The Club shall consist of Life Members and Members.

The Officers of the Club shall be the Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer.

The duties of the Chairperson shall be:

1. To be one of up to four authorised signatories for The Club’s bank accounts;
2. To chair meetings of the Committee and General Meetings.

The duties of the Secretary shall be:

1. To deal with The Club’s correspondence;
2. To keep approved minutes of all The Club’s proceedings;
3. To keep a record of The Club’s members and Life Members, and
4. To arrange competitive and friendly matches of any type.

The duties of the Treasurer shall be:

1. To be responsible for The Club’s funds;
2. To arrange for payments to be made, as appropriate;
3. To prepare and present annual financial statements as at the last day in March to the Members at Annual General Meetings;
4. To supply any information or documents required by the Honorary Auditor;
5. To sign and accept cheques on behalf of The Club, as one of the signatories to The Club’s bank account.

The Committee of the Club shall consist of the Officers of the Club, together with up to four other Members, who shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and shall retire at the ensuing Annual General Meeting, but who shall be eligible for re-election. Any Officer or member of the Committee may resign at any time between Annual General Meetings.

The Committee may from time to time co-opt further Members of the Club to serve on the Committee until the ensuing Annual General Meeting, whether to fill a vacancy arising, or as additional Committee members, but the total number of Committee members (including Officers) shall at no time exceed ten. Co-opted Committee members shall be entitled to participate fully in the proceedings of the Committee.

A quorum at meetings of the Committee shall be four persons, three of whom must be fully elected members of the Committee.

The Committee may from time to time appoint sub-committees to undertake on its behalf such aspects of the administration of the Club as it shall think fit, and members of such sub-committees may include Club Members who are not members of the Committee.

Proceedings of the Committee and of any sub-committees shall be regulated in such manner as the Committee may from time to time decide.

The Club shall, at a General Meeting, appoint an Honorary Auditor to audit the Financial Statements prepared by the Treasurer. The Honorary Auditor shall not be a member of the Committee and shall hold office until the ensuing Annual General Meeting when he/she shall retire but be eligible for re-election. The Honorary Auditor shall be entitled to access to such documents and information as he/she considers fit to discharge his/her function.

The affairs of The Club shall be managed by the Committee, and the Committee shall have power to determine any issue arising in connection with the affairs of The Club which is not specifically provided for in this Constitution.

The Committee may from time to time formulate and publish such Rules as it thinks expedient for the effective and harmonious running of the Club (but in the case of any conflict between such Rules and this Constitution, the Constitution shall prevail).

Any issue of policy determined by the Committee or any Rules published by the Committee may be varied by a resolution of Members at a General Meeting of the Club, provided that such resolution is not in conflict with this Constitution and is not retrospective in application.

An Annual General Meeting shall be held in each year no later than three months after the end of the financial year (but in cases of national emergency, including pandemic, or other substantial difficulty, the Committee may decide not to hold or to delay an Annual General Meeting in any particular year).

An Extraordinary General Meeting shall be convened by the Committee if a request for such a Meeting signed by at least ten Members is delivered to the Secretary, stating the reason for the Meeting, and such Meeting shall take place within thirty-six days of the receipt of such request.

An Extraordinary General Meeting may be convened by the Committee on its own initiative at any time.

All General Meetings shall be held at the headquarters of The Club, unless circumstances arise which render this impracticable in which case the Committee may decide to hold a General Meeting at a place within a five mile radius of the headquarters or electronically.

Notices of Extraordinary General Meetings and of Annual General Meetings at which, in the opinion of the Committee, any business of a non-routine nature is likely to be discussed, shall be given to Members by any of the following means:

1. in person;
2. by post to the last address of each Member notified to the Secretary, or
3. electronically.

Notices of any Annual General Meeting at which in the opinion of the Committee no business of a non-routine nature is likely to be discussed, shall be given to Members by any of the following means:

a. in person:

b. by post to the last address of each Member notified to the Secretary;

c. electronically.

And by displaying a notice in a prominent position at the headquarters of The Club during one or more playing sessions.

Notices of any other matters to be brought to the attention of Members shall be made by displaying a notice in a prominent position at the headquarters of The Club during one or more playing sessions and by posting on the club website in the Members' Area.

Nominations for the posts of Officers or Committee Members shall be in writing (and including by way of email to the Secretary), and shall be signed by a proposer and a seconder, both of whom shall be Members of the Club, and also by the person nominated.

All nominations must reach the Secretary no later than one week prior to the date fixed for the Annual General Meeting.

Each Member (other than Life Members) shall pay an annual subscription, the amount of which shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting of the Club. Subscriptions shall be due for payment from the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting at which the subscription was set and shall be valid for membership until the end of the ensuing Annual General Meeting. Unless the Committee decides otherwise, any Member whose subscription remains unpaid after four weeks from the close of the Annual General Meeting shall pay table money at the rate applicable to visitors until his/her subscription has been paid in full.

