Names and Objectives

1

The Title of the Section shall be the Bridge Section.

2

In these Rules hereinafter, reference to the Section means the Section whose Title is defined in Rule 1, and to the Club means the EdF (Barnwood) Sports and Social Club.

3

The Objectives of the Section are to promote and encourage the playing of Bridge amongst interested members of the Club.

4

The means of achieving the Objectives of the Section shall be: a) arranging regular Section events b) participating in competitions, internal and external, as may be decided by the Section Committee.

Membership

5

Membership of the Section is available to all Members of the Club.

6

It is a condition of Membership that Members of the Section are Members of the Club.

7

The Section Secretary shall maintain an up-to-date register of the Members of the Section.

8

A Section member may invite visitors.

9

No visitor shall have use of Section facilities to the detriment of the Members of the Section.

10

The affairs of the Section shall be managed between Section Annual General Meetings by a Section Committee.

11

The Committee shall consist of the Officers of the Section and two Members. All shall be Members of the Sports & Social Club.

12

The Officers of the Section shall consist of: Chairman, Secretary, Captain, Treasurer, Tournament Organiser.

13

The Section Committee may fill a vacancy on the Section Committee caused through resignation or other cause, by co-option until the next Annual General Meeting of the Section.

14

A Member co-opted to the Section Committee to fill a vacancy shall have the same voting rights as the other Members of the Committee.

15

The Section Committee may co-opt any person or persons with special knowledge or skills to assist them to carry out their function, provided that such co-opted person or persons shall serve only in an advisory capacity and shall not have the power to vote.

16

A quorum for meetings of the Section Committee shall be four, and Meetings shall be held as necessary.

17

Voting at Section Committee Meetings shall be by simple majority but in the event of a tie the Chairman of the Section Committee Meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

18

The Section Committee may form from amongst their number sub-committees for any purpose in pursuance of their objectives, and delegate limited powers to the sub-committee.

19

The Section Secretary shall take minutes of Section Committee Meetings, which will record those present, the decisions made and the actions placed, and these minutes shall be sent to the Club Secretary within one month of the date of the relevant meeting, and also made available to any Section Member who wishes to see them.

20

All sub-committees will appoint from amongst their number a sub-committee secretary who will be responsible for taking minutes, etc., as in Rule 19.

General Meetings

21

A quorum at a Section General Meeting shall be 10.

22

In the event of a quorum not being present, the Chairman of the Meeting shall adjourn the Meeting for two weeks when the numbers then present shall constitute a quorum.

23

Voting at General Meetings shall be by simple majority, except for amendments to Section Rules or winding up of the Section, but in the event of a tie the Chairman of the Meeting shall have a second casting vote.

24

Voting for amendments to Section Rules shall be carried by at least 60% of those present voting in favour.

25

Voting at a Special General Meeting to wind up the Section shall be carried by at least 75% of those present voting in favour.

Annual General Meeting

26

The Section Annual General Meeting shall be held between July and October of each year, for the purpose of receiving and approving or otherwise the Chairman's Report and the Section Accounts for the year, to elect the Committee, and any other business specified on the Notice calling the meeting.

27

Notice of the A.G.M. shall be by means of Notices on the Club Notice Boards, which shall be displayed not less than 15 days prior to the date of the Meeting.

28

Notices of Motion for the Section A.G.M. shall be given to the Section Secretary in time to be included on the Notice calling the Meeting.

29

Nominations for the Committee shall be received by the Section Secretary before the Meeting, and shall be signed by a proposer and seconder and also by the nominee signifying willingness to stand for election.

30

In the event of a failure to receive sufficient nominations for the complete Section Committee, the Chairman of the A.G.M. may at his discretion call for nominations from the floor.

31

Failure to receive any nominations does not prevent completion of the business of the A.G.M.

32

It shall be within the discretion of the Chairman of the Meeting whether to allow discussion on any topic raised under "Any Other Business".

Special General Meeting

33

A Special General Meeting may be called by the Section Committee at any time, or at the request of not less than six Members of the Section, in writing to the Section Secretary.

