Constitution
PREAMBLE
We the members of Lisburn Gaming Club establish this Constitution to govern the matters within our organization.
Article 1 – Name
Section 1 The name of this organization shall be Lisburn Gaming Club (LGC). Hereafter, this organization shall be referred to as “the Club”.
Section 2 The Club is independent, and bears no legal affiliation with any other entity. Any links between other societies are purely based on a social foundation.
Article 2 – Purpose
Section 1 The purpose of this organization shall be to provide the City of Lisburn and the surrounding areas with a social club where members can learn and partake in the playing of the following games: miniature war games, board games, roleplaying games, trading card games, console games and all other associated styles of table top gaming.
Article 3 – Membership
Section 1 Membership of the club is a term used to describe someone who attends the club regularly / recently. There are no actual memberships schemes.
Section 2 Attendance at the Club entitles the individual to play games during the allotted Club hours within the Club premises.
Section 3 Allowed attendance from an individual may be revoked via a committee decision as detailed in Articles 11 and 13.
Section 4 Regular attendance entitles discount at certain establishments (with valid proof of membership) which will be advertised on the club’s website.
Section 5 Right to attend the club may be resigned at any time; however members are not entitled to a refund if this is due to violations in club protocol.
Section 6 Attendees must be 16 years or more to attend the Club. Anyone younger will be required to be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Section 7 A record of attendance will be kept in the Club’s “sign in” book. All members are required to fill in registration form
Section 8 Committee holds the right to revoke and refuse attendance.
Section 9 Committee holds the right to refuse entry.
Article 4 – Attendance Fee
Section 1 All attendees must pay an entry fee, which is advertised at the club itself.
Section 2 All committee members are entitled to pay a reduced entrance fee.
Section 3 Anyone who has not paid the appropriate fee will not be entitled to partake in any games, unless they are hosting games or simply watching / socialising.
Section 4 Visitors to the Club who choose not to pay are entitled to watch the proceedings of the Club only.
Section 5 Honorary members, are entitled to pay a reduced entrance fee as in article 5.
Article 5 – Honorary Membership
Section 1 Honorary Membership is given to exemplary active attendees, as a reward for one year.
Section 2 Honorary Membership will be reviewed annually.
Section 3 Honorary Members are entitled to a reduced entrance rate whilst having the title.
Section 4 Honorary Membership is at the discretion of the committee.
Section 5 Honorary Membership may be removed as a form of a disciplinary procedure.
Article 6 – Club Assets
Section 1 The assets of the Club (gaming equipment, cash in hand and cash in bank) belong to the Club itself, unless can be confirmed as belonging to others.
Section 2 The Club is to be non-profit making; any money made will be invested back into the Club.
Section 3 If the Club folds, the assets will be sold and the money shall be given to a local charity, which will be decided at the time.
Section 4 Club assets shall be recorded and catalogued by the committee. Then the recordings of the assets will be maintained.
Section 5 Club assets that leave the club will be recorded by the committee through a signing out procedure.
Section 6 Anyone who has taken club assets through the signing out procedure is responsible for the assets. If anything should happen to any club assets, the person or group responsible must compensate for the lost or damage of any assets.
Article 7 – Club Funds
Section 1 The Club funds will be administered through a bank or building society account, which is designed for this purpose only.
Section 2 The Treasurer will keep a record of transactions on club funds.
Section 3 A receipt will be obtained of any club expenditures. All receipts will be kept and filed away.
Section 4 All disbursements of funds must be approved by either the Treasurer or Chairperson.
Section 5 Anyone buying anything on the club’s behalf must keep and provide a receipt as proof of purchase to be reimbursed.
Article 8 – The Committee
Section 1 The committee of the Club shall consist of:
Chairperson
Vice-Chairperson
Secretary
Treasurer
Section 2 Term of office shall be one year, beginning on April 10th.
Section 3 Removal of a committee member shall be decided by unanimous, where all current committee members are required to vote.
Section 4 Notice of at least 1 month must be given if a committee member intends to leave before completing a full term.
Section 5 A Committee Member who has left the committee, but completed a full term of office, will be granted honorary membership indefinitely in compliance with Article 5.
Section 6 When a committee member leaves the committee for whatever reason they must return all club stock and anything which belongs to the club.
Article 9 – Elections
Section 1 Anyone who wishes to join the committee may nominate themselves, this must be done before 5pm (GMT) on the 1st Saturday of April.
