Club Info - Constitution

1. Name

1.1The name of theClub shall be Dunstable Swimming Club.

1.2 The clubcolours shall be blue and white.

1.3 Theheadquarters shall be Dunstable Leisure Centre.

2.Objects

2.1The objects of the Club shall be the objects of the Amateur SwimmingAssociation and in particular the promotion of and instruction in thetechniques of swimming and also lifesaving in accordance with Royal Life SavingSociety (RLSS) rules. In the furtherance of these objects:

2.1.1 The Club is committed to treat everyone equallywithin the context of their activity, regardless of sex, ethnic origin,religion, disability or political persuasion.

2.1.2 The Club believes that the welfare of childrenis everyone’s responsibility and that all children and young people have aright to have fun, be safe and be protected from harm.

2.2 The Club shall be affiliated to East RegionAmateur Swimming Association, The Beds AmateurSwimming Association and RLSS (and shall adopt and conform to the rulesof such association) and such other bodies as the Club may determine from timeto time.

2.3 The business and affairs of the Club shall atall times be conducted in accordance with the Laws and Technical Rules of theAmateur Swimming Association (“ASA Laws”) and in particular:

2.3.1 all competing members shall be eligiblecompetitors as defined in ASA Laws; and

2.3.2 the Club shall in accordance with ASA Lawsadopt the ASA Child Protection Procedures; and

2.3.3 members of the Club shall in accordance withASA Laws comply with the ASA Child Protection Procedures.

2.4 By virtue of the affiliation of the Club to theEast Region the Club and all members of the Club acknowledge that theyare subject to the laws and rules of:

2.4.1 East Region and Bedfordshire ASA and

2.4.2 the Amateur Swimming Association;(to includethe ASA/ISTC Code of Ethics); and

2.4.3 the Amateur Swimming Federation of GreatBritain (to include in particular the ASFGB Doping Control Rules and Protocolsand ASFGB Disciplinary Code); and

2.4.4 FINA, the world governing body for the sport ofswimming in all its disciplines (together “the Governing Body Rules”)

2.5 In the event that there shall be any conflictbetween any rule or by-law of the Club and any of the Governing Body Rules thenthe relevant Governing Body Rule shall prevail

3. Membership

3.1 The total membership of the Club shall notnormally be limited.  If however theCommittee considers that there is a good reason to impose any limit from timeto time then the Committee shall put forward appropriate proposals forconsideration at a General Meeting of the Club. The members shall have the right to impose (and remove) from time totime any limits on total membership (or any category of membership) of theClub.

Allpersons who assist in any way with the club’s activities shall become membersof the club and hence of the ASA and the relevant ASA membership fee shall bepaid. Assisting with the club’s activities shall include, but not be restrictedto Committee members, Honorary members, Life members, officers, Lifepresidents, technical officials, Life Vice presidents.

3.2 Any person who wishes to become a member of theClub must submit a signed application to the Membership Secretary (and in thecase of a junior swimmer the application must be signed by the swimmer’s parentor guardian).  Election to membershipshall be in the discretion of the Committee or other person(s) authorised bythe Committee. The Committee or such authorised person(s) shall not be requiredto give reasons for the refusal of any application for membership.

4. Subscription and Other Fees

4.1The annual members subscription shall be determined from time to time by theCommittee and the Committee shall in so doing make special provision fordifferent classes of membership as it shalldetermine.

4.2The annual subscription and entrance fee (if any) shall be due on joining theClub and thereafter on the 1st day of January each year.

4.3Any member whose subscription is unpaid by the date falling 30 days after [thedue date for payment] may be suspended by the Committee from some or all Clubactivities from a date to be determined by the Committee and until such paymentis made. 

Theonly exception to this will be in special circumstances, which must besubmitted to an officer of the club in writing. Such matters, as these will be dealt with ‘In Confidence’.

4.4The Committee shall, from time to time, have the power to determine the annualmembership subscription and other fees. This shall include the power to makesuch increase in the subscription as shall, where the Club pays the individualASA Membership Fees to the ASA on behalf of members, be consequential upon anincrease in individual ASA membership fees. Any increase in subscriptions shall be advised to the members in writingwith the reasons for any increase to be reported to the members at the nextAnnual General Meeting.

5.Resignation

5.1A member wishing to resign membership of the Club must give to the MembershipSecretary written notice of his/her resignation.  A member’s resignation shall only take effectwhen this (Rule 5.1) has been complied with.

