ANDERIDA WRITERS, EASTBOURNE CONSTITUTION

1 NAME

The name of the organisation shall be Anderida Writers, Eastbourne.

2 OBJECTIVES

The objectives of Anderida Writers shall be to encourage members in the writing craft by means of monthly meetings, speakers, advice, workshops and other related activities.

3 MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be full, temporary guest membership or, in a few special cases, honorary. Membership shall be subject to the approval of the committee, whose decision shall be final. The committee shall reserve the right to deny membership should it be deemed necessary in the interests of the club. The committee shall have the power to propose the withdrawal of membership from anyone whose conduct renders him or her unsuitable. Any member shall have the right of appeal by writing to the Chairman for the committee to consider, but the committee's decision shall be final. The same ruling applies to temporary guest members who can attend for up to five meetings in every financial year from April to April upon payment of a guest fee each time. The payments of these guest fees can count towards the full subscription in the same financial year. Guest members do not have voting rights. A guest member needs to attend at least one monthly meeting to be eligible to attend any additional meetings at members' homes. Honorary members can be elected at the Annual General Meeting.

4 SUBSCRIPTIONS

Full members shall pay the annual subscription in force at that time in full before the start of the Annual General Meeting, at which the annual subscription shall be decided for the following year. The Committee may recommend changes in subscriptions, which should be duly confirmed by an Annual General Meeting.

Any proposed increases in subscriptions will be stated in the notice calling the AGM to enable any members who are unable to be present to register a vote for or against by post to arrive before the meeting. Temporary guest members shall pay a fee at the meetings they attend. Such fees shall be decided by the Committee and any changes shall be approved at the AGM.

5 CONSTITUTION

A copy of the constitution shall be available to members on request. Changes to the constitution can only be made at the Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting, and proposed changes must be given at least 10 days in advance of such meetings. However, notice of these meetings must be given at least 21 days in advance (Full details are given under 'Meetings').

6 MANAGEMENT

The Officers and Committee shall be elected at each Annual General Meeting.

The Committee shall consist of: a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and up to eight other members, all of whom can hold additional positions.

The club can also elect an honorary president and honorary vice presidents as well as a patron and inspector of accounts, who should all be automatically re-elected if they are willing to stand and the Committee wishes them to do so.

The number of officers can be increased if necessary to allow for joint holders of various positions.

The Committee shall have the power to co-opt not more than two members with full voting rights. Four members of the Committee shall form a quorum.  If there is a tied vote the Chairman shall have the casting vote. 

The Chairman and all members of the Committee shall be eligible for re-election after one year.

If there is a tied vote, the Chairman shall have the casting vote.

The Committee shall have the power to fill any casual vacancy during the year with an eligible member. An Inspector of Accounts shall be appointed at the AGM.

7 MEETINGS

Regular meetings shall normally be held on the second Tuesday of each month.

The Annual General Meeting shall be held in April of each year, for which the necessary notice of at least 21 days shall be given to members. The business of the AGM shall include:

a) The Chairman's Report.

b) Report from the Secretary.

c) Report from the Treasurer, who shall present audited accounts.

d) The election of Officers and Committee, nominations for which should be received by the Secretary at least ten days before the meeting unless an existing Officer resigns at the AGM without giving sufficient advance notice. Nominations from full members shall be proposed and seconded, and the consent of the nominees obtained.

e) Any amendment to the Constitution, or motion, of which at least 10 days' notice, in writing, has been given.

f) Any other business.

The Chairman, or two Officers, or one Officer and one ordinary Committee member, may call a Committee Meeting. The Secretary has to be notified of this meeting in time to give the Committee 14 days' notice of it. At Committee meetings, the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer shall be asked to give updates.

An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by the Chairman and Secretary on the receipt by the Secretary of a requisition stating the purpose of such a meeting. An EGM may also be called on the receipt of a similar requisition signed by at least four members.

