adopt the Minutes of the AGM held on 26th March 2011 as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

2. To receive the Trustees' Annual Report and Accounts for the year to 31st August 2011.

3. To elect trustees:
As only a single nomination has been received for each position subject to election, the meeting will be asked to approve the appointments.

Full details of the meeting, the form by which you must appoint your station's authorised representative or proxy, the Trustees' Annual Report and Accounts, the list of nominees for appointment as Trustees, and the
draft minutes of the 2011 AGM are available on the HBA's website at www.hbauk.com/agm (follow the link to the forthcoming meeting). A hardcopy of all the above will be posted in the next week to those stations which have indicated they wish to receive one.

If you wish your organisation to be represented at the AGM, you MUST appoint your representative / proxy by completing the left-hand portion of the Authorised Rep and Proxy form. You may appoint any named person (and a deputy if you wish) to represent your organisation. This person may also represent other organisations at the same meeting. They simply need to present the completed left-hand portion of the form at the start of the meeting to obtain a voting card.

You may also appoint the Chairman of the Meeting to act as your organisation's proxy. In this case, use the right-hand side of the form to instruct him how to vote and return it to me, to arrive no later than Thursday 29th March. I and the Chairman of the meeting will then ensure that your organisation's votes are cast as instructed. A scan of the form sent by e-mail is acceptable. I will also accept proxy instructions written in an e-mail but, in this case, the e-mail must come from your station's Main Contact e-mail address, or another address within your organisation's own internet domain.

If no-one from your station is attending the meeting, please do appoint a proxy; we have struggled in the past to get a quorum for the meeting, and proxies count towards the necessary number.

Radio Production Awards

The Radio Production Awards, organised by the Radio Academy and the Radio Independents Group, are now open for entries.

The aim of the Awards is to recognise and celebrate the work of individual UK-based radio and audio producers during the previous year.

The Awards are open to all UK-based radio and audio producers including independents, freelancers and programme-makers working in BBC, commercial, community, student and hospital radio. Entries are also welcomed from audio producers working primarily in the digital sector on output for commercial or not-for-profit audio streams and podcasts.

The schedule for the RPAs this year is as follows:

Launch: 5th March
Deadline for entries: 24th April
Nominations announced: 12th June
Awards ceremony: 12th July

There is an entry fee for these awards, but the cost is much reduced for members of the Radio Academy. Membership of the Academy is free of charge to volunteers at HBA member stations - see the Radio Academy website for more details.

Residential Bookings Closed

Residential bookings for our Annual Conference have now closed. If you have booked one of our residential packages you should have received a final invoice to confirm this, if you have not, please urgently contact me by email on finance@hbauk.com, as we are about to confirm rooms with the hotel.

Non residential bookings close on the 14th March 2012, we have limited places left for the gala dinner/Awards Ceremony, so if you have not booked yet, please do so asap to ensure you are not disappointed.

Booking forms and terms and conditions are available on the HBA website.

We look forward to seeing you in Northampton.

Julie

The Sony DAB Rising Star Award

As an adjunct to the Sony Radio Awards, this year there is an additional "Sony DAB Rising Star" Award, entries for which are now open.

This award recognises up and coming radio talent and is open to any presenter who has been broadcasting for 18 months or less on UK radio. I have checked and received confirmation from the organisers that hospital radio stations are eligible to submit entries.

An expert panel of judges will be appointed to go through the initial raft of entries and draw up a shortlist of 5 top contenders. These 5 will be announced at the along with the other nominations for the Sony Radio Awards and will then go forward for a public vote via Sony's website. The winner (the one who garners the most votes during the voting period) will then be announced and presented at the 2012 Sony Radio Awards Ceremony on 14th May at Grosvenor House.

Entries are handled by Sony's PR consultants at Cake Group, and any enquiries should go directly to their team at SonyPR@cakegroup.com.

You can download the entry form by clicking here. There is no cost to submit entries.

Please note that you have very little time: the deadline for entries is Thursday 1st March.

Good luck!

Consultation - Charity Law

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts has been appointed by the Minister for the Cabinet Office to undertake a review of the Charities Act 2006, and consider whether further changes to the legal and regulatory framework for charities are desirable. (Please note that this applies only to England and Wales.)

An online survey has been created for charities to complete.

In addition, calls for evidence have been issued on a number of subjects, including:
- the function and effectiveness of the Charity Commission;
- the definition of charity;
- the role of charity trustees; and
- organisational forms of charities.

Additional calls for evidence will be published in the next few weeks regarding:
- public charitable collections;
- accounting and reporting;
- charity registration; and
- complaints, appeals and redress.

The closing date for submissions is 16th April.