5.2 Notwithstanding the provisions of Rule 5.1 abovea member whose subscription is more than [two] months in arrear shall be deemedto have resigned.  Where the membershipof a member shall be terminated in this way he shall be informed in writingthat he is no longer a member by notice handed to him/her or sent by post to his/herlast known address.

6.1 The Committee shall have power to expel a memberwhen, in its opinion, it would not be in the interests of the Club for him/herto remain a member.

6.2 The Club shall adopt and comply with the ASAGuidelines for handling Internal Club Disputes (“the Guidelines”) as the samemay be revised from time to time.  TheGuidelines are set out as an Appendix to the ASA Judicial Laws and appear inthe ASA Handbook.  A copy of the currentGuidelines may be obtained from the ASA Legal Affairs Department.

6.3 A member may not be expelled or (subject to Rule6.4 below) be made  the subject of anyother penalty unless the panel hearing the complaint shall [unanimously] OR [bya two-thirds majority] vote in favour of the expulsion of (or other penaltyimposed upon) the member.

6.4 The Officers of the Club (or any person to whomthe Committee shall delegate this power) may temporarily suspend or exclude amember from particular training sessions and/or wider club activities, when intheir opinion, such action is in the interests of the Club.  Where such action is taken the complaint willthereafter be dealt with in accordance with the Guidelines.

7.1 The Committee shall consist of the LifePresident, Life Vice President, Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer,Membership Secretary, Championship Secretary, Competitions Secretary, FixturesSecretary, Parent Liaison Officer, Fund Raising Officer, Welfare Officer,Coaches Representative, No More Than 3 Parent Members, and Senior Club Captains(1 girl/1 boy). The officers of the club will be the Chairman, Vice Chairman,Secretary and Treasurer, these four posts to be held by 4 different people. Allcommittee members must be members of the Club. All Committee members must be not less than 18 years of age though theCommittee may allow younger member(s) to attend their meetings as observerswithout power to vote.

7.2 The Committee members shall be proposed, secondedand elected by ballot at the Annual General Meeting each year and shall remainin office until their successors are elected at the next Annual GeneralMeeting.  The Com­mittee may fill anyvacancy occurring by resignation or otherwise. 

7.3 Committee meetings shall be held not less thanquarterly and the quorum of that meeting shall be two officers and four othervoting committee members. The Chairman and the Secretary shall have discretionto call further meetings of the Committee if they consider it to be in theinterests of the Club.  The Secretaryshall give all the members of the Committee not less than two days oral orwritten notice of a meeting.  Decisionsof the Committee shall be made by a simple majority and in the event ofequality of votes the Chairman (or the acting Chairman of that meeting) shallhave a casting or additional vote. The Secretary, or in his/her absence a memberof the Committee, shall take minutes.

7.4 In the event that a quorum is not present withinthirty minutes of the published start time, a meeting shall stand adjourned tothe time and date falling seven days after the date of the meeting, or such otherdate and time as may be determined by the Chairman.  If a quorum is not present at the adjournedmeeting then those Committee members attending may act for the purpose ofcalling a Special General Meeting of the members, to which the provisions as tominimum notice contained in Rule 11.1 shall not apply

7.5 In addition to the members so elected theCommittee may co-opt further members of the Club who shall serve until the nextAnnual General Meeting.  Co-opted membersshall be entitled to vote at the meetings of the Committee.

7.6 The Committee may from time to time appoint fromamong their number such sub-committees as they may consider necessary (and toremove (in whole or in part) or vary the terms of reference of suchsub-committees) and may delegate to them such of the powers and duties of theCommittee as the Committee may determine. All sub-committees shall periodically report their proceedings to theCommittee and shall conduct their business in accordance with the directions ofthe Committee.

7.7 The Committee shall be responsible for themanagement of the Club and shall have the sole right of appointing anddetermining the terms and conditions of service of employees of the Club.  The Committee shall have power to enter intocontracts for the purposes of the Club on behalf of all the members of theClub.  The Committee shall be responsiblefor ensuring that the Accounts of the Club for each financial year be examinedby an independent examiner to be appointed by the members in General Meeting.

7.8 The members of the Committee shall be indemnifiedby the members of the Club against all liabilities properly incurred by them inthe management of the affairs of the Club.

7.9 The minutes ofcommittee meetings will be made available to members/parents on request to thesecretary or club desk and will be supplied on paper or by e-mail within 7 daysof such a request

8. Officers [and Honorary Members]

8.1 The Officers and Committee of the Club shall beproposed, seconded and elected at the Annual General Meeting and shall holdoffice until the next Annual General Meeting when they shall retire.  The Committee may fill any vacancy occurringby resignation or otherwise.  Retiringofficers shall be eligible for re-election.

