Bye-laws:
- Scope
- Objects
- Headquarters
- Clubhouse
- Membership
- Management
- The Chairman
- The Diving Officer
- The Secretary
- The Treasurer
- Annual General Meeting
- Special General Meetings
- Voting
- Committee
- Quarterly Meetings
- Branch Activities
- Discipline
- Subscriptions
- Dissolution
- Amendment
- British Sub-Aqua Club Rules
1. Scope
These Bye-laws shall regulate the structure, administration and activities
of a Branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club to be known as Stingray Divers
Branch (hereinafter 'the Branch').
2. Objects
The aims and objects of the Branch shall be to provide for its members facilities,
opportunity and training for diving in accordance with the standards of the
British Sub-Aqua Club, together with related social activities.
3. Headquarters
The Headquarters of the Branch shall be at the home of the current DIving Officer
or at such other location as may be decided by the Branch
in General Meeting; provided, however, that the Branch's committee of management
provided for in Bye-law 6 ('the Committee') may at any time
designate an alternative venue which shall be the interim Headquarters until
the change of venue has been voted upon by the Branch.
4. Clubhouse
The Committee shall maintain a clubhouse or appoint another
meeting place for the convenience of members; provided, however, that no change
in clubhouse or meeting place shall be final unless and until it has been ratified
by the Branch in General Meeting.
5. Membership
- There shall be eight classes of membership:
- Full Diving Membership, for which any person 14 years of age or over
shall be eligible.
- Associate Membership, for which any person shall be eligible but which
shall not entitle such a member to take part in snorkelling or any other
activity involving his use of a breathing set.
- Junior Membership, for which any person under the age of 19 years shall
be eligible but which shall not entitle such a member to take part in
any activity involving his use of a breathing set or in spearfishing.
- Snorkelling Membership, for which any person of 19 years and over shall
be eligible but which shall not entitle such a member to take part in
any activity involving his use of a breathing set.
- Student Membership, for which any person of the age of 18 or over shall
be eligible provided that they are in full time education.
- Junior Diving Membership, for which any person between the age of 14-17
shall be eligible.
- Junior Snorkelling Membership, for which any person between the age
8-18 years shall be eligible but which shall not entitle such a member
to take part in any activity involving his use of a breathing set.
- Honorary Membership, which shall be conferred solely by the Branch Committee
and for which any person shall be eligible.
- An applicant for membership of the Branch shall apply
to the Committee, and upon acceptance of his application and payment of the
appropriate Branch and National Headquarters subscriptions shall be a member
of the class for which he has applied and is eligible. The Committee may delegate
to such members of the Branch as it may see fit the responsibility for entertaining
and accepting applications for membership.
- A member shall retain his membership until he has resigned
or is deemed to have resigned in accordance with this paragraph or Bye-law
17. If payment of his Branch or National Headquarters subscriptions,
if any, in respect of any period is 30 days or more overdue, a member shall
be deemed to have resigned.
6. Management
- The Branch shall be managed by a Committee elected at each
Annual General Meeting of the Branch which shall comprise four officers, who
shall serve ex officio, and no less than one nor more than five other
members.
- The four Branch Officers shall be the Chairman, the Diving Officer, the
Secretary and the Treasurer. The duties of the Officers shall be as set out
in the following Bye-laws.
- The Committee shall hold and administer for the benefit of the membership
all funds, equipment and property owned by the Branch.
7. The Chairman
The Chairman shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Branch.
He shall take the chair at all meetings of the Branch and of the Committee at
which he is present, and subject to the provisions of these Rules, his decision
on matters of procedure shall be final.
8. The Diving Officer
The Branch's Diving Officer derives his authority in training
and diving matters from the National Diving Officer of the British Sub-Aqua
Club. He shall have responsibility for the training and diving activities of
the Branch and for the safe conduct thereof, and he shall ensure that the said
activities are carried on in accordance with such practices and procedures as
may be recommended from time to time by the National Diving Officer or pursuant
to his authorisation. The Diving Officer may delegate training duties to a Training
Officer, who shall be responsible to him for the performance thereof. The Diving
Officer's decision in respect of his responsibilities shall be final in the
Branch, subject only to such guidelines consistent with this Bye-law as may
be established from time to time by the Committee.
