Ocean Turtle Dive Club
1. Name
The Club shall be called the Ocean Turtle Dive Club. The meeting place for the Club shall be at any such venue determined suitable by the Club.
2. Purpose of the Club
The purpose of the Club is to provide diving trips and social events for the benefit of its members. The Club shall not be established or conducted for profit.
3. Membership
a)The Committee shall control the admission of applicants and may, in its sole discretion, reject any applications.
b)Applications for membership should be handed to any Committee member for forwarding to the Membership Secretary on the Club Membership Application Form.
3.1 Categories of Membership
The following categories of membership are available:
- Individual
- Honorary - honorary life membership is offered to the Presidentof the Club and any other person the Members, by majority vote at a General Meeting of the Club, may elect.
3.2 Eligibility and Rights
All members whose subscriptions are paid up and honorary members (except where indicated) may:
Vote in any General Meeting of the Club and in any ballot or poll organised by the Club (the President is excluded from voting);
Participate in any Club organised diving or social event subject to the conditions set out in the "Guidelines for Club Dives" and "Children and Young People Guidelines" as agreed by the committee and published on the Club website;
After a qualifying membership period be elected to serve on the Club Committee (see paragraph 8);
Receive the Club newsletter, The Turtle Times;
Gain access to the "Members" area of the Club website;
Receive such offers and discounts as negotiated on behalf of Club Members, on production of their membership card.
3.3 List of Members
The Membership Secretary will maintain a list of names and addresses of members. The club shall abide by the Data Protection Act 1988 and the Membership Secretary will be responsible for ensuring adherence to the rules therein.
3.4 Membership
Membership cards should be produced when subscribing to Club dives or social events. Membership shall not be transferable.
3.5 Termination of Membership
Membership shall cease:
By expulsion (see paragraph 7.1a) The Committee shall control the expulsion of members and may in its sole discretion expel any member by a majority vote only.
By resignation (any member wishing to resign must send written notice to the Membership Secretary together with his/her membership card and, where applicable, family membership cards, before liability for subscriptions will cease). All membership fees are non-refundable.
By non-payment of subscriptions after one month of becoming due.
4. Subscriptions and Payments
The Club Committee will lay down the level of membership subscription fees. The Committee will review the cost of subscription fees annually. A subscription lasts for 12 months from the month of joining and will become renewable on the first day of the following month the next year.
Honorary members shall pay no subscriptions; all other members shall pay the current subscriptions as laid down by the Committee.
A member expelled from the Club shall have no part of their subscription refunded.
A member who opts to resign Club membership shall have no part of their subscription refunded.
Full payment is required at time of booking for club organised dives and social events unless otherwise stated by the organiser of the activity. In the event that the member cancels a diving or social event place, or is unable to attend, the member remains responsible for full payment.
5. The Liability of Officers and Members
The Dive Organisers shall deal with property of the Club as directed by the Committee and shall be entitled to an indemnity against the risk and expense arising out of the use of Club property. Providing the Committee, in entering into obligations on behalf of the Club, act within the letter and spirit of the constitution of the Club, they shall be indemnified against risk and expense out of the Club property
6. Guests
Members are entitled to bring guests to Club meetings. At the discretion of the organiser, guests are entitled to accompany Members on diving trips and social events provided appropriate fees have been paid in full at time of booking and in advance of the event. Guests accompanying members to any trip, event or Club meetings shall abide by the Club constitution at all times.
7. Discipline
7.1 Power of the Committee
The Committee shall have the power to expel any member who infringes any rule or violates the constitution or whose conduct shall in their opinion render the member unfit for membership. No member shall be expelled without first being given the opportunity to state their case at a meeting of the Committee. The decision of the Committee as present shall be taken as final.
7.2 Responsibilities of Members
A Club Member shall not disregard their own or others health and safety at diving or social events organised by the Club. Failure to observe the safety requirements for diving (see paragraph 12) and/or similar requirements at social events may result in the expulsion of the Club Member(s) concerned (subject to paragraph 4 above). Any member who damages or destroys Club property, or whose guests do so, may be called upon by the Committee to pay up to the full costs of repairs or replacement, and if the member or guest fails to do so they may be expelled from the Club. Club Members shall not solicit for activities outside the Club's jurisdiction, such as recruiting members for dives, under the guise of being a Club organised activity. Such behaviour may result in the expulsion or suspension of the Club Member(s) concerned (subject to paragraph 4 above).
