Club Rules

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Rules of Dulwich Park Runners

1.TITLE

The name of the Club is Dulwich Park Runners.

2.HEADQUARTERS

The headquarters of the Club is Trevor Bailey Sports Ground (South Circular), Dulwich Common, London, SE21 7LD

3.OBJECT AND POWERS

3.1 The objects of the Club are to:

3.1.1. promote amateur athletics;  

3.1.2. promote community participation in healthy recreation by providing (a) opportunities and facilities for running and (b) coaching, competition and other services to support these activities;

3.1.3. encourage members of all abilities to enjoy and to have fun through running;

3.1.4. promote the health and fitness of members through running; and

3.1.5  provide social activities for members of the Club.

3.3  In furtherance of the Objects but not otherwise the Club may do all such other lawful things as may further or are conducive to the Objects or any of them.

4.MANAGEMENT

4.1 The Management of the Club is vested in a Committee consisting of a Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary  and no less than 5 and not more than 10 other members, all to be elected annually, four (or, if greater, 40% of the Committee) to form a quorum. The Committee has the power to fill any vacancy which may arise between annual general meetings (“AGMs”).

4.2 Election to the Committee shall be for a period beginning at the adjournment of the AGM at which the Committee is elected and ending at the adjournment of the subsequent AGM at which a new Committee is elected.   A committee meeting will be arranged within one month of the AGM to facilitate hand-over from the outgoing to the incoming committees, and both the outgoing and the incoming committee members are expected to work together during the month following an AGM, and beyond if necessary, to ensure a smooth  handover.

4.3 Members may serve on the Committee for a maximum of three consecutive years in the same post, after which they must step down for at least one year before seeking re-election for that post unless: (i) no other nominations have been proposed and seconded for the post with the consent of the nominee; and (ii) the members in general meeting re-elect the member in question to that post. A member may only hold one committee post at any one time.

4.4 Committee meetings shall be held no less than four times a year and as often as is necessary to ensure effective management of the Club.  Committee meetings shall be held on reasonable notice and may be held by telephone or video conference, or similar electronic method allowing visual and/or audio participation.

4.5  Decisions shall be made by a majority vote and the Chair shall have an additional casting vote in the event of a tied vote.

5.MEMBERSHIP

5.1 Membership of the Club is confined to amateurs as defined by England Athletics whose rules as to amateur status shall apply to the Club. A candidate for membership must apply on the application form which is on the Club’s website.   A candidate for membership will not become a member until their subscription is paid.  All members are entitled to vote at Club general meetings, participate in all Club competitions and to have full use of all facilities and privileges of the Club, unless stated otherwise below. The classes of membership are as follows:

5.2 A senior member is one who is aged 18 or over on the date of becoming a member or 1st April in the Club year (as the case may be).  A senior member is entitled to stand for committee posts, subject to rule 4.3 above.

5.3 An intermediate member is one who is aged 16 or over, but less than 18 on the date of becoming a member or 1st April in the Club year (as the case may be).  An intermediate member is entitled to stand for Committee as a youth representative.

5.4 A junior member is one who is aged under 16 (but 7 or over) on the date of becoming a member or 1st April in the Club year (as the case may be); a junior member is entitled to participate in all Club competitions which are not restricted to senior and/or intermediate members members.  A junior member is not entitled to vote at any Club meetings except with regard to the post of Youth Representative, nor stand for the Committee. Junior membership is subject to the written consent of a parent or guardian and to agreement by a senior Club member to take responsibility for the junior at Club events. No junior under the age of 16 shall run unsupervised at un-marshalled, predominantly senior events e.g. the Club Handicap.

5.5 A social member is one who is aged 18 or over on the date of becoming a member or 1st April whichever is applicable. A social member shall be entitled to the use of the club facilities to attend social functions and to attend meetings in a non-voting capacity; but shall not be entitled to stand for committee posts, or to take part as a runner in running activities.

5.6 A pre-junior member is one whose subscription is paid and is aged six or under on the date of becoming a member or the 1st of April whichever is applicable. A pre-junior is entitled to take part in the Summer League and any appropriate fun runs for DPR. The parent or guardian concerned, be they full member, long-distance member, or social member, will be totally responsible for their child throughout the whole of any event they attend.

