AMENDED CONSTITUTION OF THE LYMINGTON SOCIETY

as AGREED at the Annual General Meeting held on 10 March 1997.

1. NAME The name of the Society shall be: The Lymington Society

2. OBJECTS

(a) To foster good development in the town of Lymington and its immediate surroundings.

(b) To stimulate public interest in and care for the beauty, history and character of the town and its surroundings.

(c) To pursue these ends by means of meetings, exhibitions, lectures, publications and all other forms of education, instruction and publicity and the promotion of schemes of a charitable nature.

(d) To provide a public forum for the welfare of the town and to enable residents to express their personal views.

(e) To contribute, initiate and promote such action as may be necessary to protect and further those individual and community rights and characteristics which relate to the ecology, environment and character of Lymington Town and its immediate surroundings.

(f) To watch in a critical and constructive way the activities and decisions formulated at all levels of government and local authority where they relate; and where necessary to make the community aware and provide such pressures as will bring about fuller public participation in determining such policies as shall be implemented in this neighbourhood.

(g)     To foster relationships with such organisations as are like-minded and sympathetic with the aims of this Association. This Association shall not be affiliated to any political party.

(h)     To develop an awareness of wider issues and interests than those of the immediate neighbourhood, to recognise the relationship of our activities with those at national and international level, and to accept such responsibilities.

3. MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be open to all persons who support the Objects of the Association as described in paragraph 2 above. Honorary members may be elected at each Annual General Meeting or subsequently by the Committee. Such elections by the Committee shall be confirmed at the next Annual General Meeting. The Committee shall have the power to invite distinguished people to become Patrons of the Association.

4. SUBSCRIPTIONS AND CESSATION OF MEMBERSHIP

(a)     Subscriptions

All members (other than Life Members and Honorary Life Members) shall pay an annual subscription of such amount as the Association shall determine from time to time in General Meeting. The first subscription shall be due on joining the Association and, in the case of annual subscriptions, shall thereafter be due on 1st January in each year, the subscription year to run from 1st January to 31st December following.

The Association shall have power to accept donations for any purpose not inconsistent with its objects and may make special appeals for funds in connection with any such purpose.

(b) Cessation of membership

Any member from whom a subscription is due who, after being notified in writing that the same is due, fails to pay the same shall cease to be a member at the expiration of the subscription year for which the subscription has not been paid.

Any member may resign from the Association at any time but shall not in any circumstances be entitled to repayment of any subscription already paid.

5 ELECTIONS

(a)     Presidents and Vice-Presidents

At each Annual General Meeting members shall elect a Presidentand Vice-Presidents who shall serve for one year and shall be eligible for re-election. Nominations for these officers shall be submitted to the Executive Committee who shall make recommend­ations to members at the Annual General Meeting. The President and Vice-Presidents shall be ex-officio members of the Committee. The President shall preside at all General and Ordinary meetings of the Association or, in his absence, a Vice-President shall preside. If no Vice-President is available, the Chairman of Committee shall deputise.

(b)     Executive Committee

The Executive Committee (hereinafter called the Committee) shall consist of the Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and up to 15 other members who shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting. Nominations for these positions shall be in the hands of the Honorary Secretary prior to the Annual General Meeting and shall be proposed and seconded by members. The consent of the nominee, who shall be a fully paid up member of the Association, must first be obtained.

The Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer shall relinquish their offices every year but shall be eligible for re-election.

(c)     The members of the Committee shall be elected for a term of 3 years and one-third having the longest service shall retire each year, a ballot being held within the Committee if more than five have equal length of service. If the number of nominees for the election of the Committee exceeds the number of vacancies a ballot shall be held. Members of Committee who have served their term of three years shall not be eligible for re-election for a period of 12 months unless insufficient nominations to replace them have been received.

(d)     At the first Committee Meeting following the Annual General Meeting the Committee shall elect one of their number as Chairman and another as Vice-Chairman.

