PINNER BRIDGE CLUB

HOURS OF OPENING

1. The hours of opening and closing the Club shall be fixed by the Committee and shall be displayed on the notice board. Play shall not commence before the advertised hours and shall finish promptly at the request of the Duty Member.
2. Arrangements and conditions governing the use of the Club by members for private matches shall be determined by the Committee and displayed on the notice board.

TABLE MONEY, STAKE MONEY AND PRIZE MONEY

3. Table money, stake money and prize money for the various sessions shall be fixed by the Committee and displayed on the notice board.

ENTRANCE FEES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

4. Entrance fees and annual subscriptions shall be fixed by the Committee and displayed on the notice board.

LAWS OF BRIDGE AND PERMITTED CONVENTIONS

5. Play in the Club shall be regulated by the latest edition of the Laws of Rubber Contract Bridge and the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge as appropriate.  Copies of the Laws shall be available on the Club premises.
6. At all duplicate sessions (except Thursday evenings) and competitions played at the Club, other than those sponsored by an outside body such as the EBU, conventions are restricted to those holding a Level 4 Licence.  On a Thursday evening conventions are restricted to those holding a Level 2 Licence.  For rubber bridge sessions and competitions the conventions permitted will be determined, from time to time, by the Committee and posted on the Rubber Bridge notice board.

MEMBERSHIP

7. Conditions and procedures for the election of members are covered in the Club Constitution.  In addition all application forms must be signed by a Committee Member to indicate that in the opinion of that Committee Member the candidate's standard of play is satisfactory.
8. The definition of the various classes of membership and the conditions governing them are as follows:

• FULL MEMBERSHIP - Candidates applying for membership are normally expected to become Full Members entitling them to the use of all the facilities offered by the Club and to take part in all events organised by the Club providing the rules of the event so allows.
• RESTRICTED MEMBERSHIP - For the first year after election all Members shall have this class of membership.  Such Members may have their membership terminated at any time by the Committee and the Committee may restrict the events in which they are entitled to play.
• STUDENT MEMBERSHIP - This class of membership is open to all players who are aged between 16 and 25 years old.  Student Members shall have the same standing as other Members but reduced fees shall be charged for subscriptions and table money.
• HONORARY MEMBERSHIP - This class of membership is by invitation from the Committee and is for life.  Honorary Members shall have the same standing as other Members and shall be liable to the appropriate fees for all sessions and events at the Club but subscription charges shall be waived.
• TEMPORARY MEMBERSHIP - Temporary Members may be accepted at the discretion of the Committee.  Such Members shall have the same standing as Full Members except that they shall have no voting rights at General Meetings of the Club.

9. No person will be admitted to the Club who has been rejected as a candidate for membership or who has been removed from the list of members by the Committee.

VISITORS

10. Visitors are welcome at the Club but any visitor who has played in six sessions in any calendar year may be refused entry to any further sessions unless they have applied for membership.
11. Table money for visitors will be fixed by the Committee and displayed on the notice board.
12. Players under the age of 16 will be allowed to play at the Club, but only under the supervision of an adult Member who will be responsible for their behaviour and welfare at all times. Such young players will not be required to pay table money. A reasonable standard of play will be required from such young players, but Members will be expected to make allowances for their age and inexperience. The restriction in paragraph 10 will not apply to those under 16.
13. Visitors are entitled to any prize money they win at normal club events but not to any enhanced prize money that may be paid out at special events.

GENERAL RULES

14. No member shall bring a dog (other than a guide dog) or other pet animal or bicycle into the Club premises.
15. Refreshments, other than those served by the Club, shall not be brought into the Club.
16. Members may be required to pay for or make good any damage they may do, whether by accident or otherwise, to any property belonging to the club.
17. Members must furnish the Club with details of any change of address or telephone number.
18. Members must not reprimand any of the staff or send them on any errand outside the Club.  All complaints must be made in writing to the Chairman.

DUTY MEMBER

19. The Committee shall appoint a Duty Member to take charge of each session on behalf of the Committee. The Duty Member will be responsible for.
    1. Interpreting and enforcing the Rules of the Club.
    2. Opening and closing the Club at the beginning and end of each session.
    3. Arbitrating on any disagreements between members e.g. control of heating or ventilation.
20. The Duty Member shall have the power to refuse, without giving any reason, the admission of any person as a guest or visitor.

