APPROVED 30-11-2022 --- changes underlined

Aims

The club shall be called the Bassett Lawn Tennis Club (the Club). The Club is a non-profit making members Club run by, and for the benefit of, its members. The aims of the Club are to provide the necessary facilities and infrastructure for the playing of team and social tennis from its premises at Wilton Road, Shirley, Southampton.

Club Constitution and Club Rules

This Constitution may only be amended by a simple majority of the members present and voting at a General Meeting, save that any amendment to the paragraph ‘Trustees’ or to this Rule, ‘Club Constitution and Club Rules’, shall require a three quarters majority of the members present and voting at a General Meeting

To assist with the management of the Club there are Club Rules (the Rules). The Rules can be varied by the Committee and must be ratified or varied at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). 

The Rules and Constitution should be posted on the Club web site and should be clearly displayed in the clubhouse at all times. All members should familiarise themselves with, and abide by, the Rules and Constitution.         

Management

Officers

 The Officers of the Club may include the honorary role of a President. The management shall be in the hands of a Committee of up to 12 members. The President is not part of the Committee.

The Committee shall be elected at the AGM and shall include a Chair, a Secretary and a Treasurer. The other roles of the Committee shall be proposed by the Committee prior to the AGM and a nomination form displayed in the Clubhouse no less than 14 days before such AGM.  If the proposed roles are not filled at the AGM, General Committee Members can be appointed by the AGM.

The committee shall not contain more than three members of the same family or household at any time.

When electing committee members, the committee and attendees at the AGM will consider the skills and diversity of the existing committee and prospective candidates.

From the 2020 AGM onwards, all appointed members and officers of the club committee will complete and sign the club conflicts of interest policy log. This log will be updated annually at the AGM, and at regular intervals throughout the year by all committee members. The log will be held by the club safeguarding officer. The log will be available for members to view upon request. The log will document known and potential conflicts of interest held by the committee members and will be used as a reference point for any relevant committee discussions and decisions throughout the year. Examples of relevant conflicts to declare could be e.g a builder, sports goods provider, fencing contractor etc. Conflicts of interest do not preclude individuals from joining the committee, but will be taken into account when making decisions.

An Honorary Auditor will be elected at the AGM and the annual accounts and balance sheet of the Club, duly audited, shall be presented at that meeting.

A quorum for a Committee Meeting shall be no less than 50% of the current number of committee members.

Minutes of the Committee Meetings will be displayed in the clubhouse.

Committee decisions shall preferably be taken by consensus. As a back-up option, the Chair can ask for a vote by committee members. In such a situation, the Chair is non-voting, other than if the vote results in a tie, in which case the Chair has the casting vote.

Coaches

The Committee may appoint one or more coaches who are deemed to be nonvoting members of the Club. The coaches are accountable to, but will not be a member of, the Committee. The coaches will not have voting rights at General Meetings.

Committee Powers

The Committee shall have power to apply the assets and funds of the club for the purpose and objects of the club, in such manner as shall be deemed expedient and to do all such acts and things (including leasing, re-leasing, acquiring, exchanging, improving, developing and hiring real and personal property, investing monies, borrowing monies and giving security for borrowing) as shall be deemed necessary or expedient for the purposes of the Club or the advancement of its interests.

The Committee can co-opt a member onto the Committee if there is a vacancy which brings the total to no more than 12 people. General Committee Members can be allocated specific roles by the Committee.

General Meetings

All subscribing Adult Playing Members and Life Members shall have the power to vote at any General Meeting.  An Adult Playing Member is one who has paid one of the Adult subscriptions as defined in the Club Rules and is 18 years or over at the start of the Subscription Year (See paragraph ‘Membership’). A Life Member must be elected by an AGM.

The AGM is to be held within 3 months of the end of the financial year, which shall be 30th September. At least 21 days notice of the date, time and place of the AGM must be given. The meeting agenda must be circulated at least 7 days before the AGM. Notice of the date, time and place of the meeting is deemed to be given by displaying a notice in the clubhouse. The agenda must be both displayed in the Clubhouse and sent by email to the email address provided by each member. If a member does not provide an email address the agenda will be sent to the residential address given by the member. 

