Our Constitution

1

Title

The Club shall be named The Ingatestone & District Camera Club, hereafter to be referred to as “the Club” and shall be affiliated to the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain through the East Anglian Federation.
2

Objects

To foster the advancement and development of photography, and make it more accessible to members of our local community. It will achieve this by providing a regular programme of meetings for the purpose of lectures, discussions, demonstrations, competitions, exhibitions, workshops and project development both for the group’s members, other local photographic societies and members of our local community.
3

Membership

  1. Membership of the Club shall be open to any person, regardless of race, age, gender, sexual orientation or ability, who provides their name and address and pays the relevant annual subscription.
  2. The Club shall be financed by means of members’ annual subscriptions, the amount to be assessed and agreed at each Annual General Meeting by the Club Members. In addition, the General Committee may promote fund-raising events as they deem necessary. Subscriptions fall due at the commencement of each Club season and shall be received by the Treasurer. Any member whose subscription is two months or more in arrears shall be deemed to have resigned from the Club.
  3. There shall be four classes of membership available. These are:
    Full Member
    Junior Member (Under 18 years of age)
    Associate Member (non-participating)
    Honorary Member (by appointment only)
4

Officers

The Officers of the Club shall be as follows:

  1. Non-Executive Officer, usually an honorary position:
    President
  2. Executive Officers:

    Chairperson
    Secretary
    Treasurer

5

Election of Officers

  1. All Officers shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Club, from and by, the Members of the Club.
  2. All Officers are elected for a period of one year, but may be re-elected to the same office or another office in subsequent years.
6

General Committee

  1. The affairs of the Club shall be controlled by a General Committee comprising the Executive Officers of the Club and at least three other Members elected from, and by, the Members of the Club. All General Committee Members are elected for a period of one year, but may be re-elected to the same office or another office in subsequent years. The General Committee shall meet not less than four times per year.
  2. The duties of the General Committee shall be:
    1. To control the affairs of the Club on behalf of the Members.
    2. To record accurate Minutes of all General & Committee Meetings through the Secretary.
    3. To keep accurate accounts of the finances of the Club through the Treasurer. These should be available for reasonable inspection by Members and should be inspected by an independent examiner before every Annual General Meeting. The Club shall maintain a bank account and two signatures are required to sign Club cheques with a value of £100 and over. The signatories can be either two Executive Officers or one Executive Officer and one elected General Committee member. For cheques under £100, one Executive Officer can sign, with the exception that no Executive Officer can sign a cheque made out in their favour or that of a relative.
    4. To co-opt additional Members onto the Committee as the Committee feels is necessary. Co-opted Members shall be entitled to a vote on the Committee.
    5. To make decisions on the basis of a simple majority vote. In the case of equal votes, the Chairperson shall be entitled to an additional casting vote.
    6. To maintain rules for Club competitions.
  3. A quorum for Committee Meetings shall constitute the presence of at least one Executive Officer, with any three other Committee Members, provided that all other Committee Members have had prior notice of the date, time & place of the meeting.
7

General meetings

  1. The Annual General Meeting shall be held towards the end of the Club season each year.
    28 clear days’ written notice shall be given to Members. Members must advise the Secretary in writing of any business to be moved at the Annual General Meeting at least 14 days before a meeting. The Secretary shall give notice of the agenda for the meeting to Members not less than seven days before the meeting.
  2. The business of the Annual General Meeting shall be to:
    1. Confirm the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting and any General Meetings held since the last Annual General Meeting and deal with any Matters Arising
    2. Receive the Annual Report of the Committee from the Chairperson.
    3. To receive the accounts, together with the report of the independent examiner, from the Treasurer.
    4. Elect the Officers of the Club and other General Committee Members.
    5. To reappoint the independent examiner.
    6. Review subscription rates and agree them for the coming year.
    7. Transact such other business received in writing by the Secretary from Members not less than 14 days prior to the meeting and included on the agenda.
    8. Transact any other business at the discretion of the Chairperson.
  3. Extraordinary General Meetings may be convened by the General Committee or on receipt by the Secretary of a request in writing signed by not less than 20% of the Full Membership of the Club. The Secretary shall call the meeting within 28 days of the request and shall notify every Member in writing not less than 14 days prior to the proposed date of the meeting.
  4. Nomination papers for the officers and committee shall be available to Club members at least 28 days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting. Nominations shall be recorded thereon by being proposed and seconded by different Club Members and only with the consent of the nominees.
  5. At all General Meetings, the Chair will be taken by the Chairperson or, in their absence, by a deputy nominated by the Full Members attending the meeting.
  6. Decisions made at a General Meeting shall be by a simple majority vote of those Full Members attending the meeting. In the event of equal votes, the Chairperson shall be entitled to an additional casting vote.
  7. Each Full Member of the Club shall be entitled to one vote at General Meetings.
  8. The period of office for the Officers & Committee shall be from the closure of one Annual General Meeting to the closure of the next.
8

Alterations to the Constitution

Any proposed alterations to the Club’s Constitution may only be considered at an Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting convened with the required written notice of the proposal. Any alteration or amendment must be proposed by a Full Member of the Club and seconded by another Full Member. Such alterations shall be passed only if supported by not less than two-thirds of those Full Members present at the meeting.

9

Dissolution

  1. If, at any General Meeting of the Club, a resolution be passed calling for the dissolution of the Club, the Secretary shall immediately convene a Special General Meeting of the Club to be held not less than 28 days thereafter to discuss and vote on the resolution.
  2. If, at that Special General Meeting, the resolution is carried by at least two-thirds of the Full Members present at the meeting, the General Committee shall thereupon, or at such date as shall have been specified in the resolution, proceed to realise the assets of the Club and discharge all debts and liabilities of the Club.

  3. After discharging all debts and liabilities of the Club, the remaining assets shall be given or transferred to some other voluntary club or organisation having objects similar to those of the Club.

Notes

  • Agreed unanimously at an EGM held on Friday, 16th Dec 2005 & adopted with immediate effect.
  • Changes re. ‘auditor’ to ‘independent examiner’ (clauses 6.2.3, 7.2.3 and 7.2.5) agreed unanimously at the AGM held on Friday, 18th May 2007 & adopted with immediate effect.
  • Change to Clause 6.2.3 re. cheque signatures agreed at Club’s AGM held on Friday, 29th May 2015.
  • A further change to Clause 6.2.3 re. cheque signatures agreed at an EGM held on Friday, 7th Oct 2016.
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