RUBBER BRIDGE SESSIONS

21. Partnership Sessions.  Tables will be made up as pairs arrive. If three pairs are present before the cut for seating is completed, all pairs will be included in the cut; the two highest make up the table and the unsuccessful pair qualify to play at the next table to be made up.
22. Cut-in Sessions.  Tables  will be made up as players arrive. If more than four are present before the cut for partners is completed, all players will be included in the cut; the four highest will make up the table and the unsuccessful players will qualify to play at the next table to be made up. Notwithstanding the above the Duty Member has the authority to arrange the players into groups that reflect the different standards of the players present.
23. Partnership and Cut-in Sessions.  On completion of a rubber, "Table Up" must be called. The pair or individuals, as appropriate, who have the longest tenure leave the table, to be replaced by those waiting.  If none are waiting, "Game Call" must be called by any table likely to complete their rubber with the hand in play, whereupon the Table Up will await the outcome.  If there is no " Game Call "or the outcome is unsuccessful, one further rubber may be played provided that all four players agree.  (At Cut-in Sessions this decision must be made before the cut for partners commences.)  Failing agreement to continue, all wait for the next "Table Up."  When two tables have completed a rubber and no-one is waiting, the two players with the longest tenure at each table exchange.  If other players arrive during a waiting period they immediately join the waiting table.  In all cases, pairs or individuals with equal tenures will resolve the situation by cut, the lower to move.
24. Seven Hand Rule.  At any Session where there are two and a half tables, or fewer, "Table Up" will be called at the completion of the seventh hand, regardless of the state of the rubber.

25. Any player who does not wish to comply with the foregoing rules of rotation, must retire from the Playing Room for a period of not less than half an hour before rejoining the session.

Application of Laws

26. The application of the Laws of Bridge shall be the responsibility of the Duty Member.  Any player who wishes to appeal against a ruling should indicate his intention to do so before the end of the rubber.  The Duty Member should then ensure that a full statement of the incident is made in writing and signed by all players at the table.  The appeal will then be considered by an Appeals Committee appointed by the Main Committee.

DUPLICATE BRIDGE SESSIONS

27. Tournament Directors for all Duplicate Sessions shall be appointed by the Tourn­ament Committee and a list should be posted.  The Tournament Director shall be responsible for selecting the movement from the list of "Recommended Movements", and the arrangement of tables.  He may require players who are already seated to move to another table or another section.

28. Appeal times for all sessions shall be as standard E.B.U. procedures.

April 2018

NAME

1    The name of the club shall be 'Pinner Bridge Club' 

2.   The purpose of the Club shall be to provide facilities for members to play Bridge at reasonable cost.

MEMBERSHIP

3.   Membership is open to all persons above the age of sixteen years subject to the approval by the Club Committee of an application to become a Member.

ELECTION OF MEMBERS

4.   The election of members shall be by the Club Committee. The Committee shall decide the total number of Members.

5.   Every candidate for membership of the Club shall be proposed by one member of the Club and seconded by another member of the Club.

6.   All applications for membership shall be made on a fully completed form provided for the purpose and the form shall be prominently displayed in the Club premises for at least seven days before the application is considered by the Committee.

7.    The proposer or the seconder may withdraw his/her support for the candidate at any time before the candidate is elected. Following such an event, another Member may propose or second the candidate’s application, but the amended application shall be displayed for at least seven days after it has been amended.

8.   Any Member may object to the election of a candidate to membership of the Club. All objections must be made known, in writing and signed by the member, to the Chairman of the Committee stating in full the grounds for the objection. The full contents of the written statement shall be communicated by the Chairman to the Committee when the application is considered.

9.   The Committee shall consider all applications for membership of the Club. The Committee may, without assigning any reason, reject any application for membership and the candidate so rejected shall not be entitled to know the reason for the non-election, save at the expressed wish of a general meeting of the members.

CLASSES OF MEMBERSHIP

10. There are six classes of membership of the Club:

Full membership

Restricted membership

Student membership

Honorary membership

Temporary membership

Non-playing membership

11.   All candidates applying for membership are normally expected to become full members and all applications for membership will be considered on that basis by the Committee.

12. Full Members are entitled to take part in all events organised by the Club providing there is sufficient room and that they are qualified to do so by the rules of the event

13. The Committee shall have the discretion to offer to candidates for full membership “Restricted” or in the case of young persons “Student’ membership. the Committee shall publish in the Rules of the Club the conditions governing restricted and student membership.

14. The Committee may invite persons to become Honorary Members of the Club under such conditions as are published in the Rules of the Club.

15  The Committee have the power to offer temporary and non-playing membership under such conditions as are published in the Rules of the Club.

TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP

16. Members may terminate their membership at any time by informing the Treasurer preferably in writing that they wish to do so.

17.  The Committee may at any time during the first year after a member has been elected terminate the membership of that member. The Committee shall not be required to assign any reason for such a termination of membership save at the expressed wish of a general meeting of the members.

