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FOUNDED 1994 |
U3A YNG NGHYMRU |
FOUNDED 1994 |
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CEFN SIDAN GROUP |
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Constitution |
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CONSTITUTION
OF THE Cefn Sidan (Burry Port & Pembrey) UNIVERSITY OF
THE THIRD AGE ( THIRD AGE
TRUST AS AN UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATION FORMALLY
ADOPTED ON FEBRUARY 17TH.2003. 1.NAME The name of
the charity is Cefny Sidan (Burry Port & Pembrey) U3A hereafter referred
to as 'The U3A'. 2.
ADMINISTRATION Subject to
the matters set out below the Charity and its property shall be administered
and managed in accordance
with this constitution by the members of the Executive Committee, constituted
by clause 6 of this
constitution. 3. OBJECTS The Objects
of The U3A are; --- -- (i) to
advance the education of the public and in particular the education of older
people no longer in full time
gainful employment in Burry Port & Pembrey and its surrounding locality. (ii) the
provision of facilities for leisure time and recreational activities with the
object of improving the conditions
of life for the above persons in the interests of their social welfare. 4. POWERS In
furtherance of the Objects but not otherwise, the Executive Committee may
exercise the following powers: (i) power to
raise funds and to invite and receive contributions provided that in raising
funds the Executive
Committee shall not undertake any substantial permanent trading activities
and shall conform to any
requirements of the law. (ii) power
to receive donations, endowments, sponsorship, grants legacies and
subscriptions from persons desiring to
promote all or any of the Objects of The U3A and to hold funds in trust for
the same. (iii) power to
buy, take on lease or in exchange any property necessary for the achievement
of the Objects and to
maintain and equip it for use. (iv) power
subject to any consents required by law to sell, lease or dispose of all or
any part of the property of
the charity. (v) power to
co-operate with other charities, voluntary bodies and statutory authorities
operating in furtherance
of the Objects or of similar charitable purposes and to exchange information
and advice with them. (vi) power
to support any charitable trusts, associations or institutions formed for all
or any of the Objects. (vn) power
to appoint and constitute such advisory committees as the Committee may think
fit. (viii) power
to organise and run conferences, lectures, seminars, courses. (ix) power
to publish books, pamphlets, reports, leaflets, journals, instructional
matter and to produce films and
videos. (x) power to
participate in and assist in the development of area and regional groupings
of U3As. (xi) power
to do all such other lawful things as are necessary for the achievement of
the Objects. 5.MEMBERSHIP (i)
Membership of the U3A shall be open to individuals who are interested in
furthering the work of 'The U3A'
and who have paid the annual subscription as determined by the Executive
Committee and confirmed by
the membership at an Annual General Meeting. (ii)Every
individual member shall have one vote. (iii) The
Executive Committee may and for good reason terminate the membership of any
individual or member
organisation if annual membership or other fees are unpaid three months after
the due date or if the member acts
in a way which is prejudicial to The U3A or to the running of The U3A or
brings it into disrepute provided that the individual concerned shall have
the right to be heard by the Executive Committee accompanied by a friend who
may also speak, or make written representation before a final decision is
made. 6. EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE The
management of The U3A shall be vested in the Executive Committee, consisting
of the members whose duty it shall be to carry out its general policy and to
provide for the administration, management and control of the affairs of The
U3A. (i) Honorary
Officers At the
Annual General Meeting of The U3A the members shall elect from amongst
themselves a chair-man, a vice-chairman or vice-chairmen, a secretary and a
treasurer who shall hold office from the con-clusion
of that meeting. (ii)
Executive Committee The
Executive Committee shall consist of not less than 5 and not more than 10
members being: (a) the honorary
officers specified in the preceding clause (b)not less
than 1 and not more than 6 members elected at the Annual General Meeting who
shall hold office
from the conclusion of that meeting. (iii) The
Executive Committee may in addition appoint not more than 2 co-opted members
who shall have full voting rights and have tenure until the next Annual
General Meeting. (iv) Persons
who need not be members may be invited by the Executive Committee to serve
because of their
special expertise. They shall have no voting rights and their term of service
shall expire at the next Annual
General Meeting. (v)
Vacancies on the Executive Committee which arise through resignation or
termination during the year can be filled from the membership and such an appointee
shall complete the term of service of the member he or she is replacing and
shall be eligible for re-election in the prescribed manner at the next Annual
General Meeting. (vi) The
proceedings of the Executive Committee shall not be invalidated by any
vacancy among their number or by any failure to appoint or any defect in the
appointment, election or co-option of a member. (vii)A
member of the Executive Committee shall cease to hold office if he or she: (a) is
disqualified from acting as a member of the Executive Committee by virtue of
section 72 of the Charities Act 1993 (or any statutory re-enactment or
