Rules of
(as
amended and confirmed at the Annual General Meeting of 2007 Mar 23)
1. The Club shall be
called the Compton Croquet Club.
2.
The object of the Club shall be to provide facilities
for, and promote participation of, the whole community in the sport of croquet.
5.
The Committee shall have power at any time and from time to time
to fill any vacancy among the officers and Committee. Any officer or member or the Committee so
appointed shall hold office only until the next following Annual General
Meeting but shall then be eligible for re-election.
6.
The Committee shall have power to elect as honorary life
members, without payment of any further subscription, any member of not
less than three years' standing who shall in the opinion of the Committee have
rendered services to the Club, but such election shall not take effect unless
and until confirmed at the Annual General Meeting next ensuing the date of such
election.
7.
The categories of
membership and the sums payable as annual
subscription for each shall be those determined by the Committee from time
to time and posted on the noticeboard.
The subscription year shall commence on 1st May and
end on 30th April.
8.
The names of all members whose current subscriptions shall not
have been paid before the 30th June in any year and who neglect to
comply with a written request for payment within seven days after the same
shall have been sent to them, shall be posted on the noticeboard of the Club,
and such members shall cease to be members on the expiration of such seven days
unless a reason satisfactory to the Committee shall be given for the delay.
9.
Membership shall be open to all persons irrespective of ethnicity,
nationality, sexual orientation, religion or beliefs; and of age, sex or
disability except as a necessary consequence of the requirements of croquet as
a particular sport. The Club may refuse membership or expel from membership
(see Rule 11) only for good and sufficient cause, such as conduct
or character likely to bring the Club or sport into disrepute. Appeal against
such a decision may be made to the Club’s members and decided by a majority
vote. Membership shall not become
effective, nor shall any candidate be admitted to the privileges of membership,
until at least two days have elapsed since his or her application and
the appropriate subscription has been paid.
10. A member desiring to
withdraw from the Club must give notice in writing to the Honorary
Secretary on or before the 30th June in any year, otherwise the
subscription for the current year shall be payable.
11.
The
Committee shall have the power to ask any member to resign if they have
offended against the rules of the Club and it is considered by the Committee
that the offender's conduct has rendered him or her unfit to remain a member of
the Club. Before such member is asked to
resign the Honorary Secretary shall give him or her seven days' written notice
to attend a meeting of the Committee and shall inform him or her of the
complaints that have been made. No
member shall be asked to resign without first having had an opportunity to
answer the complaints made against him or her, nor unless at least two-thirds
of the Committee then present vote in favour of their resignation. A quorum at a Committee meeting at which the
question of resignation is decided shall be six. If a member asked to resign does not resign
the Committee shall have the power to expel him or her. Appeal against such a
decision may be made to the Club’s members and decided by a majority vote.
12. No
member whose membership has been terminated under these rules or who owes money
to the Club shall be introduced by any other member as visitor to any part of
the Club premises.
13. All disputes must be referred to the Honorary Secretary,
and by him or her to the Committee, whose decision shall be final.
14. The
Committee shall have power to reserve the lawns at their discretion for
Club Events and during Croquet Association Tournaments.
15. The
Committee shall have power to alter the rules, but no such alteration
shall take effect until the same has been confirmed at the Annual General
Meeting or at a Special General Meeting convened for the purpose.
16. The
Committee shall have power to make bye-laws for regulating the conduct
and affairs of the Club and for the introduction of temporary membership,
without compliance with Rule 9, for periods not
exceeding six weeks and for the payment of reduced subscriptions. In the event of a conflict between the
bye-laws and the rules the latter shall prevail. Such bye-laws shall be posted in some
conspicuous part of the Club premises and shall be binding on all the members.
17.
A
General Meeting of
the Club shall be held in every year not later than 31st March
unless the Committee otherwise decides to transact the following business:
(a) to
receive and, if approved, to adopt a statement of the Club's accounts to the
end of the preceding year;
(b) to consider
and, if approved, sanction any duly made alteration of the rules;
(c) to elect
the officers and the Committee as constituted by Rules 3 and 4;
(d) to appoint
a suitably qualified accountant or competent person to examine, independently,
the Club's books and records;
(e) to deal with any
special matter which the Committee or any member desire to bring before the members and to receive suggestions
from the members for consideration by the Committee.
Written notice of the names of any candidates for election, and
of any formal motions, each duly proposed one member and seconded by another,
must be submitted to the Honorary Secretary not less than 28 days before the
meeting. Notice convening the
General Meeting shall be sent to the members not less than 14 days before the
meeting and shall specify the matters to be dealt with.
18.