18. The Committee may expel from membership any member whose conduct is such so as to be injurious to the interests of the Club or its membership. The Committee shall be the sole arbiters of the facts of any such conduct and its decision shall be final save for the expressed wish of a general meeting of Members. The Committee shall inform the member of the reason for the expulsion.

ORGANISATION

GENERAL MEETINGS

19. A general meeting of the members may decide all matters concerning the organisation, constitution and rules of the Club subject to the Meeting being properly convened as defined in sections 20 and 37 of the Constitution of the Club.

20. A general meeting of Members shall be called by giving notice of any such meeting to the membership at least fourteen days before the meeting is to be held. It shall be sufficient for the purposes of notice to Members that the date, time, venue and matters to be discussed at the meeting, are displayed prominently in the Club premises.

21. All general meetings of the Members shall be called by the Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Committee one of whom will take the chair at the meeting. Minutes will be kept of the transactions of each general meeting and the record shall be available for inspection by Members on request to the Chairman at the Club premises and at any reasonable time.

22.   All classes of members present at a general meeting are entitled to vote on all matters. A quorum of twenty Members (or 20% of the total membership whichever is the lesser) is required for a general meeting.

23.   Conduct of a general meeting shall be under the control of the Chairman of the meeting. All motions must be proposed and seconded by Members before they are discussed members may speak only once to a motion save the proposer who has the right to reply. All discussions must be addressed to the chair and the Chairman shall be the sole arbiter as to the relevance and extent of the discussion. Amendments to motions must be proposed and seconded before they are discussed by the meeting and will be decided before the main motion.

24. Voting at a general meeting shall be by a show of hands; the Chairman of the meeting may appoint tellers to record the numbers voting and the result will be announced at the completion of the count. The Chairman of the meeting will not vote but in the event of a tie will decide the issue in favour of the status quo, where appropriate.

25.  A clear two-thirds majority of those present and voting at a general meeting is necessary to alter any part of the Constitution of the Club or to require the resignation of an Officer of the Club or a member of the Committee.

26.  A simple majority of those attending the meeting will decide all other matters discussed at a general meeting.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

27. An Annual General Meeting shall be called at least once in every thirteen month period.

28. The appointment of the Officers of the Club, i.e. Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary and the members of the Committee will take place by ballot at the Annual General Meeting. All classes of Members attending the meeting shall have the right to one vote for each contested post and a simple majority will decide the issue. In the event of a tie, the Chairman of the meeting will give the casting vote.

29. Nominations for an Officer or a member of the Committee shall be forwarded, in writing, to the Chairman of the Committee to reach him/her not later than seven days before the date set for the Annual General Meeting. All nominations must be signed by a proposer, a seconder and the nominee, all of whom must be Members of the Club. All nominations received by the Chairman must be displayed prominently in the Club premises for five days prior to the Annual General Meeting.

30. The Chairman of the Committee is required to report to the Annual General Meeting on the conduct of the Club’s affairs since the previous Annual General Meeting.

31. An auditor shall be appointed at the Annual General Meeting and the Treasurer shall be responsible for preparing the accounts of the Club, submitting them to the auditor and presenting them with the auditor’s report to the Annual General meeting.

32. All motions to be discussed at the Annual General Meeting shall be published in full along with the notice calling the Meeting. All motions for discussion at the Annual General Meeting must be written, be signed by a proposer and seconder, (both of whom must be Members of the Club) and must reach the Chairman of the Club at least fourteen days before the Annual Genera! Meeting is to be held.

33.   Motions that have not been published according to Section 32 of the Constitution of the Club will not be accepted for discussion at the Annual General meeting. The Chairman may at his/her discretion accept for discussion at the Annual General Meeting amendments to the published motions providing all such amendments are proposed and seconded by Members present at the Meeting.

EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

34. An extraordinary general meeting of the Members of the Club shall be called either at the request of the Committee or within fourteen days of the Chairman of the Committee receiving from fifteen members (or 10% of the total membership of the Club, whichever is the smaller) a request signed by those Members requesting such a meeting. All such requests shall be in writing and include full details of the motions to be discussed and the names and signatures of the proposers and seconders of all the motions.

35. An extraordinary general meeting when duly convened shall discuss only those matters published on the notice calling the meeting. No other business will be considered.

36. All motions to be discussed at an extraordinary general meeting shall be published in full at least fourteen days before the meeting is to be held and be displayed prominently in the Club premises.

37. Amendments to published motions may be accepted at the extraordinary general meeting only at the discretion of the Chairman and with the agreement of the original proposer of the main motion.