Hello.

My name is David Buxton and I am the BDA’s “Independent Returning Officer”.

Nominations for BDA Chair:

The term of the current BDA Chair will be coming to an end at the next Annual General Meeting (AGM), to be held on 14th April 2018. The BDA are now required to begin the process of recruiting a new Chair for a three year term, which will start after the next AGM.

The BDA are looking for nominees to be truly representative of the diversity of our Deaf Community, and encourage nominations of candidates from all backgrounds, ethnic minorities, gender, LGBT and Deafblind as well as from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Nominations can be put forward by Current Members of the BDA, and nominees must be members who joined prior to 1st September 2017. The nomination form is attached to this letter.

Also attached is a job description and person specification for the BDA Chair, to highlight the role, responsibilities and tasks involved. If you would like to have an informal discussion about the Chair role with the current Chair, he can be contacted on Skype ID: telboy131 or you can contact the Independent Returning Officer by email on election@bda.org.uk.

Chairs election:

A nomination panel consisting of previous Chairs of BDA and an independent panellist will check nominations against eligible criteria. Potential Chair candidates will be invited to attend an interview on Friday 26th January 2018.

After this interview, the nomination panel will notify successful Chair candidates who can then prepare for promoting their candidacy during the month of February.

Note:

If there is only one nomination for the Chair that passes the nomination panel interview then there will be no ballot and Chair will be automatically elected.

The election for a new Chair will be announced on Thursday 1st February 2018 on the BDA website.

Ballot papers must be returned to the Returning Officer at BDA Head Office by 28th February 2018.

If you would like to nominate a person to become the Chair of the BDA, please complete and sign the relevant nomination form. You will also need to find another BDA current member to second the nomination.

The person you have nominated must also be a current member of the BDA and sign the form, and they must attach a recent passport photo and a short video explaining why they think they would be good in the role.

The completed form must be returned to the Returning Officer, nomination forms must be returned to the BDA Head Office no later than 5pm by 19th January 2018.