Paisley Hillwalking Club Constitution

“The Club"

1. The Club shall be known as the "Paisley Hillwalking Club", hereinafter referred to as “the Club”.

Aims and Purpose

2.  The aims and purpose of the Club are:
(a)  to provide a means by which the general public can be introduced to hillwalking;
 (b)  to introduce the members to all aspects of hill craft;
(c) to encourage members to participate in courses designed to benefit themselves and the Club;
(d)  to introduce members to other associated sports.

Eligibility for Membership

3.  Membership is open to persons of 14 years and above. Honorary Life Membership may be conferred on a member who has been of great service either to the Club or to the sport of hill walking.

4.        Members aged 17 years or under may only participate in the activities of the Club while accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Disability

5.  Any member with a temporary or permanent medical condition (hay fever, asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, rare blood group, etc.) must inform the Secretary when joining the Club and also advise their companions.

Scottish Outdoor Access Code

6.  All members must practice the principles of personal responsibility, respect for others, and care for the environment, as detailed in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

Safety

7.  Members must be fully conversant with the booklet "Safety on Mountains" and any safety measures recommended by the Club in respect of other activities. All members participate in activities at their own risk.

Grievances

8.  Any member or group of members with any form of grievance, other than in respect of Club business, toward any other member will be asked to resolve their differences outwith the Club.

Discipline

9.  The Management Committee will consider instances where members are considered to have brought the Club into disrepute and may take action by way of withdrawal of privileges or rights of the member relative to the Club, including withdrawal of membership. Any such action must only be taken after hearing the member concerned on his own behalf.

Appeals

10.  Any member disciplined by the Management Committee will have the right to appeal to a General Meeting of the Club.

11.  To consider an Appeal a General Meeting will be held to appoint a Chairman and 6 members to hear and resolve the Appeal. The Appeal will be heard within 14 days after the General Meeting. The Club Secretary will call the meeting and submit all relevant information to the meeting and the members concerned will have the right to be heard. The decision of the meeting will be notified in writing to the member and be final.

Liquidation

12.  In the event that the Club ceases to operate, all assets will be sold. The Funds remaining will be transferred to a Charity to be determined at the concluding meeting of the Club.

Activities

13.  Activities programmes will be prepared by the Management Committee. Club Activity Nights will be held as required by the programmes.

Meetings

14.  The Annual General Meeting will be held in November each year, the date to be selected by the Management Committee.

General and Special Meetings

15.  A General Meeting of the Club shall be held at such times and at such places as may be thought necessary by the Chairman and 2 members of the Management Committee or at the request of 6 members of the Club. Special Meetings of the Management Committee may be arranged as agreed by the Management Committee.

Notice of Meetings

16.  Notice of Club and the Management Committee shall be given at least 6 days before the date of such meeting.

Quorum

17.  A quorum at the meetings of the Club shall be one fifth† of the membership and at meetings of the Management committee one half of the Committee membership. If within 15 minutes of the time set for the meeting a quorum is not present the meeting shall be adjourned to a time and place and date fixed by the Chairman of the meeting.

Chairman

18.  The Club Chairman will take the chair at all meetings. In the absence of the Chairman, a Chairman will be elected for the meeting.

Business at Meetings

19.  At meetings of the Club and the Management Committee business shall be dealt with as follows:
a)  minutes of the previous meetings and of any special meeting,
b) reports by Office Bearers, etc.
c)  in the case of the Annual General Meeting the elections of office bearers;
d)  any other competent business.

20.  At general meetings of the Club or Special Meetings of the Management Committee business shall be limited to the purpose for which the meeting was called.

Notice of Motion

21.  Any member of the Club may submit to the Club Secretary not later than 30 days prior to the Annual General Meeting of the Club notice of a motion for the inclusion in the business to be considered at that meeting.

22.  The Club Secretary shall include such motion on the agenda.

23.  Despite this provision any member may make a motion at any meeting of the Club.

24.  At the discretion of the Chairman of the meeting any motion first made at any meeting of the Club or Management  Committee be treated as a notice of motion only.

25.  Procedure by notice of motion shall be followed when specifically required under this Constitution or when ruled under the immediately foregoing paragraph and shall mean :

a)  the motion shall not be discussed or put at the meeting at which it is first made, but explanations may be given at the discretion of the chairman of the meeting who will thereafter rule that notice of motion has been duly given;

b)  full details of the motion shall be circulated to members as soon as possible after the meeting at which notice of the motion has been given;
c)  the motion shall be placed on the agenda for the first suitable meeting of the Club or Management Committee after the meeting at which notice of the motion has been given.

