Riverside Players is registered with the UK Charity Commission – Charity Number 293095
- The name of the society shall be RIVERSIDE PLAYERS.
- The object of the society is to educate the public in the dramatic arts, to further the development of public appreciation and taste in the said arts.
- The membership categories of the Society shall consist of:
- Family of three or more living at the same address
- Family of two living at the same address
- Individual
- Senior – aged 60 or over at 1st April each year
- Student – in receipt of full-time education at 1st April each year
- Junior – aged under 18 at 1st April each year
- Friend
- Youth Group
- Members in categories 3.1) to 3.6) aged 16 and over at 1st April each year are entitled to vote at any general meeting of the Society.The subscription rate will be agreed at each annual general meeting of the society. Subscriptions are due on 1st April each year. The committee has discretion to admit members on an honorary basis, i.e. without payment of a subscription. The number of members in each category will be reported to the society at the annual general meeting.Membership shall incur no liability beyond the amount of the annual subscription.The name of any candidate for membership must be forwarded to the membership secretary. Acceptance of subscription shall constitute election to the society.
- Membership may cease at the discretion of the committee upon:
- non-payment of appropriate subscription within three months of the due date
- resignation in writing submitted to the secretary
- expulsion approved by two thirds of those eligible to vote and attending a meeting called for the purpose.
- The financial year shall run from 1st April to 31st March.
- All powers of management shall be vested in the committee who shall be solely responsible for the control of all the affairs of the society.
- The committee shall consist of nine elected members of the society who will serve initially for a three year term. They are then eligible to re-stand and, if elected, may serve a further consecutive three year term. Following this, they must stand down for one year after which time they are eligible for re-election. There is no limit to the number of terms a member can serve, providing they are duly elected and stand down for one year after each continuous period of six years.An exception to this rule will be in the event of a quorum of committee members standing down in any one year, either by choice or under the current Rule 6. In this case the membership may elect existing committee members, who would otherwise be required to stand down, to remain in post for a further year to ensure quorum continuity.Rules governing the voting procedure are set out in the separate voting and election procedure document.
- The officers of the society shall be a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman, a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Membership Secretary and such other officers as the committee deem, from time to time, desirable. The officers will be elected from those members who serve on the committee and by members of the committee.Representatives can be co-opted at the discretion of the committee in the event of failure to fill all vacant posts at the annual general meeting or in the event of the departure of a committee member mid-term. All such appointments shall be effective only until the end of the year in which they are made and members appointed in this way shall be required to step down at the next annual general meeting. They shall be entitled to offer themselves for election for a three year term at that meeting, and to serve for a total period of six years before having to stand down for one year, in accordance with the terms of Rule 8.
- Sub-committees may be formed at the discretion of the committee and may include committee members, society members and society non-members. There shall be at least one committee member sitting on any sub-committee. The sub-committee shall have powers only to report their findings and recommendations to the main committee.
- A quorum of the committee will be five. The standing orders of any sub-committee shall be subject to approval by the committee.
- An annual general meeting will be held once a year within three months of the end of the financial year. Twenty-one days’ notice of such a meeting will be given in writing. The following business must be transacted:
- the election of the committee
- the presentation of the audited accounts for the previous year
- the election of the honorary auditor
- such other business as may have been advised to the members with the notice of the meeting.
- An extraordinary general meeting may be called following the written request to the Secretary by at least ten members of the society or by a majority decision of the committee. Notice of such a meeting shall be given as in rule 10.
- These rules may, from time to time, be repealed, amended or added to by agreement of two thirds of those eligible to vote and attending a meeting called for the purpose, provided that no alteration to rule 2 (objects), rule 13 (dissolution) or this rule shall take effect until the approval in writing of the Charity Commissioners or jurisdiction shall be made which would have the effect of causing the society to cease being a charity at law. Notice of such a meeting must be given as in rule 12.
- The society can be wound up at an annual general meeting or at an extraordinary meeting called for that purpose. A simple majority of those eligible to vote and attending such a meeting is sufficient to confirm the winding up. All assets of the society, after payment of all liabilities, will be given to a registered charity having an object compatible with rule 2 and agreed at the meeting.
Amendments
Amended June 2010 – Rule 8
Amended June 2011 – Rule 8