34

Notice of the S.G.M. shall be by means of Notices on the Club Notice Boards which shall be displayed not less than 21 days prior to the date of the meeting.

35

The Notice of Motion for the Special General Meeting shall be displayed on the Club Notice Board for not less than 7 days prior to the meeting.

36

At a Special General Meeting the Business to be discussed shall be limited to that stated in the Notice calling the Meeting.

Extra-Ordinary General Meeting

37

An Extra-Ordinary General Meeting may only be called by the Section Committee for the purpose of discussing urgent business.

38

The Notice which calls the Extra-Ordinary General Meeting shall be displayed on the Club Notice Boards for not less than 7 days prior to the date of the Meeting and shall state the purpose of the Meeting.

39

The business to be discussed shall be limited to that in the Notice which calls the Meeting.

Financial

40

The Section Treasurer shall be responsible for the handling of all monies and keeping accounts and records as required by the Club Treasurer.

41

All Section Members receiving money on behalf of the Section shall hand it as soon as possible to the Section Treasurer, against a receipt.

42

The Section shall decide on the methods of raising excess funds to meet the cost of its activities above what the Section may receive by way of grant from the Club.

43

The fees payable by Section Members are listed in Annex A to these Rules.

Secretarial

44

The Section Secretary shall be responsible for dealing with correspondence, maintaining the Section Membership List, calling Meetings and keeping Minutes of Committee and General Meetings.

45

In addition to the requirement of Rule 19, it is a requirement that the Section Secretary shall take minutes of Section General Meetings, to record the numbers present, reports presented, motions and decisions, and Committee Elections and send a copy of the Minutes to the Club Secretary within one month of the date of the Meeting.

46

The Secretary shall make available to all Section Members who so desire sight of all correspondence and minutes.

Selection of Teams

47

The procedure to be followed, and by whom, detailing how Members shall be selected for teams, and what basis of qualification is relevant are stated in the Rules on Annex 2 to these Rules.

48

Members who are aggrieved by the results of team selection may appeal in the first instance to the Section Committee, and in the event of continued disagreement may appeal to the Club Committee whose decision shall be binding.

Conditions of Use or Play

49

The Conditions of use or play relevant to the Section are listed in Annex 3 to these Rules.

50

If there is a conflict between the Rules of the Section and Rules of the Club, then the latter shall apply.

51

The Section Chairman shall decide the interpretation of these Rules, but in the event of a disagreement, an appeal for interpretation may be made to the Club Committee whose decision shall be binding.

52

Amendments to the Section Rules shall not become effective until they have been approved by the Club Committee.

53

The Section Rules include all Annexes.

Winding-Up of the Section

54

The Section may only be wound up by a resolution, voted in accordance with Rule 25 at a Meeting convened in accordance with the relevant Rules, from Rule 21 to 39 inclusive.

55

In the event of the Section being wound up, the Assets and Records of the Section shall revert to the custodianship of the Club.

Annex A - Fees Payable

1

At regular Section events and for Section representative competitions, table money will be charged. The amount shall be that last decided at an A.G.M. (and recorded in the Minutes thereof); exceptionally, the Section Committee may vary the amount between A.G.M.s.

2

The Section will refund entry fees for Section representative competitions (less the table money in Rule A1), but not any travelling or refreshment elements of such entry fees.

Annex 2 - Selection of Teams

1

The Section Captain shall select teams or nominate team captains for all Section representative competitions. He may delegate team selection to nominated team captains.

Annex 3

1

The Section shall be affiliated to the Gloucestershire Contract Bridge Association (GCBA).

2

All competitions shall be organised in accordance with English Bridge Union (EBU) rules.

3

The current Laws of Duplicate Bridge shall be strictly adhered to.

4

The Section Captain shall nominate a Tournament Director for each Section event who will be responsible for interpreting the laws. Any dispute with the Tournament Director over an interpretation of the laws shall be resolved in accord with GCBA and EBU Rules.

5

As a last resort, the Tournament Director may introduce scoring penalties to discourage persistent slow play.