CONSTITUTION – JANUARY 2023

1.The Name of the Club

The club shall be known as the New Taverham Players

2. Aim of the Club

To promote and maintain interest in the arts of acting, drama and general stage production

3. Membership

a) Membership shall be open to people interested in the arts of acting, drama and stage production work.

b) Membership is subject to the submission of an application form and approval of the committee.

c) Membership is offered with an expectation to support the club and its functions in all areas such as, but not limited to, publicity, set construction and social events.

d) The lower age for membership is thirteen years. In addition, however, a producer / director can approach the committee for approval of a specific production involving children under thirteen years of age, subject to applicable licenses, or increase the minimum age of a production where age appropriate. Approval must be granted by the committee.

e) Membership subscription will be determined at the Annual General Meeting. Membership will only be continued upon payment of this subscription due annually.

f) reduced subscription rates for members who are full time students and members who are of state retirement pension age will be decided at the Annual General Meeting. Other reductions shall be at the discretion of the committee.

g) A copy of the constitution shall be available online on the group’s website, or a hard copy can be provided by the Group Secretary upon request of any fully paid-up member.

h) All non-members that are involved in the group’s productions, such as members of the band; backstage; Front of House and others that are invited to assist by the director / producer or General Committee are expected to abide by the constitution of the group as per fully paid-up members.

4. Club Officers

The officers of the club shall be the Chair, the Secretary and the Treasurer.

5. Election of Officers and General Committee

a) All Officers of the club and General Committee are to seek re-election annually at the Annual General Meeting, when each automatically retires. Additionally, the Chair shall not hold office for a period of more than three consecutive years.

b) Members should show interest to join the committee prior to the Annual General Meeting by completing a nomination form, expressing their area of interest and passing to the Secretary no later than the first Friday in December.

c) All nominees and the current committee will be advised by the third Friday in December by the secretary.

d) In the event of multiple applicants for a single officer position or more than the maximum number of General Committee, then one or more closed ballots will be taken at the Annual General Meeting. For this purpose, the secretary will request for a volunteer teller from existing membership at commencement of the Annual General Meeting.

e) For the position of Chair. In the event of a tied ballot if there is an incumbent Chair, they will remain Chair subject to not exceeding the maximum continuous term allowed by this constitution. When there is no incumbent Chair then repeat ballots will continue until a majority decision is made.

f) For the remaining officer and General Committee positions. In the event of a tie the teller will inform the new Chair prior to release of the results. The new Chair will have the opportunity for a casting vote for each position that is tied or to request a repeat ballot from the group. The candidates will then be advised of the results prior to the group being informed.

6. General Committee

a) The General Committee shall consist of all the Officers of the club, together with between a minimum of four and a maximum of seven members, excluding the Officers.

b) The General Committee will be divided into five working parties which are Finance, Health & Safety, Production, Publicity, and Social Events.

c) Each committee member will need to volunteer for one or more areas; each working party will require two or more committee members to support it.

d) The five working parties as per the above and a Vice Chair will be appointed by the General Committee at the first committee meeting following the Annual General Meeting.

e) The General Committee will reserve the right to co-opt members as required for specific tasks, but co-opted members will not have voting rights.

7. Social Committee

There shall be a Social Committee of at least two members plus the member(s) of the General Committee. The Social Committee shall be responsible for organising the social events of the club. The Social Committee will be appointed after the first committee meeting after the Annual General Meeting, once the working party has been appointed.

8. Annual General Meetings

a) An Annual General Meeting of the club shall be called by the Secretary, and it shall be held during the month of January each year. At least 21 days’ notice shall be given to all members by the Secretary of the date of the Annual General Meeting.

b) The purpose of the Annual General Meeting shall be to receive reports from the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, for the election of the Officers of the club, General Committee and any other post and committee deemed necessary by the General Committee and any other relevant business.

c) A quorum shall consist of not less than one third of the total current members of the club.

9. Extraordinary General Meetings

a) An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by written notice to the Secretary and signed by a minimum of six current members. Such a meeting shall be held within seven days of such notice.

b) A quorum shall consist of not less than one third of the total current members of the club.

c) The minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting will be approved by the committee and signed by the Chair at the next scheduled committee meeting.

10. Minutes

a) A properly kept record of the club’s affairs and decisions including minutes of all Annual General Meetings, Extraordinary General Meetings and committee meetings, shall be maintained by the Secretary, who shall report on all matters to the members at the Annual General Meeting.

b) Approved and signed minutes will be made available at the request of a fully paid-up member of the group to the Secretary.

c) Current members may request a copy of any approved and signed Annual General Meeting, Extraordinary General Meeting or committee meeting minutes from the Secretary.

