AGM Tuesday 14th May 2024
BURGESSES OF GUILD OF THE CITY OF ABERDEEN
Dear Burgesses
Thank you to all who took the time to attend the AGM this year at the trial time of 6pm. I am delighted to say that over one hundred Burgesses attended, not including the City Officers. This is a record attendance for many years.
This was a combination of in person and online. Twenty- nine logged into the meeting online, twenty-nine people who otherwise would not have been able to attend for various reasons. I am most grateful to Trevor Runcie, Assessor, for stepping up for us at relatively short notice to set up and manage the technology because we could not hire an audio visual company to do this for us. I believe that some Burgesses were particularly displeased about the trial change (three contacted the Clerk) but we must be mindful that we are an organisation with a list of some 850 members. It would be impossible to please everyone, but it is incumbent upon us to consider the demands of today’s workplaces which simply would not accommodate people absenting themselves at noon on a working weekday.
As I said at the AGM, I cannot please all of the people all of the time and I ask that everyone considers the needs and preferences of as many Burgesses as possible. The combination of in-person and online facilities should afford greater attendance opportunities than we have ever had.
The positive feedback has been overwhelming, as was the support for a new Constitution which is almost ready for circulation in draft for comment and feedback before we take it to the next stage. I would remind everyone of the need to have rules and guidelines which are up to date and take account of our needs in today’s environment with particular regard to good governance, methods of communication, and our responsibility to comply with current legislation etc. This significant piece of work was submitted to Aberdeen City Council Legal Department who have reviewed it and given their helpful feedback.
The only Regulations in existence at this time were written in 1995 and, as you might imagine are out of date. I will keep everyone posted as this work progresses but I am off on a much-needed holiday next week.
Kind Regards
Lord Dean of Guild