Constitution – Friends of Ravenscourt Park

FRIENDS OF RAVENSCOURT PARK

CONSTITUTION

NAME

1. The Group shall be known as The Friends of Ravenscourt Park, hereafter referred to as the Friends Group.

OBJECTIVES

2. The objectives of The Friends Group shall be:

• To secure for the public benefit the preservation, protection and improvement of Ravenscourt Park as a place of historic and ecological interest and beauty;

• To encourage access to Ravenscourt Park’s amenities and environment and the use of its facilities for recreation by all members of the community, and to encourage an inclusive and participatory community spirit;

• To assist in the positive management of Ravenscourt Park its amenities and environment;

• To represent the interests of Ravenscourt Park’s users in consultation with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and other bodies;

• To provide the principal point of liaison for communication with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in order to communicate park related queries and information; and

• To promote equal opportunities by being positively committed to opposing all direct and indirect discrimination in all its activities and services.

• To encourage and promote biodiversity and conservation; events and activities; sports and play facilities; and fundraising and income generation.

POWERS

3. The Friends Group shall have the power to affiliate to any body whose objectives may be of benefit to its membership, and are consistent with its objectives.

4. Monies raised by or on behalf of the Friends Group shall only be applied in furtherance of the objectives of the Friends Group.

5. The Friends Group Committee may set up such sub-committees or working parties as may be deemed necessary and may determine their terms of reference, powers, duration and composition. Any such sub-committee or working party shall be advisory only and shall report back as determined by the Committee.

MEMBERSHIP

6. Membership shall be open to all. An annual subscription shall be paid by all members. The annual subscription shall be made payable on such day of the year and be of such amount as the Committee shall determine. The Committee shall have the discretionary power to waive a member’s subscription.

7. It shall be a condition of membership that members at all times conduct themselves in a reasonable manner at meetings of or in premises used by the Friends Group. Any member may be excluded for breach of this condition, or for any other conduct contravening the objectives of The Friends Group.

8. Membership shall terminate:

(a) on resignation;
(b) if the annual subscription is not paid three months after the date on which it falls due;
(c) if terminated by the Committee in accordance with the provisions of Clause 7, and in such circumstances, the member shall have a right of appeal to the Committee.

CONDUCT OF BUSINESS

9. The business of the Friends Group shall be conducted by a Committee elected at each Annual General Meeting, which shall consist of at least five and no more than thirteen members. No two or more Committee members shall be elected from the same household.

10. The Committee shall elect from among its members a Chair, Treasurer, Vice-Chair, and Secretary, hereafter referred to as the Officers. The Committee shall have the power to co-opt onto the Committee up to three additional members (“co-optees”), without voting rights, to serve in an advisory capacity. The Committee may fill any casual vacancy on the Committee until the next Annual General Meeting.

11. The Friends Group is politically impartial. No elected Councillor of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham shall be eligible for election to the Committee, although they are eligible to be a member of the Friends Group.

12. The Committee shall meet as necessary and not less than four times in each year. The quorum for Committee meetings shall be one more than half of its elected membership.

13. All Committee members will declare their membership of any other local group or society. Any Committee member who has a commercial interest in any matter under discussion must declare that interest and, if the interest is significant, must withdraw from discussion or voting on the matter.

14. The Chair shall have a casting vote at all meetings of the Friends Group or its committee.

GENERAL MEETINGS
15. The Committee shall call an Annual General Meeting of the Friends Group each year, within fifteen months of the previous Annual General Meeting. Not less than 28 days’ notice of the Annual General Meeting shall be given to all members.

At this meeting:

• The Committee shall present an annual report of The Friends Group, which shall include details of evidence of how inclusive, participatory and representative the Friends Group’s activities are of Ravenscourt Park users;
• The Committee shall present the examined accounts of the Friends Group for the previous year, and appoint an Examiner of the accounts for the next year;
• The Committee for the next year shall be elected.

16. The Secretary shall call a Special General Meeting at the request of a majority of the Committee, or on receipt of a written petition by a minimum of ten of members of the Friends Group giving reasons for their request. The Secretary shall arrange for the Special Meeting to be held as soon as is practical. Not less than 28 days’ notice of a Special General Meeting shall be given to all members.

17. Any proposal to alter this Constitution must be submitted to the Secretary not less than 14 days before the meeting at which it is to be discussed, and must be agreed by a majority of the members present and voting at the meeting.

DUTIES OF OFFICERS

18. THE CHAIR (or in their absence the Vice-Chair or other Committee member) shall conduct the meetings of The Friends Group.

19. THE TREASURER shall open and maintain a banking account in the name of the Friends Group. All cheques shall be signed by the Treasurer and one of two other Committee members nominated by the Committee as signatories. The Treasurer shall keep proper accounts of income and expenditure and report on them or deliver them up as required by the Committee or General Meeting. Such accounts shall be examined by a member of the Friends Group appointed by the membership at the Annual General Meeting.

20. THE SECRETARY shall be responsible for the convening of all meetings and the giving of the prescribed notice to members. They shall ensure that a proper record is kept of all meetings of the Friends Group and its Committee in the form of minutes; and shall deliver up such records as required by the Committee or General Meeting.

21. Any member or Officer delegated to represent the Friends Group in consultation with any other body shall act on the instructions of the Friends Group and shall report back to the following Committee or General Meeting, whichever is appropriate.

DISSOLUTION

22. If a Special General Meeting decides to dissolve the Friends Group, the assets, financial and otherwise, remaining when the Friends Group has satisfied its liabilities, shall be applied for such purposes of benefit to the community as the meeting shall decide.

1 July 2009