Debanma Heritage Forum Constitution
THE DECLARATION OF THE ‘DEBANMA HERITAGE FORUM' IS MADE

The........ 21 st .... day of............ October ................ 2002 by

(a) (‘the first trustees' who together with the future trustees or trustee of this assets may be paid
or transferred to the trustees upon the same trusts.)

WHEREAS the first trustees hold

(b) the sum of £ 100.00 (hundred pounds) on the trustees declared in this deed and it is
contemplated that further money or assets may be paid or transferred to the trustees to the
trusts.

NOW THIS DEED WITNESS AS FOLLOWS:

A Administration
The charitable trust constituted by this deed (‘the Charity') and its property (the trust fund') shall
be administered and managed by the trustees under the name of Debanma Heritage Forum or
by such other name as the trustees from time to time decide with the approval of the Charity
Commission for England & Wales (‘the commissioners').

B Objects
The trustees shall hold the trust fund and its income upon trust to apply them for the following
objects (‘the objects'):

1 To advance the education of the Blin people who are from Eritrea, in particular the children
and the young people in subjects, which may include the language and history, traditions and
cultural heritage of the Blin. Furthermore, conduct research and documentation programmes
and develop projects to engage the community in activities of preserving their values and
cultural heritages, empower the younger generation to establish their identity, to integrate and
contribute to the well-being of societies they live in.

•  To relieve the needs of asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants by provision of information,
advice & support on education, training, employment and health activities.

Note: Blin is a minority in Eritrea and today 50% live in exile all over the world, its language &
culture near vanishing

C Powers
In furtherance of the objects but not otherwise the trustees may exercise any

of the following powers:

(i) to raise funds and invite and receive contributions: Provided that in raising funds the trustees
shall not undertake any substantial permanent trading activity and shall conform to any relevant
statutory regulations;

(ii) to buy, take on lease or in exchange, hire or otherwise acquire any property necessary for
the achievement of the objects and to maintain and equip it for use;

(iii) subject to any consents required by law to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of all or part of
the property comprised in the trust fund;

(iv) subject to any consents required by law, to borrow money and to charge the whole or any
part of the trust fund with repayment of the money so borrowed;

(v) to co-operate with other charities, voluntary bodies and statutory authorities operating in
furtherance of the objects or of similar charitable purposes and to exchange information and
advice with them;

(vi) to establish or support any charitable trust, associations or institutions formed for the
objects or any of them;

(vii) to appoint and constitute such advisory committees as the trustees may think fit;

(viii) to employ such staff (who shall not be trustees) as are necessary for the proper pursuit of
the objects and to make all reasonable and necessary provision for the payment of pensions
and superannuation to staff and

their dependents;

(ix) to permit any investments comprised in the trust fund to be held in the name of any clearing
bank, any trust corporation or any company which is a member of Stock Exchange (or any
subsidiary such stockbroking company) as nominee for the trustees and to pay any such
nominee reasonable and proper remuneration for acting as such;

(x) to delegate to any one or more of the trustees the transactions of any business or the
performance of any act required to be transacted or performed in the execution of the trusts of
the Charity and which is within the professional or business competence of such trustee or
trustees: Provided that the trustees shall exercise reasonable supervision over any trustee or
trustees acting on their behalf under this provision and shall ensure that all their acts and
proceedings are fully and promptly reported to them;

(xi) to pay out of the assets of the Charity any premium in respect of any indemnity insurance to
cover liability of the trustees (or any of them) which by virtue of any rule of law would otherwise
attach to them in respect of any negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust of which
they may be guilty in relation to the charity: Provided that any such insurance shall not extend to
any claim arising form any act or omission which the trustees ( or any of them) knew or ought
reasonably to have known was breach of duty or breach of trust or which was committed by the
trustees (or any of them) in reckless disregard of whether it was a breach of duty or breach of
trust or not;

(xii) to do all such other lawful things as are necessary for the achievement of the objects.

