Constitution and Rules of the GIFSC

Club August 1993

  1. The name of the club shall be "The Guildford Ice Figure Skating Club" hereafter referred to as "The Club" which shall be based at the Guildford Spectrum Leisure Complex, Parkway, Guildford.

Aims and Objectives

  1. The aims and objectives of the Club shall be to encourage and develop amateur ice skating amongst its membership. All members shall be eligible persons as defined by the National Ice Skating Association of United Kingdom Ltd., hereinafter referred to as "the NISA", to whom the club shall affiliate. The rules of the NISA, and of the International Skating Union (hereinafter referred to as "The ISU"), as from time to time in force, shall be observed at all times.
  2. Ancillary thereto, and in furtherance of this object, the Club may raise monies to provide funds.

Membership and Subscriptions

  1.   (a) The Annual General Meeting may appoint life members to honour those who have given outstanding meritorious service to the Club. Those so honoured may not, subject only to rule 9 below, have their Life Membership revoked, shall not be required to pay a subscription, but shall otherwise enjoy the full benefits and privileges of Ordinary membership.
      (b) Ordinary membership and Junior membership (under 16 years of age) of the club (hereinafter also referred to from time to time as "membership" or "members") shall be confined to eligible persons or skaters as defined by the NISA whose primary objective shall be to participate in and thereby improve the sport. Skating members will be required to have an appropriate NISA test standard.
      (c) All members shall be entitled to receive a copy of this Constitution, and to attend General Meetings of the Club.
  2. The Committee may nominate individuals as honorary members. Such members shall be without the privileges of Ordinary membership, and shall be subject to ratification at each Annual General Meeting.
  3. All applications from those seeking to become members of the Club shall be subject to approval by the committee. The committee may refuse an application at their absolute discretion, without giving reasons. If they so wish, the Committee may delegate the function to one member of the Committee to be known as the Membership Secretary who will act in accordance with criteria decided by the Committee. However, no individual shall be refused membership without reference to the committee. All applications for membership, and the result, shall be recorded in the minutes of the committee.
  4. Members shall pay an annual subscription, due on 1st October of each year, at the rate determined at the Annual General Meeting of the Club for the ensuing year. A subscription shall not be levied upon Honorary Members.
  5. Members failing to renew their membership by payment of the appropriate annual subscription by 1st November each year shall forfeit all membership rights until a further membership application has been accepted in accordance with rule 6.

Discipline

  1. The Committee shall at its absolute discretion have the power to suspend or expel any member failing to comply with this constitution, or for any serious misdemeanour likely to bring the club into disrepute, or behaving in such a manner as to be to the detriment of other club members.
      (a) The Committee shall inform the member in writing of the reasons for its proposed disciplinary action. Before any sanction is imposed the member shall have the right to explain his/her conduct either in writing to the committee or at a committee meeting, or both, as appropriate.
      (b)If the Committee upholds its decision to suspend or expel the member, the member may also appeal to the next General Meeting by notifying their intention to do so in writing to the Secretary in accordance with rule 14 below. The decision of the General Meeting in such cases shall be final.

Visitors and Guests

  1. Members may introduce a Guest to Club facilities at the discretion of a members of the Committee on up to 14 occasions in any one year and on payment of the appropriate Guest fee, after which a membership application in accordance with rule 6 shall be required. No person shall be introduced as a guest who shall have been expelled or suspended from membership of the Club or whose presence or conduct shall be considered by the Committee as objectionable, undesirable or prejudicial to the interests of the Club or of its members.
  2. The appropriate guest fee shall be decided by the Committee.

Management and Control

  1. The management and control of the Club shall be vested in the Annual General Meeting, Special General Meetings, the Committee and its Officers.

Annual General Meeting

  1. The Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be held during September each year, and at least 30 days notice of the date, time and venue shall be given by the Secretary to all members, whether voting or not. All members shall be entitled to attend and vote, subject to the provision of rule 22 below.
  2.   (a) Resolutions and other items for inclusion in the Agenda shall be submitted to the Secretary no later than 14 days before the Annual General Meeting date. An agenda will be published by the Secretary not less that 7 days prior to the meeting date and will detail the business of the meeting, including provision to: i) Confirm the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting and note the minutes of any intervening Special General Meeting. ii) Receive the Financial Statement, the Annual Report of the Club activities during the preceding year, and the current membership position. iii)Elect the President, Officers, Committee and Auditors.
      (b) Nominations for President, Officers and members of the Committee shall be submitted in writing to the Secretary no later than 14 days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting and shall bear the names, addresses and signatures of the proposer, the seconder and the nominee. Nominees for Officer or Member of the Committee shall have been fully paid up members of the Club for at least 6 months prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting.
      (c) Where more that one nominee is proposed for the same office, a vote shall be taken at the Annual General Meeting on each nomination in turn in order of their receipt by the Secretary and if the result is a tie the Chairman shall have a second and casting vote and his/her decision in such event shall be final.