5.7  Participation of all members in Club competitions and events shall also be subject to the rules of England Athletics or whichever other relevant national sporting organisation the Club may be affiliated to from time to time (the “Affiliated Body”).   The details of the Affiliated Body will be posted on the website.

6.RESIGNATION

A member intending to withdraw from the Club shall give notice in writing to the Secretary, and his/her membership terminates on the date of that notice unless he/she is financially indebted to the Club, in which case the Committee may withhold acceptance of the resignation until he/she has discharged his/her liability. No part of a member’s subscription shall be refunded on resignation.

7.SUBSCRIPTION AND CLUB YEAR

7.1 The amount of, and payment schedule for, the annual subscription for the Club (which may be different for different categories of member and depending on when a member joins) shall be proposed by the Committee and decided by the members at the AGM. Current subscription rates will be displayed on the website. The rates will include concessionary rates for those who are either unemployed, in full-time education, or in receipt of a state pension or those whose main residence is more than 10 miles from the Club. Subscriptions will be payable upon receipt of an invoice from England Athletics for the relevant subscription amount.  Membership for new members starts on payment of such invoice.  If the Committee determines there are exceptional reasons for doing so, the Committee may agree to defer the payment date for subscriptions either for one, some, or for all members.

7.2 An individual who was a member of the Club for any part of the previous Club year shall pay the full applicable renewal subscription amount if the individual wishes to continue his or her membership (regardless of when in the year the renewal payment is made) and will not be treated as a new member.  

7.3 No member whose subscription is in arrears is eligible to take part in any competition promoted by the Club.

7.4 The Club year shall run from 1st April in any year until 31st March in the following year.

7.5 Any senior member renewing their full annual subscription, who at the time (i.e. 1-30 April) is in a limited financial situation and who does not automatically qualify for the concessionary rate referred to in Article 7.1 above, may apply for a reduction to their subscription. Application should be made in writing to the Committee and should be supported by reasonable evidence. Anyone who finds themselves in an eligible situation after having paid their subscription in full, may, also apply. Reductions will be allocated at the discretion of the Committee.

7.6 With regard to the initial subscription amount for new members, eligible individuals may apply for an instalment agreement at the discretion of the combined decision of the Treasurer and Membership Secretary. All such arrangements shall be reported to the Committee at the next meeting.

7.7 All senior members, whether new, existing or long distance, must pay the full requisite fee for the Affiliated Body, even if they pay pro-rata or concessionary Club membership fees. This fee will be paid at the same time the Club membership fees are due. If a member has already paid the Affiliated Body’s fee via another club subscription, they must provide the membership secretary with the relevant registration number.

8.CLUB FUNDS

8.1 All money belonging to the Club and not invested on behalf of the Club shall be paid by the Treasurer into the Club account at the Bank/Building Society to be named by the Committee.

8.2 The Chair or Treasurer and one other member of the Committee, shall be empowered to sign cheques on behalf of the Club, two signatures being required on each cheque. No signatory member can countersign sign a cheque made payable to themselves.

8.3 The Treasurer, with the approval of the Chair, may issue debit cards from the Club bank account to one or more Committee members from time to time and shall monitor the use of such debit cards.  Any Committee member using one of these debit cards must seek Treasurer approval in advance for any expenditure in excess of £100.

8.4 Three full members who are not on the Committee shall be approved by the Committee to audit the accounts and two of these approved members shall audit the accounts prior to the next AGM.

9.ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

9.1 A general meeting shall be held within four months of the end of each financial year to receive the Committee’s report and financial statement, elect the Committee, agree the subscription fees for the coming year and deal with any other matter specified on the agenda. The Secretary must give every member 21 days’ notice of the meeting, and this Notice may be served by email, or by post where no email address is known. Notice of any business which is to be included on the agenda must be given in writing to the Secretary 10 days prior to the meeting. The agenda must include provision for discussion of any other business raised at the meeting. Copies of the agenda and nominations are to be emailed to members as part of the Club’s newsletter and posted on the Club’s Facebook page (or any replacement or equivalent social media page) no less than 7 days before the AGM.

