What’s the reason for the change?
Over the last 5 years, membership of the Association has been steadily declining, as have the activities of the Association, due in no small part to the uncertainty around Bhante’s health and the reduced active involvement of the general membership.
The Association’s funds are also in decline, without steady income sources such as the Food Fair, resulting in costs exceeding income by some margin each year. The significant maintenance requirements of our retreat centre, Vejjasala, continue to be performed by a very small number of volunteers, and although other groups regularly make use of the center, our own members for the most part have not been attending our retreats or the centre itself. Our original constitution, no longer closely matches our goals and needs.
With all these factors in mind, the membership voted at a recent Special General Meeting to change AEB from an Association to a Foundation model. The new constitution is available to view below.
We believe the new constitution will enable us, most importantly, to continue to support Bhante into the future, who has given so much to our members and the community at large. It will also allow us, should our financial situation permit, to support other monks, nuns and Buddhist activities. The structure is designed to significantly reduce administrative demands while maintaining important oversight by a group of Guardians drawn from our current member base.
More detail on the changes, along with FAQs etc. may be found in the document below. Key points to note:
- Donations to the Foundation are no longer tax-deductible
- The Committee has been reduced to three members with a Guardian-led structure to ensure compliance with the constitution and make larger decisions
- Regular activities of the Foundaiton will be limited to monthly Dana Days for the foreseeable future
- It is the intention of the Committee to work towards the sales of the Vejjasala retreat centre in the near future in order to fund the activities of the Foundation into the future
