NAME AND COLOURS
1. The Club shall be called the GORING GAP BOAT CLUB LTD. hereafter known as the CLUB.
2. The colours shall be Kingfisher Blue and Deep Orange.
OBJECTIVES
3. The main purpose of the Club is to provide facilities for and promote participation in the sport of recreational rowing.
RUNNING OF THE CLUB
4(a) Goring Gap Boat Club is operated by Goring Gap Boat Club Ltd (Company Number 9977977)
4(b) GGBC Ltd is limited by guarantee. All members are “guarantors” of the company. Each guarantor’s personal liability is limited to £1.
4(c) The limited company Articles of Association (AoA) are registered at Companies House. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house The Club rules written here are not all included in the AoA. GGBC Ltd will adhere to these Club rules.
4(d) The directors of GGBC Ltd are elected annually at the GGBC Ltd AGM. Nominations are the President and Trustee of the boat club, and newly elected committee members (The Chair, Treasurer and Captain of Rowing).
4(e) The directors of GGBC Ltd delegate the running of the club to the committee.
MEMBERSHIP
5(a) Full Members – entitled to all privileges of the Club including the use of boats and all other training facilities under the direction of the Committee or any person authorised by them.
5(b) Junior Members – aged 13-17 at the date on which the subscription becomes due are entitled to full member privileges except they shall not be entitled to vote at any General Meeting of the Club. However, the Junior Member must be supervised by their parent, legal guardian or designated DBS-checked club member at all times while on club premises or on the water.
5(c) Fun Boat members – May be permitted the use of any boats designated “Funboats”. Fun boat members may bring guests with them to the club for the use of fun boats. Guests are the responsibility of the Fun Boat member and must be supervised by them, on and off the water at all times.
5(d) Guest Membership – Experienced guest rowers (friends or family of existing Full Members) are permitted two visits per year at a charge of £10 per visit. Guests need to be booked in advance with the Membership Secretary. Anyone training for or competing in any regatta the club organises, will be considered a Guest Member. No Guest Member shall be entitled to receive notice, attend or vote at any General Meeting of the Club or participate in the management of the Club.
5(e) Honorary Members – The Committee shall have the power to elect as an Honorary member without payment of subscription any person who shall in the opinion of the Committee, have rendered exceptional services to the Club, but such election shall be subject to ratification at the Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting next ensuing.
5(f) Life Patron – The Committee shall have the power to elect a Life Patron of the Club at such subscription as it by resolution shall decide. A Life Patron shall not be a member of the Club but shall be entitled to avail himself of such facilities as the Committee shall determine. The privileges of Life Patron, or Honorary Member shall extend for the natural life of the person so elected.
6. Members may be subject to approval by a simple majority of the Committee.
7. The Membership Secretary shall send to each member, immediately upon receipt of the membership fee, confirmation of membership together with a copy of these Rules, and shall maintain a list of all members of the Club.
8. The annual subscription of all members shall be due one year after joining/previous renewal. The subscription fee will be at the then current fee, determined by the Club at the Annual General Meeting for that year. Members not intending to renew their subscription are required to give 28 days notice (prior to their renewal date) to the Membership Secretary in order that their membership can be cancelled.
9. A member whose subscription is not paid by 28 days after the renewal falls due in any year shall be notified by email. If the subscription shall not be paid by 58 days after the due date that person shall cease to be a member.
10. Membership of the club shall be open to anyone interested in the sport on application regardless of sex, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or other beliefs. However, limitation of membership according to available facilities is allowable on a non-discriminatory basis.
11. The club may have different classes of membership and subscription on a non-discriminatory and fair basis. The club will keep subscriptions at levels that will not pose a significant obstacle to people participating.
12. Any member violating any of the rules or regulations of the Club or being adjudged guilty of unsatisfactory conduct may, by resolution of the Committee, be suspended or expelled. Any member so suspended or expelled may appeal to an independent Hearings Panel if such an appeal is approved by half of the officers of the Club. The panel may be drawn from the membership of the Club or from other clubs in the region. The panel will hear and receive evidence, reach a conclusion, affirm or reject the sanctions imposed as appropriate. Any hearings panel must give a fair and independent hearing to the appellant within an appropriate timescale. Hearings must not contravene the Human Rights Act 1998 or any other policies of the Club and British Rowing.
13. Child Protection Procedures – The Club accepts the policy and procedures relating to Child Protection, as set out by British Rowing, and requires all members to accept them as a condition of membership.
