CLUB HOUSE

THE CONSTITUTION OF ALSAGER RAILWAY ASSOCIATION

1.         NAME
            The name of the club shall be the ALSAGER RAILWAY ASSOCIATION.

2.         OBJECTIVES
            The objects of the Association shall be:

            To encourage the study of the subject of railways and to extend members practical knowledge and experience by:

            ·         Lectures and discussions

·         Exhibitions of work both finished and under construction

·         Visits to places of railway interest

·         Any other activities that will further the development of the Association

3.         OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

a)    These shall consist of the following and shall be elected at each Annual General Meeting for the purposes of managing the Association and attending the needs of the ordinary members, Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer, who shall be known as the “Officers” and other persons designated as Committee Members. When appropriate, an Honorary Exhibition Manager and Assistant Honorary Treasurer or other designated positions will be appointed.

 b)   Nomination of the officers and Committee can be submitted to the Honorary Secretary up to 14 days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting. In all cases the consent of the nominee shall be obtained.

c)   Voting at the Annual General Meeting shall be by a show of hands.

d)   In the event of the resignation of any Officer during the course of the year, the Committee shall appoint a    successor from the ranks of the Committee and have the power to co-opt another member to the  Committee to make up the number.

e)   In the event of the resignation of the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman shall automatically take office until the next AGM. The Committee shall then appoint a new Vice-Chairman from amongst its ranks and have the power to co-opt another member to the Committee to make up the number.

f)    A Quorum shall consist of five members and the Chairman shall have the casting vote.

4.               MEMBERSHIP

 a)      Membership of the Club shall normally be by annual subscription. Candidates for full Membership shall be persons who are 16 years of age and over and between 8 and 16  for Junior Members. Visitors or Junior Members under the age of 12 should have a full member who will be responsible for them whilst they attend the Association’s premises or events.

 b)      All membership applications to be considered by the Committee after a trial period of one month from the date of application. If during the course of the year there are too many applications for members, senior and junior waiting lists may be started by the Committee and such lists must be notified at the AGM for discussion.

c)      Any member wishing to resign shall notify the Honorary Secretary in writing. Any change of address should be notified to the Honorary Secretary as soon as possible.

d)      A membership register shall be maintained and reviewed annually.  The register shall contain contact details for each member and any special medical condition that the Association shall be aware of.  In accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act this information will only be used with the permission of the individual members concerned.

e)      The Committee shall have the power to terminate or suspend for a fixed period the membership of any person who shall be deemed by action or word to have damaged the interests of the Association. Such a member shall forfeit all rights to the Association and admission to the Headquarters shall not be permitted.

f)        Associate Membership – Candidates for the Associate membership shall pay half the membership fee, shall be allowed a maximum of 12 visits per year but shall have no voting rights.

g)      Honorary Membership – The Committee may appoint Honorary Members to the Association with all the privileges of full members and that the appointment shall be confirmed or otherwise not confirmed at the following AGM.

5.         HEADQUARTERS

a)      The Headquarters of the Association shall be the Club House, Moorhouse Avenue, Alsager, Stoke-on-Trent.

b)      Member’s vehicles must not cause obstruction in the vicinity of the Headquarters. Noise, both inside and adjacent to the Association premises must be kept down to a minimum.

c)      All locomotives operated on the Association layouts within the Association premises must be suitably suppressed.

d)   Keys to the Association premises may only be held permanently by Committee Members or a person authorised by the Committee as they consider necessary. Each authorised person is directly responsible for each key.

e)   The Association shall not accept responsibility for any personal items left on the Association premises by members or visitors.

f)    The general tidiness of the Association premises to be observed by members at all times. Any offenders contravening this rule shall be dealt with at the discretion of the Committee.

g)   A register of all members and visitors shall be kept at the Club House and must be signed on entry to the premises. All members are responsible for ensuring that this rule is adhered to. Any form of non-compliance with this rule invalidates, thus removing, the Association’s insurance cover on, the person guilty of non-compliance. Non-members should be signed in by a senior member.

h)   Lease – The Chairman, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer, or any other persons, as be appointed at the AGM be signatories to the Lease between the Association and Congleton Borough Council.

