At our Annual General Meeting on 15 May 2008 our members agreed that we would become a Company Limited by Guarantee – and a Charity - called “Your Voice”.

Unfortunately before we could change our name another organisation took that name and we could not use it so we decided to use the name YOUR VOICE COUNTS.

We agreed this because the Trustees felt that after looking at becoming a Company Limited by Guarantee we needed to change our own name for some very important reasons.

  The name “Advocacy in Gateshead and South Tyneside” is very long and  difficult to say.

  We work outside of Gateshead and South Tyneside (and adding further places to our current name is not practical).

  We do more work than just advocacy (such as training, brokerage).

We chose “Your Voice Counts” because:

The name is easy to say.

The name is easy to remember.

The name puts the persons at the centre of our work.

Your Voice Counts gives us flexibility for the future.

Same Service

We agreed that other than changing the name (and the logo) nothing else would change.

Your Voice Counts will still offer the same services as Advocacy before it.

We will employ the same staff in the same roles as before.

  We will work in the same way.

  Our principles will stay the same.

  Pat Tatters will still be the Director.

The Trustees would stay on to be the First Directors of Your Voice.

What happens next?

  We will invite members to formally agree the transfer of assets of Advocacy in Gateshead and South Tyneside to Your Voice. This will happen on 30 September 2008.

  Transferring assets means that everything Advocacy in Gateshead and South Tyneside has - staff, buildings, leases, contracts, equipment and so on - will be handed over to the new Company Limited by Guarantee and Charity called “Your Voice Counts”.

  On 1st October 2008 we begin to operate as Your Voice Counts.

  At some point in the future Advocacy in Gateshead and South Tyneside will be legally wound up and will no longer exist (as required by Charity Law).

 

What do you think about our change?

Leave your comments here.