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MODEL CONSTITUTION

FOR RSGB AFFILIATED WLAN GROUPS

1. Name

The Society (1) shall be known as the:-

............…………………………………amateur radio WLAN (2) Society.

2. Aims

The aims of the Society shall be to further the interests of its members in all aspects of amateur radio WLANs and directly associated activities.

3. Membership

Membership shall be open, subject to the discretion of the Committee, to all persons interested in the aims of the Society (3).

(a) Full members. Full members must be 18 years of age or over or must be eligible to install and operate an amateur wireless LAN node.

(b) Student members. Student members must be under 25 years of age and in full-time formal education.

(c) Honorary members. Honorary Life Membership may be granted to any person, who, in the opinion of the Committee, has rendered outstanding service to the Society, either directly or indirectly. Such membership shall carry the rights of full membership but shall be free from subscriptions.

(d) Guests. Members may invite guests to meetings. No visitor may attend more than three meetings in each year. All members shall abide by the constitution of the Society.

(e) Expulsion. The Committee shall have power to expel any member whose conduct, in the opinion of at least three-quarters of the full Committee, renders that person unfit to be a member of the Society. No Member shall be expelled without first having been given an opportunity to appear before the Committee.

4. Subscriptions

(a) The annual subscriptions for membership shall be set by the Committee (4).

(b) All subscriptions shall be due and payable at the beginning of the financial year. Members in arrears have no voting rights.

(d) A member shall have deemed to have resigned from the Society, if, by the following 31 August (6), the subscription has not been paid.

(e) The Committee shall have the power to waive or reduce subscriptions in special circumstances for a period not exceeding...years at a time (7).

5. Finance

All money received by the Society shall be promptly deposited in the Society’s bank account. Withdrawals require the signature of the Society’s Treasurer and one other nominated officer of the Society (8).

6. Membership of the Society’s Committee

The Society’s affairs shall be administered by a Committee elected at the Annual General Meeting (9). The Committee, in whom the Society’s property shall be vested, shall consist of:

(a) A Chair who will preside at all meetings at which s/he is present. No member may hold this position for more than two consecutive years. S/he may be re-elected after a break of one year.

(b) A Vice-Chair who will act as Chair in the absence of the Chair.

(i) keeping the minutes of all meetings of the Society.

(ii) ensuring that all correspondence is correctly handled.

(iii) maintaining a master roll of members and honorary members.

(iv) maintaining a register of Society equipment.

(d) A Treasurer, who will be responsible for: (i) keeping the Society’s accounts.

(ii) advising the Committee on all financial matters.

(iii) preparing the accounts for audit and presenting them at the AGM.

(e) ......Ordinary Committee Members (10).

(f) Not more than...…..co-opted members who have full voting powers (11), and not more than….....who are not permitted to vote (12).

7. Committee standing orders

(a) The quorum for the Committee shall be….....(13). In the absence of a quorum, business may be dealt with but any decisions taken only become valid after ratification at the next meeting at which a quorum exists. (b) Committee meetings may be called by the Chair, the Secretary or any vote. 8. Annual General Meeting

(a) The Annual General Meeting shall normally be held on the first......day of October each year (14). At least 21 days notice shall be given to each member in writing.

(b) The quorum for the meeting shall be......(15).

(i) Apologies for absence

(ii) Minutes of the previous AGM

(iii) Chair’s report

(iv) Secretary’s report

(v) Treasurer’s report

(vi) Election of the new Committee

(vii) Election of auditors

(viii) Other business (c) Items (i) to (v) shall be chaired by the out-going Chair, item (vi) by an acting Chair who is not standing for election to office, and the remaining business by the newly elected Chair.

(e) Nominations for Committee members will only be valid if confirmed by the nominee at the meeting or previously in writing.

(f) Items to be raised by members under other business must be notified to the Secretary not less than 21 days before the AGM.

9. Extraordinary General Meeting

(a) Extraordinary General Meetings may be called by the Committee or not less than......members of the Society, the date of the meeting being the earliest convenient as decided by the Committee(16). At least 28 days notice in writing must be given to the Secretary, who in turn shall give members at least 14 days notice in writing of the agenda.

No other business may be transacted at the EGM.

(b) The quorum for the EGM shall be......(15).

10. Amendments to the constitution

The constitution may be amended only at an EGM called for that purpose.

11. Winding up of the Society

(a) The decision to wind up the Society may be taken only at an EGM.

(b)The funds of the Society shall, after the sale of all assets and the payment of all outstanding debts, be disposed of as directed by members at the final EGM (17).

(1) Society/Club/Group, etc

(2) For a Society to be affiliated to the RSGB, it must include the words "amateur radio" in its heading unless a special dispensation is obtained from the RSGB’s Council. This requirement does not apply to Societies already affiliated.

(3) This group may include, for example, youngsters, the family and friends of full members whose interest is in the social side rather than amateur radio, or local persons of influence whom it is wished to link with the Society. They may pay a reduced subscription. It is important to specify what voting rights they may or may not have.

(4) Alternatively, the subscription may be recommended by the Committee for ratification at the AGM.

(5) These dates have the advantage of corresponding to the start of the "winter season", but others can be chosen. Bear in mind that they relate also to the date of the AGM.

(6) More specifically, the end of the financial year.

(7) This period perhaps should not exceed one to three years to avoid placing an undue burden on future Committees.

(8) There are great advantages in running the Society’s finances on a strict basis, although a less formal arrangement may still be effective.

(9) There are two methods for electing the Committee: the more common is for the meeting to elect the Committee members and for the latter in turn to elect the officers from within the Committee; alternatively, the members may elect individuals to specific offices. The method adopted will need to be specified.

(10) The number of Ordinary Committee members should be related to the size of the Society. Remember that being a committee member is an essential part of the training of the future officers of the Society.

(11) These can replace elected Committee members who have left the Committee.

(12) These can be people who need to be familiar within the work of the Committee such as the editor of the Society magazine or the press officer.

(13) This can be expressed either as a fixed number or, for example, as at least half or two-thirds of the full membership of the committee.

(14) This date obviously must be related to the Society’s financial year.

(15) This can be set either as a fixed number or a fixed percentage of the membership (state which members are to be included), or both "whichever is the smaller/greater". It is probably safer to make the numbers on the small side so as to ensure that the meeting can take place.

(16) A typical number would be 10.

(17) Such as, among its members, to a charity, or to a society of similar interest.