6.         THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

a)      The Annual General Meeting shall be held in February each year. The Honorary Secretary shall announce, at the three meetings prior to the AGM, the date and the place of that meeting. The agenda thereof will be tabled.

b)      A quorum for the AGM shall consist of at least fifteen full members or one-third of the total number of full members, which ever is the lower.

c)      Postal or proxy votes via letter or e-mail on any matter contained within the official Agenda, shall be allowed, subject to them being in the Honorary Secretary’s possession prior to the commencement of the meeting.

d)      Voting at the AGM shall be restricted to members aged 16 years or over, of the preceding year.

7.         EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

            An Extraordinary General Meeting may be convened at any time by the discretion of the Committee or at the written request of at least 10 percent of the membership. 

8.         MINUTE BOOK

a) The minutes of both the Annual General Meeting and Extraordinary General Meetings shall be displayed by the Honorary Secretary at the Club House.

b)   The Honorary Secretary will maintain a Minute Book containing a record of all Annual General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings.

c)   The Honorary Secretary shall also display at the Club House the set of minutes of the most recent Executive Committee meeting.

9.         SUBSCRIPTIONS

a)  These shall be agreed at each AGM as will be:

·         All subscriptions shall become due at the AGM

·         Any member whose subscription is two months or more in arrears shall be given one month’s notice of lapse of membership and shall be called upon to pay his or her arrears up to date. Failure to do so will automatically terminate his or her membership.

b)         A new member joining part way through a year shall pay a pro rata level of subscription.

c)         Members shall be required upon entry to an Association Meeting to sign the  Attendance Register and pay an attendance subscription to the Honorary Treasurer or his appointed deputy.

10.       INCOME

a)      The income and property of the Association, wherever it may be derived shall be applied towards the objectives of the Association and no portion shall be paid or transferred by way of bonus, dividend or profit to the members of the Association.

b)      The Committee may run a 100 Club or any fundraising event.

11.       ACCOUNTS

            The financial year shall be 1 January to 31 December. The accounts for the year ending, after presentation to the Committee, shall be submitted to the Honorary Auditors for audit in readiness of the accounts at the AGM.

12.       HONORARY TREASURER’S ACCOUNTS

            The Honorary Treasurer shall keep the accounts, receive subscriptions, and shall deposit all monies in the Bank approved by the Committee in the name of the Association.

13.       AUDITORS

            The Honorary Auditors shall be elected at the Committee Meeting previous to the AGM to audit the accounts for the past year.

14.       VISITORS

            A member is at liberty to introduce a visitor to the Association premises providing that such a person has not been expelled from the Association or refused membership by the Committee and pay the appropriate fee (as determined at the AGM).  No one visitor shall attend the Association premises more than three times in any one year, this shall not apply to lecturers. The visitor undertakes to observe the rules of the Association appertaining to any such visit.

15.       DISBANDING

            If, upon winding up and dissolution of the Association, there remains after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities any property whatsoever, the same shall not be paid or distributed among the members of the Association. This shall be given to some other society or Institution having objectives similar to the Association and which shall prohibit the distribution of its or their income as imposed on this Association.

In the event of the Association being unable on dissolution to settle its debts such outstanding liabilities to settle its debts such outstanding liabilities shall fall equally on the entire full membership.

16.       ALTERATION TO RULES

            No alteration or addition to these rules shall be made except at the Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting summoned for the purpose.

            Notice of any proposed alteration shall be given to all members at the three meetings of the Association prior to the meeting to revise the rules.

17.       ASSOCIATION RULES

a)      Each member of the Association shall be provided with a copy of these rules and shall be informed of any changes or alterations

b)      A copy of these rules shall be kept for reference by the Honorary Secretary

c)      A copy of the rules shall be posted in the Club House

18.       INVENTORY AND INSURANCE

a)      The Honorary Treasurer shall hold an inventory of Assets and arrange appropriate insurance to cover same, which will include in addition insurance cover for items on loan, subject to the Committee discretion

b)      In addition, to insurance cover for third party liability will be provided

19.       DONATIONS

            A donation to the Association becomes an Association asset, the donor then losing the right to that asset shall be dealt with in accordance with item 17.

20.       ASSOCIATION PROJECTS FINANCED BY LOAN

            Where an Association project is financed by way of a loan, the property will remain in the ownership of the lender until duly purchased by the Association and a receipt in respect of the payment made, obtained. Such items on long term loan will be covered by the Association insurance.