----------------------- Page 1----------------------- RULES OF THE BRISTOL BRIDGE CLUB Amended June 2011 1. The name of the Club shall be Bristol Bridge Club hereinafter to be called The Club. 2. The objectives of The Club shall be: the promotion, the playing and teaching of bridge; social intercourse; providing and maintaining premises with all suitable amenities; affording to all members all the usual privileges, rights and advantages of a club. 3.(i) The officers of The Club shall be the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman, the Treasurer, the Membership Secretary and the Secretary. 3.(ii) Election of a member of The Club to the post of Vice-Chairman shall take place at an Annual general Meeting of The Club not less than once every two years. Subject always to rule 3(iii), a member so elected shall be entitled to serve as Vice-Chairman until the next Annual General Meeting at which he, or she, may become Chairman. The Chairman shall be entitled to serve for two years after which he or she shall be entitled to serve as Vice-Chairman for a further year. 3.(iii) A Chairman and/or Vice-Chairman may be dismissed or appointed by a motion properly submitted and passed at an Annual General Meeting (rule 8) or a Special General Meeting (rule 9). A Chairman or Vice-Chairman appointed at a Special General Meeting may serve until the next Annual General Meeting. 3.(iv) A vacancy in the post of Chairman or Vice-Chairman shall be filled at an Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting. 3.(v) The Secretary shall be appointed or replaced by the Committee on the terms and at such times as the Committee shall decide. A mid term vacancy in the post of Membership Secretary shall be filled by the committee until the next AGM 4.(i).a The objectives of The Club shall be promoted by and the management of The Club vested in a general committee hereinafter called The Committee. 4.(i).b The finances of The Club shall be controlled by The Committee. (see also rule 4.(ii)a) The committee shall be restricted to spending no more than five thousand pounds on any one development project. Any requirement above that should be put to the membership for approval. 4.(i).c The Committee shall consist of the officers and not more than eight other members of The Club. Such members shall be elected to The Committee at an Annual General meeting and shall be entitled to serve for three years, at the end of which term they shall retire and be eligible for re-election. ----------------------- Page 2----------------------- RULES OF THE BRISTOL BRIDGE CLUB Amended June 2011 4.(ii).a The Committee shall be empowered to appoint such permanent and temporary staff as deemed necessary in pursuance of the objectives of The Club. Persons appointed may be required to attend Committee meetings and, if so, shall have the right to vote on all matters except where it concerns to their appointment. 4.(ii).b The Committee shall be responsible for deciding the amount of all subscriptions, tournament fees and table monies. 5.(i).a The Committee shall meet not less than four times each year at such dates and times as determined by The Committee. Except under exceptional circumstances, the Secretary shall give to each member of The Committee not less than fourteen days notice of the time, date and place of each meeting. 5.(i).b At Committee meetings, seven members shall be deemed to form a quorum. 5.(i).c The Chairman or Vice-Chairman may call an emergency Committee meeting without prior notice to other members of The Committee with the proviso that all reasonable attempts are made to inform such members. 5.(ii).a The Chairman, or in his or her absence, the Vice-Chairman shall preside at Committee meetings. In the absence of both the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman those Committee members present shall elect a temporary Chairman who shall preside for that meeting. 5.(ii).b All the elected members shall be entitled to vote on each and every motion see also rule 4 (ii) a). In the event of a tie, the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote. 5.(ii).c Minutes of the proceedings of Committee meetings shall be kept by the Secretary or in his or her absence, by a designated Committee member and the accuracy of these minutes shall be duly voted on and the substantiated version signed as correct by the Chairman at the next meeting. Copies of the minutes of each meeting shall be forwarded to all Committee members by the Secretary as soon as possible after the meeting. A copy of the minutes of each Committee meeting shall be displayed on the on Club notice board. Rule 5.