Join the BEDFORD BLUES SUPPORTERS CLUB
1. Objectives
a) The primary objective of the Association is:
i. To encourage and facilitate support of all teams within the Bedford Blues Rugby Club. This means the men’s, women’s, and junior teams. This is done by enhancing the experience of its members and increasing the numbers involved in active support of the Bedford Blues Rugby Club at home and away games plus other events.
b) The secondary Objectives are:
i. Provide information on and, where feasible arrange transport to, games played by anyBedford Blues rugby team to the Association’s members and other interested parties.
ii. to communicate the views of its members to the Bedford Blues Rugby Club.
iii. to organise social events for its members and other interested parties.
iv. to raise funds, through sponsorship and such other means as the Committee see fit, to finance the activities of the Association.
v. to organise charitable fund raising to charities chosen by the Committee and based on suggestions from the membership of the Association.
2. Association Membership
a) The membership year will run from August 1stto the following July 31st.
b) Full membership is available to those aged 18 and over with junior membership being available to those aged under 18, both at the beginning of the membership year.
c) Junior members will not be entitled to vote at any general meeting of the Association or to call any EGM.
d) Members will pay such subscriptions as may be determined by the Committee from time to time, provided that they do not exceed any limit agreed at an AGM.
e) The Committee may, with the approval of the members voting at the AGM, grant honorary membership of the Association to any individual. An honorary member will be entitled to all the benefits of full membership for life.
f) The Committee may expel from the Association any member who by their conduct has damaged the character or reputation of the Association or Bedford Blues Rugby.
g) Before any member is expelled, the Committee will enquire into their conduct and give them an opportunity to explain their conduct.
h) If the majority of the Committee believe the member has damaged the character or reputation of the Association or Bedford Blues Rugby and that it has not been explained satisfactorily, they will expel the member.
i) An expelled member will forfeit all rights and benefits associated with being a member and will not be entitled to any refund of their membership subscription.
j) A member may resign their membership in writing at any time by writing to the Committee. A member who resigns forfeits all rights and benefits associated with being a member and will not be entitled to any refund of their membership fee.
k) All Association members agree to be bound by the terms of this constitution as may be amended from time to time
3. Management Committee
a. Structure
i. The management of the Association is vested in the Committee, consisting of the President, the Chair, the Vice Chair, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Membership Secretary and up to eight additional elected ordinary members.
b. Elections
i. Those who wish to serve on the committee are normally elected at the AGM but the roles they take on are decided at the first committee meeting of the next season. The Election Rules are set out in Appendix B.
ii. In the event that the number of candidates nominated for election is less than the number of vacancies, the members elected at the AGM may co-opt other members to serve on the committee until the next AGM.
iii. In the event of the death, incapacity or resignation of a committee member, the remaining Committee members may elect another Association member to serve as a committee member until the next AGM. In the event that no other Association member consents to being elected to serve as a committee member in accordance with this paragraph, the Committee may continue to manage the Association until the next AGM provided it comprises at least five members.
iv. In the event that the Committee comprises less than five members for longer than a month the Committee will convene an EGM for the purposes of dissolving the Association.
v. In the event of the death, incapacity, or resignation of any particular officer of the Committee, the remaining Committee members may elect another Committee member to fill the relevant office until the next AGM.
c. Responsibilities
i. The Chair will be responsible for chairing all meetings of the Committee at which they are in attendance. In the event that the Chair is not in attendance, the Vice-Chair will act as chair for the purposes of the meeting.
ii. The Secretary will be responsible for maintaining a copy of this Constitution and records of any decisions taken, or resolutions passed by the Committee or the Association members, for publishing notices of general meetings, for notifying the Committee members of Committee meetings and for dealingwith correspondence.
iii. The Treasurer will be responsible for maintaining the other books and records of the Association and for preparing the annual accounts.