Six shall form a quorum at Committee Meetings and the Chairman shall have a casting vote. A Committee Member absent from three consecutive Committee Meetings without adequate reason shall automatically cease to be a member of the Committee. Any vacancies so caused, and vacancies arising as a result of removal or resign­ation, may be filled for the remainder of the year to the next Annual General Meeting, by Committee. The Committee shall have the power to co-opt to a maximum of three members who shall enjoy the full right of Committee members until the next Annual General Meeting.

6. MANAGEMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION

The Committee shall be responsible for the administration and management of the affairs of the Association and may take decisions on its behalf, including the establishment of advisory panels and the making of bye-laws. The Committee shall appoint Sub-Committees from within its membership or otherwise and shall define the powers, duties and procedure thereof.

7 MEETINGS

An Annual General Meeting shall be held in or about March of each year, to receive the report of the Executive Committee and the audited accounts and to elect President, Vice-Presidents, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and members of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall decide the dates of the General Meeting and Ordinary Meetings of the Association. Subject to Clause 9, at least l0 days’ notice of any meeting of the Association shall be given to all members. Special General Meetings of the Association shall be held within one calendar month of the receipt by the Honorary Secretary of a written request by 20 or more members_, specifying the business to be discussed at such meeting. A quorum for a General Meeting of the Association shall be 15% of the fully paid membership. At all meetings, paid-up members present shall have one vote each.

8. FINANCE

(a)       Administrative Expenses

The Committee shall, out of the monies received by the Association, pay all proper expenses of administration and management of the Association and shall use the residue as it thinks fit or towards the Objects of the Association. To this end a Bank Account shall be opened in the name of the Association to be operated upon the signatures of one of the following, the Chairman, the Honorary Secretary and the Honorary Treasurer, provided that, in no case, shall the signatory be also the payee, that any cheque for an amount exceeding £20 and all cheques payable to cash shall be signed by two of the above-mentioned persons. An audited account to each year ending on the 31^st of December shall be presented by the Honorary Treasurer at the Annual General Meeting in the following March. The Auditor shall be appointed at the Annual General Meeting.

(b)  Investment

All monies at any time belonging to the association and not required for immediate application for its objects shall be invested by the Committee in such investments, securities or property as it may think fit, but so that monies subject, or representing property subject to the jurisdiction of the Charity Commissioners shall be invested only in such securities as may, for the time being, be authorised by Law for the investment of Trust Funds.

(c)       Borrowing

The Committee, having first obtained the authority of the Association in General Meeting, may borrow for the Objects of the Association such monies at such rate of interest and in such manner as it may think fit.

 

9.           AMENDMENTS

The Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds majority of members present at an Annual or Special General Meeting, provided that twenty-eight days' notice of the proposed amendment has been sent to all members, and provided that nothing herein contained shall authorise any amendment permitting the expenditure of funds of the Association on any object which is not a charitable object of Law.

10.       WINDING UP

In the event of the winding up of the Association the available funds of the Association shall be transferred to such organisations or charitable bodies as may be chosen by the Committee, such organisations or bodies having their objects reasonably similar to those of this Association.

Nomination of Acting Hon. Treasurer

At the Annual General Meeting of the Society held on Monday,10th March, 1997 the following resolution was proposed by Mr Horn, seconded by Mrs Shepherd and carried unanimously by members present:

“Without prejudice to the provisions of the Constitution of the Society in the event that no Hon. Treasurer shall have been elected at an Annual General Meeting, the Executive Committee shall have the right to nominate one of its number to serve in the capacity of Acting Hon. Treasurer as if he/she were the elected Hon.Treasurer, until such time as an Hon. Treasurer is elected at a subsequent Annual General Meeting.”

Nomination of Acting Hon. Secretary

At the Annual General Meeting of the Society held on Wednesday, 10th March, 1997 the following resolution was proposed by Mrs Lovell, seconded by Mr Woodman and carried unanimously by the members present:

“Without prejudice to the provisions of the Constitution of the Society in the event that no Hon. Secretary shall have been elected at the AGM, the Executive Committee shall have the right to nominate one of its number to serve in the capacity of Acting Hon. Secretary as if he/she were the elected Hon. Secretary, until such time as an Hon. Secretary is elected at a subsequent AGM.”