1. The club will be called: Oxford Cycling Club (aka ‘OCC’)
2. The Purposes of the Club
The purpose of the Club is to provide an inclusive and friendly road cycling club for the community of Oxford and its surrounding areas. The Club and its members shall promote and encourage road cycling, respect, openness, a friendly inclusive environment and enjoyable rides for cyclists of all levels.
3. Nominated Charity
The founding members of the club unanimously voted to support a local charity, Sobell House, through the donation of part of the membership fees, kit sales and money raised through club events.
The nominated charity can only be changed by a vote of attending
members at each AGM or EGM. In the event that the nominated charity ceases to exist or otherwise becomes unsuitable for the club to be associated with, the committee will be obliged to seek the views of the membership and propose another local charity. The members will then be asked to vote on the proposal and the charity will be accepted or rejected upon a majority vote.
The Committee is responsible setting out how much money or what percentage will be given to the nominated charity from membership fees, kit sales and club events. This can be changed by a proposal to, and Committee vote.
At no time does this constitution make it mandatory for OCC to give club money to a nominated charity. However, should there be a proposal for charitable donations to stop this must be proposed to the members at AGM or EGM and decided by a majority vote.
4. Permitted Means of Advancing the Purposes
The Committee has the power to:
a) Acquire and provide a club house/cafe, grounds, equipment, coaching, training,
transport, medical and social facilities.
b) Take out any insurance for club, employees, contractors, cyclists, speakers, guests and third parties.
c) Raise funds by subscriptions, club kit sales, loans, appeals, sponsorship and charges.
d) Open banks accounts, borrow money and give security for the same.
e) Organise and promote social events on behalf of the Club and its members.
f) Make grants and loans and give guarantees and provide other benefits.
g) Set aside or apply funds for special purposes or as reserves.
h) Deposit or invest funds in any lawful manner.
i) Employ and engage staff and others and provide services.
j) Co-operate with or affiliate to;
i) any bodies regulating or organising cycling
ii) any club or body involved with cycling
iii) government and related regulatory agencies
k) Do all other things reasonably necessary to advance the purpose of the club and its members.
l) Initial kit design was agreed upon by the Founding Members. Any subsequent
substantial changes to the design must be approved by a majority vote of the
club members, ordinarily at an Annual General Meeting. Minor changes, for example to include or exclude charity and sponsor logos can be decided and implemented by the Committee.
NONE of the above powers may be used other than to advance the purposes
consistently with the Rules below and the law in England & Wales.
5. Membership
a) Membership of the Club shall be open to anyone interested in cycling on
application regardless of sex, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or other beliefs. However, limitation of membership according to available facilitiesand resources is allowable on a non-discriminatory basis.
Membership for young people under 18 years of age is dependent upon their parent or guardian also joining and agreeing to ride with them on club rides. Other members will not be expected to chaperone young people to whom they are not related or otherwise responsible for.
b) The Club may have different classes of membership and subscription on a non-discriminatory and fair basis.
c) The Club Committee may refuse membership, or remove it, for good cause
such as;
i) Conduct or character likely to bring the club or cycling into disrepute
ii) Persistent failure to respect club officials or other members
iii) Persistent failure to comply with the Members’ Code of Conduct
iv) Persistent failure to respect club sponsors or the nominated charity
v) Failure to respect the safety of other road users, including Club members
vi) Persistent failure to respect Road Traffic Law
Appeal against refusal or removal may be made to a panel of Club members appointed by the Committee. The make-up of this panel will be decided by the Committee but will as far as reasonably practicable, represent a cross section of the membership.
d) The Club subscriptions shall run from 1st January each year and the rate of the subscription shall be decided by the Committee. For people wishing to join the Club on or after the 1st July the subscription may be reduced by the Committee to half of the full years subscription in recognition that there is only 6 months left to run on the subscription year. This is entirely at the Committee’s discretion but must be applied fairly to all.
The Committee may decide to introduce different membership categories as they think appropriate to the development of the Club. E.g. in addition to Full membership they may decide to introduce Youth membership, International membership or indeed any other category. The Committee will then decide the membership rate to be applied to each category.
e) In the spirit of being a responsible club, the Founding Members decided by majority vote that it would be mandatory for club members to hold British Cycling ‘Ride’, Race Silver’ or ‘Race Gold’ membership. This decision was taken to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that all members have 3rd party liability insurance.
Any member failing to renew their British Cycling membership will cease to me a member of the Club. To change this requirement, a formal proposal would have to be placed before the next AGM for all attending members to discuss and decide upon with a majority vote.
