The aim of "The Club" shall be to provide facilities for the playing of Duplicate Bridge in a friendly environment and to provide a venue for new players to enter the competitive scene. 

The Constitution of the Birches Bridge Club

(Amended 26th January 2010)

1.        NAME

1.1.          The Club shall be called the Birches Bridge Club.

2.        OBJECTIVES

2.1.          The Club shall promote the playing of Duplicate Contract Bridge and provide facilities for its members to enjoy a friendly and supportive environment.

2.2.          Club funds shall be utilised in the best interests of all its members.

3.        HEADQUARTERS

3.1.          The headquarters of the Club shall be situated at Much Birch Community Hall, Much Birch, Herefordshire, HR2 8HT or such premises as decided, in an emergency by the Committee, or at a General Meeting of the Club.

4.        AFFILIATIONS

4.1.          The Club will be affiliated to the Herefordshire Bridge Association and to the English Bridge Union.

5.        MEMBERSHIP

5.1.          Any bridge player wishing to become a member of the Club shall apply for membership by completing and forwarding to the Secretary such form as may be prescribed by the Committee.

5.2.          All membership application forms received by the Secretary shall be displayed in a prominent place at the headquarters of the Club for a period of three consecutive weeks.

5.3.          Any member wishing to object to an application for membership should notify the Secretary in writing within three weeks of the date of the application

5.4.          Membership shall be determined by the Committee, or a quorum thereof, and will be accepted or refused bearing in mind the best interest of the current membership. The applicant shall be promptly notified of the acceptance or otherwise of the application.

5.5.          In declining an application the Committee may give a reason but shall not be obliged to do so.

5.6.          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 period as it may decide.

5.7.          All current and past “Bridge For All” students automatically become student members and may ultimately progress to Full Membership.

6.        OFFICERS

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

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 for a period of three years,  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 or co-opt from the membership, to fill such vacancy until the ensuing Annual General Meeting.

7.        COMMITTEE

7.1.          The Committee of the Club shall consist of the Officers of the Club, together with a minimum of three to a maximum of six other members of the Club, who shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Club, and shall retire after 3 years at the ensuing Annual General Meeting, but shall be eligible for re-election.

7.2.          Normally the Committee will appoint from itself or the membership: Club Captain, Chief Tournament Director, Official Scorer

7.3.          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.

7.4.          A quorum at meetings of the Committee shall be four members of the Committee, including at least one of the Officers.

7.5.          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.

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

7.7.          The Committee shall be required to report to each Annual/Special General Meeting concerning the affairs of the Club since the previous 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 normally be held annually in 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 ten members of the Club, is delivered to the Secretary stating the reason for the meeting. 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.          All General Meetings of the Club shall be held at the headquarters of the Club unless circumstances arise which render this impracticable.

9.5.          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

9.6.          Notice of all General Meetings of the Club shall be given to all members of the Club no later than three weeks prior to the date fixed for the meeting.

9.7.          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.

9.8.          The Chairman of the meeting may permit discussion of other business at a General Meeting if he/she thinks fit.

9.9.          A quorum at General Meetings of the Club shall be 25% of the total membership present in person.

9.10.       If fifteen minutes after the time fixed for a General Meeting of the Club no quorum shall be present, the meeting shall be adjourned to a new date (of which the like notice shall be given to members as was required to be given for the meeting which has been adjourned), and in the case of a General Meeting which has been adjourned due to the lack of a quorum (but not of a meeting adjourned for any other reason) such number of members as are actually present at the adjourned meeting shall constitute a quorum.

9.11.       Voting at General Meetings of the Club shall be by a show of hands or by ballot, at the discretion of the Chairman of the meeting. 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 any Special General Meeting of the Club and of an Annual General Meeting shall be given to members by hand, by post to the last address of each member notified to the Secretary, or by email.

10.2.       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.

11.     NOMINATIONS

11.1.       Nominations for the post of Officer or Committee member will be in writing, signed by a Proposer and a Seconder, both of who shall be members of the Club, and also by the person nominated.