Each Member (other than the Director, the Host and any Social Host (i.e. a nominated provider of refreshments)) and each guest and visitor, shall pay table money on each time he/she plays at The Club. The amount of table money payable by Members, guests and visitors shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting.

Each successful applicant for membership of the Club may be required to pay a joining fee, the amount of which (if any) shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting

The Committee may determine variations on the basic amounts of subscriptions and table money for Members, guests and visitors.

The Committee shall arrange for an income and expenditure account and a balance sheet to be prepared in respect of the financial affairs of The Club for each financial year, which shall end on the last day of March.

The income and expenditure account and the balance sheet for each financial year shall be presented to the Annual General Meeting for approval.

The books and records kept, and the financial statements prepared, by the Treasurer shall be inspected and audited annually by the Honorary Auditor.

Any Member may invite a guest to play at The Club at any time other than at specified championship events (although this shall not prevent the Committee permitting guests or visitors to play at specified championship events but which case they shall not be eligible for trophies or to be treated as winners or qualifiers), but in the event of the playing facilities being inadequate to accommodate all those who wish to play, priority shall be given to Members. Members are responsible for the conduct of their guests.

Visitors may be permitted to play at the Club at any time other than at specified championship events (although this shall not prevent the Committee permitting guests or visitors to play at specified championship events but which case they shall not be eligible for trophies or to be treated as winners or qualifiers), but in the event of the playing facilities being inadequate to accommodate all those who wish to play, priority shall be given to Members and their guests.

Visitors and Members’ guests shall be asked to join The Club after three visits in any one financial year.

After three such visits, a non-member who has applied for membership shall (subject to available playing facilities) be permitted to play at The Club until his/her application for membership has been determined by the Committee, even if a limit imposed by the Committee is thereby exceeded.

The Committee shall consider any written complaint signed by at least three Members made about the conduct of a Member. The Committee may consider any other complaint.

Where the Committee decides to or is required to consider a complaint, the Committee shall appoint a sub-committee to investigate the complaint (“the investigatory sub-committee”) and a wholly separate sub-committee to decide the complaint (“the adjudication sub-committee”). The investigatory sub-committee shall provide the Member about whose conduct the complaint has been made with details of the complaint and a full opportunity to respond. The investigatory sub-committee shall present a report to the adjudication sub-committee and the Member following the completion of its investigation. The adjudication sub-committee shall meet as soon as practicable after receiving the investigatory sub-committee’s report to adjudicate upon the complaint. The Member shall be entitled to make personal representations to the adjudication sub-committee at the meeting convened to consider the complaint.

If the adjudication sub-committee upholds the complaint, it may impose any of the following sanctions:

1. Issue an oral reprimand;
2. Issue a written reprimand;
3. Suspend the Member from the privileges of membership for such period as it may think fit;
4. Expel the Member from membership of The Club, or
5. Prohibit the Member from playing at The Club either indefinitely or for a specified period.

The adjudication sub-committee shall forthwith notify the Member of its decision in respect of the complaint, and may, if it thinks fit, publicise the decision by displaying a notice at the headquarters of The Club during one or more playing sessions.

No alterations shall be made to this Constitution except at a General Meeting of The Club.

In order for a motion to alter this constitution to be successful, a majority at least two-thirds of the votes cast on the motion must be in favour. Proxies shall be allowed.

Any ten Members may present in writing to the Secretary a motion to wind up The Club. The Secretary shall invoke clauses 10.2 and 10.6 of this Constitution and give notice to all Members accordingly.

In order for a motion that The Club shall be wound up to have effect a majority of not less that 75% (seventy-five percent) of the votes cast by those Members present and voting, together with votes by proxy, must be in favour of the motion, and in addition the number of votes cast in favour of the motion must exceed one-half of the number of Members entitled to attend and vote at the General Meeting at which the motion is put. Proxy votes shall be delivered to the Secretary not less that forty-eight hours before the time set for the Meeting.

The Treasurer shall present to the Members attending such meeting audited Balance Sheet and Accounts dated not later than seven days following the date of receipt by the Secretary of the Members’ motion to wind up The Club.

In the event that a motion to wind up The Club is passed then the Treasurer shall pay all The Club’s creditors and collect any outstanding debts that are recoverable.

The organisations referred to in clause 18.5 are:

1. the English Bridge Union;
2. the Surrey County Bridge Association, and
3. any Registered or recognised charitable body.

Every Member is bound by and must submit to this Constitution and the Rules of The Club. The Constitution and the Rules of The Club shall be displayed on the Club website.