6. Committee & Committee Meetings
a) Composition: the Committee shall consist of at least five elected members (Permanent Officers), fulfilling the posts of Chair Person, Secretary, Treasurer, Communications & Event Organiser, plus one other member.
Permanent Offices of the Club’s Committee will be elected each year at the AGM. Only paid up full members of the Club can be elected as Permanent Officers.
As the club grows it is intended to seek the election of up to 2 further Permanent Officers to fulfil roles identified as necessary to represent the club members and assist in delivering club services. These Officers will also be elected each year at the AGM.
The Committee may co-opt club members to serve as Non-Permanent Officers in order to assist in the delivery of special projects aimed at developing the club. The number of Non-Permanent Officers co-opted and the time they will serve for, will be at the discretion of the Committee.
Any Committee member may be re-elected or re-co-opted without limit.
A Committee member ceases to be such if he or she ceases to be a member of the Club, resigns by written notice, is removed by Club members at an Annual General Meeting or is removed by the Committee for good cause after the Member concerned has been given the chance of putting his/her case to the Committee with an appeal to the Club members. The Committee shall fairly decide time limits and formalities for these steps.
The removal of a member of the Committee by Club members between AGMs requires a ‘vote of no confidence’ to be placed before the Committee by a club member and seconded by at least 20% of the full membership. In the circumstances the Committee will be given an appropriate amount of time to address the issues to the satisfaction of the majority of members. However, if the Committee is unable to resolve the issues they will call an EGM and in the absence of a resolution being found, hold a majority vote to decide if the Committee member shall be removed. They will then seek a replacement.
b) Role: subject to the Club Constitution, the Committee shall have responsibility for the management of the Club, its funds, property and affairs.
c) Property: the property and funds of the Club cannot be used for the direct or indirect private benefit of members other than as reasonably allowed by the Constitution. The Club may provide sporting and related social facilities, sporting equipment, coaching, courses, insurance cover, medical treatment, event expenses, post event refreshments and other ordinary benefits of Community Amateur Sports Clubs as provided for in the Finance Act 2002.
The Club may also in connection with the sports purposes of the Club:
i) Sell and supply food, drink and related sports clothing and equipment;
ii) Employ members (though not for riding) and remunerate them for providing
goods and services, on fair terms set by the Committee without the person concernedbeing present;
iii) Pay for reasonable hospitality for visiting teams and guests;
iv) Indemnify the Committee and members acting properly in the course of the
running of the Club against any liability incurred in the proper running of the Club (butonly to the extent of its total assets)
The Committee will have due regard to the law on disability discrimination and child protection.
d) Committee meetings
The committee will meet at least twice a year in addition to the Annual General Meeting and subject to the Club’s Constitution shall decide its own way of operating. Subject to the rule above, the Committee may meet as often as they believe is necessary to achieve the effective and efficient running of the club and its activities. The quorum for Committee meetings is 4 whilst the Committee has 5 members, 4 if the Committee rises to 6 members and 5 if the Committee rises to 7 members. If the Committee size increases further it shall be for the Committee to decide the appropriate quorum.
The Chair or Secretary shall preside at such meetings. Except as otherwise provided in these Rules, every resolution shall be decided by a simple majority of the votes cast on a show of hands. In the event of a tie, the Chair will have the deciding vote (or in their absence, the Club Secretary).
All resolutions and decisions shall be minuted.
If a Committee member has a personal interest in a matter to be discussed, he/she must declare it. The other Committee members shall then decide whether the member should withdraw from that part of the meeting, not be counted in the quorum for that agenda item and have no vote on the matter concerned.
Formalities in connection with General Meetings (such as how to propose resolutions) shall be decided by the Committee.
Club members who wish the Committee to decide upon any matter, shall first approach a Committee member and ask them to make a proposal to Committee.
Club members wishing to attend Committee Meetings can only do so by prior arrangement and with the express permission of the Committee.
e) Delegation: the Committee may delegate any of their functions to sub-committees but must specify the scope of its activity and powers; the extent to which it can commit the funds of the Club; its membership; its duty to report back to the Committee. The Committee may wind up any sub-committee at any time or to change its mandate and operating terms.
f) Disclosure: annual club reports and statements of account must be made available for inspection by any member and all club records may be inspected by any Committee member.