9. The Secretary
The Secretary shall maintain the Branch records and shall record
the meetings of the Committee. General Meetings of the Branch, and such other
meetings as the Chairman may request. He shall be primarily responsible for
the Branch's communications with third parties, and shall keep the Officers,
the Committee and/or the Branch, as may be appropriate, informed of matters
coming to his attention which pertain to Branch activities.
10. The Treasurer
The Treasurer shall be responsible for dealing with all monies
received or paid on behalf of the Branch, shall make any investment of Branch
funds approved by the Committee, shall keep records and proper books of account
of all financial transactions conducted in the Branch's name, and shall prepare
for consideration by the Committee a statement of income and expenditure and
a balance sheet to the tenth last day of each year which he shall cause
to be audited by the Branch auditors for submission to the Annual General Meeting.
He shall arrange for all Branch funds and securities to be
kept on deposit with a bank or banks approved by the Committee and shall maintain
a current account or accounts on which cheques or other orders may be signed
by any two Officers. With the approval of the Committee, the Treasurer may open
one or more other current accounts on which any other member of the Committee
has joint signature authority.
11. Annual General Meeting
- The Annual General Meeting of the Branch shall be held in
October each year. Notice of the meeting and the agenda thereof shall
be sent by post, email or otherwise transmitted to all paid-up members 4 weeks
before the meeting.
- The Notice shall identify those members of the Committee
who are standing again and shall request nominations for Officers and the
Committee in large. Committee members standing again shall be deemed to have
been nominated by the Committee.
- To be valid, nominations not deemed to have been made
by the Committee must be [a] delivered to the Secretary in writing (including by email) at least
fourteen (14) days before the meeting, [b] seconded and [c] endorsed by the
Nominee to the effect that he is willing to accept the position if he is elected.
- The Officers and other members of the Committee shall
be elected at the meeting by ballot. If a nominee stands unopposed, he shall
be deemed to have been so elected.
- The notice of the meeting shall also include the text
of any motion proposed by the Committee. Any member may propose amendments
to such motion and may make any further motion for consideration at the meeting,
but such amendments and further motions must be proposed and seconded in writing
and delivered to the Secretary not less than fourteen (14) days before the
meeting.
- Upon motion made by the Committee, the meeting may vote
to appoint a President for the ensuing year. If a President is appointed,
he shall be ex officio a non-voting member of the Committee.
- At least ten per cent (10%) of the Branch's membership
entitled to vote at the meeting shall be required for a quorum, but a quorum
once formed shall not be lost despite the departure from the meeting of any
member or members.
- The right to vote at the meeting shall be restricted
to subscription paying members whose current subscriptions are fully paid.
12. Special General Meetings
- Any General Meeting of the Branch other than the Annual
General Meeting shall be known as a Special General Meeting.
- The Committee may call a Special General Meeting at any
time upon giving not less than fourteen (14) days written notice thereof to
all paid-up members. The notice shall state the reasons for the meeting and
shall include the text of any motion proposed for consideration thereat. Amendments
to such motion may be proposed at the meeting.
- The Committee shall call a Special General Meeting upon
receipt of a request to do so signed by not less than four paid-up
members, provided that the request states the reason therefore and contains
the text of at least one motion proposed for consideration thereat. The provisions
of the preceding paragraph shall apply with regard to convocation and conduct
of the meeting.
- The business of a Special General Meeting shall be that
for which it was called and no other.
- The provisions of Bye-laws 11 (vii)
and (viii) shall apply to Special General Meetings.
13. Voting
- Subject to the provisions of Bye-law 11
(iv) and 19 (ii)
and of the next succeeding paragraph, voting on any given motion at a General
Meeting shall be by show of hands or by ballot, as the Chairman may decide
and motions shall be carried by the affirmative votes of a simple majority
of voting members present.
