Dear {{{salutation}}},

This year's AGM will be held on Saturday, 29 November 2014 at 1:30pm in the Main Hall at Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL. Members are requested to arrive by 1pm when registration starts. Soft drinks will be available.

We hope that as many members as possible will come along and meet the Council, staff and other members. We particularly welcome anyone who has not been to an AGM before.

The AGMs are held on a Saturday afternoon to be convenient for members travelling from outside London. Conway Hall is within walking distance of Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross stations and easily accessible from Waterloo. The nearest Tube is Holborn (Central and Piccadilly lines). Click this link for a map.

The Annual Report, summary financial statements and AGM motions will be sent to paid-up members before the meeting. Copies of the full financial statements will be sent on request.

Members can submit motions for the meeting, or nominations for Council members or officers. Further details are shown below.

Nomination of Officers and Council Members

The Officers of the NSS comprise the President, up to two Vice Presidents and a Treasurer. They are elected annually and are ex officio members of the Council of Management. Together with the remaining Council members (whose term is two or three years), they form the board of directors of the Society which is called the Council. All Council members are directors under the Companies Acts, under which the Society is registered.

The total number of Council members (including officers) is currently 12. The maximum permitted under the Articles of Association is 13. Since the 2013 AGM, there have been two resignations – Norman Bonney and Anne Marie Waters, who resigned following her selection as a prospective parliamentary candidate. Afonso Reis e Sousa, already a Council member, was co-opted as a vice president, Clare Coghill and Alistair McBay were co-opted as Council members.

All the officers are expected to seek re-election: President Terry Sanderson, Vice Presidents Gerard Phillips and Afonso Reis e Sousa, and Treasurer Clare Wadd.

The co-optees are required to retire from Council at the AGM as are Daniel Bye, Peter Revell and Robert Stovold, by rotation. All retirees are eligible for re-election. Other Council members who have served throughout the year but who do not retire this year are Ray Newton, Adrian Tippetts and Peter Vlachos.

Candidates for election may be asked questions by members at the AGM, for example why they wish to stand for Council, what skills they have to offer, if they are prepared to undertake campaigning or administrative work as well as attending monthly Council meetings (held on a weekday evening in London WC1).

Motions and nominations for officers or Council members must be signed by a proposer and a seconder, both of whom must be paid-up members. Nominations must also be signed by the nominee, who must be a paid up member, stating that they are willing to stand for election. The names of nominees, proposers and seconders should be written in block capitals, with clearly legible telephone numbers and, if possible, email addresses.

Nominations and should be sent by post to the Company Secretary (Keith Porteous Wood) at NSS, 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL. They must reach the office by 10:00am on Wednesday 22 October 2014 to enable preparation of the formal notices of the AGM that are sent out well in advance of the meeting.

Nominations and motions may also be emailed to admin@secularism.org.uk or faxed to the number above if necessary to meet the closing deadline, provided that the signed originals are sent concurrently by first class post.

The Executive Director will be happy to provide more information and answer any questions, including from anyone considering putting their names forward or proposing motions. Please call the office on (020) 7404 3126.

Members are invited to join us for drinks and sandwiches in the Brockway Room after the AGM. Tea and coffee will be available before the meeting.

We look forward to seeing you.