21 days' notice of an EGM shall be given to members, stating its purpose, and the business of the meeting shall be confined to this purpose only. One-fourth of the total full membership shall constitute a quorum

The Chairman, Vice Chairman or Secretary must be present to chair an EGM.

8 PUBLICITY

Members shall be advised of the club activities by means of a website, Facebook page or newsletter.  A Press Officer or Marketing Officer shall issue press releases to the media, which have been written with the approval of the Chairman.

9 PROPERTY

Income and property shall be applied solely to the promotion of the objectives of the club, and no part thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of other profit or remuneration, with the exception of any project undertaken for charitable purposes, to be determined by the committee.

10 DISSOLUTION OR AMALGAMATION

Anderida Writers, Eastbourne shall not be dissolved or amalgamated except by a resolution at an Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting. In this event, the remaining assets, after payment of all liabilities, shall be devoted to objectives similar to those of Anderida Writers.

Any resolution concerning these matters shall be with the approval of not less than two-thirds of members present and voting.

11 FINANCES AND FINANCIAL YEAR

The financial year ends on March 31st. A balance sheet, as at March 31st, and profit and loss account, showing all the income and outgoings for the year to March 31st, shall be provided by the Treasurer to the Inspector of Accounts, together with a bank statement, in time to allow the Inspector to approve these and submit these relevant papers to the Secretary and Chairman in order for them to be submitted to the AGM.  The Treasurer will then present the audited accounts, including a balance sheet, up to end of the club's financial year, to the AGM, normally on the second Tuesday in April, seeking the approval of members.

Monetary assets should be kept in the club's own Bank or Building Society instant access account, which should be subject to two signatures being needed for withdrawals from two out of four of the following officials: Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Vice Chairman or Membership Secretary. Monies paid to the club should be banked within seven days. The Treasurer will normally keep some cash in hand in the order of £20. This will be accounted for in the cash account.

12 COMPETITIONS

Competition rules shall be drawn up by a Competition Committee of at least three members, including the Competition Secretary and be approved by the Chairman.

Entries for competitions must be submitted to the Competition Secretary by the deadline given.

They should be sent anonymously in a sealed envelope, inside which should be placed another sealed envelope that contains a separate cover sheet, showing the name of the entrant, contact details and title.  The envelopes containing the entrants' identities shall not be opened until after the results have been decided.

Any entries containing profanities or considered to be inappropriate can be rejected by the Competition Secretary, with the approval of the Chairman or the Competition Committee.

In competitions judged by members, every member present must give a mark out of 10 for every entry or risk having their voting paper declared void. Entrants present at the judging will be allowed to give whatever mark they wish out of a total of 10 to every entry, including their own.

Only full members and guest members who have attended at least one previous meeting during the calendar year of the competition, prior to the competition deadline, are eligible to enter the competition or to vote.

Those voting must put their names on their voting slips, and giving marks below four is discouraged.

In competitions judged by guest judges, these judges will be given a deadline to submit their marks at least two weeks before the announcement of results.

All judges will use the same marking system and will not be given access to other judges' votes.

Judges' original marks, and unopened envelopes containing entrants' identities, will be validated by the Competition Secretary and another member of the Competition Committee.

Anderida does not have an obligation to return entries, and has the right to include entries on the club website, the club newsletter or in an anthology of competition entries published by the club.

The Competition Secretary has the right to make necessary minor amendments to competition rules providing these are first approved by the competition committee and the club Chairman.

Amended April 2019

Previous amendments made at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on January 10th, 2012 and fully effective from the club's Annual General Meeting on March 13th, 2012 with further amendments approved at subsequent AGMs from 2013 to 2019.

The original amendments to the constitution, following it's revision by a three-man committee of Tony Flood, Tony Jewiss and Mike Smith, were proposed by Jenny Jewiss, Roger Hardman, Mike Fleming, Liz Wright, Mike Smith and Jill Rutherford.