Fakenham Bridge Club

I. History & Objectives:

The Fakenham Bridge Club was formed in 1987, under the umbrella of the Fakenham Sports Centre Association, and has since met regularly in the Sports Centre.  The Club has provided an active component of the Sports Centre membership, and has contributed to the maintenance and upgrading of the facilities offered.  From its formation, the objective of the Club has been to provide the opportunity for members to play Bridge in a relaxed and friendly environment, and Duplicate since 1995.  In particular, the Club has been glad to encourage those new to Duplicate to improve and gain confidence.

II. Constitution

II.1.i. Name and Purpose: The club shall be called "The Fakenham Bridge Club", hereinafter referred to as the Club.  The Club operates as a sub-section of the `Fakenham Sports Centre Association Ltd' (FSCA).  The purpose of the Club is to provide the opportunity for members to play Duplicate Bridge in Fakenham, and to organize related social events.

II.1.ii.  Venue:  The normal venue for the Club playing sessions shall be the Fakenham Sports Centre.  Sessions may take place at other venues for social events, or if the Fakenham Sports Centre is temporarily unavailable for any reason.  However, a permanent move to another venue would require a change in the Club Constitution.

II.1.iii.  The rules of the FSCA take seniority, where (inadvertently) contradicted by any part of this Constitution.

II.2.i. Membership:  Membership is open only to paid-up members of the FSCA.

II.2.ii. Honorary Membership: The Club may from time to time acknowledge members of long standing who have made a major contribution to its activities by election to Honorary Membership.  If still active, the Club will pay their FSCA subscription and waive any subscription levied by the Club (see II.3.iii.e and III.2).

Motions proposing Honorary Membership must be put to the Annual General Meeting.

II.3.Governance:  The Club shall be run by a Committee elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM)

II.3.i. Officers & other Committee Members:  The Officers shall consist of Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Senior Tournament Director and Social Secretary.  The Club may elect two further Committee Members.  The Committee may co-opt additional members for specific duties, when appropriate.  Such co-options shall be reported to the next AGM.

II.3.ii.  Club year: The financial year of the Club shall run from 1 January to 31 December.  The Committee year shall run from 1 April to 31 March.

II.3.iii. Annual General Meeting:  The AGM of the Club shall be held on the 3rd Thursday in March.  The Chairman, or in case of indisposition or unavailability of the Chairman, a committee member nominated by the Committee, shall conduct the business of the AGM.  The Agenda of the AGM shall be posted on the Club notice board and circulated by email at least two weeks before the scheduled date.

The business of the AGM shall be: a) to receive, if necessary revise, and approve the minutes of the previous AGM and of any EGM held during the year (see II.4).

b) to receive annual reports from the Officers, to approve the Accounts and appoint an Auditor for the following financial year.  The Auditor may be a member of the Club, but must not be a current member of the Committee.

c) to consider Motions proposed by members.  Motions proposing changes to the Club Constitution must be received by the Secretary at least four weeks before and be available to members (by email and posted on the club notice board) three weeks before the date of the next AGM; such Motions require the approval of 2/3 (67%) of the members present.   Ordinary Motions require three and two weeks notice, respectively, and approval by a simple majority.

d) to elect the Committee for the following year.  Names of candidates for the Committee must be submitted to the Secretary, proposed and seconded, three weeks before the date of the AGM and available to members two weeks before.  When required, elections shall be by secret ballot of the members present.

Committee members should normally serve for no more than three years in a particular post, but may be re-elected.

e) to approve any membership subscription to be levied by the Club, in addition to the FSCA subscription.

f) to discuss Any Other Business (AOB) which members wish to bring to the attention of the AGM.  However, no motions can be put to the meeting under AOB other than votes of thanks.

II.3.iv.  When appropriate, the outgoing Officers shall hand over to respective incoming Officers at the close of the AGM, but remain responsible for preparation of the minutes.

II.4.  Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM):  An EGM may be called by the Chairman, a majority of the Committee or a letter signed by ten Members.  Notice of at least two weeks shall be given for such an EGM.  The business shall be limited to one urgent item, details of which must be circulated with the notice of the meeting.  The meeting shall be conducted either by the Chairman or, when this is impossible or inappropriate, by an EGM Chairman nominated by the committee.  Minutes of such a meeting shall be the responsibility of the EGM Chairman and the Secretary, to be presented for approval at the next AGM and included in the Club archive.

II.5.   Expenditure Limit: Any Committee decision likely to result in expenditure exceeding the existing liquid assets of the Club (cash plus bank deposits) must be approved by the AGM or an EGM

II.6.  At the date of the adoption of this Constitution the Club was not affiliated to the English Bridge Union (EBU).  However, it is intended that membership of the EBU should be permitted without a change to this Constitution. In consequence, approval of a motion proposing affiliation would require a simple majority of the members voting at an AGM or EGM.

II.7.  Adoption of Constitution: This Constitution was adopted by the Club, at the Annual General Meeting held at the Fakenham Leisure Centre on Thursday …March 2014.

III.  General Rules

III.1.  Guests and Visitors: visitors and guests of members are welcome to participate in the playing sessions, but may not attend more than three times in a year without specific permission from the Committee.   Guests and visitors may play in all competitions, but only members are eligible for the Club Trophies (III.4.ii).

III.2.  Table Money: may be determined by the Committee, based on the charges levied by the FSCA, the cost of refreshment and the cost of any entry fee for national or regional competitions.

III.3. Playing Sessions

III.3.i.  Playing Sessions:  at the time of adoption of these rules, sessions are offered on Monday evenings and Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.  Members wishing to participate should be seated at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start of play.

III.3.ii.  Members should have a convention card available for opponents to view and/or be able to give a simple explanation of the convention used.

III.3.iii.  Bidding boxes shall be used in all Duplicate events.

III.3.iv.  The Tournament Director (TD) is responsible for the organization of the session and for the resolution of any problems that arise during play.   Where problems arise, members should call the TD to advise or adjudicate. The Tournament Director's decision is final.

III.4. Trophies

III.4.  Trophies: The Club has two main trophies awarded for points accumulated during the Monday and Thursday sessions.  The Huib van Hoeven Trophy for the Autumn period, September to November, inclusive, and the Henry Cross Trophy for the Spring period, January to March, inclusive.  Only scores from sessions with more than 16 members present will be counted and, to qualify, pairs must have played together at least six times in the relevant period.

Agreed by Committee, 5th March 2020