8.2 The Annual General Meeting of the Club, if itthinks fit, may elect a Life President and Life Vice-Presidents.  A Life President or Life Vice-President neednot be a member of the association and on election shall, ex officio, bean honorary member of the Club and must be included in the Club’s Annual Returnof Members to the ASA.

8.3 The Committee may elect any person as an honorarymember of the Club for such period as they think fit and they shall be entitledto all the privileges of membership except that they shall not be entitled to serveas officers or on the Committee unless any such person shall have retained inaddition his/her ordinary membership of the Club. Such honorary members must beincluded in the Club’s annual return as to membership. Honorary membershipshall be renewed each year by attendance at the AGM or by letter of apology,otherwise such membership lapses. The maximum number of honorary members allowedat any one time is 20.

9. Annual General Meeting

9.1 The Annual General Meeting of the Club shall beheld each year on a date falling within the period 1st November and 15thDecember.  The Committee shall fix thedate for the Annual General Meeting

9.2 The purpose of the Annual General Meeting is totransact the following business:

9.2.1 To receive the Chairman’s and other committee members’reports of the activities of the Club during the previous year;

9.2.2 To receive and consider the accounts of theClub for the previous year and the report on the accounts of the independentexaminer and the Treasurer's report as to the financial position of the Club;

9.2.3 To remove and elect the independent examiner(who must not be a member of the Committee or a member of the family of amember of the Committee) or confirm that he remain in office;

9.2.4 To elect the Officers and other members of theCommittee;

9.2.5 To decide on any resolution, which may be dulysubmitted in accordance with Rule 9.3.

9.3 Nominations for election of members to any officeor for membership of the Committee shall be made in writing by the proposer andseconder to the Secretary not later than 14 days before the AnnualGeneral Meeting. The nominee shall be required to indicate in writing on thenomination form his/her willingness to stand for election. Notice of anyresolution proposed to be moved at the Annual General Meeting shall be given inwriting to the Secretary by 30th September.

10. Special General Meeting

10.1 A Special General Meeting may be called at anytime by the Committee. A Special General Meeting shall be called by theSecretary within 28 days of receipt by him/her of a requisition in writingsigned by not less 20 members entitled to attend and vote at a General Meetingstating the purposes for which the meeting is required and the resolutionsproposed. 

11. Procedure at the Annual and Special General Meetings

11.1 The Secretary shall personally be responsiblefor the handing out or sending to each adult member, lifesaving member orparent/guardian of junior member at his/her last known address written noticeof the date, time and place of the General Meeting together with theresolutions to be proposed there at least 14 days before the meeting. Theminutes from the previous years General Meeting and a committee nomination formwill also be sent with the notice. In the case of the Annual General Meeting alist of the nominees for the Committee posts shall be posted on the clubsnoticeboard 10 days before the Annual General Meeting. A copy of the examinedaccounts will be available at the Annual General Meeting.  The Notice of Meeting shall in additionwherever possible be displayed on the Club Notice Board where one exists.

11.2 The quorum for the Annual and Special GeneralMeetings shall be 20 members who are entitled to attend and vote at theMeeting.

11.3 The Chairman, or in his/her absence a memberselected by the Committee, shall take the chair.  Each member present shall have one vote andresolu­tions shall be passed by a simple majority. Proxy Votes are not allowed.For the procedures for submitting resolutions to be considered at a GeneralMeeting members are referred to Rule 9.3. In the event of an equality of votes the Chairman shall have a castingor additional vote. Paid up members (those who joined on or before 31stJuly of that year) who have reached their 18th birthday shall be entitled to beheard and to vote on all matters. [Members who have not reached their 18th birthday shall beentitled to be heard and vote only on those matters determined by the Chairmanas matters concerning juniors.]

11.4 The Secretary, or in his/her absence a member ofthe Committee, shall take minutes at the Annual and Special General Meetings.

11.5The Chairman shall at all General Meetings have unlimited authority upon everyquestion of order and shall be, for the purpose of such meeting, the soleinterpreter of the Rules of the Club.

12. Alterations of the Rules andother Resolutions

12.1 The rules may be altered by resolution at anAnnual or Special General Meeting provided that the resolution is carried by amajority of members present and entitled to vote at the General Meeting.  No amendment to the rules shall becomeeffective until such amendment shall have been submitted to and validated byEast Region.