If you don't wish to go to the trouble of making a formal submission yourself, please let me know your views on these subjects by the end of March so that I can collate them into a submission from HBA.

Shortlists Revealed

We are pleased to announce the shortlists in the 2012 National Hospital Radio Awards.

Congratulations to everyone that has moved forward to the next stage of the judging process.

Certificates will be sent out to the Top 10's Shortly. They will be sent to the address for trophies that was declared on the entry form. If you want to change this please e-mail awards@hbauk.com.

Whilst we understand that if you entered and have not made the Top 10 you will be very disappointed we are unable to respond with judges comments.

The Gold, Silver and Bronze Award winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony to be held in Northampton on Saturday 31st March at the Park Inn.

If you are on the shortlist and have not yet booked to attend the ceremony and/or the conference book now to avoid disappointment!

Booking Forms are available on the HBA website: www.hbauk.com.

There have been enquiries as to whether there will be a webcast of the Awards Ceremony - there will not. The best way to find out if you are a winner is to be there!

Thanks

Iain

Bursary Applications

Applications are still being accepted for consideration for the forthcoming conference and Awards taking place on 30th and 31st March and 1st April in Northampton.

I am pleased to advise you that the closing date has been extended to 14th February.

Please visit the HBA web site to find details of eligibility and an application form.

Kind regards

June

Annual General Meeting 2012

The HBA Annual General Meeting will be held at 2pm on Saturday 31st March 2012, at the Park Inn, Silver Street, Northampton, NN1 2TA, during our National Conference.

A hardcopy of this notice has today been posted to all HBA member stations that have requested that we send formal communications to them by Royal Mail.

Attendance at the meeting is open to representatives of all Full Member stations, and to Associate Members, without charge. If you wish to attend other aspects of the conference (either as a residential or non-residential delegate, or attend the National Hospital Radio Awards ceremony), please see www.hbauk.com/conference for further details and booking forms.

Executive Committee Elections
During the meeting there will be an election for the positions of President, Chairman and Treasurer.

Nominations for these positions are now invited (on the form available from the AGM page). Nominations must be received by me by Saturday 3rd March 2012.

Please note that these positions carry the responsibilities of both Company Director and Charity Trustee. The positions of President and Treasurer are being elected for three-year terms of office. The position of Chairman will have an initial term of office of one year, due to Phil Moon standing down from the position one year early.

Detailed role descriptions are available on the AGM page.

Members' Motions
If you wish to put forward a motion for consideration at the AGM, please forward it, signed by a representative of two member stations, to me by Saturday 3rd March 2012.

Meeting Conduct
Participation in the AGM is restricted to Full Members.

Every member has the right to appoint a proxy to represent them at the meeting. The proxy may be the Chairman of the meeting or any other person (for example a member of another station, or your station's Regional Representative). A proxy has the same rights to participate in the meeting as a duly authorised member of your station; he/she may attend, speak and vote on your behalf (and on behalf of any other member who has also appointed him/her as proxy).

We will require the governing body (management committee, board of trustees, etc) of each station to formally appoint their representative or proxy at the AGM. The appropriate forms will be sent at the same time as the formal notice of the meeting's agenda (see below). The forms will provide the opportunity for you to instruct your representative/proxy to vote either for or against each motion on the agenda, to abstain from a particular vote, or
to vote as he/she sees fit. The form can either be returned to me prior to the AGM or brought to the AGM by the appointed representative.

Individual Associate Members, representatives of Corporate Associate Members and other members of Full Members are welcome to observe the proceedings, but are not allowed to participate.

Formal Notice of Meeting
The formal notice of meeting, along with the agenda, the nominations for election, and the Annual Report and Accounts will be dispatched around three weeks before the meeting.

Informal Meeting
The AGM will be followed by an informal meeting in which all present are encouraged to participate. The meeting will include the usual review of the last year, a preview of significant events planned for the next year and a question and answer session.

Book Now!

The 2012 National Hospital Radio Awards Ceremony will be held on the Saturday Evening of the HBA National Conference at the Park Inn, Northampton from Friday 30th March to 1st April 2012.

All of the entries have been sorted and are with the judges. The shortlist should be out at the beginning of February but don't wait unitl then to guarantee the rooms that you want. You can book now by downloading a form from the website and sending it to Julie Cox, HBA Treasurer who is waiting to process your booking!

Hope to see you in Northampton!

Fundraising in a Small Charity

With funding from the Office for Civil Society, the Institute of Fundraising is running a full-day conference on "Fundraising in a Small Charity" at the School of Oriental and African Studies, just off Russell Square, London at the end of March 2012. The cost is only £20.

Full details, including programme for the day, with 4 parallel tracks is available here.

