THE CLUB CONSTITUTION
Dated July 1989 (Revised 29th August 2014)
1. Title
The Club shall be known as the Fleetwood Owners Club
2. Membership
a) Membership shall be open to those persons who own any caravan or Motorhome.
b) Membership entitles two nominated adult persons as members to participate in running of the Club, including voting rights at the Annual General Meeting.
c) All members shall be entitled to attend all rallies and functions.
d) Application for election to membership of the Club shall be on the correct form prescribed by the committee.
e) Membership shall be granted by sanction of the committee and on full payment of all Joining and Subscription fees.
f) Membership shall cease if:-
i) The member no longer owns a caravan as prescribed in clause 2a).
ii) The member gives notice of resignation, in writing, to the Hon. Secretary.
iii) The member fails to pay the annual subscription by the prescribed date as in clause 4d).
iv) The member is expelled from the Club, as under clause 6c).
g) Life Membership
i) Members resigning from the Club due to poor health, or exceptional circumstances, may be considered at the club’s Annual General Meeting for Life Membership.
Nominations for such considerations shall be sponsored by at least two fully paid up members, and must be received in writing by the Hon. Secretary not later than fourteen days prior to the Annual General Meeting.
The Hon. Secretary will then make the appropriateannouncement at the Annual General Meeting and ask the floor for approval for the nomination to be considered by the committee at its next sitting. The Hon. Secretary will communicate the committee decision within two weeks of the meeting.
Approved Life Members will be granted Associate Membership rights and be eligible to receive electronic communications from the club that it deems to be of interest to them.
Life Members may request communications to cease at any time.
h) Associate Membership
i) The conditions for Associate Membership are:-
1. Be a fully paid up member of the Fleetwood Owners Club.
2. No longer be the owner or have use of a caravan or Motor Home.
ii) An Associate Member would be entitled to:-
1. Attend rallies as a visitor.
2. Attend special functions at rallies i.e. Dinners, Dances, Anniversaries etc.
3. Attend A.G.M.s and express their views, but not be allowed a vote at such meetings.
iii) They would be required to re-new their membership in the usual manner to maintain their status of Associate Member.
3. Aims of the Club
a) To bring members of the Club together through the organisation of rallies and other functions in order to promote friendship and to develop the interests of the Club and its members.
Interest in land may be required by purchase, lease or licence for the purpose of holding rallies or meetings as permitted by legislation or by Local Planning Authorities or for any other club activites.
b) To promote a harmonious relationship with other caravan clubs and owners.
c) To provide Club equipment.
4. Fees
a) The membership year shall run from 1st January to 31st December.
b) Every new membership is required to pay the prescribed Joining Fee.
c) Every membership shall pay the Annual Subscription, the amount of which may be changed as necessary by the Annual General Meeting. Such Annual Subscription falls due on 1st January.
d) Membership will be automatically cancelled if the Annual Subscription is not received by 28th February of the membership year.
e) New membership granted after 1st August is deemed to be for the remainder of that year and the whole of the following membership year.
5. Rules
a) The Club insists on a high standard of good caravanning both on the highway and on the rally field.
b) Members are expected to obey the Caravan Code, the Country Code and the Club Rules.
c) Except where Committee consent has been granted members are expected to attend rallies in a caravan as defined in clause 2a).
6. Discipline
a) The Club authorises the full Committee to take disciplinary action against any member who is, to the Committee’s satisfaction, responsible for conduct on any site or with his caravan on any road or in any way acts or behaves in a manner prejudicial to the good name of the Club.
b) Disciplinary action may take the form of suspension of the membership until the next Annual General Meeting or for a lesser period as appropriate, with subscriptions being forfeited.
c) A suspended member may be expelled from the Club by resolution at the Annual General Meeting.
d) The Club reserves the right to take suitable action where the Club’s property, badge or name is used without authority.
7. Committee
a) The Committee shall consist of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Past Chairman, Hon. Secretary, Treasurer, Rally Secretary and six other members, preferably as regional members. The quorum shall be 6 of this Committee.
b) If a committee member who for personal reasons does not attend a rally at which a committee meeting takes place, but travels to attend the committee meeting he/she may submit a claim for travel expenses to the Treasurer. A committee member incurring expenses on behalf of the Club may submit a claim using the following procedure.
The Travel Claims Procedure
The committee member must obtain permission from the Chairman in advance of undertaking a journey when a travel expenses claim will be submitted.
