Constitution

Club Constitution

NOTTINGHAM AND NOTTS PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
CONSTITUTION AND GENERAL RULES

1. PRELIMINARY
1.1. The name of the Society shall be “Nottingham and Notts Photographic Society”.
1.2. The Society shall be a members’ society and will consist of ordinary members together with such
honorary members as are hereinafter mentioned (see 5.2).
2. OBJECTS
2.1. The objects of the Society shall be:
a) The general advancement of the Art and Science of Photography
b) Communication of new and/or interesting matter connected with photography for the benefit and
recreation of its members.
3. MANAGEMENT
3.1. The affairs of the Society, in all matters not reserved for the Society in a General Meeting (that is
open to all members), shall be managed by the General Committee of the Society, consisting of 12
members.
3.2. The General Committee may appoint sub-committees for such purposes as it may deem
appropriate.
3.3. Five members shall constitute a quorum of the General Committee, and two, a quorum of a
subcommittee.
3.4. Usually, there shall be a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Secretary,
Programme Secretary, Exhibition Secretary, Competition Secretary, and Publicity Secretary, all of
whom, as officers of the Society, shall serve on the General Committee (see 3.7). In addition, not
more than three other Members of the Society shall be elected to serve on the Committee. All officers
and committee members shall go out of office at the end of every year, (except for the President and
the Vice-President - see paragraph 3.11), but shall be eligible for re-election.
3.5. The General Committee may fill any vacancies that occur between Annual General Meetings
either in the composition of the General Committee or among the officers of the Society.
3.6. The General Committee shall have the power to co-opt for a limited period of time (not extending
beyond the next Annual General Meeting) any member whose particular skills are required by the
General Committee for a specified purpose, even if that co-option takes the number of General
Committee members to more than twelve in number.
3.7. A person may hold more than one office but, if more than one office is held, that person shall
have only one vote on any one proposal put to the vote.
3.8. In the case of equality of voting during the business of the General Committee, the Chairman of
the meeting, who shall normally be the President (or in his/her absence the Vice President), shall use
his / her vote as the casting vote. (If neither of these officers is present the meeting shall elect a
Chairman from amongst its members as the first act of the meeting.)
3.9. All of the officers of the Society, with the exception of the President and Vice President, shall be
elected from time to time by the Society in General Meeting from among the members of the Society.
Additional officers may also be elected from time to time as the General Meeting shall determine, but
these additional officers shall not be members of the General Committee unless elected as such in
addition.
3.10. The Officers (with the exception of the President and Vice-President) and General Committee of
the Society shall retire annually, but shall be eligible for re -election without further nominations.
2 Additional nominations must be submitted in writing to the Secretary at least 21 days before the
Annual General Meeting.
3.11.The President and Vice President shall be elected from amongst the members of the Society at
the Annual General Meeting. The Vice President will normally succeed to the Presidency.
3.12. All officers of the Society shall act in all matters in accordance with the directions of the General
Committee.
3.13. The Treasurer shall keep such books of account as will enable an accurate and audited report
and statement of the finances of the Society to be presented at every Annual General Meeting, or at
any other time if required (on reasonable notice) by the General Committee.
3.14. The Secretary shall prepare a report for the Annual General Meeting, or at any other time, if
required (on reasonable notice) by the General Committee. The Secretary may call a meeting of the
General Committee at any time or by order of the President. The Secretary shall take minutes of the
proceedings of each and every General Committee Meeting and the business aspects of every
General Meeting of the Society. Such minutes shall be properly recorded and, once ratified by the
NOTTINGHAM AND NOTTS PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
Committee, may be made available to any member of the Society upon request.
3.15. Nominations for the Committee should be made in writing or emailed to the Secretary at least 21
days prior to the AGM. Nominations must be made and seconded by members of the Society.
4. FINANCE
4.1. The funds of the Society shall be applied solely to the objects stated in Rule 2. Members of the
Society shall not receive payment either directly or indirectly for their service other than for the
legitimate expenses incurred on the Society's behalf.
4.2. The General Committee shall have the authority to incur expense on behalf of the Society.
4.3. All expenditure shall normally require the approval of the General Committee but, in the interest
of expediency, sums less than £100 can be approved by the President or Treasurer but should be
discussed at the next General Committee meeting.
4.4. All prizes and gifts shall be approved by the General Committee.
4.5. The funds of the Society, except for petty cash, shall be deposited with a bank or building society
approved by the General Committee.
4.6. Cheques may be drawn on the account and shall be signed by any one of at least three members of the committee to include the Treasurer, President & Secretary. The Treasurer, President or Secretary is authorised to make approved payments from the bank account online. Bank Business Debit Cards may also be issued to the Treasurer and any other Senior Committee member as the Committee shall decide. Payments can be made using PayPal and any other official online transfer method.
4.7. The accounts of the Society shall be kept by the Treasurer and open to scrutiny by any member
of the Society upon notice of two weeks given in writing.
4.8. A suitable member of the Society, not being a member of the General Committee, shall be
appointed at each Annual General Meeting to examine and certify the accounts of the Society, so that
the members may accept the accounts as a true and correct record of the financial affairs of the
Society.
4.9. The accounts for the year shall be presented at the Annual General Meeting.
5. MEMBERSHIP
5.1. Membership of the Society shall be open to all. A person shall be deemed to have joined the
Society on completion of an application form and on the payment of the Annual Subscription.
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5.2. Honorary Membership shall be awarded on the recommendation of the General Committee
subject to ratification at a General Meeting by majority vote. Honorary Members shall not be liable to
pay a subscription nor entrance fee but shall be entitled to all privileges of membership.
