YEOVIL TWINNING ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION
1. NAME
1.1 The name of the Association shall be the Yeovil Twinning Association.
2. AIMS OF THE ASSOCIATION
2.1 To promote and foster friendship and understanding between the people of Yeovil and those of other towns with which the Association may form links.
2.2 To encourage exchange visits by individuals, groups and organisations of the above towns, particularly of young people, and the development of personal contacts in order to broaden mutual understanding of each others cultural, recreational, educational and commercial activities.
2.3 To organise fund-raising activities to foster the aims of the Association.
3. ORGANISATION
3.1 Patron of the Association - The Mayor of Yeovil shall be invited to be the Patron of the Association.
3.2 President - A President may be elected at the annual general meeting if the meeting so decides, the term of the office to be set at that time.
3.3 Vice-Presidents - A Vice-President or Presidents may be elected at the Annual General Meeting if the meeting so decides, the term of the office to be set at that time.
3.4 Officers
3.4.1 The Officers of the Association shall be the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and the Hosting Officer as well as such other Officers as the Association may appoint from time to time. The Officers of the Association shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting.
3.4.2 Should an Officer of the Association resign during his/her term of office, a replacement shall be ratified at an Extraordinary General Meeting.
3.4.3 A member and spouse shall not serve as Officers of the Association at the same time.
3.5 Executive Committee
3.5.1 The affairs of the Association shall be administered by an Executive Committee which shall have all the powers conducive or incidental to the attainment of the aims referred to in paragraph 2 and to the management and control of the affairs of the Association.
3.5.2 The Executive Committee shall consist of the Officers of the Association, two Town Councillors and up to a maximum of ten other individual members of the Association who will be elected at the Annual General Meeting.
3.5.3 A quorum of the Executive Committee shall consist of six voting members.
3.5.4 Decisions of the Executive Committee shall be made by the majority of votes of those present at the meeting and entitled to vote. In the event of an equality of votes, the Chairman or other person presiding at the meeting shall have the casting vote providing that he/she has not previously voted.
3.5.5 The Executive Committee shall have the right to co-opt additional members onto the committee.
3.6 Sub-Committees
3.6.1 The Executive Committee shall have the power to appoint sub-committees as and when necessary.
3.6.2 At least one member of the sub-committee shall be a member of the Executive Committee and the remainder shall be members of the Association.
3.6.3 The Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer shall be ex-officio members of all such sub-committees.
3.6.4 The quorum of a sub-committee shall consist of one third of the voting members and the Chairman of the sub-committee shall have the casting vote providing that he/she has not previously voted.
4. MEMBERSHIP
4.1 Individual Membership of the Association shall be open to all persons who are in agreement with the aims and objects of the Association.
4.2 Family membership of the Association shall be open to a man/woman, his/her spouse living with him/her and any children of either of them living with them and under 18 years of age.
4.3 Associate Membership of the Association shall be open to all organisations that are in agreement with the aims and objectives of the Association. One member of each organisation shall be nominated as its elected representative.
4.4 Membership of the Association will be by a subscription to an Individual membership, Family membership or Associate membership.
4.5 The membership shall run from 1st November to coincide with the Annual General Meeting. Subscriptions, which are reviewed each year, are payable in advance for the forthcoming year.
5. VOTING
5.1 Each individual member, each family member and his/her spouse and each associate member’s accredited representative shall have the right to exercise one vote.
6. MEETINGS
6.1 Annual General Meeting
6.1.1 The Executive Committee shall call an Annual General Meeting in October of each year.
6.1.2 The Executive Committee shall be authorised to decide upon the order of business at the Annual General Meeting.
6.1.3 Notices of motion to the Annual General Meeting, signed by a proposer and seconder, shall be received by the Honorary Secretary at least 14 days prior to the date of the meeting.
6.1.4 The quorum of an Annual General Meeting shall not be less than 15 members of the Association.
6.2 Extraordinary General Meeting.
6.2.1 An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called at any time by a minimum of 4 members of the committee or by written application signed by 10 members of the Association, made to the Honorary Secretary.
6.2.2 Notices of motion to the Extraordinary General Meeting shall be received by the Honorary Secretary at least 14 days before the date of the meeting.
6.3 Executive Committee Meetings
6.3.1 The Executive Committee shall meet on at least four occasions between October of current year and September of the following year and the Hon Sec shall give all members of the Executive Committee not less than seven days notice of the date and the place of the meeting, unless otherwise agreed by officers of the Association.
6.3.2 The Chairman, in consultation with the Honorary Secretary, shall be empowered to cancel any such meeting should they deem it necessary.
7. FINANCE
7.1 The Association’s financial year shall run from the 1st September in each year to 31st August of the following year.
7.2 The income and property of the Association shall be applied solely towards the achievement of the objects of the Association set out in paragraph 2
7.3 An audited statement of accounts and balance sheet for the previous year shall be presented at each Annual General Meeting.
7.4 Two Honorary Auditors shall be appointed at each Annual General Meeting.
7.5 All cheques shall be signed by not less than two Officers of the Association, one of whom shall be the Honorary Treasurer or in his/her absence the Honorary Secretary.
7.6 The Executive Committee shall be empowered to invest any of the funds of the Association in such security or securities as the committee may decide.
8. AMENDMENTS OF THE CONSTITUTION
8.1 Amendments to the constitution shall be made at an Annual General Meeting of the Association and carried by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the votes of those present.
8.2 Notice of the proposed amendments shall be circulated to all Officers and members not less than seven days before the said General Meeting.
9. DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION
9.1 In the event of the Association being dissolved, any property or monies remaining after its debts and liabilities have been settled, shall be applied to some purpose or organisation whose objects correspond with those of the Association, as determined by the Executive Committee.
Amended and approved at the Annual General Meeting held on 07 October 2010
© Copyright 1985 ~ 2010 - Yeovil Twinning Association.
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