Section 2 Anyone may also nominate another person before the first Saturday of April. The club secretary must contact this person and confirm a willingness to serve on the committee if elected.
Section 3 A date will be set for the election no later than the 10th of April every year.
Section 4 If the only people standing to be elected are the current committee, then no election will take place and the terms will proceed for the next year. Anyone who wishes to join the committee must contact the club’s secretary.
Section 5 If a committee member resigns and there is no replacement to stand, the chairperson may approach any person who is a regular club member and ask them to take over duties until the next election takes place.
Section 6 If a committee member does not complete a full term of office, they cannot stand to be elected in the following term.
Section 7 Only regularly attending members will be eligible to be a committee member.
Article 10 – Meetings
Section 1 Regular meeting of this organization shall be held at the discretion of the elected committee.
Section 2 A quorum shall consist of a majority of voting committee members.
Section 3 Decisions regarding the club, including amendments of the Club rules, will be made by a majority vote of committee members.
Section 4 The Secretary will keep a record of all minutes and decisions taken at club the Club meetings.
Section 5 The AGM must happen every year. The date and the time must be set and announced in advance. The AGM must happen before the end of April.
Article 11 – Code of Conduct
Section 1 The Club attendees and visitors will at all times adhere to the following standards of behaviour.
Section 2 There will be no verbal or physical abuse of any other person in attendance.
Section 3 There will be no discrimination tolerated of any kind by anyone towards any other person. This includes but is not limited to discrimination on grounds of:
Class
Ethnic origin, nationality or race
Gender
Age
Marital or sexual status
Mental of physical ability
Political or religious belief
Section 4 Should anyone under the age of 16 be present then they must be attended at all times by at least two responsible adults over the age of 18 years one of whom must have an access NI check held by the club. Unless their parent or guardian is present
Section 5 It is the responsibility of all persons to ensure that:
They do not endanger the health and safety of themselves or others.
They observe the rules established for the safety of those involved in club activities.
Section 6 Anyone attending the club must always “sign in” on entry to the Club. Upon signing in, they are agreeing to all the club rules (which will be on display beside the “sign in” sheet. They also must sign out when leaving.
Section 7 No weapons, including replicas are allowed at the club with the express prior permission of the committee.
Article 12 – Disagreements between attendees
Section 1 Any disagreements between anyone attending the Club and online must be referred to the Club Chairperson or another Committee member.
Section 2 If a committee member is involved in it, then the matter must be handled by the other remaining committee members.
Section 3 All parties to the disagreement must be given a reasonable opportunity to state their case.
Section 4 Any complaints from members must be kept confidential.
Section 5 Disciplinary action will be taken if the matter cannot be resolved or an agreement cannot be reached
Article 13 – Disciplinary Procedures
Section 1 Anyone who has broken any of the Club’s rules or code of conduct will be subject to the Club’s disciplinary procedures.
Section 2 Below are the stages of the disciplinary procedure
Verbal Warning
Suspension
Indefinite Ban
Section 3 Honorary members, will be given a verbal warning before the honorary status is removed.
Section 4 The disciplinary procedure for a Committee member is as follows:
Verbal Warning
Written Warning
Removal from committee (pending unanimous decision)
Section 5 Suspension of membership ensures that no situation in the Club, arises which could cause further concern and that no member is placed in a position which cause further compromise. Such action may be necessary in the following cases:
When an allegation that a member has committed a serious criminal offence. In
Article 14 – Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection Procedure (hereafter referred to as the CPP)
Section 1 All member should be aware of and adhere to our CPP. The CPP should be read and agreed at the AGM.
Section 2 – Complaints or incidents should be reported at the earliest opportunity to a member of the Child Protection Sub-Committee (details on display at the sign in area). The sub-committee consists of three members of the club committee who have access NI checks held by the club.
Section 3 – Where a complaint has been made or an incident reported at least two members of the sub-committee should discuss the complaint. Depending on the severity of the complaint suspension of membership may be required for those under investigation.
Section 4 – Where a serious breach of the procedure has occurred the police will be informed.
Article 15 – GDPR
Section 1 The club will not share any personal information it may have of any members.
Section 2 Any data held on any member or visiting person at the club, will be kept in a safe place, not obtainable by anyone who should not be able to access it.
Section 3 Any data held will be only kept for as long as it is needed and will be destroyed when no longer needed.