11. Accounts

a) Arrangements shall be made for the club’s bank to send statements on a monthly basis to the Treasurer and to another committee member nominated by the committee

b) On a bi-monthly basis at the General Committee Meeting, the Treasurer shall produce to the committee for its approval an income and expenditure report and a current bank statement reconciliation report. In the absence of such Treasurer’s report for two consecutive meetings, the Treasurer shall immediately be relieved of their duties and the books passed to another General Committee member.

c) All expenses incurred will be subject to the approval of the committee. Prior permission should be obtained.

d) The Social Committee should have the approval of the General Committee for any proposed financial expenditure.

12. Choice of Production

a) For each production to be staged the committee will invite a director / producer to select or nominate their choice and to take complete charge of all aspects of the production should the choice be satisfactory to the committee.

b) The committee reserves the right to request the presence of the director / producer at committee meetings. The director / producer may request a meeting with the committee.

c) The borrowing and return of any scripts shall be the responsibility of the Treasurer or nominated person.

d) Any director / producer is expected to cast from the current membership. Where the choice of production requires non-members to be sought then the director / producer must seek and obtain

committee approval first. Any non-members that are to be cast will be expected to pay a membership subscription and will become part of the current membership with immediate effect.

13. Presidents & Life Members

The General Committee has the authority to determine criteria and appoint Club Presidents and Life Members based on the information gained.

14. Changes to the Constitution

a) Changes to the constitution may only be approved at an Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting of the club.

b) The constitution shall be reviewed every three years by an appointed sub-committee. The sub committee’s recommended changes shall be put to an Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting for approval.

c) Where the constitution is scheduled for review at the Annual General Meeting the current Chair will ballot the membership on any changes as the first order of business after their annual report. Where those changes are agreed by majority, those amendments will have immediate effect for any future officers or members of the general committee. Any members will also be subject to those same amendments upon payment of their membership subscription.

15. Committee Meetings

a) Committee meetings shall be called by the Secretary on a bi-monthly basis. A quorum shall consist of not less than half of the number of committee members.

b) For those present at the meeting, if a ballot is taken and there is a tie, then the Chair of the meeting will have the casting vote.

16. Expulsion from The Club

If all other reasonable measurers have been taken any member of the club who behaves in such a manner which is contrary to the rules of the club or in such a manner which the club deem improper the committee can take steps to expel the member. The Chair will send a letter to the member (or the parent/guardian in the event of the member being a minor) informing them of the committee’s decision. However, prior to this the committee may decide it appropriate to choose a sub committee to undergo an investigation. The sub committee will be made up of three members including one committee member and an impartial member. They will consider all the evidence and report back to the committee who will then decide whether the member should be expelled from the club.

17. Club Equipment

All club equipment and other items purchased by the club shall remain the property of the club. Renewal of or additions to club equipment shall be decided at either a committee meeting or a general meeting. The responsibility for the well being and or retention of the club’s equipment shall be delegated to one or more members and a simple inventory of such equipment maintained. This may be asked for at an Annual General Meeting.

18. Termination of the Club

The club shall not be terminated except by resolution of three quarters of the current membership and in the event of dissolution the disposal of the balance of funds after all debts have been paid shall be decided by a general meeting of the members.

19. Absence from Rehearsal

Where such members are unable to attend rehearsals for any reason, they must notify the director / producer as early as possible. If a member of the cast is absent from rehearsals often, the director / producer has the authority to expel the member from the cast.

20. Grievance of Club Members

Any member wishing to air a complaint or grievance shall do so in writing to the Chair, Vice-Chair or Secretary for consideration by the committee.

21. Register

A register shall be kept of those attending club meetings and rehearsals.

22. Worthy Causes

a) At any time during the calendar year the committee may invite current members to put forward any nominations for any local good or justified worthy cause. The nominations are to be submitted in writing to the secretary.

b) The committee will consider and decide upon any submissions received.

23. Safeguarding Policy

As a requirement by law New Taverham players has the attached safeguarding policy. The group will always implement this policy. It is added as an addendum to ensure that it can be reviewed independently of the main constitution to follow any legal or regulatory changes.

24. Insurance for the Group

It is the responsibility of the Group Treasurer or other nominated person to ensure there is always a current insurance policy in force to cover the groups responsibilities to its members and members of the public assisting the group during productions and audience members. Also ensuring sufficient cover for the equipment owned by the group and stored at the Taverham Village Hall or on loan/ hire to the group for a production.