- Subject to Bye-law 20. a motion to
alter these Bye-laws shall only be carried by at least a two-thirds majority
of affirmative votes cast by not less than 10% of the members of the Branch
entitled to vote at General Meetings. Such motion may be voted upon in General
Meeting or by postal ballot of all voting members.
- Except as provided in Bye-laws 19
and 20, the Committee may put any motion to the voting membership
at any time by postal ballot.
Voting papers for such ballot shall be sent to all paid-up
members not less than fourteen (14) days before the date on which the votes
are to be counted. A motion put to postal ballot shall only be carried by a
majority of affirmative votes cast by not less than 10% of the members of the
Branch entitled to vote at General Meetings.
14. Committee
- The Committee shall take office upon election and shall
hold office until their successors have been elected.
- At its first meeting, the Committee shall appoint one
of their members Vice-Chairman.
- The Committee shall have the power to fill any vacancy
amongst the Officers of the Branch or amongst the rest of the Committee's
membership which occurs during their term of office, and any person newly
appointed to the Committee to fill such vacancy shall become a full voting
member thereof. The Committee shall also have the power to co-opt up to four
non-voting members.
- The Committee shall determine any question as to the
interpretation of these Bye-laws and of any regulations made hereunder and
may rule in connection with any situation not otherwise provided for herein.
In the latter event, such ruling shall only remain in effect until the next
General Meeting of the Branch. Its continued validity shall depend upon ratification
of that meeting.
- A simple majority of voting Committee members then serving
shall form a quorum for a meeting; provided, however, that no quorum shall
be formed without the presence of either the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman,
or the Secretary. A quorum once formed shall not be lost even though, as a
result of the departure of a member during the meeting, the number of voting
members falls below the number required to open the meeting.
- No resolution may be adopted by the Committee unless:
- it has the affirmative votes of a simple majority of those members present
and entitled to vote, and .
- the number of such votes is at least equal to a simple majority of the
number of members required to open the meeting at which the resolution is
proposed.
- No member shall be entitled to vote on a matter in which
his interest differs from that of the Branch as a whole, and he shall withdraw
from any meeting during the period of discussion of such interest.
- Any Officer and the Vice-Chairman shall each have the
power to require the Secretary to call a meeting of the Committee at any time.
15. Quarterly Meetings
The Committee shall arrange for informal quarterly meetings
of the Branch to provide an opportunity for an exchange of opinions between
the membership and the Committee. Notice of a meeting shall be posted on the
Branch notice board not less than two weeks before the date thereof.
16. Branch Activities
- At the discretion of the Diving Officer, Branch diving
and open-water training activities shall be open to members of other Branches
and to guests.
- Subject to such regulations as may be established from
time to time by the Committee, any Branch member and, with the prior approval
of the official in charge of the session, any visitor from another Branch
or any guest may use the training pool for training, testing equipment, swimming
with basic equipment and free swimming. No-one shall use any equipment other
than basic equipment without the prior approval of the official in charge
of the session.
- If a member damages or loses Branch equipment the Committee
may charge that member the cost of repairing or replacing the article. The
Committee may similarly charge a member who damages or loses private property
used in connection with Branch activities.
17. Discipline
- Temporary suspension from participation:
- In order to ensure the safety and good name of the Branch and its members,
the person in charge of a Branch activity may suspend, at his discretion
and for the duration of the activity, any member who misconducts himself.
Any such suspension shall be reported as soon as possible to the
Chairman or the Secretary and shall be discussed at the next meeting of
the Committee.
- The Committee shall first discuss the incident without the presence
of the member in question and then shall invite him to join the discussion
and express his view of the matter.
- Suspension and loss of membership:
- The Committee shall have the power by a two-thirds majority of all serving
voting members to suspend the membership of any member of the Branch.
Suspension of the membership of any Officer or other Committee member
shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the next succeeding
sub-clause. A decision to suspend so taken shall be immediately communicated
to the member concerned, and his membership shall thereupon be suspended.