d. Voting
i. All members of the committee except the President are entitled to one equal vote at any committee meeting
ii. In the event of a tie in any committee votes, The President shall use a casting vote to break the deadlock.
e. Meetings
i. The Committee will meet as often as it sees fit. In order for a quorum to be constituted a majority of the then current Committee members must be present at the meeting with at least two being Officers. All Committee members will be given at least five days’ notice of any such meeting unless a meeting is required to be held at shorter notice and all Committee members agree to the shorter notice.
ii. Any decisions of the Committee will be made by a simple majority of those Committee members present at the relevant meeting
iii. Bedford Blues will be invited to send a representative to any meeting of the Committee where such attendance is judged to likely be beneficial to either the club or the Association. Any such club representative will be entitled to be heard at the meeting but will not be entitled to take part in any vote.
f. Commercial Activities
i. The Association will endeavour to avoid conflict with the commercial activities of Bedford Blues Rugby and in that regard the Committee will obtain the consent of Bedford Blues Rugby before agreeing any commercial activities on behalf of the Association.
g. Bedford Blues Ltd Share Holding
i. The Association holds a single share in Bedford Blues Ltd. In the event of any vote being held where this share is eligible to be used, the Chair of the Association is required to use the share to place a vote in accordance with the wishes of the Association’s Management Committee.
4. Association Meetings
a. The Association will hold at least one AGM in each calendar year.
b. The business to be transacted at the AGM will include the approval of any previous minutes of meetings of the members, the consideration of the accounts of the Association, the receipt of the President’s and Chair’s annual reports and the election of Committee members.
c. Notice of the AGM will be published no later than 21 days prior to the date of the AGM. This notice will include the date and time of the AGM, the venue at which it will be held, the relevant Record Date and the proposed agenda.
d. Members may propose additional agenda items for consideration at the AGM no later than 14days before the date of the AGM. In the event that additional items are to be included on the agenda, a revised agenda will be published in advance of the AGM.
e. The Committee may call an EGM at any time, provided that a notice of any such EGM is published at least 14 days prior to the date of the EGM. An EGM may also be called by 40 full members by notice in writing to the Committee stating the desire for such an EGM to be held and specifying the issue(s) they wish to discuss.
f. Any such EGM convened on the request of themembers will be held within 28 days of the request being received by the Committee and notice of the EGM will be published to the other members as soon as practicable after the request is received.
g. The notice of any EGM will include the date and time of the EGM, the venue at which it will be held and the proposed agenda.
h. The quorum for any general meeting will be 20full members present in person at the meetingin addition to 75% of the Management Committee.
i. Other than a decision to dissolve the Association, any decisions of the members will be made by a simple majority of those members present at the relevant meeting.
j. Voting at each general meeting will generally be decided on a show of hands, save that voting inthe Committee elections where a ballot is required in accordance with the Election Rules in Appendix B.
k. The Secretary will publish draft minutes of each AGM and EGM within 10 days of the relevant meeting. Any such minutes will be proposed to the members for approval at the next AGM
5. Financial Management
a. The Treasurer is the person primarily responsible for the fiscal management of the Association.
b. The Committee may open accounts on behalf of the Association with such financial institutions as the Committee may from time to time decide.
c. The Committee will decide from time to time which of its members will serve as authorised signatories for cheques drawn on the Association’s bank account(s).
d. The fiscal year of the Association will be determined by the Committee. Accounts of the Association will be prepared by the Treasurer to the end of each fiscal year and will be produced for approval by the Committee and presented to the members at the AGM.
e. Committee members must declare any potential conflict of interest in relation to any financial matters discussed at any Committee meeting.
f. All members of the management committee have a duty to report to the Treasurer immediately anything that occurs or is believed is about to occur that may have a material effect on the Association’s finances.