A Special
General Meeting may be convened at
any time by the Committee and shall be convened within 21 days from the receipt
of a requisition in writing addressed to the Honorary Secretary signed by not
less than ten members specifying the object of the meeting for any of
the following purposes:
(a) to consider
and, if approved, sanction any duly made alteration to the rules;
(b) to deal
with any special matters which the Committee may desire to place before the
members, including the expulsion of a member;
(c) to receive
the resignation of the Committee or to remove any member or members thereof
from office and to fill any vacancy or vacancies caused thereby;
(d) to deal with any
special matters which the members requiring the meeting may desire to place
before the Club.
Written notice of the names of any candidates for election, and
of any formal motions, each duly proposed by one member and seconded by
another, must be submitted to the Honorary Secretary not less than
28 days before the meeting. Notice convening a
Special General Meeting shall be sent to the members not less than 14 days
before the meeting and shall specify the matters to be dealt with.
19. At General
Meetings the President or failing him or her the
senior Vice-President shall preside, and at Committee Meetings the Chairman
shall preside and in each case shall have a casting vote or additional vote in
the event of an equality of votes.
20. At Committee
meetings (except for the purposes of Rule 11) five shall form a quorum. At General
Meetings ten shall form a quorum. Temporary members may attend General
Meetings but shall not be entitled to vote, and they shall not be counted as
part of the necessary quorum.
21. There shall be not more than four Trustees of the Club.
The property of the Club (other than cash which shall be under the control of
the Honorary Treasurer) shall be vested in them to be dealt with by them as the
Committee shall from time to time direct by resolution (of which an entry in
the minute book shall be conclusive evidence). The Trustees shall be
indemnified against risk and expense out of the Club property. The Trustees
shall hold office until death or resignation or until removed from office by a
resolution of the Committee who may, for any reason which may seem sufficient
to a majority of them present and voting at any meeting, remove any Trustee or
Trustees from the office of Trustee. Where, by reason of any such death
resignation or removal, it shall appear necessary to the Committee that a new
Trustee or Trustees shall be appointed, or if the Committee shall deem it
expedient to appoint an additional Trustee or additional Trustees, the
Committee shall by resolution nominate the person or persons to be appointed
the new Trustee or Trustees. For the purpose of giving effect to such nomination
the Chairman is hereby nominated as the person to appoint new Trustees of the
Club within the meaning of section 36 of the Trustee Act 1925 and he or she
shall by deed duly appoint the person or persons so nominated by the Committee
as the new Trustee or Trustees of the Club and the provisions of the Trustee
Act 1925 shall apply to any such appointment. Any statement of fact in any such
deed of appointment shall in favour of a person dealing bona fide and
for value with the Club or the Committee be conclusive evidence of the fact so
stated.
22.
The Club shall affiliate to the Croquet Association and any appropriate regional governing body
devoted to croquet. The Laws of the Croquet Association shall be
observed.
23. The Club may operate
a bar on the Club premises:
(a) There shall be a Bar Sub-Committee. The Sub-Committee shall
consist of three members who shall be elected at the Annual General
Meeting in each year and the Chairman, Honorary Secretary and Honorary
Treasurer of the Club, all of whom
shall be over the age of eighteen years. Three members of the
Sub-Committee shall form a quorum. The Sub-Committee shall be concerned with
the purchase for the Club and with the supply by the Club of alcohol;
(b) There may be admitted to the Club premises (except at such times as
the Committee may direct) and there may be sales of alcohol for consumption on
the Club premises to:
i)
the guests
of members (maximum three per
member). Any member introducing a guest, and the guest, must sign in the book
provided for that purpose. No member shall leave the Club premises before his
or her guest;
ii)
members of teams playing or
practising on the Club premises and their guests and officials and their guests;
iii)
players and officials in
the Club's tournaments and their guests.
(c) Alcohol may not be supplied to members or guests on the premises
otherwise than by or on behalf of the club;
(d) No member may receive any commission, percentage or similar payment at
the expense of the club with reference to purchase or sale of alcohol by the
club;
(e) The permitted hours shall be displayed in the bar;
(f) No person under the age
of eighteen years may sell or will be supplied with alcohol.
24. The Club shall be
run on a non-profit making basis.
Any surplus income, gains or assets shall be reinvested in the Club and may not
be distributed to members or third parties.
25. If
at any General Meeting, adequate notice having been given under Rules 17 or 18, a resolution for the dissolution of the Club is passed by a majority of members
present, and such resolution is subsequently confirmed at a Special General
Meeting by a majority of at least two-thirds of the Full members present, the
Committee shall thereupon proceed to realise the property of the Club and
discharge all the Club’s debts and liabilities. Any balance remaining after
such discharge shall not be paid to or distributed amongst members but shall be
remitted as donations equally to the governing bodies to which the Club is
affiliated under Rule 22.