Rockhoppers Mountaineering & Climbing Club Constitution

1.0	Title
	1.1	The title of the organisation shall be the Rockhoppers Mountaineering Club.
2.0	Objectives
	2.1	The objectives of the club are: to engage in and encourage, hill walking, mountaineering and other related pursuits in the British Isles and abroad.
3.0	Membership
	3.1	Full membership may be granted to any person who is above the age of 18 and has paid the due subscription. There are three classes of Full membership: Individual, Household, and Associate.
	3.2	Full members shall be entitled to borrow or utilise the club’s equipment and property for the purposes related to the objectives of the club provided that the officer in charge of the equipment or property consents. They shall be entitled to participate in all meets organised by the club.
	3.3	Household membership is available to members of a household who qualify under section 3.1 and they are entitled to the same rights as in 3.2.
	3.4	Associate membership is available to members who reside more than 50 miles from London and they shall be entitled to the same rights as in 3.2.
	3.5	Applications for membership shall be made to the membership secretary or to another member of the committee.
	3.6	The committee reserves the right to exclude any person from membership of the club.
4.0	Subscriptions
	4.1	The annual subscription payable by full members shall be determined at the AGM.
	4.2	The membership year will run from the 1st of November to the 31st of October the following year. The subscription shall be due from the 1st of November.
	4.3	Any member who has not paid by the first day the New Year shall cease to be a member. This is to ensure that members are suitably insured with the BMC, whose membership year runs from 1st of January to 31st of December.
	4.4	New members joining after 1 st July may be entitled to pay a reduced rate at the discretion of the committee, unless they were members in the immediately preceding year.
5.0	Committee
	5.1	A Committee of ten including a President, Secretary and Treasurer shall be elected at the AGM in each year and serve for one year. The club shall be administered by these members. The members of the committee must be members of the club.
	5.2	The members present at the AGM may decide on any special responsibilities for the members of the committee.
	5.3	No member shall serve on the committee for more than three consecutive years.
	5.4	Should any committee member cease to be a member of the club the committee shall be entitled to co-opt a replacement, such a replacement shall not be automatically nominated for the next annual election.
	5.5	Should a vote of no-confidence in any committee member be passed at a general meeting then that member must resign from the committee.
	5.6	In the event of circumstances arising wherein this constitution gives no guidance, the committee shall be empowered to take action as it sees fit, subject to the provision of this constitution.
	5.7	The committee shall not be empowered to enter into any bank loan or any other formal debts incurring interest without the agreement of the members at a general meeting.
	5.8	The committee may expel, refuse to renew the membership or refuse to allow attendance at meets of any member who in their opinion, acts against the interest of the club, subject to an appeal at a general meeting.
	5.9	The committee shall appoint two members as trustees of any property that the club holds or may hold.
	5.10	The committee may purchase, rent, or hire such services, equipment, or property as the committee considers of value in the pursuit of the club's objectives, subject to a limit of £500 per annum before ratification is required by a General Meeting. The general costs of running the club shall not count towards this limit.
6.0	Meetings
	6.1	Not more than eight weeks shall elapse between committee meetings.
	6.2	At a committee meeting the president or, in his absence, the secretary shall preside.
	6.3	The quorum for committee meetings shall be four members, including the president or secretary.
	6.4	At least seven days notice of committee meetings shall be given by the secretary to each member of the committee unless agreed by no less than six members of the committee.
	6.5	Voting shall be by a show of hands. Alternatively, at the request of any member, the voting shall be by secret ballot.
	6.6	Minutes of all committee meetings shall be kept and distributed to all committee members before the next meeting.
	6.7	The A.G.M shall be held on the second available home meet in October in each year.
	6.8	The president or any nominee of the committee shall be the chairman of any general meeting including the AGM. The quorum for the A.G.M shall be ten percent of the membership.
	6.9	An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by a committee of any seven members who so inform the secretary in writing. Only that business for which the meeting is called and which notice is given under clause 6.10 below shall be transacted at an Extraordinary General Meeting.
	6.10	Twenty-one days written notice shall be given for all General Meetings. That notice shall deemed to have been served three days after posting of the same. Such notice should include the agenda, and the wording of all resolutions to be proposed at the next meeting.
	6.11	Any member wishing to initiate business at an A.G.M shall give notice to the secretary in sufficient time to enable the secretary to comply with clause 6.10
	6.12	The chairman may accept amendments to resolutions proposed at an A.G.M provided that these do not materially alter the subject of the resolutions concerned.
	6.13	Any other business may be discussed at the discretion of the chairman, but no binding resolutions may be passed.
7.0	Elections
	7.1	The committee shall be elected at the A.G.M by a simple majority of members present.
	7.2	All classes of members shall have equal voting rights.
	7.3	Nominations for the committee shall be made by a proposer and supported by a seconder.
	7.4	If more than one nomination is received for the same committee post then the proposer shall speak on behalf of the candidate whilst the candidate is absent.
8.0	Accounts
	8.1	The financial year shall start on the first of September and end on the last day of August of the following year.
	8.2	The treasurer shall prepare an annual statement of account and shall present a report at each committee meeting.
	8.3	The accounts up to the last day of August in each year shall be certified by two auditors elected at the AGM. The auditors shall not be committee members.
	8.4	The committee is to open, maintain and close such bank or building society accounts, as it considers desirable to permit the efficient and economical handling of the club's funds.
	8.5	The treasurer shall keep an inventory of all the clubs equipment.
9.0	Publications
	9.1	The club shall issue free to all paid up members a regular newsletter and, if produced, annual magazine.
10.0	Rules
	10.1	The committee shall have power to make such rules of the club and to amend the same, as it considers necessary to facilitate the orderly running of the club and the attainment of its objectives.
	10.2	The rules of the club, as amended from time to time, must be adhered to. A file of such rules and amendments should be kept by the secretary and any new rules and amendments should be published in the newsletter.
11.0	Affiliations and Donations
	11.1	The committee shall have the power to affiliate the club to bodies for the purpose of exchanging information or to further the club's objectives. Such an affiliation shall not confer on the members of that body any rights or privileges appertaining to the club.
	11.2	The committee shall have the power to make donations to rescue or conservation organisations of other organisations which sympathise with the clubs objectives.
12.0	Accidents
	12.1	The club recognises that climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions and involvement.
13.0	Dissolution of the Club
	13.1	Should the club be wound up, the assets of the club are to be realised and, after paying off outstanding creditors, the net fund shall be donated to various recognised mountaineering charities or clubs. The recipient of these donations are to be decided at the general meeting called to wind up the club.