11.2.       Nominations must reach the Secretary no later than four weeks prior to the General Meeting, and be posted on the Notice board for two weeks prior to the meeting

12.     SUBSCRIPTIONS and FEES

12.1.       Each member of the Club shall pay an annual subscription, due by 30 June each year, the basic amount of which for the time being shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting of the Club. Members who have not paid their subscription for the current year by 30 June may be considered to have ceased to be members of the Club and will pay table money at the rate applicable for visitors until such time as the subscription is paid in full.

12.2.       Each member of the Club, and each guest and visitor, shall pay table money on each occasion when he/she plays at the Club, the basic amount of which for the time being shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting of the Club.

12.3.       The Committee may determine variations of subscription 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.

12.4.       The Committee may determine from time to time the amount of fees to be charged for use of the equipment of the Club, or for any other purpose for which it is of the opinion that fees ought to be charged.

13.     ACCOUNTS

13.1.       The Treasurer shall prepare accounts in respect of the financial affairs of the Club for each year ending on 30th April, and these shall be presented to the next Annual General Meeting of the Club for approval.

13.2.       The accounts shall be subject to independent audit.

14.     GUESTS and VISITORS

14.1.       Any member may invite a guest to play at open meetings of 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.       Visitors may be permitted to play at open meetings of the Club at any time, provided prior notice has been given to the Secretary of the Club or another Committee member, 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 the guests of members.

14.3.       A guest or visitor may play at the Club 3 times during a fiscal year without being required to apply for membership.

14.4.       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 considered, even if the limit imposed by the Committee is thereby exceeded.

15.     CONDUCT

15.1.       In the event of a written complaint being made to the Committee about the conduct of a member of the Club, the Committee shall promptly investigate the complaint.

15.2.       On investigating such a complaint the Committee shall give the member, about whose conduct the complaint has been made, an opportunity to be heard.

15.3.       If on investigating such a complaint, the Committee is of the opinion that the member has behaved in such a manner as to cause injury to the interests of the Club, then the Committee may verbally or in writing reprimand the member, suspend the member from the privileges of membership for such a period as it may think fit or expel the member from the Club.

15.4.       The Committee shall forthwith notify the member of any decision made on the investigation of a complaint about his/her conduct and may, if it thinks fit, publicise the decision by displaying a notice at the headquarters of the Club.

15.5.       An appeal shall lie to a General Meeting of the Club against any decision to reprimand, suspend or expel a member of the Club following the investigation of a complaint about his/her conduct.

15.6.       Notice of such an appeal must be in writing and delivered to the Secretary within two weeks of the notification to the member of the decision of the Committee.

15.7.       In the event of an appeal being made against it, the decision of the Committee shall not be put into effect until the appeal has been determined.

15.8.       On the appeal being heard by a General Meeting of the Club, the General Meeting shall have power to overrule the conclusion of the Committee, or to uphold it, in which event the sanction imposed by the Committee may be confirmed or varied (to any sanction which the Committee was empowered to impose, or to none).

15.9.       Nothing in this Constitution shall preclude the Committee from referring a matter of conduct to the Conduct Committee of the Herefordshire Bridge Association, or to the Laws & Ethics Committee of the English Bridge Union, if it considers it appropriate to do so.

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.     DATA PROTECTION

17.1.       The data held on all members are: name, address, email address and telephone number. EBU number and rank attained, e.g. Advanced Master, may be included and any individual member may inspect his/her details.

17.2.       Full data is held by the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer for the communication of Club business and the collection of Club, County and EBU subscriptions and, where appropriate, this data is passed on to the County Treasurer (and thence to the EBU).

17.3.       Name and telephone number are held by the Official Scorer when permission has been previously obtained. E-mail addresses may similarly be included.

17.4.       Birches Bridge Club will not pass this data to any person or organisation not directly concerned with the Objectives of the Club (Section 2).

18.     WINDING UP

18.1.       In order for a resolution that the Club shall be wound up to have effect, at least two-thirds of the 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.

18.2.       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 sold and all funds refunded to current members in equal parts.