2022 DiMHN AGM
News of Network’s first CEO announced at AGM
The Design in Mental Health Network’s 2022 AGM was held ‘virtually’ on 9 November, and – as usual – saw a number of Workstream leads report on some of the highlights of the previous 12 months. There was also news of a highly successful 2022 conference and exhibition, a new Lived Experience Advisory Panel, and the appointment of the DiMHN’s first full-time salaried employee, a new Chief Executive, as The Network’s editor, Jonathan Baillie, reports.
After welcoming attendees to the DiMHN’s 2022 AGM Chair, Philip Ross asked those Board members in attendance to introduce themselves, which they did in turn. Apologies for absence were then read, and the Minutes of the 2021 DiMHN AGM – which had been held ‘virtually’ on 3 November 2021 – were received and accepted as a true record. Philip Ross then read his Chairman’s report. He said: “2022 witnessed our first full conference and exhibition since COVID, and we didn’t just return to pre-pandemic levels, but actually set new records of attendance for both. The conference programme has continued to grow, delivering more case studies of best practice in mental health design, both here in the UK, and around the world, and hearing from people with lived experience. A great example from the conference was the empathetic design considerations Nick Smith gave with the work at Bradford District Care Trust. He talked about his experience being in a Section 136 Suite, and how this encouraged him to think about the need for space for police to ‘decompress’ in ‘after an event like that’.”
First roundtable session The DiMHN had hosted its first roundtable at the organisation’s 2022 conference in Coventry in June, led by the Stakeholder Engagement Workstream, which focused on the design challenges of seclusion rooms – all part of the DiMHN’s ongoing research into the use of, and need for, seclusion, and how design can pay a role in reducing the use of such spaces. Philip Ross explained: “We also launched our latest Design with People in Mind booklet, exploring international approaches to mental healthcare design, which is available online our ‘Resources’ section.” One of the long-standing challenges DiMHN had always faced as a charity, he noted, was its reliance on volunteers, including for its Board. The volunteers on the Board all tended to be individuals particularly successful within their field, with full-time ‘day jobs’. With the continued growth of both the DiMHN’s
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revenue position, and cash reserves, Philip Ross said the Board had recently signed off recruiting the Network’s first employee – a Chief Executive. He said: “This will lead to growth of the charity – in terms of our reach, and give us full-time capacity for the first time ever to increase our output.” The DiMHN in fact already had a shortlist of candidates, which the Board would be taking forward to interview in the coming weeks, with a view to selecting a preferred candidate by the end of November. Philip Ross said: “We also welcomed
two new Associates – Karen Howell and Dan Vesty. Our Associates are having a big impact in their respective fields. We also reviewed our Workstreams, which led to us to ‘parking’ the International Workstream. Alex Caruso, the lead, instead took on leading the new Lived Experience Advisory Panel, which is something that we’re still developing.”
Board appointments There had also been some Board appointments, with three Directors who were retiring by rotation – Philip Ross himself, Trudi Beswick, and Paula Reavey – all re-standing and subsequently being re-appointed for another three-year term.
The Board would thus not be seeking new Directors this year, but was in the process of finalising a number of new Associates – their names would be announced soon. This concluded the Chair’s report, which was duly proposed and accepted.
Treasurer’s report Next on the agenda was to receive the Treasurer’s Report from Phil Barsby, who presented the draft accounts, which were subsequently signed off at the next Board meeting in December. The Treasurer said: “At the time of writing, the accounts for the year ending 31 July 2022 show that memberships generated £17,212 in income, The Network magazine, £8297, and the 2022 conference and exhibition, £53,238, plus an additional £15,000 from the 2021 exhibition, with it having being moved from June to August due to COVID.” The DiMHN’s total income was £93,748. He added: “Expenses / running costs totalled £29,850, with the costs mainly spent on the website, marketing, and the new international publication, launched at the 2022 conference. As a result, our net gain for the year will be circa £64,000 – well above forecast, mainly due to the excellent financial return from the exhibition and conference.”
FEBRUARY 2023 | THE NETWORK
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