GOSPORT BRIDGE CLUB

Club Constitution and Rules

1.  TITLE

The Club shall be called the Gosport Bridge Club.

2.  OBJECTIVE

The objective of the Club is to provide facilities for members to play Duplicate Contract Bridge.

3.  MEMBERSHIP

a) Membership is open to all who pay the annual subscription.

b) Non members may attend as a visitor on up to a maximum of four meetings during any period of one year; thereafter he or she must register as a fully paid up member.

c)  Members of the Club are automatically enrolled as Members of the English Bridge Union and shall abide by it’s Bye Laws.

4.  MANAGEMENT

The Club shall be managed by an Executive Committee consisting of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and up to five others.  The Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting each year and, subject to termination of office by resignation or otherwise, shall remain in office until their successors are elected at the Annual General Meeting following their election. The Committee shall have the power to fill any vacancy, which may occur.  The retiring members of the Committee shall be eligible for re-election.

5.  SUBSCRIPTION & FEES

The annual subscription shall be such a sum as shall be fixed by the Committee from time to time and shall become due on the 1^st of August.  Non-payment of subscription by 31^st October shall result in loss of membership.  Members joining at any time during the year shall be liable for the full subscription.  The Committee shall also fix fees such as table money and simultaneous pairs fees as required to keep the Club’s finances healthy subject to subsequent approval at the Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting.

6.  ALTERATION OF THE RULES

No alteration of these rules or amendments to them shall be made except at the Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting.  A written notice shall be forwarded to the Secretary of the Club of any proposed alteration and/or amendment of these rules at least one calendar month prior to the Annual General Meeting. A resolution to alter the Constitution and Rules shall require a simple majority of the votes cast.

7.  BYE LAWS

The Committee shall have the power to make Bye Laws for regulating the conduct and affairs of the Club provided they are not inconsistent with these Rules.

8.  MEETINGS

a) An Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be held each year not later than 30^th September to conduct the following business:

(I) To receive and, if approved, adopt a statement of the Club’s accounts to the end of the preceding year.

(ii)  To consider and, if approved, sanction any proposed alterations/amendments of these rules.

(iii)  To appoint the Officers and Committee members.

(iv)  To appoint an Auditor or Auditors.

(v)   To deal with any special matter which the Committee desire to bring before the members and to receive suggestions from the members for consideration by the Committee.

Notice of the Annual General Meeting shall be given to the members not less than fourteen days before the meeting and shall specify the matters to be dealt with.

b)  An Extraordinary General Meeting may be convened at any time by the Committee and shall also be convened within one calendar month following receipt of a written request for one signed by not less that 20 members and specifying the object of such a meeting.

Notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be given to the members not less than fourteen days before the meeting and shall specify the matters to be dealt with.

9. MEMBERS BEHAVIOR

a)  Each member of the Club shall be required in connection with the game of Duplicate Contract Bridge, to conform to the standards of fair play, courtesy, and personal deportment prescribed by the Bye Laws and Regulations for the time being of the English Bridge Union.

b)   In the event of a member’s conduct being called into question a complaint should be made in writing to the Chairman or Secretary of the Club.  The Committee will then follow the procedures detailed in the EBU Schedule of Disciplinary Procedures  and will consult with the EBU at an early stage.  A brief summary of these procedures is as follows.

(i)         A Conduct Committee consisting of  three to five members of the Club appointed by the Chairman will consider the complaint to decide if there is a case to answer.  If there is no case to answer the matter is ended.  If there is a case to answer, then the Conduct Committee may offer a verbal caution to the offending member which, if accepted, ends the matter.

(ii)        If there is a case to answer and a verbal caution is not accepted, or is not considered appropriate, then the matter is referred to a separate and independent Disciplinary Committee of Club members for further consideration.  This Disciplinary Committee may hold a hearing into the matter at which the accused member may be legally represented, or invite a friend to speak on his or her behalf.  The Disciplinary Committee may have the power to give a written reprimand, suspend the member from certain Club competitions, or ultimately expel them from the Club.

(iii)       A member found guilty of an offence by the Club Disciplinary Committee may

appeal to the County Disciplinary Committee or ultimately to the EBU Law and Ethics Committee.  Should such extreme measures be necessary then the Club will have already consulted the EBU at an earlier stage in the proceedings for advice.

9.  QUORUM

At Committee meetings five shall form a quorum.  At General Meetings twenty shall form a quorum.

These rules were originally adopted at the Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 8^th September 1977.  They have been amended in 2011 to conform to the model Club Constitution of the English Bridge Union to which reference should be made if problems arise.

Competitions shall be held at such times and under such conditions as the general committee or any sub-committee shall determine.

Any suggestions or complaints regarding the arrangements of "The Club" shall be submitted in writing and handed to the secretary or any member of the general committee and shall be considered at the next committee meeting.

"The Club" accepts no responsibility whatever for the property or belongings of any member or visitor whilst on the premises of "The Club".

Any matter not provided for in these regulations and all questions arising regarding their construction or implication shall be decided by the general committee.

The Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary and members of the general committee shall not be responsible, either individually or jointly, for any liabilities incurred by "The Club". All members shall be equally responsible for any liabilities incurred during their time of membership.

Alterations, additions or amendments to these regulations and constitution cannot be made except by a resolution at a general meeting.