Charity references on websites

The Scottish Government have today (15th December) passed legislation that requires that Scottish Charities publish certain information on their website home page.

The information is the same as that already required to be included in certain other documents:

1. the registered number allocated by OSCR as part of the registration process;
   
2. the charity's name as entered in the Scottish Charity Register;
   
3. any other name by which the charity is commonly known; and
   
4. where the name entered in the Scottish Charity Register does not include “charity” or “charitable”, that the organisation is a charity.

Charities Act 2011

The Charities Act 2011 today (14th December) received Royal Assent and will come into force on 15th March 2012.

The Act is a "consolidation act", bringing together the provisions of a number of existing Acts of Parliament covering charity law into a single act. It does not make any substantive changes to the law.

The Act generally extends to England and Wales only (with some exceptions). It replaces the Recreational Charities Act 1958, the Charities Act 1993 (which was itself a consolidating Act) and many of provisions of the Charities Act 2006. The provisions of the Charities Acts 1992 and 2006 which apply to institutions other than charities as well as to charities, including the fundraising provisions, are not included in the Act.

Northampton 2012

The HBA’s Annual Conference is just around the corner and it really will be one not to be missed, packed full of surprises.

Running from Friday 30th March to Sunday 1st April, we’re again returning to the Park Inn by Radisson in Northampton, which has undergone refurbishment since our last visit.

Have you ever wondered how to create the perfect Podcast for your programme or station? Or do you want tips on how to put together the perfect awards entry?

They’re just two of the seminar’s being worked on for the 2012 Conference Weekend – and if they don’t tickle your taste buds, then don’t worry, one of the others will fit the bill.

There will also be plenty of opportunities to network with other volunteers from across the country, sharing great ideas with each other over a drink or two! Oh, and don’t forget the fabulous trade exhibition, which this year promises to be bigger and better than ever – and not just for the so-called “techies”!

Review of Charity Law

Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, today (8th November) announced that Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts will lead a full review of the law relating to charities in England and Wales. Lord Hodgson will report to Parliament by summer 2012.

This review fundamentally aims to understand how the 2006 Act is operating in practice, how effective it is, and whether the legal framework for charities in England and Wales is fit for purpose now and in the future. In doing so, the review will take into account the significant political, economic, social and technological changes in the charity sector’s wider operating environment since the 2006 Act was passed. The review will therefore take a broad approach and seek to address these three issues:
1) what is a charity and what are the roles of charities?;
2) what do charities need to have/be able to do in order to be able to deliver those roles?;
3) what should the legal framework for charities look like in order to meet those needs (as far as possible)?

The full Terms of reference can be found here.

If you have any thoughts that you'd like HBA to consider including in its input to the review, please let me know.

Sir Jimmy Saville: 1926 - 2011

Disc jockey, television presenter, media personality, and long-time supporter of Hospital Broadcasting, Sir Jimmy Savile passed away on Saturday 29th October 2011.

Well known for his charitable work, Sir Jimmy was an ambassador for the Hospital Broadcasting Association and a staunch supporter of Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio.

2012 Awards Open!

Entries are now invited for the National Hospital Radio Awards 2012.

Unless otherwise stated, there will be trophies for Gold, Silver and Bronze for each category. Certificates of Nomination will be issued when the shortlist is announced for those appearing on it.

You can enter by 2 methods:

Online – please email awards@hbauk.com for a link to an online folder where you can submit your files. Entry by this method should be in mp3 format. Please do not leave it until the last day to upload your entry – I have extended the deadline for online entry beyond that for postal to allow extra time to try again. Your entry form should be uploaded to the online folder along with your entries.

By post – 1 CD either audio or data . Please include a current station jingle as a separate track. It is not necessary to use special delivery / recorded delivery to send your entry in. If you want to prove that you sent it just get a certificate of posting. If it does not arrive, I will let you re-submit. If you send it signed for, I have to make daily trips to the sorting office!

Entries will be acknowledged by e-mail; if you have not received a confirmation then assume it has not arrived.

All material should have been broadcast on your station between the dates of 1st December 2010 and 30th November 2011.

You are now permitted to submit up to 250 words to explain the context of your entry. This is not compulsory but has been added due to popular request and may help the judges better understand your entry. Please do it in a separate document for each category and not on the entry form. For online entries please upload the document to the online folder with the same title as your audio entry.

It is time now to start work on your entries. When you are happy with them please send them in to arrive by the closing dates of Friday December 16th 2011 for postal entries and Wednesday December 21st 2011 for online entries.

You can download an entry form in word format from this page for online entries or by request from awards@hbauk.com.

Details of the categories can be found here but for now I wish everyone the best of luck and look forward to seeing you in March. If you have any unanswered questions then you can e-mail me at awards@hbauk.com.

Iain