Constitution (2018)

Market Harborough Conservative Bowls Club

Bowls Club Constitution (2018)

1. RULES

The rules of the Market Harborough Conservative Club Limited shall prevail and be the overriding authority.

2. NAME

The name of the Club shall be:   MARKET HARBOROUGH CONSERVATIVE BOWLS CLUB and shall hereinafter be referred to as “the Club”.

 

3. AIMS

The Club exists:-

  • For the furtherance of bowling in a friendly and sociable atmosphere at the Club premises in Fairfield Road, Market Harborough, and at other venues of the Club.
  • To promote good practices in bowling, and promote proper standards of dress, in particular proper flat, smooth bowling shoes.
  • To encourage new members.
  • To enable members to develop and improve and progress in competition as far as they are able or wish to go.
  • To participate as fully as the Club is able in all bowling activities at local, county, regional and national level.

4. MEMBERSHIP

  1. Membership of the Club shall be limited to members of the Market Harborough Conservative Club, who agree to abide by the rules and conditions of membership, and against whom no objection is raised by any member.
  2. In the event of an objection to an application for membership, a majority decision by the Committee of the Club shall decide the issue, and no explanation of that decision may be required of them.
  3. An annual subscription shall be set at each Annual General Meeting and will become due on 31st March and must be paid by 30th April.  Members who have not paid by 30th April must not play any games, must not enter any competitions, and will not be considered for selection for any matches until the subscription has been paid.
  4. Casual visitors will pay a green fee as determined from time to time by the Committee.

5. MANAGEMENT

  1. The management of the Club shall be vested in a President, Chairman, Secretary, Fixture Secretary, Treasurer, Captain, Competition Secretary and members of a Committee as decided at each Annual General Meeting, plus a nominated representative of MHCC Ltd.
  2. The Officers and members of the Committee shall retire annually but shall be eligible for re-election.
  3. Nominations for all Officers and members of Committee shall be received from the floor at the Annual General Meeting.
  4. The election of all Officers and members of the Committee shall be by show of hands at the Annual General Meeting.  All members shall be eligible to stand for Office, nominate other members for Office and to vote in the elections for these offices.
  5. A quorum at the Annual General Meeting and at any other General Meeting shall be twenty-five members or 25% of the membership, whichever number is the smaller.

6. GENERAL MEETINGS

  1. The Annual General Meeting shall normally take place in October of each year but not later than the last day of November.
  2.  The date, time and venue for the Annual General Meeting shall be agreed by the Committee and published with a minimum of 21 days’ notice.
  3.  General Meetings other than the Annual General Meeting may be called at any time at the discretion of the Committee or by a written requisition signed by not less than 25% of the membership, such requisition to state the purpose of the meeting.
  4. Notices of motion and resolution for discussion at any General Meeting must be submitted in writing to the Secretary not less than ten days prior to the meeting at which they are to be considered.
  5.  No less than seven days prior to the General Meeting the Secretary must display, in a prominent place on the Club premises, a copy of the Agenda together with the full text of any notice of motion or resolution.
  6. Any member unable to attend the Annual General Meeting who submits his apologies in writing to the Secretary prior to the commencement of the meeting shall be eligible for nomination to any position.
  7. The business of the Annual General Meeting shall be:
    1. Apologies.
    2. Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting
    3. Matters arising from these minutes not included in the Agenda
    4. Retiring Chairman’s address
    5. Election of Chairman
    6. Chairman’s address
    7. Secretary’s Report
      1. Treasurer’s Report.
      2. Annual Subscriptions
    9. Fixture Secretary’s Report
    10. Captain’s Report.
    11. Competition Secretary’s Report.
    12.  Elections.
      1. President.
      2. Secretary.
      3. Treasurer.
      4. Fixture Secretary.
      5. Captain.
      6. Vice-Captain.
      7. Competition Secretary.
      8. Committee.
    13. Correspondence suitable for an Annual General Meeting
    14. Motions and Resolutions properly notified.
    15. No business other than that contained under clause “The business of the Annual General Meeting” ( 6.7) may be enacted by the Annual General Meeting.

7. COMMITTEE

  1. The Committee shall meet on the first Monday of each month or as agreed by its Members to conduct the day to day business of the Club in all matters between General Meetings.
  2. A quorum at any Committee meeting shall be 50% + 1 of the total membership of the Committee.
  3. All matters before the Committee shall be decided by a simple majority.
    1. At all meetings of the Club, the Chairman shall have a vote in his own right as a member of the Committee and also, irrespective of whether he has exercised that vote, in the event of an equal amount of votes being cast for and against a motion, shall have a casting vote which he may, at his discretion, exercise.
    2. In the case of a Chairman choosing not to exercise his casting vote, the motion shall be “not carried”.
  5. The Secretary shall display, in a prominent place on the Club premises, any notices, information or decisions as the Committee deem necessary.
  6. In matters of disagreement over decisions made in Committee, the Secretary shall rule on the matter and his decision shall stand until the next meeting of the Committee, at which meeting the issue shall be tabled for discussion and resolution.
  7. Notice of emergency meetings of the Committee must be given by the Secretary to members of the Committee not less than three days before such meetings.
    1. Between meetings of the Committee, the Officers, namely the President, Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer shall together exercise executive powers.
    2. In order to reach agreement on an action or decision between meetings under clause 8.1, the Officers must all be consulted and their views recorded.
    3. Any action taken or decision made under clause 8.1 must be presented to the next meeting of the Committee for approval. In the event of approval being withheld, the action must be discontinued or the decision reversed.
  9. The Committee shall have the power to elect, as honorary members, all visiting Bowling Club members playing at the Club’s premises in matches or competitions. A fee shall not normally be charged in respect of such membership.

8. GENERAL

  1. Application for Membership
    1. Application for Membership may be made at any time during the year.
    2. Application for Membership shall be submitted to the Secretary who shall present such applications to the Committee at its next meeting.
    3. The full annual subscription will be payable if the application for membership is made before the end of June.  Thereafter a new member shall pay a reduced fee as set out by the Committee.
  2. Each member has the privilege of inviting visitors to the green and will be considered responsible for their conduct whilst on the Club premises.
  3. It shall be the duty of the Committee if at any time they consider that the conduct of a member may bring the Club into disrepute, to report that member to the Committee who will refer the matter to MHCC Ltd

9. CONSTITUTION

This Constitution can only be changed or amended at a General Meeting convened for the purpose or at the Annual General Meeting provided that due notice of such changes or amendments has been given in accordance with clause 6c) of this Constitution.

10. ACCEPTANCE

Acceptance of this Constitution is a pre-requisite of membership.