Travel expenses are calculated by the following means;
Number of miles undertaken (home to meeting return)
Divided by their car’s Miles Per Gallon at 56mph.
Times the current cost of their fuel.
If the Treasurer has any concerns regarding the validity of any claim he/she will, after reference to the Chairman, present it for the committee’s approval, which will be by a majority vote.
If the committee rejects a claim, the member will be informed of the committee’s decision with an explanation and asked to check/verify their travel expenses claim before re-submitting for committee approval.
8. Annual General Meeting
a) The Annual General Meeting of the membership shall be held at such a time and place as the Committee decided, and not more than fifteen months after the holding of the preceding Annual General Meeting of the membership.
b) The Committee as prescribed in clause 7a) shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting, or in special circumstances amended, at a Special General Meeting.
c) Nominations for the Committee, signed by the nominee and sponsored by at least two members must be received, in writing by the Hon. Secretary not later than fourteen days prior to the Annual General Meeting or if appropriate, a Special General Meeting. The Hon. Secretary will then make the appropriate arrangements for a ballot or show of hands at the Annual General Meeting or the Special General Meeting.
d) A member may nominate one member only for election to a position on the Committee and may second one member only.
e) Formal notices of motion, duly signed by the proposer and seconder, must be received in writing by the Hon. Secretary not later than twenty one days prior to the Annual General Meeting, or if appropriate, a Special General Meeting.
f) The Chairman may serve in office for a period not to exceed FIVE years. This being made up of an initial term of two years. Providing there is no Vice Chairman in waiting, subsequent terms of one year with AGM approval at each anniversary can be served up to a maximum of five years in total.
The position of Vice Chairman, in normal circumstance, shall be from a serving member of the Committee. Nominations for Vice Chairman signed by the nominee and sponsored by at least two members must be received, in writing by the Hon. Secretary not later than fourteen days prior to the Annual General Meeting or if appropriate, a Special General Meeting. The Hon. Secretary will then make the appropriate arrangements for a ballot or show of hands at the Annual General Meeting or the Special General Meeting.
The member elected shall hold office as Chairman in the following two years, and potentially up to five years in total, as and when the Chairman stands down, and as Past Chairman in the subsequent year only. Thereafter the member may be re-elected to the Committee but not as its Vice Chairman until the member has served a further term of one year on the Committee.
g) If for any reason during the ensuing year an elected post becomes vacant the Committee may:
i) co-opt a member to fill the post as a temporary measure until the next Annual General Meeting, or if appropriate Special General Meeting.
or
ii) any member of the Committee may fill that post as a temporary measure until the next Annual General Meeting, or if appropriate Special General Meeting.
h) The Annual General Meeting shall appoint either:
i) One Honorary Auditor who shall not be a member of the Committee.
or
ii) fee paid professional Auditors who may be recommended by a member of the Committee.
The choice for any year shall be that of the members present, by a show of hands.
i) This constitution can only be amended at an Annual General Meeting, or a Special General Meeting, of the membership and any amendment shall become effective immediately.
9. Special General Meeting
a) A Special General Meeting of the membership shall be called by the Hon. Secretary at any time on receipt of instructions from the Committee or on the receipt of a petition duly signed by not less than one fifth of the membership or twenty members, whichever is the lesser, setting out the purpose for the meeting. Such meeting shall be held within two months of receiving the instructions or petition and thirty one days notice of the meeting shall be given to all the membership.
10. Interpretation of Committee
a) Any question arising as to the interpretation of the constitution shall be referred to the Committee whose decision shall be binding on all parties.
11. Winding up the Club
a) If the Club is wound up, all of the Club’s assets shall be disposed of to a charity nominated by the Committee.
12. Rally Secretary
The Rally Secretary, with the Committee’s approval can appoint two members of the Committee to form a Rally Committee whose duties shall be:-
i) To encourage members to set up local rallies and act as Rally Officers.
ii) To liaise with each other to ensure that rallies do not prejudice each other by being too close (preferably 70 miles apart), but that if within that radius then only with collective agreement of the Rally Officers organising those rallies and the Rally Secretary. The decision of the Rally Secretary to be final.
iii) By arranging more local rallies to enable members to rally each week-end and minimise the cost of travelling.
iv) Each member of the Rally Committee can co-opt further members in an area as necessary in order to represent the breadth of that area. These members shall have no voting rights on the main Committee, but will assist the Rally Committee by vetting suitable sites for rallies and encouraging members to act as Rally Officers. They will not form a Committee to discuss matters of other than the rally programme and the preparation of the Rally Book.