D Appointment of Trustees
(1) There shall be at least three trustees. Every future trustee shall be appointed by a resolution
of the trustees passed at a special meeting

called under clause K.

(2) In selecting person to be appointed as a trustee, the trustees shall take into account the
benefits of appointing a person able by virtue of his or her personal or professional
qualifications to make a contribution to the pursuit of the objects or the management of the
Charity.

(3) when any new trustee is appointed the trustees shall ensure that any land belonging to the
Charity which is not vested or about to be vested in the Official Custodian for Charities or in a
custodian trustee and all other property which is not vested or about to be vested in the Official
Custodian for Charities, a custodian trustee or nominee is effectively vested in the persons who
are the trustees following such appointment.

(4) If for any reason trustees can not be appointed in accordance with the foregoing positions
the statutory power of appointing new or additional trustees shall be exercisable.


E Eligibility for Trusteeship
(1) No person shall be appointed as a trustee:

(i) unless he or she has attained the age of 18 years; or

(ii) in circumstances such that, had he or she already been trustee, he or she would have been
disqualified from the office under the provisions of the following clause.

•  no person shall be entitled to act as a trustee whether on a first or any subsequent entry into
office until after signing in the minute book of the trustees a declaration of acceptance and
willingness to act in the trusts of the charity.


F Determination of Trusteeship

A trustee shall cease to hold office if he or she:

(1) is disqualified from acting as a trustee by virtue of section 72 of the charities Act 1993 or any
statutory re-enactment or modification of that provision);

(2) becomes incapable by reason of mental disorder, illness or injury of managing or
administering his or her own affairs.

(3) is absent without the permission of the trustees from all their meetings held within a period
of six months and the trustees resolve that his or her office be vacated; or

(4) notifies for the trustees a wish to resign (but only if at least two trustees will remain in office
when the notice of resignation is to take effect).

G Vacancies
If a vacancy occurs the trustees shall note the fact in their minute book at their next meeting. Any
eligible trustee may be reappointed. So long as there shall be fewer than two trustees none of
the powers or discretions hereby or by law vested in the trustees shall be exercisable except for
the purpose of appointing a new trustee or trustees.

H Ordinary meetings
The trustees shall hold at least four ordinary meetings in each year.

I Calling meetings
The first meeting of the trustees shall be called by the chairperson or if no meeting has been
called within three months after this deed by any 2/3 of the trustees. Subsequent meeting shall
be arranged by the trustees at their meetings or may be called at any time by the chairperson or
any 2/3 of the trustees upon not less than 10 days' notice being given to the other trustees.

J Chairperson
The trustees at their first ordinary meeting in each year shall elect one of their member to be a
chairperson of their meetings until the commencement of the first ordinary meeting of the
following year. The chairperson shall always be eligible for re-election. If the chairperson is not
present within ten minutes after the time appointed for holding a meeting or there is no
chairperson the trustees present shall choose one of their number to be chairperson of the
meeting.

K Special meetings.
A special meeting may be called at any time by the chairperson or any 2/3 trustees upon not
less than 4 days' notice being given to the other trustees of the matter to be discussed, but if
the matters include appointment of a trustee or a proposal to amend any of the trusts of this
deed then upon not less than 21 days' notice being so given. A special meeting may be called
to take place immediately after or before an ordinary meeting.

L Quorum
There shall be a quorum when at least 1/3 of the number of trustees for the time being or 2
trustees, whichever is greater, are present at a meeting.


M Voting
Every matter shall be determined by a majority of votes of the trustees present on the question.
The chairperson of the meeting shall have a casting vote whether he or she has or has not
voted previously on the same question but no trustee in any other circumstances shall have
more than one vote.


N Minutes
The trustees shall keep minutes, in books kept for the purpose, of the proceedings at their
meetings.