modification of that provision). (b) becomes
incapable by means of mental disorder, illness or injury of managing and
administering his or her
own affairs. (c) is
absent without the permission of the Executive Committee from 3 consecutive
meetings and the Executive
Committee resolve that his or her office be vacated. (d) is
subject to a vote of no confidence from the Executive Committee as a result
of actions which bring The
U3A into disrepute or conduct prejudicial to The U3A or failure to abide by
me terms of this
constitution or decisions of the Executive Committee. (e) notifies
in writing to the Executive Committee a wish to resign (but only if at least
four members of the
Executive Committee will remain in office when the notice of resignation is
to take effect which shall
be at least 21 days from the receipt of me notification). 7.ELECTION
OF MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (i) The
election of members of the Executive Committee shall be held at the Annual
General Meeting of The U3A . (ii) The
newly elected Executive Committee shall take office at the conclusion of the
Annual General Meeting (iii) Officers
shall serve for a period of 3 years and Committee members for a period of 3
years. Retiring Officers may
stand for re-election provided that no-one may hold the office of Chairman or
Vice- Chairman for more than 6 consecutive years without an intervening
period of least one year except that a retiring Vice-Chairman may stand
immediately for the post of Chairman. (iv) If
insufficient nominations are received to fill the vacancies for Committee
members, the Executive Committee may as a last resort, appeal to the
assembled members at the Annual General Meeting for permission to ask whether
anyone present was willing to reconsider and put themselves forward as a
candidate for one of the vacancies. A vote must be taken on this motion and
must be carried by not less than two thirds of the members present for the
request to be made. (v) In the
event of no nominations being received for one or more of the Honorary
Officer posts or no member of the newly elected committee being willing to
take on one or more of the Officer positions a majority decision can be taken
by the Executive Committee to ask the retiring officer to stay until the next
Annual General Meeting. 8. MEETINGS
AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (i) The
Executive Committee shall hold at least 4 ordinary meetings each year. (ii) A
special meeting may be called at any time by the Chairman or by any two
members of the executive Committee
upon not less than seven days' notice being given to other members of the
Executive Committee of
the matters to be discussed unless it concerns the appointment of a co-opted
member in which case
not less than twenty-one days must be given. (iii)The
Chairman shall chair the meetings and in his absence the vice-chairman shall
take over or if he or she is also
absent the Executive Committee shall choose one of their number to be
chairman of the meeting
before any business is transacted. (iv)There
shall be a quorum when at least one third of the number of members of the
Executive Committee for the time
being or three members of the Executive Committee whichever is the greater,
are present at the meeting. (v) Every
matter shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members of the
Executive Committee present and
voting on the question but in the case of equality of votes the Chairman of
me meeting shall have a
second or casting vote. (vi)The
Executive Committee shall keep minutes of the proceedings at meetings of the
Executive Committee
and any sub-committees and these minutes shall be available for inspection
should a member
request it. (vii) The
Executive Committee may from time to time make and alter rules for the
conduct of their business, the
summoning and conduct of their meetings and custody of documents. No rule may
be made which is
inconsistent with this constitution. (viii) The
Executive Committee may appoint sub-committees consisting of at least one
member of the Executive
Committee for the purpose of performing any function or duty which in the
opinion of the Executive Committee
would be more conveniently undertaken or carried out by a sub-committee, provided
that all acts and proceedings of any such sub-committees shall be fully and
promptly reported to
the Executive Committee. (ix) No
Executive Committee member shall be chargeable or responsible for loss caused
by any act done or omitted
to be done by him/her or by any other Executive Committee member or by reason
of any mistake or
omission made in good faith by any Executive Committee member or by reason of
any other matter
other than wilful and individual fraud or wrongdoing or actions knowingly
beyond the scope of a
specific authority or limit thereon on the part of the Executive Committee
member in question, 9. FINANCE (i) The
funds of The U3A, including all donations, contributions and bequests, shall
be paid into an account
operated by the Executive Committee in the name of The U3A at such bank as
the Executive Committee
shall from time to time decide. All cheques drawn on the account must be
signed by at least 2
Executive Committee members. (ii) The
funds belonging to The U3A shall be applied only in furthering the objects. (iii) No
funds shall be transferred in any way to Committee members, provided that
nothing herein shall prevent the
payment in good faith of reasonable and proper out of pocket expenses
incurred in the course of
U3A work. (iv) All
proper costs, charges and expenses incidental to the management of The U3A
and membership of the Third
Age Trust may be defrayed from the funds of The U3A. 10. PROPERTY (i) All
property of The U3A shall be applied solely towards the objects of The U3A.