9.2  The Committee may make whatever arrangements they consider appropriate in the circumstances to enable members attending a general meeting to exercise their rights to speak or vote whether attending directly or by telephone communication or by video conference, an internet video facility or similar electronic method allowing visual and/or audio participation.

9.3  The accidental omission to give notice of a general meeting (whether Annual or Special) to or the non-receipt of notice of a general meeting by any person entitled to receive notice shall not invalidate the proceedings at that meeting.

10.SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING

A Special General Meeting must be called by the Secretary within 14 days of the receipt by him/her of a request from the Committee or a requisition in writing signed by ten members of the Club, in either case stating the business to be brought before such a meeting. All members must receive a copy of the agenda at least 7 days prior to the meeting.

11.QUORUM AND VOTING AT GENERAL MEETING

The lesser of: (i) 10 members or (ii) 40% of the membership; shall constitute a quorum at any general meeting.  Voting at any general meeting shall be by a show of hands or by the appropriate voting mechanism on the relevant video conferencing tool, except in the case of election of Officers and Committee when voting shall be by secret ballot. Decisions shall be made by a majority vote and the Chair shall have an additional casting vote in the event of a tied vote. No proxy votes shall be permitted.

12.NOMINATION OF OFFICERS

Nominations for Officers and Committee shall be proposed and seconded by two members of the Club, with the consent of the nominee, and submitted to the Secretary in writing at least 10 days before the AGM. Lists of such nominations together with the names of the proposers and seconders, shall be published in the Club’s newsletter and displayed on the Club’s Facebook page (or any replacement or equivalent social media page) as soon as practicable after receipt by the Secretary.  No member can be nominated for more than 2 posts at the same time.

13.ALTERATIONS IN RULES

No alteration or addition may be made to the Rules except by an AGM or a Special General Meeting called for that purpose. Notice of any proposed amendment must be given as provided in Rule 9 or 10 (as the case may be).  The vote of 66% of those present and entitled to vote at the general meeting shall be required in order to pass the proposed alteration or addition to the Rules.

14.PUBLIC RUNNING/ATHLETIC EVENTS

14.1 If the Club is allocated free or subsidised entries for a public running or athletic event , these will be allocated in accordance with a procedure determined by the Committee from time to time.   

15. CLUB COLOURS/KIT

15.1 Club Racing Colours/Kit shall be defined as anything sold or approved for purchase by the Club or, exceptionally, non-standard items approved by the Committee, bearing the Club logo.

15.2 Members should wear Club Colours/Kit in events in which they represent the Club.

15.3 Any member wishing to qualify in a Club Championship event, or to claim a Club Record, must wear an official Club colours top (as sold or approved for purchase by the Club) in competing in the event in question.

15.4  Any member wishing to claim a Club Record must confirm their time to the Race Secretary and that the event was an Affiliated Body or Road Running Club (or overseas equivalent) measured course.

16. PERSONAL RISK

16.1  Members acknowledge and accept that playing or participating in sport of any kind can be dangerous and may result in injury and damage to property.  Members and guests shall take personal responsibility for their own actions and play or participate in the Club’s sporting activities at their own risk.

16.2  Subject to rule 16.3 below, the liability of the Club and the members of the Committee to any member is limited to the net assets of the Club.

16.3  Nothing in these rules shall limit or exclude liability:

16.3.1  for death or personal injury caused by negligence;

16.3.2  for any loss or damage caused by criminal or fraudulent conduct; or

16.3.3  for any other liability which cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.

17.RULES AND CODE OF CONDUCT

17.1 The Committee may from time to time adopt, approve, update or amend a code of conduct,  grievance procedure and disciplinary procedure which shall be published on the Club’s website.  In the absence of specific club policies on these matters, the Club will follow procedures recommended by the Affiliated Body.  The Club in General Meeting shall have the power to alter, add to or repeal the code of conduct, grievance procedure and disciplinary procedure. These Rules and any such code of conduct, grievance procedure and disciplinary procedure, shall form a binding agreement between each member and the other members and each member shall comply with them.

18.WINDING-UP

If a decision is taken at a general meeting to wind up the affairs of the Club, assets held by the Club shall be released to discharge all liabilities and any remaining assets shall be made over to a charity of the Club’s choice. The Club shall not be wound up unless the resolution is carried by 75% of the members present and entitled to vote.