O Accounts
The trustees shall comply with their obligations under the Charities Act 1993 (or any statutory re-
enactment or modification of that act) with regard to:

(1) the keeping of accounting records for the Charity;

(2) the preparation of annual statements of accounts for the Charity;

(3) the auditing or independent examination of the statements of accounts of the Charity; and

(4) the transaction of the statements of accounts of the Charity to the Commissioners.


P Annual Report
The trustees shall comply with their obligations under the Charities Act 1993 (or any statutory
modification of that act) with regard to the preparation of an annual report and its transmission
to the Commissioners.


Q Annual Return

The trustees shall comply with their obligations under the Charities Act 1993 (or any statutory
modification of that act) with regard to the preparation of an annual return and its transmission
to the commissioners.


R General power to make regulations
Within the limits of this deed the trustees shall have full power from time to time to make
regulations for the management of the Charity and for the conduct of their business, including
the calling of meetings, the deposit of money at a bank and the custody of documents.

S Bank Account
Any bank account in which any part of the trust fund is deposited shall be operated by the
trustees and shall be held in the name of the Charity. All cheques and orders for the payments
of money from such account shall be signed by at least two trustees.


T Trustees not to be personally interested
(1) subject to provisions of sub-clause 2 of this clause, no trustee shall acquire any interest in
property belonging to the Charity (otherwise than as a trustee for the Charity or receive
remuneration or be interested (otherwise than as a trustee) in any contract entered into by the
trustees.)

(2) Any trustee who is a solicitor, accountant or any other person engaged in any profession
may charge and be paid all the usual professional charges for business done by him or her or
his or her firm when instructed by the other trustees to act in professional capacity on behalf of
the Charity: Provided that at no time shall a majority of the trustees benefit under this provision
and that a trustee shall withdraw from any meeting of the trustees at which his or her own
instructions or remuneration, or that his or her firm, is under discussion.

U Management of Land
Subject to any consent, which may be required by law, the trustees shall either sell or let any
land belonging to the Charity, which is not required to be retained or occupied in furtherance of
the objects.

V Leases
The trustees shall ensure that on the grant by them of any lease the tenant shall execute a
counterpart lease. Every lease shall contain a covenant on the part of the tenant for the payment
of rent and a provision for re-entry on non-payment of the rent or non-performance of the
covenants contained in the lease.

W Repair and Insurance
The trustees shall keep in repair and insure to their full value against fire and other risks of the
buildings of the Charity which are not required to be kept in repair and insured by the tenant and
shall also ensure suitability in respect of public liability and employers liability.

X Amendment of Trust Deed.
(1) The trustees may amend the provisions of this deed, provided that:

(i) no amendment shall be made to clause B (the objects clause) unless it appears to the
trustees that the objects can no longer provide a suitable and effective method of using the trust
fund;

•  no amendment may be made to clause T (trustees not personally be

•  interested clause) or this clause without the prior consent in writing of the Commissioners;
and

(iii) no amendment may be made which had the effect of the Charity ceasing to be a charity at
law.

(2) Any amendment shall be made by a deed under the authority of a resolution passed at a
special meeting of the trustees.

(3) The trustees should promptly send to the Commissioners a copy of any amendment made
under this clause.  

IN WITNESS whereof the parties hereto have hereunto set their respective hands the day and
year first before written.  

Signed as a deed by the said:

Name: ……………………………………………………. Position . …………………………………

Signature …………………………………………………………. Date ……………………...…………



Debanma Policies

This page outlines the policies indorsed by Debanma Heritage Forum as listed bellow:

  • Child Protection Policies and Procedures
"Debanma Heritage Forum is committed to the protection of Children and the safeguarding of
their "(more...)

  • Financial Policy and Procedures
"The Financial Procedures detailed below must be followed at all times by all Management
Committee member, staff"(more...)

  •  Posting Policies and Guidelines
"Debanma's ultimate aim is to create a platform for all the Blin people and those interested to
exchange their"(more...)
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COMMENTS, ARTICLES SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
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