5.3. Any member who in the opinion of the General Committee, on hearing all of the relevant
evidence, is deemed to have brought the Society into disrepute, shall have their membership
immediately withdrawn.
5.4. The General Committee may, if it considers it to be necessary, impose a limit on the number of
members to be admitted and when that limit has been reached, may set up, under the supervision of
the Treasurer/Membership Secretary, a waiting list. When vacancies occur or when the General
Committee decides to admit more members, applicants will be offered places in the order that their
names were entered on the waiting list.
5.5. Membership details including members' identity, names and addresses and other relevant
information may be kept in computerised files. Any member objecting to his/her details being so kept
should notify the Membership Secretary in writing.
6. SUBSCRIPTIONS
6.1. Annual subscriptions shall be payable on joining the Society and thereafter, without demand, by
the 15th September and shall be an amount agreed at the previous Annual General Meeting.
6.2. Members whose subscriptions remain unpaid by 1st November will be deemed to have resigned
from the Society.
6.3. Any new member admitted to the Society on or after 1st January shall pay one half of the annual
subscription for the rest of that season.
6.4. Visitors may be admitted to meetings on payment of a fee decided by the Committee.
7. MEETINGS
7.1. Meetings and excursions shall be held at such time and place as the General Committee shall
determine.
NOTTINGHAM AND NOTTS PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
8. GENERAL (BUSINESS) MEETINGS
8.1. The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall normally be held in the month of May or June in
each year.
8.2. At least 21 days’ notice shall be given of the Annual General Meeting.
8.3. The business of the Annual General Meeting shall include the election of the Officers and
General Committee of the Society, presentation of accounts and Officers’ reports together with any
other business.
8.4. A Special General Meeting of the Society may be summoned at any time by the General
Committee or on the written request of not less than one quarter of the number of ordinary members
of the Society. Any such written request should be addressed to the Secretary and must detail the
nature of the business to be discussed. At least 14 days’ notice must be given of the date and subject
of that meeting, though this period of time may be shortened if in the view of the General Committee,
this is warranted by the urgency of the business to be discussed.
8.5. All Officers of the Society will provide a report to the Annual General Meeting of the activities held
under their responsibilities during the previous year.
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8.6. At any General Meeting of the Society, every member of the Society shall be entitled to be
present and every ordinary or honorary member shall be entitled to one vote upon every motion put to
the meeting.
8.7. Decisions taken at a General Meeting shall be based on the majority vote of members present at
the meeting except on matters concerning the Constitution (see paragraph 10) and the dissolution of
the Society (see paragraph 13).
8.8. In the case of equality of voting the Chairman of the meeting, who shall normally be the President
(or in his / her absence the Vice President), shall use his / her vote as the casting vote. (If neither of
these officers is present the meeting shall elect a Chairman from amongst its members as the first act
of the meeting.)
9. EMERGENCIES
9.1. The General Committee has full power to deal with any contingency that may arise which is not
provided for in this Constitution.
10. NOTICES
10.1. Each member shall keep the Membership Secretary informed of that member's private address,
telephone number, and email address or of some other address at which communications may be
addressed to that member. Nevertheless, it shall not be necessary to send any notice intended for
members generally to any member, by post or otherwise, except in the case of the notice convening
any General Meeting for any of the purposes connected with the dissolution of the Society. In
addition, notices may be displayed on the Society’s website.
10.2. All notices shall be posted by being placed in a prominent position during the meetings of the
Society, and it shall be the duty of the Secretary to ensure that any such notice remains so exhibited
at the weekly meetings throughout any period required under this Constitution. Normal written
communication with members will be by email, unless individual members reasonably request
otherwise.
11. ALTERATION OF THE CONSTITUTION
11.1. The Constitution of the Society may be revoked, added to or altered by a majority comprising
two-thirds or more of the members present and entitled to vote at any General Meeting of the Society.
Any member desiring to propose an alteration to the Constitution shall give one month's notice of the
intention to do so to the Secretary in writing. Such notice shall include the nature of the revocation,
addition or alteration together with full particulars thereof.
12. EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY
12.1. Neither the Society nor any officer thereof shall be liable to any member or guest for any loss of
or damage to any property occurring, from whatever cause, in or about the Society meeting rooms or
on any of its excursions; nor for any injury sustained by any member or guest however or wherever
caused during any of the activities of the Society.
13. DISSOLUTION
13.1. If the number of ordinary members of the Society shall fall below ten, or if at any time the
Society shall pass in a General Meeting by a majority comprising two-thirds or more of the members
NOTTINGHAM AND NOTTS PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
present a resolution of its intention to dissolve, then, if required for the purposes of clearing any debts
being carried by the Society, the General Committee shall take immediate steps to convert into
money any or all of the property of the Society. The General Committee shall, however, retain the
power to postpone or delay the conversion of any particular property if the Society in General Meeting
shall so authorise. Out of the proceeds of such conversion all debts and liabilities of the Society shall
be discharged, the remaining funds and/or possessions of the Society shall be devoted to objects
similar to those of the dissolving Society and as determined in a General Meeting, and thereupon the
Society shall for all purposes be dissolved.
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13.2. A copy of the notice convening any General Meeting for the purposes of dissolution shall be
sent by the Secretary by post to every member at their last notified address not less than 14 days
before the date appointed for the General Meeting; but any accidental omission to send such copy or
the non-receipt of the same shall not invalidate any proceedings or resolution.
June 2022

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