Ownership of property is
vested in the U3A and items may with the agreement of the committee be
transferred on a temporary
basis to a nominated member's home in pursuance of his/her designated role
until such time as the
member's tenure of office ceases or the Executive Committee request its
return. (ii) A list
of all property of the U3A shall be maintained and appended to the Annual
Report, giving such information
as the Executive Committee shall decide. 11. ACCOUNTS The
Executive Committee shall comply with their obligations under the Charities
Act 1993 (or any statutory re-enactment
or modification of that Act) with regard to: (i) the
keeping of accounting records for the U3A; (ii) the
preparation of annual statements of account for The U3A; (iii) the
independent examination of the statement of account of The U3A; and (iv) the
transmission of the statements of account of The U3A to the Charity
Commission. 12. ANNUAL
REPORT The
Executive Committee shall comply with their obligations under the Charities
Act 1993 (or any statutory re-enactment
or modification of that act) with regard to the preparation of an annual
return and its transmission
to the Commission. 13. ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING (i) There
shall be an Annual General Meeting of The U3A which shall be held in the
month of February in each year
or as soon as practicable thereafter but not later than 15 months after the
preceding Annual
General Meeting. (ii) Every
Annual General Meeting shall be called by the Executive Committee. The
secretary shall give at least 21
days' notice of the Annual General Meeting to all the members of The U3A. All
the members of The U3A
shall be entitled to attend and vote at the meeting. (iii)
Accidental omission to give notice to any member shall not invalidate the
proceedings of any General Meeting. (iv) The
Executive Committee shall present to each Annual General Meeting the report
and accounts of The U3A for
the preceding year for approval. (v) The
Executive Committee shall seek approval for the appointment of me examiner
for the accounts. (vi)
Nominations for election to the Executive Committee must be made by members
and must be in the hands of the
Secretary of the Executive Committee at least 14 days before the .Annual
General Meet- ing. Should
nominations:^ esed yscaneies^election shall be by ballot. - - • Any
proposals to amend the constitution subject to clause 16 shall be considered
at the Annual General Meeting and
any other business published in the agenda. 14. SPECIAL
GENERAL MEETING The
Executive Committee may call a Special General Meeting of the charity at any
time and if at least one fifth of the
members request such a meeting in writing stating the business to be
considered, the Secretary shall call
such a meeting. At least 21 days notice shall be given. The notice must state
the business to be discussed. There
shall be a quorum when 20 of the members are present. 15.
PROCEDURE AT GENERAL MEETINGS (i) The
secretary or other person specially appointed by the Executive Committee
shall keep a full record of
proceedings at every General Meeting of The U3A. (ii) There
shall be a quorum when at least 20 of the number of members of The U3A are
present at any General
Meeting. (iii) If
within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting a quorum is not
present, the meeting if convened at
the request of the members shall be dissolved. In any other case it shall be
adjourned until the same day
in the next week at the same time and same place or otherwise as the
Executive Committ- ee may
direct. (iv) The
Chairman of The U3A shall be the Chairman of the General Meeting at which
he/she is present. (v) If there
is a tied vote the Chairman should have a single casting vote. 16.
ALTERATIONS TO THE CONSTITUTION (i) Subject
to the following provisions of this clause, the Constitution may be altered
by a resolution passed by
not less than two thirds of the members present and voting at a General
Meeting. The notice of the
General Meeting must include notice of the resolution, setting out the terms
of the alteration proposed. (ii) No
amendment may be made to clause 1 (the name of the charity) clause 3 (the
Objects clause) clause 17 (the
dissolution clause) or this clause without the prior consent in writing of
the Commissioners. (iii) No
amendment may be made which would have the affect of making the Charity to
cease to be a charity at law. The
Executive Committee shall promptly send to the Charity Commission a copy of
any amendment made under this
clause. 17.
DISSOLUTION If the
Executive Committee decides that it is necessary or advisable to dissolve The
U3A it shall call a meeting of
all members of The U3A, of which not less than 21 days' notice (stating the
terms of the resolution
to be proposed) shall be given. If the proposal is confirmed by a three
quarters majority of those present and voting
the Executive Committee shall have power to realise any assets held by or on
behalf of the Charity.
Any assets remaining after the satisfaction of any proper debts and
liabilities shall be given or transferred
to other such local charitable institution or institutions having objects
similar to the Objects of The U3A' as
the members of The U3A may determine or to the Third Age Trust Registered
Charity No.288007. A
copy of the statment of accounts or account and statement, for the final
accounting period of the U3A must be sent to the Charity Commission. |
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Copyright© 2005 U3A |