CONSTITUTION
1 NAME
The Club shall be Pembury Bridge Club.
2 OBJECTS
The object of the Club shall be to provide facilities for its members for playing Duplicate Contract Bridge in a friendly and competitive manner.
3 CONTACT ADDRESS
The contact address of the Club shall be all premises at which the Club meet regularly.
4 AFFILIATIONS
The Club will be affiliated to the Kent County Bridge Association and to the English Bridge Union.
5 MEMBERSHIP
5.1 Membership shall be open to all bridge players, with preference given to people living in Pembury.
5.2 Any person wishing to become a member of the Club shall apply to the Membership Secretary by completing and forwarding to the Membership Secretary such form as may be prescribed from time to time by the Committee
5.3 All applications for membership of the Club must be proposed and seconded by existing members of the Club unless the Committee decides otherwise.
5.4 All membership application forms received by the membership secretary shall be displayed on the Club Noticeboard for a minimum period of two weeks.
5.5 Any member wishing to object to an application for membership should notify the Membership Secretary or a member of the Committee.
5.6 After the expiry of the period of two weeks mentioned above, the Committee shall as soon as convenient consider the application for membership, taking into account any objections notified and shall notify the applicant of the acceptance or otherwise of the application.
5.7 In declining an application the Committee may give a reason but shall not be obliged to do so.
5.8 In considering applications for membership the Committee shall have regard to the playing facilities available and may, from time to time, decide that the Club shall be closed to new applications for membership for such a period as it may decide and in such circumstances shall maintain a waiting list.
5.9 A member whose subscription has not been paid shall cease to be a member on the expiration of the period of three months from the date on which the subscription was due for payment.
5.10 A former member of the Club who wishes to rejoin as a member may do so without the necessity for a further application for membership, unless the Committee decides otherwise.
5.11 Members of the club are automatically enrolled as members of the English Bridge Union and shall abide by its Bye Laws.
6 OFFICERS
6.1 The Officers of the Club shall be the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Secretary.
6.2 No member of the Club shall simultaneously hold the office of more than one Officer of the Club.
6.3 Each of the Officers of the Club shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Club and shall retire annually at the ensuing Annual General Meeting but shall be eligible for re-election.
6.4 In the event of a vacancy arising during the year in the office of any Officer of the Club, the Committee shall choose one of their number to fill such vacancy until the ensuring Annual General Meeting.
7 COMMITTEE
7.1 The Committee of the Club shall consist of the Officers of the Club, together with such other members of the Club, who shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Club and shall retire annually at the ensuing Annual General Meeting, but shall be eligible for re-election.
7.2 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 members, except that the total number of members of the Committee (including Officers) shall at no time exceed ten. Co-opted members shall be entitled to participate fully in the proceedings of the Committee.
7.3 A quorum at meetings of the Committee shall be four members of the Committee, including at least one of the Officers.
7.4 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 members of the Club who are not members of the Committee.
7.5 Proceedings of the Committee and of any sub-committees shall be regulated in such manner as the Committee may from time to time decide.
7.6 The Committee shall make a report to each Annual General Meeting of the Club concerning the affairs of the Club since the previous Annual General Meeting.
8 MANAGEMENT
8.1 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.
8.2 The Committee may from time to time formulate and publish such rules as it thinks expedient for the efficient and harmonious running of the Club (but in the case of any conflict between such rules and this Constitution, the Constitution shall prevail).
8.3 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.
8.4 In the event of such variation being made, the policy or rules (as the case may be) shall not be further varied by the Committee in a manner inconsistent with the resolution.
9 GENERAL MEETINGS
9.1 An Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be held in each year no later than four months after the end of the financial year which ends on 31st May.
9.2 A Special General Meeting of the Club shall be convened by the Committee if a request for such a meeting signed by at least fifteen members of the Club is delivered to the Secretary, stating the reason for the meeting and such meeting
shall take place within one month of the receipt of such request.
9.3 A Special General Meeting of the Club may be convened by the Committee on its own initiative at any time.
9.4 The Chairman, if present, shall chair all General Meetings of the Club and in his/her absence another member of the Committee shall chair the meeting.
9.5 Notice of all General Meetings of the Club shall be displayed on the Club Noticeboard no later than two weeks prior to the date fixed for the meeting.
9.6 Any member may propose a motion to be discussed at a General Meeting provided that written notice of the proposed motion is delivered to the Secretary, no later than one week prior to the date fixed for the meeting.
9.7 The Chairman of the meeting may permit discussion of other business at a General Meeting.
9.8 A quorum at General Meetings of the Club shall comprise at least 20% of the membership.
9.9 Voting at General Meetings of the Club shall be by show of hands and in the event of parity of voting the Chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.
10 NOTICES
10.1 Notices of general matters to be brought to the attention of members shall be displayed on the Club Noticeboard.
11 NOMINATIONS
11.1 Nominations for the posts of Officers or Committee members must have a proposer and a seconder.
12 SUBSCRIPTIONS AND FEES
12.1 Each member of the Club, each guest and visitor shall pay table money on each occasion when he/she plays at the Club. The basic amounts of which shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting of the Club.
12.2 The Committee may determine variations on the basic amounts of subscriptions and table money for members, guests and visitors in different circumstances and may waive subscriptions or table money in the event of hardship or for any other good cause.
12.3 The Annual General Meeting may authorise the Committee to increase the basic amounts of subscriptions and table money prior to the ensuing Annual General Meeting.
12.4 The Committee may determine from time to time the amount of fees to be charged for use of the premises or equipment of the Club, or for other purpose for which it is of the opinion that fees ought to be charged.
12.5 The Committee may restrict membership to Thursday afternoon or Tuesday evening only.
13 ACCOUNTS
13.1 The Committee shall arrange for accounts to be prepared in respect of the financial affairs of the Club for each year ending 31st May.
13.2 The Accounts for each year shall be presented to the Annual General Meeting of the Club for approval.
13.3 The Annual Accounts of the Club shall be audited in a manner satisfactory to the Committee.
13.4 Charitable donations to be decided at the Annual General Meeting on the recommendations of the Committee and also Members.
14 GUESTS AND VISITORS
14.1 Any member may invite a guest to play at the Club at any time but in the event of the playing facilities being inadequate to accommodate all those who wish to play, priority shall be given to members.
14.2 The Committee may from time to time place a limit on the number of occasions on which a non member may play at the Club without being required to apply for membership.
15 MEMBERS’ BEHAVIOUR
15.1 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 EBU.
15.2 Any allegations or complaints regarding the behaviour of members of the Club shall be dealt with in accordance with the procedures outlined by the EBU.
16 ALTERATIONS TO THE CONSTITUTION
16.1 No alterations shall be made to this Constitution except at a General Meeting of the Club.
16.2 In order for a resolution to alter this Constitution to have effect, at least two-thirds of the votes cast on the resolution must be in favour.
17 WINDING-UP
17.1 In order for a resolution that the Club shall be wound up to have effect at least two-thirds of votes cast on the resolution must be in favour and in addition the number of votes cast in favour of the resolution must exceed one- half of the number of members
of the Club entitled to attend and vote at the General Meeting at which the resolution is put.
17.2 If a resolution that the Club shall be wound up is effectively passed, the Committee shall be responsible for winding up the affairs of the Club and unless the winding up has been initiated with a view to amalgamating the Club with some other Club
(in which case any surplus assets and funds may be transferred to such other Club), any surplus assets and funds shall be transferred to any registered or recognised charitable body, as may be specified in the resolution initiating the winding up
and if no such organisation is so specified, to such organisations as the Committee may think fit.
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