(iii).a. There shall be a standing Disciplinary sub-committee to deal with complaints regarding alleged misconduct of members or officials as quickly and fairly as possible. b. The Disciplinary sub-committee shall comprise the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Membership Secretary and the Club Secretary. It may also include any additional members agreed in committee or co-opted by the sub-committee. No member of the sub-committee shall participate when they are involved in the incident concerned. ----------------------- Page 3----------------------- RULES OF THE BRISTOL BRIDGE CLUB Amended June 2011 c. Three members of the sub-committee one of whom must be the Chairman or Vice- Chairman shall be regarded as a quorum. d. The complaint should be raised in writing by the Club member including details of witnesses with the Secretary of the Club or in his absence with the Chairman, Vice- Chairman or Membership Secretary and recorded in the ‘Incident Book’. e. The Secretary or in his absence the officer shall attempt to get the two parties to resolve the issue amicably. If these attempts fail the complaint shall be reported to the Chairman for consideration by the Disciplinary sub-committee. f. The Disciplinary sub-committee shall meet to consider the complaint in accordance with the procedures established by the Club Committee g. When the formal complaint is upheld the following order of penalties will normally be applied 1.Verbal warning (recorded on file for one year) ` 2. Written warning 3. Suspension for a period to be determined but not less than three months 4. Incidents regarded by the sub-committee as being gross misconduct will always incur immediate suspension. 5.(iv).a The Committee may, if it shall deem necessary, appoint a sub-committee to manage specific promotions on behalf of The Club. 5.(iv).b Members of a sub-committee may be members of The Committee and/or such other persons as the Committee shall deem proper. 5.(iv).c A sub-committee shall restrict itself to the terms of reference specified by The Committee and any recommendations by the sub-committee shall be subject to the approval of The Committee. 5.(v) The Committee shall have the power to co-opt members for service thereon as and when it thinks fit. 5.(vi) The Committee shall have the power to suspend or terminate the membership of any member at any time if, in the opinion of the committee, such suspension or termination would be in the interests of The Club.. If the membership of any member is suspended or terminated under this rule, an appropriate proportion of the annual subscription for the current year, if paid, shall be refunded. The reasons for such termination or suspension of membership shall be conveyed to the Member and he or she shall be granted the right of personal appeal to the Committee. ----------------------- Page 4----------------------- RULES OF THE BRISTOL BRIDGE CLUB Amended June 2011 6.(i) Every candidate for full membership shall be proposed and seconded by members of The Club, both of whom should have a personal knowledge of the candidate and have been members of The Club for at least six months. Notice of every nomination for membership shall be displayed for at least seven days before election. 6.(ii) A candidate for election to membership shall be balloted for by The Committee and if one quarter or more of the votes be cast against the Candidate the application shall be rejected. The Committee in no case be compelled to state reasons for such rejection. 6.(iii) Every newly elected member shall receive notice from the Membership Secretary of his or her election together with a request for payment of any outstanding appropriate proportion the annual Club subscription (see rule 7(ii)). Such subscription shall be paid within thirty days or the election shall be deemed void. When an elected candidate has paid the subscription the candidate shall be a member of The club and be entitled to all privileges of membership and shall be deemed to have agreed to abide by the Rules and Bye-Laws of The Club. 6.(iv) Persons other than members may apply for temporary membership for a period not exceeding three months in any one year and may be elected without prior nomination by any two members of The Committee. Such membership shall become effective two days after election. 6.(v) Members shall be permitted to introduce guests and entertain them at The Club. The Guest and Member shall both sign their names in the visitors book which shall be kept at The Club for that purpose. No member shall, at any time, introduce a guest who has been rejected as a member of The Club or who is currently under suspension of membership. No visitor may be entertained at The Club more than six times in any one year, save at the discretion of the Chairman. All accounts incurred by members and their guests shall be paid by the Member before leaving The Club. 7.(i) The subscription shall be from 1st April to 31st March next and all subscriptions shall become due on 1st April. 7.(ii) New members joining after 1st October shall pay a lower rate as set by the committee. Temporary members shall pay approximately one third of the annual subscription as set by the committee.. 7.(iii) If a member has not paid his/her annual subscription by 1st May the Secretary shall inform the member that payment is overdue. If the subscription has not been paid by 1st June membership shall be deemed to have lapsed. Upon application for renewal a lapsed member will be required to pay the full annual subscription for the year in which application is made but will not be required to reapply for membership. Discretion shall be exercised by the Secretary as to the manner of application of this rule, allowing for extenuating circumstances. ----------------------- Page 5----------------------- RULES OF THE BRISTOL BRIDGE CLUB Amended June 2011 7.