General Meetings can be summoned at any time at the discretion of the Committee, or upon a requisition in writing, together with the proposal, signed by at least 20 members. This meeting must be held within 28 days of such a requisition being received. At least seven days notice of the agenda, date, time and place of the meeting is to be given to every member by displaying a notice in the clubhouse and by sending notice by email to the email address provided by each member. If a member does not provide an email address the notice will be sent to the residential address given by the member. 

A quorum for any General Meeting shall be fifteen members.

If a resolution or direction of the Committee for the sale or lease or mortgage of the Property of the Club is to be passed the quorum shall be fifty members with a three-quarters majority of those present and voting, as provided for in the section ‘Trustees’

Minutes of the General meetings will be displayed in the clubhouse.

Membership

Renewed membership shall be annual from 1 April to 31 March. This is deemed to be the Subscription Year. Renewing Members’ subscriptions are due by 1st April. The Committee have the power to alter the start/end date of the membership year to ensure the fair and sustainable running of the club on behalf of its members (only to be used in extreme circumstances e.g Covid 19 lockdown).

All new memberships must be ratified by the Committee at the next meeting. No person shall become a member unless a period of not less than 2 days has elapsed since the application for membership. 

The annual subscription for all types of membership shall be decided at the AGM. New members joining the Club during the season shall pay a proportionate subscription on joining at the rate fixed by the Committee.

The Club is affiliated to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). A condition of this affiliation is that all members, committee members and coaches agree to be bound by the LTA Disciplinary Code.  Agreement to be bound by the LTA Disciplinary Code is, therefore, a condition of becoming a member, committee member or coach of the Club.  The LTA Disciplinary Code will be posted on the Club website.

Playing visitors may be introduced at a daily fee to be decided at the AGM. No visitor may play more than six days each subscription year.

Trustees

The ‘Property of the Club’ is defined as all the land and buildings situated at 124-  142 Wilton Road, Shirley, Southampton, SO15 5JR. This is described in a conveyance dated 26 October 1951.                       

The Property of the Club shall be vested in a Trustee, or Trustees, to be appointed by the Committee. The Trustees must comprise of not less than three individual trustees, or a bank, or a trust corporation.

The Trustee or Trustees must deal with The Property as and when the Committee may from time to time direct by resolution, of which an entry in the recorded minutes of the Club Committee meetings shall be conclusive evidence. 

The Club should indemnify the Trustees for any costs associated with actioning a properly ratified Resolution, and it is not unusual to have indemnity insurance in place to cover this..

The Trustees shall hold office for a five year term (that may be continued for further successive terms of five years if agreed by the Committee), or until death or resignation, or reaching the age of 79 years, or until removal from office by the Committee.   Where, due to the expiry of term, death, resignation, reaching the age limit or removal, it is necessary that a new trustee or trustees be appointed, the Committee shall nominate the person or persons or bank or trust corporation to be appointed the new trustee or trustees.   For the purpose of giving effect to such nomination the Chairperson of the Club is hereby nominated as the person to appoint new Trustees of the Club within the meaning of Section 36 of the Trustee Act 1925, and who will by Deed duly appoint the person or persons or bank or trust corporation so nominated by the Committee.

The Trustee or Trustees for the time being shall on their appointment acknowledge that they will hold the Property of the Club upon trust for the members of the Club according to the Club Constitution, and will sell, lease, mortgage or otherwise deal with the Property as the Committee of the Club shall from time to time direct, provided always that a resolution or direction of the Committee for the sale or lease or mortgage of the Property of the Club shall be ineffectual unless and until ratified by a three quarters majority of the members present and voting at a General Meeting at which at least 50 members are present.

The Committee must ensure that a meeting is held with the Trustees at least once every five years.

Sale of alcohol

Members, guests, visiting clubs and their guests may be permitted to use the premises and to purchase intoxicating liquor on the premises. The times and conditions governing the sale of intoxicating liquors at the Club shall be under the overall control of the Committee and in accordance with the Club’s licence.

Junior Section

Associated with the Club shall be a Junior Section controlled by the Committee. The Junior Section shall be run according to the Junior Rules. Junior members shall pay subscriptions, the amounts of which shall be decided at the AGM.