I WAS dismayed to read the letter (June 25) from Ann Chapman, acting chairman of Age Concern Ealing in which she failed to answer the serious points raised by the group Concerned About ACE.
As a new member of the charity, I attended a meeting on February 3, called for the sole purpose of electing ACE's chairman and trustees.
This followed a formal order to convene such a meeting, which was issued by the Charity Commission as long ago as September 2009. I understand ACE has not held an AGM or any elections for the past five years.
I do not belong to Concerned About ACE and had no preconceptions about ACE itself prior to the meeting. I was horrified by what I witnessed.
After an unnecessary vote to approve appointment of the charity's chairman produced a negative result, the meeting was abruptly terminated before any election of trustees could take place. Several members challenged this arbitrary decision.
We were told that the Charity Commission specifically required that trustees could not be elected until a chairman had been appointed. I subsequently wrote to the Charity Commission who confirmed that they had issued no such instruction.
Five months later, ACE still has not elected a chairman and trustees.
As matters stand, the charity is in continuing (and potentially unlawful) breach both of its own articles of association and a statutory order from the Charity Commission.
As she is also an elected councillor in our borough, I'm disappointed by Mrs Chapman's undemocratic and dismissive attitude towards ACE's membership to whom she and her fellow trustees are accountable.
The charity's hard-working
employees and volunteers deserve better. In the circumstances, the Mayor of Ealing's choice of ACE as one of his preferred charities seems most unwise and inappropriate.
PAUL MAY Perivale