6. Miscellaneous
a. Association Dissolution
i. The Association can only be dissolved at an EGM called to consider that proposal.
ii. To be carried, the motion to dissolve the Association must have the support of 75% of those present and voting at such an EGM.
iii. Upon dissolution all funds and other property of the Association will be donated to a suitable charitable body as nominated by the Committee.
b. Membership Communications
i. The preferred method of communication between the Management Committee and members is E-Mail. However, postal communications are supported if necessary.
ii. A list of members, including their postal address and E-Mail address is maintained by the Membership Secretary and Web master. This is held and operated according to standard GDPR regulations. The contents are not available to the rest of the committee.
iii. Notification of all events that may impact the membership will be published on the Association’s Social Media outlets as soon as practical.
c. Constitution Updates
i. Any part of this constitution can be amended at any time but only by a resolution carried by a simple majority vote at a meeting of the members.
Appendix A – Definitions
The following words have the meanings set out for this constitution:
“AGM”The Annual General Meeting ofmembers of the Association.
“Association”The Bedford Rugby Followers Association.
“Association Social Media”The social media outlets that may be used by the Association from time to time. These include, but are not necessarily limited to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A full list of the social media outlets currently in use (and links to them) can be found on the Association’s web site (https://wwwbedfordrfa.org).
“Bedford Blues Rugby” The Bedford Blues Rugby Club part of the English Rugby Football Union.
“Committee”The general committee of the Association in which the generalmanagement of the Association is vested.
“Election Rules” The rules governing elections to the Committee which are set outin Appendix A to the constitution.
“EGM” An extraordinary general meeting of the members of the Association.
“Record Date” The record date for determining the members entitled to attendand vote at a general meeting, which will be specified in the notice convening the meeting.
Appendix B – Management Committee Election Rules
a. The closing date for nominations for Committee membership will be specified in the notice convening the AGM.
b. Any nomination received after this date will not be considered.
c. Candidates must be nominated and seconded by full members of the Association.
d. A member may only endorse a maximum of two candidates at each election, as either a nominator or seconder.
e. No junior member may stand, nominate, second or vote in an election.
f. Nomination forms can be obtained from the website or a member of the Committee.
g. Nomination forms must be completed in full, or the nomination will be declared invalid.
h. The President position is for a three-year term. At the AGM immediately preceding when that term is about to expire, the members will also elect the President.
i. The Chair and Vice-Chair roles are each for a 2-year term and their terms are off-set so that only one of these roles is elected at each AGM.
j. Elections will take place at the AGM. In the event the number of candidates nominated for election is equal to or less than the number of vacancies on the Committee, the members present at the AGM may elect all such candidates to the Committee by a simple majority vote decided by a show of hands.
k. If the members vote against the election of any candidates to the Committee, or if the number of candidates nominated for election is greater than the number of vacancies on the Committee, the election shall take place by ballot in accordance with the following rules:
i. Each full member on the relevant Record Date in attendance at the AGM will be issued with one ballot paper.
ii. Postal or proxy votes will not be accepted.
iii. At the AGM full members may cast their votes, on the basis of one vote per vacancy on the Committee.
iv. Members may choose to cast less than the full number of votes available to them.
v. The ballot papers will be counted by three scrutineers who are members of the Association but who are not candidates.
vi. Any ballot papers which are agreed by the scrutineers as being spoilt will not be counted.
vii. All votes will be counted on the day of the AGM. If this is not possible the ballot papers will be held in a place agreed by the scrutineers and counted the following day.
viii. The candidates receiving the greatest number of votes will be elected to the Committee. In the event of a tie, those candidates not involved in the tie who have been elected to the Committee will have the deciding vote.
ix. The results of the election will be announced on the same day as the AGM. If this is not possible, the results will be announced within seven days of the AGM.
l) The Committee year will run from the conclusion of one AGM until the conclusion of the following AGM. Committee members may stand for re-election.
m) The Committee will appoint individual roles from among its numbers at the first committee meeting of the following season.
n) All candidates agree to be bound by these Election Rules and the constitution of the Association.