Special General Meetings

  1. Special General Meetings may be convened;
      i) By the Committee for reasons it thinks fit.
      ii) By the Committee at the request of twenty members for the reasons they give.
      iii)By twenty members if the Committee fail to comply with the members' request subject to the conditions laid down in rule 16. All members shall be entitled to attend and vote subject to the provision of rule 22 below.
  2. The Secretary shall give at least 14 days notice of a Special General Meeting to the members, whether voting or not. The notice shall indicate the date, time, venue and agenda. If 14 days after receiving a request from twenty members calling for a Special General Meeting, the Committee has not issued a notice calling the desired meeting, those members may convene the Special General Meeting giving 14 days notice to all members in accordance with the conditions of this rule.
  3. No business other than that specified in the notice calling the meeting may be transacted at a Special General Meeting.
  4. The management and control of the Club between Annual General Meetings shall be vested in a Committee comprising the Officers and (if possible) at least 4, but not more than 5, members over the age of 16 years. The Officers shall be Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer. One of the Committee members, will be required to hold the post of Competition Secretary
  5. The Committee shall have the power to :
      (a)Co­opt additional members in an advisory capacity or to fill vacancies that occur during its term of office;
      (b)Prescribe the function of any sub­committee it may appoint.
      (c)Rule on any matter where this Constitution is silent.
      (d)Make, vary and revoke regulations not inconsistent with these Rules for the regulation of the internal affairs of the Club and the conduct of its members. All such regulations shall, until revoked by the Committee or set aside by a resolution of an Annual or Special General Meeting, be binding upon the members.
      (e)Delegate the duties of the Secretary with respect to competitions to a committee member who shall be known as the Competition Secretary.
  6. The Committee shall meet at such times as it may determine, but not less than four times each year.
  7. The Secretary shall maintain Minutes of all Annual General, Special General and Committee meetings, copies of which shall be circulated to Committee members.

Voting and Decision Making

  1. Members aged 16 years and over, excluding Honorary Members, may vote at Annual General and Special General meetings by a show of hands unless a ballot is demanded before the question is put. Decisions will be determined by a simple majority except in the case of an amendment to this Constitution, in which case the provisions of rule 30 shall apply. In the event of equality of voting, the Chairman shall have a second and casting vote.
  2.   (a) Meetings shall only be quorate, and decisions only be taken, if the following minimum attendance of members entitled to vote is achieved: ­
        (i) Annual General Meetings :­10 members including two Officers
        (ii) Special General Meetings :­10 members including two Officers where the meeting in convened by the Committee, or 20 members if the meeting is called by members;
        (iii)Committee Meetings:­5 members including one Officer.
      (b) The Chairman of the Club shall preside at all meetings of the Club but, if he/she shall not be present within I S minutes after the time appointed for the meeting or has signified his/her inability to be present at the meeting, the Vice­Chairman shall preside. Should he/she also be absent, the members present and entitled to vote shall choose one of their number to Chair the meeting. The Vice­Chairperson, or other member, shall, when in the Chair, have the full powers of the elected Chairperson.

Finance

  1. The financial year of the Club shall be from 1st October to 30th September following. All Club funds shall be administered by the Treasurer and the Committee who shall be held accountable for their actions.
  2. A banking account shall be opened in the name of the Club, and the authorised signatories on Club cheque's shall be the Treasurer plus any other Officer.
  3. The Treasurer shall:
      (a)Keep account of all income and expenditure and shall submit an audited statement of Account to each Annual General Meeting.
      (b)Notify the balance of Club funds to each Committee Meeting.
  4. The Club accounts shall be audited each year by two Club members, who shall not be Officers or Committee members, elected for that purpose at the Annual General Meeting.

Indemnity and Risk

  1. Officers, Committee members and members of any subcommittees shall not be liable, other than as Club members, for any loss suffered by the Club as a result of their performance of their respective duties on the Club's behalf, except such loss as arises from their wilful default. They shall be entitled to indemnity out of the Club funds for all expenses and other liabilities incurred by them in the performance of their respective duties.
  2. Any person making use of the Club facilities or attending a Club function, including members, Honorary members and Guests does so entirely at his or her own risk other than in circumstances involving third party negligence.

Constitutional Amendment and Discussion

  1.   (a) No alteration may be made to this Constitution and Rules except at the Annual General Meeting or at a Special General Meeting, and then only by a majority of two­thirds of those present and voting.
      (b) Requests for the Annual General or Special General Meeting to consider any alteration to this Constitution shall be made in writing to the Secretary no later than 28 days before the date of the meeting at which the proposer or proposer's will attend for the purpose of discussing the proposal prior to a vote being taken. Non­attendance by the proposer or all of the proposer's will be treated as withdrawal of the proposal and the matter will not be considered further without the consent of the Committee, except however, that where there is only one proposer and he/she is unable to attend, that person may nominate someone to speak to the proposal provided that the Secretary is advised prior to the meeting.
  2. A proposition to dissolve the Club shall only be moved at an Annual General Meeting or at a Special General Meeting convened expressly for this purpose, and then only by a majority of three­quarters of those present and entitled to vote.
  3. On dissolution, the retiring Officers shall be obliged with the responsibility for the winding up of the Club's affairs. Any assets remaining after satisfying all outstanding debts and liabilities shall be distributed equally among paid up members of the Club who have been members for at least six month at the time of dissolution.

Headings and Interpretation

  1. The headings to these rules are for ease of reference only and shall not be taken into account in their interpretation and in these rules the singular shall include the plural and the masculine shall include the feminine and vice­versa.
  2. The Committee shall be the sole authority for the interpretation of these Rules and of the regulations made from time to time by the Committee and the decision of the Committee upon any question of interpretation or upon any matters affecting the Club and not provided for by these Rules shall be final and binding upon the members. This Constitution dated 23rd Sept 2006. Received and ratified by the Committee of the Guildford Ice Figure Skating Club.