THE CLUB RULES
The name of the club is Grove Sports Centre & Social Club.
1. The objects of the club are the provision of opportunities and facilities for recreation, social intercourse and refreshments for the benefit of its members.
2. Every candidate for membership shall be proposed by a member of the club. His or her full name and address shall be communicated in writing to the Membership Secretary, who shall cause these names to be exhibited prominently in the club in a part frequented by the members for a period of at least two days before his or her election as a member. Until the candidate is elected as a member they shall not be entitled to any privileges of the club.
3. Candidates for membership shall be elected by the Management Committee at its sole discretion.
4. The management of the club shall be entrusted to a Management Committee consisting of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Secretary and representatives from each affiliated group or club together with up to six people from the general membership, elected annually at the Annual General Meeting. The Committee shall meet at least once every month and other times as the Committee shall determine and at all meetings five of the Management Committee plus one Officer shall form a quorum. Two members of Nailsea Town Council will be offered a place on this Management Committee as non-voting members identified in rule 10. Minutes shall be taken of all proceedings by the Management Committee and when ratified shall be displayed on the club notice board.
5. The Management Committee shall have power at any time, and from time to time, to fill any casual vacancy among the Officers and the Committee. Any Officer or member of the Committee so appointed, shall hold office only until the next following Annual General Meeting, and shall then be eligible for re-election.
6. Each member shall pay an annual subscription, payable on 1st August. If the subscription is not paid within two months of the due date, then the membership will be deemed as lapsed. A fee, equal to the joining fee, will be charged upon subsequent renewal of membership. Ordinarily any amendment to the subscription fee will be made at an Annual General Meeting. However, the Grove Management Committee is empowered to make interim changes to the subscription fees for any outstanding and new members, providing the Management Committee display notices in the club specifying the new proposed fee(s) three weeks in advance of the meeting when the decision will be made. This will give members time to put their views to the Management Committee before any decision is finalised.
8.a) No person shall at any time be entitled to receive at the expense of the club or any other member thereof any commission percentage or similar payment on or with reference to purchase of intoxicating liquor by the club: Nor shall any person directly or indirectly derive any pecuniary benefit of the club to members or guests, apart from any benefit occurring to the club as a whole.
8.b) As part of the management responsibilities of the Committee, the Officers of the Club are empowered to borrow money, or seek credit in the form of loans or overdrafts on behalf of the Club, provided at least two thirds of the Committee approve this application.
9. The purchase for the club and the supply by the club of intoxicating liquor shall be in the absolute discretion of the Management Committee.
10. To ensure that the interests of the Nailsea Town Council and the Nailsea Playing Fields Association are protected, the Management Committee shall be accountable to a Nailsea Playing Fields Association Executive Committee.
11. To further the communal objects of the club it shall be permissible to sell intoxicating liquor to persons other than members PROVIDED THAT:
1). Such persons are attending the club as visiting competitors and their bonafida guests or attending a social function or event organised or sponsored by the club.
2). Any profits arising from any such attendance’s shall be used for the benefit of members on furthering the objects of the club except in the case of any social or other function which may be concerned with raising funds for a specific charitable or other similar object when such profits are to be specifically paid to the benefit of such object.
12.
12.1) No money or property of the club, or any gain arising from the carrying on of the club, shall be applied otherwise than for the benefit of the club as a whole or for some charitable benevolent or political purpose or purposes chosen by resolution of a general meeting.
12.2) The club is a non-profit making organisation. All profit and surpluses will be used to maintain or improve the club’s facilities. No profit or surplus will be distributed other than to another non-profit making body or to members on winding up or dissolution of the club.
13. Full accounts of the financial affairs of the club duly prepared by a Chartered Accountant will be available at the AGM.
14. An Annual General Meeting of the club shall be held in each year on a date fixed by the Management Committee and fifteen months shall not elapse without a general meeting. The following business shall be conducted:
14.1) The presentation and if accepted the passing of the accounts for the previous financial year prior to the meeting, which accounts shall first have been prepared by the club’s Chartered Accountant.
14.2) The election of Officers and Committee.
14.3) The election of Chartered Accountant.
Such other business as shall have been communicated to the Secretary and included in the notice of the meeting sent by the Secretary to the members.
15. An Extraordinary General Meeting may be convened at any time and shall be convened within twenty one days on the requisition of one fifth of the members of the club for the time being, or thirty members, whichever is the less. The Grove Management Committee may also convene an EGM provided two thirds of the Management Committee then present vote in favour. Such requisition must state the purpose for which such meeting is required.
16. The Secretary shall at least fourteen days before any general meeting display a notice of the meeting in the entrance of The Grove Centre the time when and the place where it will be held and the business to be conducted. Such communication shall also be placed in any media deemed suitable by the Grove Management Committee.
17. The business at a general meeting shall be limited to that provided by these rules and those further matters set out in the notice convening the meeting. The quorum at any general meeting shall be twenty five.
18. The chairman of the club shall preside at all meetings of the club, but if he shall not be present within fifteen minutes after the time appointed for the meeting, or has signified his inability to be present at the meeting, the members present are entitled to vote or choose one of their number to chair the meeting.
19. The Management Committee shall have the power to expel any member who shall offend against the rules of the club or whose conduct in the opinion of the Committee render them unfit for membership of the club. Before any such member is expelled the Secretary shall give them seven days written notice to attend a meeting of the Committee and shall inform them of the complaints made against them. No member shall be expelled without first having the opportunity of appearing before the Committee and answering complaints made against them nor unless at least two thirds of the Committee then present vote in favour of their expulsion. Any Officer of the club or member of the appointed Staff Management Team may suspend any member with immediate effect until the next Committee meeting, or may request a person to leave the premises if their behaviour is unbecoming.
The Management Committee shall be empowered to elect temporary members of the club on such terms and at such subscriptions as they by resolution decide, but no such member shall be elected or re-elected in all one month and rule three thereof shall apply to the election of such members. The numbers of temporary members shall at no time exceed one fifth of the membership of the club (excluding such temporary members) and no person shall be elected to temporary membership unless precluded by distance or other circumstances from making full use of the privileges of membership.
20. The sporting facilities at the club premises shall be open to the general public whenever they are available, but members of the general public shall not be supplied by the club with intoxicating liquor for consumption on or off the premises.
21. Any member shall be entitled to introduce two guests and no more to the club at any one time, provided that no persons whose application for membership has been declined or who has been expelled, from the club shall be introduced as a guest. The member introducing guests shall enter the names and addresses of the guests together with his or her own name in a book which shall be kept at the club. No guests may be signed in on more than two occasions in one month without thereafter applying for membership. Guests may use all the facilities of the club but shall not purchase intoxicating liquor.
22. The premises may be open at such times as agreed by the Staff Management Team within the guidelines provided by the Management Committee.
The permitted hours for the supply of intoxicating liquor shall conform to those which are defined in the Club Operating Schedule which is part of the Club Premises Certificate.
23. No person under the age of eighteen years whether member, quest or bona fide visitor of the club, shall be supplied by the club with intoxicating liquor for consumption on or off the premises. Nor shall such persons be permitted to consume intoxicating liquor on the premises.
24. No alteration or addition to these rules shall be made except by a resolution carried by a majority of at least two-thirds of the members present at a general meeting by the notice of which shall have contained particulars of the proposed alteration or addition. The Secretary shall as soon as possible and in any case within 28 days of the making of such alteration or addition to the rules give written notice of such alteration or addition to the approved list as detailed by the Local Licensing Authority.