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Articles
of Constitution
Leyland
Chess Club Constitution
1. Name
The Club shall be called Leyland Chess Club.
2. Objects
To promote the interest and playing of chess in the Leyland area.
3. Governing
Body
a) The
affairs of the club shall be managed by a committee of eight comprising
a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Team
Captain, Tournament Secretary and two others. All eight shall be voting
offices.
b) The
committee shall be empowered to co-opt additional non-voting members.
c) The
committee shall be empowered to create, during its current term of
office, any new office or sub-committee that seems necessary to further
the good interests of the club. These offices whether filled by full
committee, co-opted committee or non-committee members shall be advisory
until included in the constitution of the next AGM.
d) The
committee shall meet during the term of office on dates mutually agreed.
e) In
any committee vote the Chairman shall vote last so that in the event of
a tie, he shall have the casting vote.
f) The
quorum for a committee meeting shall be four.
4. General
Matters
a) The
Annual General Meeting shall be held during October, and the date and
venue shall be notified, by the Secretary, in writing, to every member
not later than September 15th.
b) The
AGM may elect, in addition to the committee, a President, an Auditor and
a Returning Officer. All three offices shall be non-committee.
c) The
AGM shall discuss all matters concerning the organisation and
administration of the club which have been included in the agenda.
Discussion of additional items shall be permitted at the discretion of
the Chairman.
d) Motions
for inclusion in the agenda shall be received in writing, by the
Secretary not later than September 30th.
e)
The
quorum for an extraordinary general meeting shall be 20% of current
membership, giving 14 days notice, in writing, to the Secretary.
f)
Additional general or extraordinary general meetings may be called at
intervals at the discretion of the Secretary. Fourteen days notice, in
writing, shall be given to every member.
g) Any
alterations to the constitution shall be made at the AGM by a two thirds
majority vote of members present, and shall be binding on the committee.
h) No
decision on the dissolution of the club or its amalgamation with any
other organisation shall be valid unless supported by at least 90% of
current membership votes cast at an AGM, extraordinary general meeting
or by postal ballot.
i) The
Returning officer shall be responsible for the administration, counting
and announcement of all club ballots, other than committee ballots.
5. Election
of Officers
a) All
committee officials shall resign annually and can offer themselves for
re-election.
b) Election
of officers shall take place at the AGM.
c) Nominations
for committee shall be notified, in writing, to the Secretary no later
than 30th September, and consist of the signatures of a proposer and
seconder, and a signed statement by the proposed, that of elected he
will be willing to server. Names of retiring officers standing for
re-election shall be automatically placed on the ballot sheer.
d) Candidates
for committee, proposers and seconders shall be paid up members of the
club.
e) The
names of all candidates for each office shall be circulated, on a ballot
sheet by the Secretary to every member present at the start of the AGM
and each member shall record his vote against one candidate for each
office. Only paid-up members are eligible to vote.
f) Votes
shall be counted at the point in the meeting following the final reports
of retiring officers. The counting shall be done by the retiring
Secretary, Chairman and Returning Officer.
g) In
the event of two candidates tying for office, all other candidates for
that office shall withdraw and members shall re-vote on the two
remaining. In the event of another tie, the candidate longest a member
of the club according to the Secretary’s record shall take office.
h) The
Returning Officer shall announce the new committee who shall take up
office immediately.
i)
In the
event of an elected member of committee resigning during the year, his
replacement shall be co-opted by the committee until the next election.
Such a member shall then seek re-election as specified in article 5(c).
j) In
the event of a co-opted member not readily being available to replace a
committee member who has resigned then another member of the committee
may take over the duties, at the discretion of the Chairman.
k)
In the
event of there being no contest for any particular office the Chairman
will ask for a majority show of hands in favour of that office.
6. Membership
a) This
shall be open to every chess player where application is acceptable to
the committee.
b) Honorary
membership may be granted to any person at the discretion of the
committee. Such membership may be for one year, or for life, and the
class of honorary membership shall be specified, in writing, at the time
of being granted.
c) There
shall be no age limit for membership, but maximum age for junior
membership shall be 16.
d) Non
members, whether invited by a member or otherwise, must apply for
membership after four visits on club nights. Their application shall
come before committee at their next meeting and shall include the
signatures of a proposer and seconder, who shall be paid up members.
Once the application is received by the Secretary, the prospective
member shall be entitled to take part in all currently available club
activities and to all club benefits whilst the application comes before
the committee.
e) The
committee shall have the power to terminate the membership of any member
whose continues membership is considered by the committee not to be in
the best interest of the club. The committee shall give any such member
an opportunity to make representations in person before reaching a final
decision.
f) It
shall be the duty of the proposer to make clear to the person applying
for membership of the club that membership is not to be used solely as a
means of playing in the league teams ; a wider contribution to the
promotion of the club and its activities is expected.
g) The
committee shall have the right to restrict club membership to a certain
level, at its discretion.
h)
A member
offering himself for election to any full committee, any sub-committee
or any other club office, shall have been a member for 12 months.
7. Subscriptions
a) A
subscription of an amount to be determined by the committee shall be
paid by every member (except honorary members if exempt under article
6(b)) on October 1st.
b) The
committee shall have the power to fix a reduced subscription for junior
membership, full time students and members reaching retiring age.
c) The
initial subscription payable by new members shall be assessed on a
reducing quarterly rate on the 1st January, 1st April and 1st July.
d) Any
member who fails to re-new his subscription within six weeks after the
start of the financial year shall be removed from the membership list,
but can re-apply for membership under article 6(d).
8. Club
Funds
a) All
subscriptions shall be paid to the Treasurer and cheques/P.O.’s made out
to Leyland Chess Club and crossed A/C Payee only.
b) The
financial year shall run from October 1st to September 30th.
c) The
Treasurer shall prepare a statement of accounts at the end of the
financial year for submission to the committee prior to the AGM. At
the AGM a cop-y, duly audited, shall be issued to every member.
d) The
club funds shall be placed with the Preston Trustee Savings Bank and
withdrawals from any account shall require any two signatures of
Secretary, Chairman and Treasurer.
9. Team
Selection
a) The
selection of club teams is a matter of Captain’s discretion.
b) If
it is felt that a member is being selected top play in club teams
despite making no other contribution to the club the the committee may
advise the captain to either drop that member or encourage in the member
a more active role in other club activities.
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