(iv) All Club competitions awarding prizes or trophies can only award the prizes or trophies to the highest scoring competitor(s) who at the start of the competition is a member of the Club and not in arrears with their membership fees. Exceptions to this rule shall be decided by the committee and clearly stated as to the basis of the competition before the event. 8.(i) The Club shall hold an Annual General Meeting every year and within the following fifteen months. Notice of the meeting shall be posted in The Club premises at least four weeks prior to the Annual General Meeting. Such notice shall state the business to be transacted at the meeting. 8.(ii) The business of the Annual General Meeting shall be: (a) To appoint two tellers to count the postal votes and votes at the meeting. (b) The reading and approval of the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting and of any Special General Meeting which may have occurred since the date thereof. (c) Matters arising from the above. (d) The Chairman’s Address (e) The Secretary’s Report (f) The Treasurer’s Report and approval of accounts. (g) Election of Officers (h) Election of other Committee members as necessary. (i) Motions of which seven days notice shall be received by the Secretary. Motions shall be submitted to the Secretary in writing bearing the names of the Proposer and Seconder. (j) Any other business as the Chairman may select. 8.(iii) Notices inviting nominations for the office of Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, Membership Secretary and for members of the Committee shall be displayed on The Club notice board for at least three weeks prior to the Annual General Meeting. Such notices shall give the name of the Nominee together with the names of the Proposer and Seconder. The Nominee shall sign the notice to denote assent. Nominations shall close seven days before the Annual General Meeting. 8.(iv) Persons eligible to vote at the Annual General Meeting shall be the present members of The Club when the meeting is notified. An application for a Proxy or Postal vote form must be made within two weeks from the notice of the Annual General meeting. Proxy/Postal vote forms will be issued six days before the AGM by 1st class mail to the address held on club records. The completed forms must be delivered to the Club before the start of the meeting. 8.(v) At an Annual General Meeting, twenty members shall be deemed to form a quorum. 9. (i) Any other General Meeting shall be known as a Special General Meeting and may be convened by the Secretary at the request of the Committee or on application in ----------------------- Page 6----------------------- RULES OF THE BRISTOL BRIDGE CLUB Amended June 2011 writing by at least twenty members of The Club. Notice of the business of the Special General Meeting and of the time and place shall be displayed on The Club notice board not less than twenty-one days before the Meeting shall be held. The business of the Special General Meeting will be that for which it is called and no other. 9. (ii) Voting at the Special General Meeting shall be as rule 8. (iv) and 8. (v). 10.(i) If at any General Meeting a motion is passed for the dissolution of The Club, the Committee shall proceed to realise the property of the Club and after the discharge of all its liabilities shall proceed to hand over all the assets to such a body having similar objectives to those of The Club as shall be specified in the motion. 10.(ii) A resolution of dissolution can only be passed by a vote of three to one or greater in favour of the motion. 11.(i) The opening hours of The Club shall be determined by the committee. 11.(ii) The Club will not open on Christmas Day. 12. The hours during which intoxicating liquors may be supplied in The Club shall be as determined by The Committee and as permitted by the licensing laws. 13. The Chairman may at any time, subject to a resolution passed by The Committee, appoint a trustee or trustees of the Club, save that there shall not, at any time be more than four trustees of The Club. The assets of The Club, including property, shall be held by the aforementioned Trustees on behalf of all members. The Trustees shall deal with the assets of The Club on behalf of all members. The Trustees shall deal with the assets of The Club in accordance with the rules of The Club. 14. Alterations to these rules can only be made at an Annual General Meeting. 15. The Committee shall determine any question of the interpretation of these rules and may rule any occurrence not otherwise catered for in these rules. 16.(i) Opening hours for the bar will be from midday until 11.00pm. 16.(ii) The Secretary shall purchase liquor for the Club and be responsible to the Committee. 16.(iii) Visitors to the Club may not purchase alcoholic liquor.