7. Copyright, Trademarks, Patents and Intellectual Property Rights
Members acknowledge that all copyright, trademarks, patents and other intellectual property rights shared with The Club, or used on behalf of the Club belong to the Club. Intellectual property rights include rights to any inventions, business names and domain names, social media accounts, goodwill and other such forms bearing the club name or logo created or used on behalf of the Club
The Club will keep all members personal data secure, including any data or information shared with the Club in whatever form. Members agree that in sharing any images, either still or moving, with other members of the Club, they grant permission to the Club to use such images on social media and the website for the purposes of promoting the Club.
8. Annual General Meetings (AGM)
The Club will hold an AGM once in every calendar year and not more than 15 months after the last AGM. In the case of the first AGM, this will be 15 months from the 1st January 2017, the date of paid membership opening for the first time.
a) The Committee will give members 21 clear days’ written notice of the date, time and location of each AGM (written notice may include e-mail and/or notification on the club website or Facebook Group/Page).
b) The Members shall elect a Committee including a Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Communications & Event Organiser plus one, two or three members without portfolio, to serve until the next AGM. The number of people on the Committee can be increased with a majority vote by the Committee or upon a successful resolution and vote by the members at the AGM. The Committee cannot be reduced to fewer than five members without the approval of the majority of members in attendance at the AGM. In the event that a Committee member resigns or is otherwise unable to continue to hold or fulfil the role, the club members shall be notified asap and nominations sort for his/her replacement.
Selection of a Committee member shall be by a majority of all member votes cast
on a date decided by the Committee. The Committee shall decide upon the method of nomination and voting and notify members in advance.
c )The Secretary will present a report on the Club’s membership and activities since the previous AGM.
d) The Treasurer will produce the accounts of the Club for the latest financial year and also report on donations to the clubs nominated charity.
e) The Chair will report on club proposals or intentions going forward.
f) The members will discuss and vote on any resolution (whether about policy or to change the Rules) and deal with any other business put to the meeting.
g) Prior to the AGM, the Committee will determine how resolutions shall be tabled and the manner of voting.
9. Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM)
An EGM shall be called by the Secretary within 14 days of a request to that effect from the Committee or on the written request of not less than 10 members signed by them. Such an EGM shall be held not less than 14 days or more than 28 days’ notice at a place decided upon by the Committee or in default by the Chair
10. Finances
The Club shall be run on a ‘Not for profit’ basis. The Club’s financial year shall run from 1st January to 31st December. All monies belonging to the Club shall be paid into a bank account in the name of the Club. It shall be for the Committee to decide how to use the money belonging to the Club subject to the rules set out in this Constitution and the Treasurer will report to the members at each AGM. No monies in excess of £500 shall be expended by the Treasurer without the agreement of at least one other Permanent Officer.
All work carried out on behalf of the Club shall be voluntary, unless discussed
and agreed by the Committee. Reasonable out of pocket expenses will be reimbursed upon production of a receipt accompanied by an explanation of how the expenses were incurred. Such expenses have to be agreed by the Treasurer and one other Permanent Officer. The property and funds of the Club cannot be used for the direct or indirect private benefit of members other than reasonably allowed by the Constitution.
11. Amendments to the Constitution
a) The Constitution may be amended at an AGM by a majority vote of
all attending members.
b) The Club Purposes may be changed at an AGM by a majority vote
of all attending members.
12. Winding up the Club
a) The members may vote to wind up the Club if not less than three quarters
of those present and voting support that proposal, at a properly convened AGM or Emergency General Meeting.
b) The Committee will then be responsible for the orderly winding up of the
Club’s affairs.
c) After settling all liabilities of the Club, the Committee shall dispose of the
net assets remaining to one or more of the following:
i) To the Club’s charity, Sobell House
ii) To another Club with similar sports purposes.
iii) To the Club’s regional or national governing body for use by them for cycling development.
Constitution adopted at a committee meeting held at: Gardeners Arms (OX2 6JE)
On: Wednesday 20th June 2018
Present: Andrew Webb (Chair), Mike Lowndes (Secretary), Danny Wright (Treasurer), Paul Honeybone, Dave Nash
Footnote
This Club was founded by the following named cyclists in September 2016;
James Heath, Dave Nash, Brian Cooper, Danny Wright, Paul Honeybone, Mark
Howard, Paul Antony, Andrew Webb, Shpend Gurguri, Alan Penny, James Piggot
Darryl Bates-Brownsword, Brett Melhuish and Johnny Morrison.
Through formal and informal discussion and meetings they voted upon the
Founding principles leading to the formation of the Club, its Constitution and
Members Charter. Further more, the initial Committee was nominated and seconded
from the Founding Members group.