1. The Club
The name of The Club group shall be Wesham Road Runners and Athletics Club.
The Club is associated with England Athletics (EA) and UK Athletics (UKA)
The Club colours are light blue vest with a dark blue band across the middle.
2. Aims and Objectives
The aim of The Club is:
• To promote and provide running and athletics facilities for its members and the running community.
The objectives of The Club are to:
• encourage and develop amateur athletics
• organise club team representations at Championship, League and similar running or athletics events
• ensure a duty of care to all members
• offer competitive opportunities in road & fell running, cross country and track & field events
• provide coaching to help members develop and achieve their goals
• allow freedom of thought and expression without discrimination
3. Membership
Membership is open to anyone who:
• is defined as an amateur by England Athletics; and
• is aged 18 years or over
Membership from persons under 18 will only be considered if their parent(s)/guardian(s) accept total responsibility for such persons whilst at The Club or attending related events.
Membership will begin as soon as the individual has completed the membership form and paid their first annual subscriptions payment.
The Club may refuse membership or expel from membership an individual only for good and sufficient cause, such as conduct or character, which is likely to bring The Club or running community into disrepute. Appeal against such a decision may be made to The Club’s members and decided by majority vote.
There will be an annual membership subscription fee which will be agreed at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and will be payable by all First Claim, Second Claim, Intermediate, Junior and Social members. Honorary and Lifetime members will not have to pay an annual membership fee.
All members of The Club will be encouraged to play an active role in supporting The Club when called upon and where possible.
3.1 Definitions of membership
Full or First Claim Membership is an individual who is not a first claim member of any other UKA or EA Club and has paid the annual subscription fee to The Club (see point 3.3). They are entitled to vote.
Second Claim Membership is an individual who is a member of another UKA or EA Club and have paid their annual subscription fee to The Club. They will pay the same subscription as a first claim member less the annual UKA fees. They are entitled to vote.
Junior & Intermediate Membership is an individual under 18 years who has paid the annual subscription fee to The Club. They are not entitled to vote.
Social Membership is an individual who does not wish to be registered with EA and has paid their annual subscription fee to The Club. They are entitled to vote.
Life Membership shall be awarded at the discretion of the Committee to a member who has given outstanding service to The Club. They are entitled to vote.
Honorary Membership shall be awarded at the discretion of the Committee to individuals who are not members but have rendered outstanding service to The Club. They are not entitled to vote.
3.2 Ceasing to be a member
Members may resign at any time by writing to the Membership Secretary. Resignations will be effective from the date of receipt of resignation. Resignations will not be accepted from members who are indebted to The Club until the debt is discharged.
Any member who has not paid their membership fee for one year, having been reminded by The Club, will be deemed to have resigned.
Any offensive behaviour, including racist, sexist or inflammatory remarks, will not be permitted. Anyone behaving in an offensive way or breaking the equal opportunities policy (see point 3.4) may be asked not to attend further meetings and/or to resign from the group if an apology is not given and/or accepted for the behaviour or if the behaviour is repeated. The individual concerned shall have the right to be heard by the Committee, accompanied by a friend, before a final decision is made.
3.3 Membership subscription fee
The membership year will run from 1st April to 31st March.
The Annual subscription fee for the next year will be determined by the Committee and presented for members’ approval at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) (see point 6.1)
First Claim and Intermediate Membership will include the member’s annual registration fee to EA and N of E.
The payable, annual subscription fee should be received by the Membership Secretary by the last day of April of the given financial year so that EA registration fees can be paid by the appropriate date.
3.4 Equal Opportunities
The Club will not discriminate or treat a member less favourably than another because of her or his belonging to a protected group. Protected groups are defined in the Equality Act 2010 as Sex, Gender Reassignment, Marriage or Civil Partnership, Pregnancy or Maternity, Race (including Ethnic or National Origin, Nationality or Colour), Disability, Sexual Orientation, Age, Religion, Belief or lack of and Pay Rate.
If a member considers themselves to be suffering from unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation, they may make a complaint to the Committee, which will be dealt with as appropriate and may result in membership termination (see point 3.2).
4. Data Protection
Membership details shall be held by The Club securely and used only for purposes in connection with The Club and/or affiliated organisations. All members shall have the choice to receive club related emails.
The Club will share member details with UKA, EA or similar organisations, for the purpose of registration with such organisations, and/or affiliation with such organisations. Member details will not be shared with any other 3rd party.
The Club complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018.
5. Officers and Committee
The business of The Club will be carried out by a Committee elected at the Annual General Meeting. The Committee will meet as necessary and will consist of 13 members, ie 5 officers and 8 members. The Committee can also co-opt up to 3 additional members at their discretion.