8. Management of the Club
The management of the club shall be vested in a Committee, which shall consist of the following elected members; Chairman, Treasurer, Club Secretary, Membership Secretary, Social Secretary, Publicity Officer, two Dive Organisers, Webmaster and the honorary President. The Committee shall be elected at Annual General Meetings (AGM). There shall be a qualifying period for Committee membership, where the person seeking election to positions other than Chairman shall have been a Club member for at least six months, and for the position of Chairman, a period of at least 12 months, prior to the date of the AGM. The Committee shall, where in the opinion of the Committee the views of the membership should be obtained for matters of importance, request responses from the membership. In such instances, where members do not reply within the required time then, such non-response shall be viewed as approval for the matter under discussion.
9. Election to Management of the Club
The Committee shall resign immediately prior to the election at the AGM and shall be eligible for re-election.
Nominations for election must be provided in writing to the Club Secretary not less than 14 days prior to the date of the AGM:
The nomination list shall be posted on the Club website seven calendar days before the AGM of the Club;
A nomination must be proposed and seconded by paid up members of the club
Where there are no nominations, subject to AGM attendees approval, nominations will be accepted at the AGM;
Voting shall take place during the AGM;
The person with the highest number of votes shall be elected.
Postal votes (including those submitted by email) will be limited to published nominations and agenda items. Proxy votes shall not be allowed. The Committee reserves the right to examine votes cast in this way.
All election results shall be notified to Club Members not more than 28 days following the AGM by publication on the Club website.
The Committee shall have the power to fill vacancies caused by the resignation of Committee Members between Annual General Meetings and to appoint sub committees as may be deemed necessary. The Committee shall also have the power to co-opt members.
10. Accounts
The Treasurer shall present a financial account for review each quarter and at the AGM. The Treasurer shall be responsible for reporting to the Committee on all financial aspects of the Club. The accounts shall be audited each year by 2 elected members of the committee.
11. Meetings
11.1 Committee Meetings
The Committee shall meet not less than eight times per year. Up to two Club Members shall be entitled to attend Committee provided seven days notice is given to a Committee Member.
11.2 Annual General Meeting (AGM)
An AGM shall be held each year. At the meeting, the membership of the Committee shall be announced and the annual financial report shall be presented.
Notice of the AGM shall be given on the Club website and members notified by email at least two months in advance of the AGM. Items for the agenda shall be submitted to the Club Secretary at least 14 days prior to the AGM. Discussion may take place on items not appearing on the agenda but no business other than that concerned with items on the agenda shall be transacted.
The agenda shall be published on the Club website and notified to members by email at least 7 days prior to the AGM.
11.3 Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM)
The Committee may summon an EGM at any time.
Any member of the club may summon an EGM and shall do so on a written request to the Club Secretary signed by not less than 20 members. Not less than 28 calendar days notice of such a meeting shall be given. The reason for the meeting and agenda should appear on the Club website 21 days before the meeting.
11.4 Minutes
Minutes shall be kept of all Committee meetings and a summary published on the Club website. Minutes shall be kept of Annual and Emergency General Meetings and a summary published on the Club website.
11.5 Voting
In accordance with Paragraph 9c, voting may be carried out by post or email. Decisions at Committee meetings shall be made by vote, and the Chairman of any meeting shall vote only when an equality of vote occurs. The President of the Club shall not be entitled to vote. Voting shall be by show of hands unless a ballot is demanded, in which case the voting shall be by ballot.
11.6 Quorum
Committee meetings - not less than four members
Annual and Extraordinary General Meetings - 15% of the membership including the Committee. For the EGM, all signatories to the EGM request shall attend otherwise the EGM shall be declared null and void.
In the event that insufficient members attend to form a quorum, the meeting will continue as a public committee meeting and no decisions may be taken. In such circumstances alternative arrangements will be made to obtain the views of members. Postal and email voting will be counted as though the members were present at the meeting.
