Constitution of the Colchester Croquet Club

1. The Club shall be called the Colchester Croquet Club and shall be registered with the Croquet Association whose laws shall be observed by the members.

2. The affairs of the Club shall be controlled by a General Committee comprising a Chairman, an Honorary Secretary and an Honorary Treasurer (Executive Offices of the Club) and up to six other members elected from, and by the Full Members of the Club. The Committee shall meet at agreed intervals and not less than four times per year. It may appoint sub–committees. The duties of the General Committee shall be:

(a) To control the affairs of the Club on behalf of the members

(b) To keep accurate accounts of the finances of the Club through the Treasurer. These should be available for reasonable inspection by members and should be audited before every Annual General Meeting. The club shall maintain a bank current account and the following Officers shall be authorised to sign cheques: two from the Chairman, Treasurer, and Secretary.

(c) To make decisions on the basis of a simple majority vote. In the case of equal votes, the Chairman shall be entitled to an additional casting vote.

3. Property:

The property of the Club shall be vested in four Trustees who shall hold it in trust for the members of the Club until such time as the game of croquet shall cease to be played by any of the members on any of its courts or elsewhere, whereupon the Trustees shall hold such property, in trust, for the benefit of croquet.

4. Meetings:

(a) An Annual General Meeting shall be held during the months of February to April when the Executive Officers and members of the Committee shall be elected; a President and one or more Vice–Presidents may also be elected.

(b) A Special General Meeting may be summoned by the Committee at not less than 14 days‘ notice, and shall be so summoned if 10 or more members shall, in writing, require the Committee to do so.

(c) At General Meetings all full members shall be eligible to vote except for members under the age of 18 years. The quorum for a general meeting shall be one fifth of those present and entitled to vote.

(d) Nomination of candidates for election of Officers and General Committee Members shall be made in writing to the Secretary at least 14 days in advance of the AGM date. Nominations can only be made by Full Members and must be seconded by another Full Member. In the absence of nominations prior to the meeting nominations may be taken from the floor. All nominations shall have the consent of the nominee.

(e) The General Committee may co–opt additional members of the Committee as the Committee feels this is necessary. Co–opted members shall not be entitled to a vote on the Committee unless they have been co-opted to replace a member who has died or has resigned. They shall hold office until the next AGM.

5. Members:

(a) Anyone wishing to become a member needs the approval by the Committee at the next meeting following receipt of his or her application form. At least 2 days shall elapse between application and acceptance before new members receive membership privileges. Resignations should be made in writing or email to the Honorary Secretary.

(b) The annual subscriptions for all members shall be fixed by the Committee. The rates so determined for any year shall be made known to all members in the notice convening the Annual General Meeting for that year. Rates of subscription shall be fixed for the following categories:

(i) Full members

(ii) Husband and wife/partner–joint full members

(iii) Students in full time education

(iv) Second Club members, resident in Essex (excluding London Boroughs) or Suffolk

(v) Far–Country members (vi) Social members (vii) Winter membership 6. If a member’s annual subscription is not paid, his/her membership is deemed to have lapsed after 3 months from the start of a new season.

7. Rules:

(a) Players shall wear such flat–soled footwear as cannot damage the courts. (b) Visiting players shall pay green fees as fixed by the Committee.

(d) Children under the age of 15 may visit the Club and play on the courts providing they are supervised by a responsible adult. (e) The Clubhouse and grounds is a complete ‘No Smoking‘ Area.

8. Misconduct:

The committee shall have the power to expel any member who brings the Club into disrepute or severely misbehaves.

9. Honorary Members:

The committee shall have the power to create Honorary Members. 10. Use of Club premises:

(a) Intoxicating liquor must be bought and supplied by and under the management of the Committee. Any person nominated by the Committee to buy intoxicating liquor on its behalf for the Club must be aged 18 or over.

(b) Intoxicating liquor will only be supplied between the hours currently permitted by the Club Premises Certificate.

(c)The following non–members may be admitted to the Club House and they and their guests shall be entitled to buy from the Club intoxicating liquor for consumption on the premises.

i. Visiting players under rule 7(b)

ii. Members of match teams

iii. Tournament competitors

(d) No Club Member or other person is to receive any commission, percentage, or financial benefit in connection with the purchases or sales of intoxicating liquor for or by Club.

(e) No member or guests under the age of 18 will be supplied with or may consume alcoholic liquor on Club premises. 11. Profits derived from Club activities will be fully disclosed and should be applied for the benefit of the membership as a whole.

12. This constitution may be altered only at an Annual or Special General Meeting and in either case not less than 14 days‘ notice containing the wording of the proposed alteration shall be given to all members beforehand. No such alteration shall be effective unless passed by a majority of three quarters of the members present at and (being entitled to vote) voting at such a meeting.

This constitution was amended and adopted at the Annual General meeting held on 20th March 2022