SOUTH WEST VETERANS' ATHLETIC CLUB CONSTITUTION

(as approved and adopted at an Annual General Meeting held on 18 June 1995 and subsequently amended at Annual General Meetings on 21 June 1998, 20 June 1999, 18 June 2000, 20 June 2004 and 19 June 2005).

1 .  TITLE. The Club shall be called South West Veterans' Athletic Club.

2.   OBJECTS . The objects of the Club shall be to provide and regulate amateur athletics for members.

3 . MANAGEMENT. The management of the Club shall be vested in a Club Committee comprising of the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer together with 6 members. The committee shall be elected annually at the Annual General Meeting and shall have the power to fill any vacancy on the committee thereafter, however caused. Committee members, together with any person appointed to fill a vacancy, shall have full voting rights.

4.   MEMBERSHIP. Membership is open to males and females over 35 years of age who are amateurs and whose application is approved by the Committee. Application for membership shall be in writing on a form provided for the purpose. Life Membership shall be offered to persons deemed to have enhanced the image of the Club. Such members shall be proposed and elected at an Annual General Meeting.

5. HONORARY LIFE PRESIDENT. An Honorary Life President may be proposed and elected at an Annual General Meeting. The election is for life and may only be conferred in exceptional circumstances and in recognition of outstanding services to the Club

6. SUBSCRIPTIONS. Each member shall pay an annual subscription, which shall be determined at the Annual General Meeting on the recommendation of the Treasurer. The subscription shall be payable on election and subsequently on the 1 st day of April in each year. A member intending to withdraw from the club shall give notice to the General Secretary in writing and membership shall terminate from the date of the notice. If the member is financially indebted to the Club, the resignation will not be accepted until the liability has been discharged. A member, who has not tendered a resignation prior to 1 st April, shall be liable for the ensuing year's subscription.

7. ACCOUNTS. The Treasurer shall keep proper accounting records detailing all transactions and shall prepare an Income and Expenditure Account for the financial year which shall be from 1st April to 31st March of the following year. A copy of this account shall be presented to the Annual general Meeting.

8.   ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. The Annual General Meeting shall be held within the three months after the end of the financial year. All paid up members are eligible to attend and vote. Matters for consideration at the Annual General Meeting shall be forwarded to the General Secretary not less than 28 days before the meeting. Only matters for which 28 days notice has been given by members shall be considered by the Annual General Meeting. Except for amendments to the Constitution, which shall require a two-thirds majority of those present and entitled to vote, all business shall be decided by a simple majority vote. A vote shall be recognized by a show of hands. The Chairman or Acting Chairman shall have a casting vote.

9.   SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING . A Special General Meeting shall be called by the General Secretary at any time at the request of the Committee or on the signed requisition of not less than 10 members. A notice convening a Special General Meeting shall be sent to all members not less than 7 days before the meeting and only the matter specified in the notice shall be considered.

10. QUORUM. At Committee meetings five voting members, including not less than one officer of the Club, shall constitute a quorum. At Annual or Special General Meetings, the members present shall constitute a quorum. In the event of tied votes at Committee or Special General Meetings, the meeting Chairman shall exercise a casting vote.

11 . MINUTES. Minutes shall be kept off all proceedings in General and Committee Meetings and shall be open to inspection by any member on application to the General Secretary.

12.   AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. Any proposed amendment to the Constitution shall be forwarded in writing to the General Secretary not less than 28 days before the Annual General Meeting to enable circulation of the proposed amendment to members not less than 14 days before the Annual General Meeting. Any proposal to amend the Constitution shall only be adopted if passed by a two-thirds majority of members present at the meeting.

13. DISCIPLINE.

If it shall appear to the Club Committee that any irregularity or breach of its Constitution or other matter of concern to it may have occurred, it shall at its discretion appoint an individual (who may or may not be a Club member) or a Committee to investigate with such terms of reference as the Club Committee sees fit.

If it shall appear to the Club Committee that there is evidence that any person is in breach of its Constitution or if it shall appear to the Club Committee that the continued membership of the Club by any person is detrimental to the Club, the General Secretary shall write to the person concerned setting out the alleged breach and invite the person in question to comment thereon in writing by a specified date which, unless the Club Committee otherwise directs, shall not be less than 14 days after the date the letter was sent.

The Club Committee shall consider any response at its next convenient meeting and if it is not satisfied that the Constitution has been observed or that the continued membership of the Club by the person in question is not in the best interests of the Club, it shall refer the matter to a Disciplinary Committee appointed by it, which shall consist of not less than three nor more than five people none of whom shall be directly interested in the matter otherwise than as members of the Club. The Disciplinary Committee shall make such further enquiries as it thinks fit and shall afford to the person against whom the allegation has been made, a reasonable opportunity to appear before it and state his/her case and answer the allegations brought against him/her. The Disciplinary Committee shall hear such witnesses as he/she reasonably produces and shall also allow the person against whom the allegations have been made, the right to be accompanied and/or represented by a Friend. It shall make such procedural provisions as shall be necessary for the just and efficient disposal of the case remitted to it.

If it is satisfied that a breach of the Constitution has occurred, the Disciplinary Committee may recommend to the Club Committee one or more of the following penalties:

•  Resolve to note the offence but take non further action; or

•  Warn the person concerned as to his/her future conduct and take no further action; or

•  Suspend or disqualify the person from athletics competition, coaching and/or administration for any period whether fixed or indefinite; or

•  Recommend to the Regional Association that the person concerned shall be disqualified from any involvement in athletics for any period whether fixed or indefinite; or

•  Such other penalty as the Disciplinary Committee, in the circumstances of the case, shall consider appropriate.

The Disciplinary Committee shall report its recommendation to the Club Committee in writing within seven working days and the Club Committee shall determine its decision as soon as practicable thereafter.

A term of suspension starts from the time it is pronounced by the Club Committee unless otherwise stipulated and does not expire until the close of the day named in the decision.

Every person suspended, expelled or disqualified, or otherwise dealt with, shall be notified in writing by hand or by recorded delivery post within seven working days of the decision.

The Club Committee shall, as it sees fit, transfer as many of its duties under the provisions of its Constitution to such Disciplinary Committee as from time to time it shall set up.

14. APPEALS. Any person suspended, expelled or disqualified by decision of the Club Committee may appeal against such decision as defined in UK Athletic rules.

15. DISSOLUTION. The Club Committee may decide at a quorate meeting by a majority of two thirds, or 10 ordinary paid up members may petition the General Secretary in writing, to propose a motion to dissolve the Club and to call a Special General Meeting to consider the motion for dissolution. Upon dissolution, any funds or non-monetary assets remaining after all debts have been met will be donated to the British Masters Athletic Federation.

16. OTHER MATTERS. Any matter not covered by this Constitution shall be decided by the Club Committee whose decision shall be final.