Voting

26.  (a) When a motion is put to a meeting it shall be decided by a show of hands. Only members of the Club have the  right to vote. Five members present may demand that the vote of each member shall be taken by calling the roll or by ballot.
 (b)  All members of the Club or the Management Committee have one vote; the Chairman of the meeting shall have the casting vote as well as a deliberative vote.
(c)  In extreme circumstances a proxy vote may be permitted at the Annual General Meeting or at a General Meeting of the Club. An authorised proxy shall be a member of the Club and shall be authorised in writing. Such votes will be indicated at the beginning of the meeting.

27.  The Chairman of a meeting of the Club or Management Committee shall be the sole judge of the points of order and decisions by the Chairman shall be final.

Management

28.  The Club shall be administered by a Management Committee which will be appointed annually at the Annual General Meeting.

29.  The Management Committee will consist of:

(a)  Office Bearers:
 i)  the Club Chairman;
ii)  the Secretary;
iii)  the Treasurer;
iv)  the Bus Convenor.

(b) General Committee Members
Elected annually at the AGM ( up to 5 )

(c) Honorary President

This position would be open to former office bearers, who have given the Club long or valuable service and
whose experience, advice and help would be valuable to the Management Committee.

(d) Co-opted Members

Members co-opted by the Management Committee as required.

30.  The Management Committee shall hold office for one year after which the members will individually become eligible for re-election, with the exception of the Honorary President, whose incumbent would hold office for 3 years. In the event of a member leaving the Committee before the end of his/her term, the Committee shall have power to co-opt a club member to the vacant position.

31. The functions of the Management Committee shall be:

a) to manage the affairs of the Club;
b) to act in matters relating to finance and fund raising;
c) to arrange annually all activity programmes;
d) to Liaise with other similar groups;
e) to appoint working groups when necessary to assist in the planning of activities;
f) to investigate and act on matters where the Club is considered to have been brought into disrepute;
g) to effect such insurances as are required to cover the risks relating to the Club's activities;
h) to define the duties of the office bearers of the Club;
i) to recommend annually all Club subscriptions.

 
32.  The Management Committee will meet as necessary on a date and a time to be selected by the Club Chairman.

Appointment of Office Bearers

33. a)  The following office bearers will be appointed annually at the Annual General Meeting :
i)  Club Chairman;
ii)  Secretary,
iii)  Treasurer,
v)  Bus Convenor.

b)  The position of Honorary President will be appointed once every 3 years.

34. The Secretary will prepare an Annual Report of the Club's activities for consideration at the Annual General Meeting.

Finance

35.  The Financial Year of the Club will be 1st October to 30th September, however this may be altered to some other financial period to enable the Treasure prepare the annual accounts, subject to approval of the Management Committee.

36.  Subscriptions shall be due annually immediately after the Annual General Meeting. Failure to pay by the 28th February of the following year will be taken as resignation of membership. Subscriptions will be reviewed at the Annual General Meeting.

37.  The Club Accounts will be audited annually for approval at the Annual General Meeting. The Auditor is be appointed by the Management Committee.

38.  The audited Income and Expenditure account and a Balance Sheet prepared by the Treasurer will be submitted to the Annual General Meeting.

39. Monies received by the Treasurer shall be lodged in the Bank in the name of the Club. Any two of the Treasurer, Secretary and Chairman will have full authority to operate the Bank Account.

40.  All accounts, duly certified by the appropriate Office Bearers, will be passed to the Treasurer for payment The Treasurer will submit regular reports to the Management Committee.

41.  An annual budget will be prepared by the Management Committee.

Minutes

42.  The Minutes of the, Proceedings of the Club and of the Management Committee shall be kept. The Club Secretary shall be custodian of all minutes.
43.  Members of the Club shall have the right to inspect and take extracts from any of the Minutes of the Club and of the Management Committee and the Club Secretary shall arrange to make them available for this purpose at a reasonable time.

Alterations to Constitution

44.  This Constitution may be altered by the Club at the Annual General Meeting, a General Meeting, or by Postal Polling of
all members, provided that the procedure by Notice of Motion referred to in Clauses 21-25 has been followed and more
than two thirds of the total membership has voted in favour of the alteration.

Signed for and on behalf of Paisley Hillwalking Club at Paisley on the fifteenth day of March 1994, in the terms of authority given by the Paisley Hillwalking Club at the Annual General Meeting held on the third day of December 1991.

Articles 4 and 6 amended according to motions carried at the Annual General Meetings of  2005 and 2007 and subsequently approved by two-thirds of the membership by postal ballots.

(Signed) D. J. HOGG Chairman


(Signed) K. BROWN Secretary

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