Constitution

Constitution of the Lillington Local History Society

1. TITLE
The name of the organisation shall be Lillington Local History Society.

2. OBJECTS
The objects of the Society are:
a) To promote and foster the study of historical subjects by meeting socially for discussions, talks and visits.
b) To promote and foster the distribution of local history material and publications for the benefit of our members and the local community.
c) To encourage research into local history and to promote and foster the publication of any such findings.
d) To encourage the deposition of local history study results or findings in local libraries and the County Record Office thus making them available to the general public.
e) To encourage the publication of promotional material advertising our work and programme of events for the benefit of our members and the general public.
f) To assist any charitable body or individual as thought fit by the elected Executive Committee of the Society.
g) To seek and maintain contact with the County Record Office and any other groups locally, including schools and churches, who are interested in local history.
h) To undertake any other business in furtherance of the above objectives.
i) To promote appreciation, protection and enhancement of features of historic or public interest in Lillington.

3. MEMBERSHIP
a) Membership shall be open to all individuals who accept the objectives of the Society as set out in Section 2.
b) Membership shall be conditional upon the receipt of a completed membership application form which has been accepted by the Executive Committee and either (i) the payment of the annual subscription as decided by the Executive Committee and announced at the Annual General Meeting or (ii) the payment of a per-meeting donation as decided by the Executive Committee and announced at the Annual General Meeting. Subscriptions for the year shall be payable on 1st September, the beginning of the Society’s year.
c) In the event of a member not having either (i) renewed their subscription or (ii) not having made a per-meeting donation each within six months of the Annual General Meeting or from the date of taking out membership, that membership shall be deemed to have lapsed.
d) Visitors shall be welcomed at meetings and shall be defined as those who have paid their per-meeting donation but have not completed an approved membership application form.

4. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
a) The Executive Committee shall, if possible, comprise a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Archivist, Treasurer and Secretary, together with no less than two other representatives of the membership of the Society and shall comprise members as specified in clause 3(b) above.
b) The members of the Executive Committee shall be appointed at an Annual General Meeting and shall retire annually. All retiring members, with the exception of the Chairman who is elected for up to three years, shall be eligible for re-election subject to approval by the Society membership at the Annual General Meeting.
c) The committee shall administer the affairs of the Society and shall meet at least four times a year.
d) A quorum of the Executive Committee shall comprise either the Chairman or the Vice Chairman and Secretary or Treasurer and not less than three other committee members (a minimum of five people).
e) Any individual member of the Society shall be eligible for election as an officer or a general member of the committee.
f) Minutes of the proceedings of all committee meetings shall be taken and distributed to committee members. These minutes should be available and confirmed at the following committee meeting. The Executive Committee shall also ensure that minutes of the Annual General Meeting are made and approved at the following Annual General Meeting.
g) Sub committees shall be appointed if deemed necessary but the Chairman of such a sub committee should be a serving member of the Executive Committee and this person will be responsible for the running of such a committee and report back to the Executive Committee.
h) The Executive Committee shall be able to co-opt members to fill vacancies between Annual General Meetings or for the expertise such co-opted members may bring.

5. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
a) The Annual General Meeting shall be held annually in September. The membership must be given at least twenty eight days notice of the place, date, time and business for the forthcoming meeting.
b) The minutes of the preceding Annual General Meeting shall be read by the Secretary and approved by the meeting.
c) The Chairman shall give a report of the activities of the Society for the previous twelve months.
d) The Treasurer shall give a financial report of the affairs of the Society and produce audited accounts. These accounts shall be approved by the meeting.
e) The meeting shall elect the Chairman for three years only and the members of the Executive Committee for the forthcoming twelve months.
f) The meeting shall discuss and transact any other business of the Society proposed by any member and accepted by the Chairman as relevant to the Annual General Meeting. In the event of any such proposal being associated with any significant change to the established rules and practices of the Society, this business must be announced in writing to the Secretary at least 14 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting to give the Executive Committee time to discuss the proposal.
g) The constitution of the Society can be approved or amended only at an Annual General Meeting or at a specifically called Extraordinary General Meeting and then only if it receives approval by two thirds of the members present. Any such amendment must be proposed in writing to the Secretary at least 14 days before the date of the meeting.

6. EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING
a) An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by the committee, with at least five members of the Society signing a notice specifying the business required to be discussed and that this shall be presented to the Secretary. Such an Extraordinary General Meeting must be advised in writing to all the membership giving them at least 28 days notice and must not be delayed any longer than sixty days from receipt of the signed notice. The business discussed shall be approved only if two thirds of the membership agree. Full minutes of such a meeting must be taken and presented to the ensuing Annual General Meeting.

7. FINANCE
a) The elected Executive Committee shall be responsible for the administration of the Society’s funds. The committee shall not have the power to raise loans or mortgages without the authority of an Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting.
b) The Chairman, Treasurer and two other members of the committee shall be appointed signatories and all cheques and withdrawals shall be signed by any two of the authorised signatories.
c) The Treasurer shall keep a regular account of receipts and payments.
d) The monies of the Society shall be applied solely in accordance with the objects of the Society as laid down in Section 2 of this Constitution.
e) No payment shall be made from the Society’s funds to any officer or member of the Society except by way of reimbursement for reasonable out of pocket expenses, or for payments where an acceptable receipt is produced.
f) Payments for out of pocket expenses for research are to be given as an annual amount approved by the membership at the Annual General Meeting.
g) The Society’s financial year shall end on 31 August and audited accounts should be presented to and discussed by the committee before being presented to the membership at the Annual General Meeting.

8. DISSOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY
a) A motion for the dissolution of the Society may be submitted to the Executive Committee not less than three months before the date of the next Annual General Meeting. If such a motion shall be passed by a two thirds majority of the membership present at such a meeting, any assets of the Society remaining on dissolution and after satisfying that all outstanding debts are met, shall not be distributed among individual members of the Society but shall be given to a local charitable organisation as agreed by the members present. Any charitable organisation chosen should if possible have similar objectives to those of the Lillington Local History Society.
b) The Executive Committee members, and individual members of the Committee, shall only be legally liable to the extent of the Society funds under their control and shall not be liable personally or collectively for any outstanding debts or claims.

Adopted 2nd September 2016
Updated 7th September 2018
Updated 6th September 2019