14. Safety & Welfare: The club’s activities will be conducted as much as practicable in accordance with the guidance provided by British Rowing from time to time including: (1) the “RowSafe” guidance, and (2) guidance on safeguarding children, young people and adults with care and support needs [Link: https://www.britishrowing.org/about-us/policies-guidance/rowsafe/]
15. An individual or member with a complaint about treatment by the Club should set out their grievance, in the first instance to the Club Chairman. The Club will seek to deal with complaints in a fair and timely manner, with reference to British Rowing’s Guidelines on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures in Rowing.
ADMINISTRATION
16. The officers of the Club shall be the President and the committee. The Committee shall be elected at each Annual General Meeting and shall hold office until the next Annual General Meeting when they shall retire but shall be eligible for re-election provided they have not been a member of the committee for five consecutive years.
17. The Committee shall consist of: Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Captain of Rowing, Captain of Boats, Site Manager, Membership Secretary, Club Safety Officer, and Welfare Officer and up to 3 other members. The Committee shall assign specific responsibility for various roles to each of the persons on the committee. The number of committee members is defined by the number of roles required and may vary depending on the requirements of the Club each year. Meetings of the Committee may be convened by any Committee member and seven shall be a quorum.
Committee roles may be shared by 2 members. Where they are shared, in the event of a vote, each role carries only one vote and shall only count once towards a quorum.
18. The Committee shall manage the affairs of the Club in accordance with the rules of the Club and define the duties of the several officers who shall in all respects be subject to the control of the Committee. In the event of the President retiring, the main Committee shall appoint a replacement.
19. The Committee may from time to time appoint from among the members such Sub-Committees as they deem necessary or expedient and may depute or refer to them such powers and duties of the Committee as the Committee may determine. Such Sub-Committees shall periodically report their proceedings to the Committee and shall conduct their business in accordance with the direction of the Committee.
20. The Committee shall have the power to make arrangements for local institutions to enjoy the amenities of the Club and the power to co-opt a responsible member from any such institution on to the Committee.
21. The Committee shall from time to time make, repeal and amend all such bylaws and regulations (not inconsistent with these rules) as they shall think expedient for the internal management of the Club. All such bylaws and regulations shall be binding on the members until repealed by the Committee or set aside by a resolution of a General Meeting of the Club.
22. Those members of the Club who are appointed by the Committee to supervise training sessions shall be regarded for their period of duty to be ex officio officers of the Club.
MEETINGS
23. An Annual General Meeting shall be held in November in each year, at a time and place determined by the Committee, and notified in writing (or by email) to the membership at least twenty-one days in advance. The business of the meeting shall be the election of the Committee, the passing of accounts and receiving reports of the Chairman, Captains and Treasurer. Also consideration of any proposed Rule changes and any other business of which notice shall have been given to the Secretary at least fourteen days before the meeting.
The membership shall be notified in writing (or by email) of the business of the AGM, including proposed rule changes and any other business, at least seven days prior to the meeting.
All notices required by this Rule shall be deemed to have been given if sent to the address of the member as recorded on the Club records.
24. The Committee may at any time and shall on the requisition of any 10 members, stating the purpose for which it is required convene an Extraordinary General Meeting for any specific purpose. The notification requirements shall be as stated for an AGM in Rule (24)
25. The financial year of the Club shall be from 1st October until the following September 30th.
AMENDMENT OF RULES AND DISSOLUTION
26. The Rules may be altered or repealed or new Rules may be made by resolution at an Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting duly summoned for that purpose, provided that no such resolution shall be deemed to have been passed unless carried by a majority of the members present and voting thereon.
27. If at any General Meeting a resolution for the dissolution of the Club be passed by a majority of three quarters of the members present and such resolution shall at a Special General Meeting held not less than one month thereafter be confirmed by resolution passed by a majority of 75% of the members voting thereon the Committee shall thereupon and at such resolution proceed to realise the assets of the Club.
After discharge of all debts and liabilities of the Club, the remaining assets shall not be paid or distributed amongst Members of the Club, but shall be given or transferred to one or more of the following:
i.to another Club with similar sports purposes which is a registered CASC and/or
ii.to another Club with similar sports purposes which is a registered charity and/or
iii.to British Rowing Limited for use by them for related community sports.
By completion of such transfer the Club shall be dissolved.