12.2 Any member shall be entitled to put any proposalfor consideration at any General Meeting provided the proposal in writing shallhave been handed to or posted to the Secretary of the Club so as to be receivedby him/her not later than 30 September in the case of the Annual GeneralMeeting or (in the case of a Special General Meeting) 28 days before thedate of the meeting and thereafter the Secretary shall supply a copy of theproposal or resolution to the members in the manner provided in Rule 11.1

13. By-Laws

13.1 The Committee shall have power to make, repealand amend such by-laws, within the constitution and ASA laws as they may fromtime to time consider necessary for the well being of the Club which by-laws,repeals and amendments shall have effect until set aside by the Committee or ata General Meeting.

14. Finance

14.1 All moneys payable to the Club shall be receivedby the Treasurer and deposited in a bank account in the name of the Club.  Any moneys not required for immediate use maybe invested as the Committee in its discretion think fit.

14.2 The income and property of the Club shall beapplied only in furtherance of the objects of the Club and no part thereofshall be paid by way of bonus, dividend or profit to any members of the Club,[save as set out in Rule 17.3.]

14.3 The Committee shall have power to authorise thepayment of remuneration and expenses to any officer, member or employee of theClub and to any other person or persons for services rendered to the Club.

14.4 The financial transactions of the Club shall berecorded by the Treasurer in such manner as the Committee think fit.

14.5 The financial year of the Club shall be theperiod commencing on 1st October and ending on 30thSeptember.  Any change to the financialyear shall require the approval of the members in a General Meeting.

14.6  An external Audit of the books shall becarried out yearly by an Auditor as voted at the previous Annual GeneralMeeting. The Treasurer will keep all financial documents for 7 years.

15.  Borrowing

15.1The Committee may borrow money on behalf of the Club for the purposes of theClub from time to time at their own discretion [up to such limits on borrowingas may be laid down from time to time by the General Meeting] for the generalupkeep of the Club or with the [prior] approval of a General Meeting for anyother expenditure, additions or improvements.

15.2When so borrowing the Committee shall have power to raise in any way any sum orsums of money and to raise and secure the repayment of any sums or sums ofmoney in such manner or on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit, and inparticular by mortgage of or charge upon or by the issues of debentures chargedupon all or any part of the property of the Club.

15.3The Committee shall have no power to pledge the personal liability of anymember of the Club for the repayment of any sums so borrowed. 

16.Property

16.1The property of the Club, other than cash at the bank, shall be vested in notmore than four Custodians, these being the four officers of the committee.  They shall deal with the property as directedby resolution of the Committee and entry in the minute book shall be conclusiveevidence of such a resolution.

16.3The Custodians shall be entitled to an indemnity out of the property of theClub for all expenses and other liabilities properly incurred by them in thedischarge of their duties.

17.Dissolution

17.1A resolution to dissolve the Club shall only be proposed at a General Meetingand shall be carried by a majority of at least [three - quarters] of themembers present and entitled to vote.

17.2The dissolution shall take effect from the date of the resolution and themembers of the Committee shall be responsible for the winding-up of the assetsand liabilities of the Club.

17.3Any property remaining after the discharge of the debts and liabilities of theClub shall be given to a charity or charities (or other non-profit makingorganisation having objects similar to those of the Club for the furtherance ofsuch objects) nominated by the last Committee.

18. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

18.1The Members acknowledge that these Rules constitute a legally binding contractto regulate the relationship of the members with each other and the Club.

The following statementshould appear on Club membership forms and should be signed by the member andmust also be countersigned by parent or guardian of members under 18 years ofage:

I acknowledge receipt of therules of Dunstable Swimming Club and confirm my understanding andacceptance that such rules (as amended from time to time) shall govern mymembership of the Club. I further acknowledge and accept the responsibilitiesof membership upon members as set out in these rules.

BYLAWS
 

The names and functions of the elected committee members and co-opted members will be published in the club handbook together with a copy of the club rules (Constitution) and Bylaws. 

Club training nights shall be Tuesday and Wednesday and all club swimmers are expected to attend these sessions and must ensure their attendance is recorded in the register.  Other training sessions shall be available for selected swimmers – for details see training schedule or club coach

Subscription charges.  All swimmers shall be required to pay a subscription charge in accordance with current scale of charges.  This will be in the form of a Standing Order/Direct Debit unless agreed otherwise with the committee.  Anyone over 18 on 31st December of that year will be able to pay on the nights they swim (Tuesdays and Wednesdays only) in accordance with the current scale of charges.  No such charges will be levied for Gala’s, Splash Nights and Championships other than the fee for events swum.  Officials and helpers necessary to run Gala’s and Splash Nights will not be required to pay an entrance fee.  A charge will be made for spectators