The officers’ roles are as follows:
• Chair Person
• Vice Chair Person
• Secretary
• Membership Secretary
• Treasurer
The members’ roles are as follows:
• Race Director
• Press Secretary
• IT / Website Editor
• Male Members Captain
• Female Members Captain
• Male Cross Country Captain
• Female Cross Country Captain
• Coach Co-ordinator
• Co-opted member role(s)
In the event of an officer or member standing down during the year a replacement will be elected at a Special General Meeting (SGM). If the vacant position is essential to the running of the Club e.g. Treasurer, the committee can make a temporary replacement until an SGM is held.
The Committee meetings will be open to any member of The Club wishing to attend, who may speak but not vote.
6. Meetings
6.1. Annual General Meetings
An Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held in the month of February.
All members will be notified in writing at least 3 weeks before the date of the meeting, giving the venue, date and time.
Nominations for the committee may be made to the Secretary before the meeting, or at the meeting.
The quorum for the AGM will be 10% of the membership or 10 members, whichever is the greater number.
At the AGM:-
• The Committee will present a report of the work of The Club over the previous year.
• The Committee will present the accounts of The Club for the previous year.
• Members will approve of the Annual subscription fee for the coming year
• The Officers and Committee Members for the next year will be elected.
• Any proposals given to the Secretary at least 7 days in advance of the meeting will be discussed.
• Members’ votes received by email will be presented and counted (see point 9).
6.2 Special General Meetings
The Secretary will call a Special General Meeting at the request of the majority of the Committee or at least ten other members giving a written request to the Chair or Secretary stating the reason for their request. No other business shall be conducted or discussed at such a meeting.
The meeting will take place within I month of the request.
All members will be given two weeks’ notice of such a meeting, giving the venue, date, time and agenda, and notice may be by telephone, email or post.
The quorum for the Special General Meeting will be 10% of the membership or 10 members, whichever is the greater number.
Absent members will have the right to vote by email (see point 9).
6.3 Member Meetings
Member Meetings are open to all members and will be held at the discretion of the Committee.
All members will be given two weeks’ notice of such a meeting, giving the venue, date, time and agenda.
6.4 Committee Meetings
Committee meetings may be called by the Chair Person or Secretary. Persons of the Committee must receive notice of meetings at least 7 days before the meeting.
The quorum for Committee meetings is two Committee officers and four Committee members.
6.5 Rules of Procedure for meetings
All questions that arise at any meeting will be discussed openly and the meeting will seek to find general agreement that everyone present can agree to.
If a consensus cannot be reached a vote will be taken and a decision will be made by a simple majority of members present. If the number of votes cast on each side is equal, the Chair of the meeting shall have an additional casting vote.
7. Finances
The financial year for The Club will run from 1st January to 31st December.
A bank account will be maintained on behalf of The Club at a bank agreed by the committee.
There will be at least two approved signatories although this will typically be higher. These will be committee members and must not be related nor members of the same household.
In order to make payments by cheque, any two approved signatories will be required;
For online bank payments, any authorised signatory may make a payment via online banking. This payment will then be classed as ‘pending’ until one of the other authorised signatories logs in to online banking and approves this payment. The payment, once authorised, will leave the account.
Other payments (such as debit card payments, cash payments or PayPal payments), will be supported by invoices as appropriate and passed to the treasurer.
The Committee has the authority to maintain a PayPal account. This will be used for both making and receiving payments. It will normally be maintained so as to keep a minimal balance whilst at the same time minimising any fees incurred.
Records of income and expenditure will be maintained by the Treasurer and a report provided to the Committee prior to each meeting. A detailed financial statement will be given at each AGM.
All money raised by or on behalf of The Club may only be used to further the aims and objectives of The Club, as specified at point 2 of this constitution.
8. Amendments to the Constitution
Amendments to the constitution may only be made at the Annual General Meeting or a Special General Meeting.
Any proposal to amend the constitution must be given to the Secretary in writing. The proposal must then be circulated with the notice of meeting.
Any proposal to amend the constitution will require a majority vote of those entitled to vote (see point 9 for email votes).
9. Voting by email
Members have the right to vote by email where they are unable or likely to be unable to attend an AGM or SGM. Email votes must be received by the Secretary at least 7 days prior to the date of the meeting. Votes received within the week prior to the meeting will not be counted. Members will be given at least 2 weeks to send their vote to the secretary. See attachment for full voting procedure.
10. Dissolution
If a meeting, by simple majority, decides that it is necessary to close down The Club it may call a Special General Meeting to do so. The sole business of this meeting will be to dissolve the group.
If it is agreed to dissolve the group, all remaining money and other assets, once outstanding debts have been paid, will be donated to a local charitable organisation. The organisation will be agreed at the meeting which agrees the dissolution.
Updated March 2019