A suspended member shall be entitled to demand a hearing at the next regular
meeting of the Committee during which the reasons for his suspension shall
be made fully known and he shall be given the opportunity to answer fully
the charges against him. Upon conclusion of the hearing, the member shall
leave the meeting and the Committee shall vote again on the suspension.
If the motion is not carried by the requisite two-thirds majority, the
suspension shall thereupon be lifted and the member shall be informed
accordingly. If the motion is carried again by the said majority, the
member shall be so informed and he shall thereupon be deemed to have resigned
his membership in the Branch. The member affected shall have the right
to appeal from the decision of the Committee to the next General Meeting
of the Branch. In that regard, he shall for the purposes of Bye-laws 11
(v) and 12 (iii)
have the rights of a paid-up member.
- Suspension of the membership of an Officer or other Committee member
shall only be voted upon at a meeting the agenda of which [a] has been
posted or distributed to all Committee members at least one week prior
to the meeting and [b] explicitly refers to the motion of suspension.
If the person charged attends the meeting, he shall be entitled to hear
and respond to the charges levied against him. When the Chairman of the
meeting is satisfied that the matter has been adequately and fairly discussed,
the person charged shall leave the meeting and a vote shall be taken.
If the proposal to suspend is carried by the requisite two-thirds majority,
the person charged shall be deemed to have resigned his membership in
the Branch, and he shall have the right of appeal provided for in the
preceding paragraph. If the person charged does not attend the meeting,
the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply.
18. Subscriptions
- Persons joining or rejoining the Branch shall pay the
appropriate National Headquarters subscription plus the Branch subscription.
- Branch membership subscriptions shall be in such amount,
shall be payable on such dates, and shall be subject to such terms and conditions
as may be determined from time to time by the Committee.
19. Dissolution
- The Branch may not be dissolved except pursuant to a vote
taken at a General Meeting; provided, however, that dissolution may be put
to a vote at an Annual General Meeting only if it appears on the agenda provided
for in Bye-law 11 (i).
- A proposal to dissolve the Branch shall be subject to
ballot and, in order to be carried, it must receive the affirmative votes
of two-thirds of the voting members of the Branch who are present at the Meeting.
- If dissolution of the Branch is voted in accordance
with the preceding provisions of this Bye-law, the Committee shall proceed
without delay to realise the property of the Branch and to discharge the Branch's
outstanding liabilities. Any net assets thereafter remaining shall be distributed
to such recipient or recipients and in such fashion as the Meeting shall have
decided.
(If the Branch has assets acquired in part or in full with
grants from agencies such as the Lottery Sports Fund or Foundation for Sport
and the Arts, those agencies should be informed of the proposed dissolution,
for they have a right to recover a proportion of the current value of the assets,
and/or to advise on their disposal, perhaps to another worthy user).
20. Amendment
- These Bye-laws may only be amended in General Meeting
in accordance with the affirmative votes of a majority of 66% of those voting
members of the Branch who are present at the Meeting.
- Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in
these Bye-laws, no amendment may be made to this Bye-law or to Bye-laws 2,
8, 19 and 21 unless prior
to the meeting at which such amendment is proposed an Officer or the Chief
Executive of the British Sub-Aqua Club shall have notified the Branch in writing
of the British Sub-Aqua Club's approval of the subject and text thereof.
21. British Sub-Aqua Club Rules
These Bye-laws are made in compliance with Rule 3 of the Rules of the British
Sub-Aqua Club, shall be subject to the provisions and requirements of that Rule,
and shall only be valid to the extent that they are not in conflict with the
said provisions and requirements or with those of the Articles of Association
of the British Sub-Aqua Club
'Associate members' are basically social members. The don't have to pay BSAC subs, only
club fees. They can't take part in diving or snorkelling activities though (unless
they upgrade their membership).
The HQ is more or less irrelevant as we don't have a club house, the normal 'meeting place'
of the club is the Waggon and Horses, Walmgate, York, with Archbishop Holgate School for pool
sessions.