Rules of The Guild of Needle Laces
1. Name:
The Name of the Guild will be: The Guild of Needle Laces
2. Aims:
The aims of the Guild are to promote the interest, skills, teaching, conservation, history and exhibition of all needlemade laces.
3. President:
A President will be invited to the office. This will be a life title unless the person elected wishes to resign the title or the Committee deem it necessary to take away the title, for whatever reason. As Life President they will be entitled to agendas, minutes and invitations to all Guild functions. They can, without voting power attend Committee meetings and make representations or advise as she sees appropriate.
4. Membership:
The membership shall comprise of a Chairman, Vice Chairman and any number of members including a Committee of not more than ten elected Guild members.
The Chairman shall be chosen by the Committee and will serve a term of three years unless they wish to retire earlier.
(a) The classes of Membership will be:
Ordinary; Overseas (Europe); Overseas (Outside Europe); Honorary; Family
Ordinary: Membership is confined to people residing within the United Kingdom.
Overseas: (Europe): Membership is confined to people residing within the countries of Europe (as defined by The Post Office in their booklet - PL(B)3935-9-84 (Overseas Postal Charges Compendium).
Overseas: (Outside Europe): Membership is confined to persons whose permanent residential address is outside either area mentioned above.
Life Membership, can be conferred by the Committee to persons who have given long or great service to the Guild. Such membership is for life and is limited in numbers as determined by the Committee.
(b) The Committee will have the right to refuse membership to any person by a simple majority. The reasons for the rejection of a proposal for membership will not normally be given or disclosed to the applicant or to the members supporting the application.
No new member will be accepted without payment of one year’s subscription.
Application for membership, which must be in writing, should be sent to the Membership Secretary together with the full subscription.
(c) Current subscription rates can be obtained from any Committee Member or from the current Guild Magazine.
(d) Family membership: Current Ordinary membership plus a fee decided at the AGM for each additional member. (Family is husband/wife/partner and children living at the same address.) Each member of the family at the same address will be entitled to vote (from the age of 16) to enter competitions, but will only receive one copy of the magazine per family.
5. Resignation of Members:
Any member may withdraw from membership of the Guild by sending a notice of withdrawal in writing to The Secretary. A member who has not paid the annual subscription will be deemed to have resigned on February 1st following the year for which a full subscription was last paid. No notification of such seemed resignations will be given to the lapsed member, or be required of the Guild to such members. All such members may be reinstated, at the Committee’s discretion.
6. Composition of Committee:
The Committee will comprise of not more than ten members and will include amongst their number the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, who will be elected by the Committee from its membership. The Committee may co-opt additional members should its membership fall below ten or for carrying out specialised work for the Guild. Any Sub-Committee or Working Group formed by the Committee must contain at least one member of the Committee.
7. Nomination and Election of Committee Members:
(a) Each member of the Committee, elected by the members at an Annual General
Meeting will serve for two years; subject to re-election. A Committee member may serve more than one term of office but not more than three terms consecutively.
Co-opted members will serve until the next Annual General Meeting.
As an emergency measure, should the occasion arise that insufficient proposals for committee membership are received, any existing members who have completed their 3 terms in office may serve only 1 additional year if they wish.
(b) New members for the Committee must be nominated and seconded by members of the Guild and notification and acceptance of the nomination must be received by the Guild Secretary at least two full calendar months before the AGM each year to enable a postal vote to take place. Committee Members retiring according with the Guild rules do not require nomination, but must indicate to the Guild Secretary their willingness to stand for re-election before this due date.
(c) An election to fill vacancies left by members of the Committee retiring or to increase the Committee to the required number will take place at the AGM each year.
(d) The notice of the meeting will include the names of members standing for election to the Committee.
(e) The voting at the meeting will be conducted by a ballot of those fully paid up members in accordance with the voting rules for an AGM.
(f) If any overseas member expresses an interest in becoming a Committee Member, arrangements regarding expenses would have to be discussed. Nominees must be full members.
8. Powers of The Committee
The management of the Guild shall be entrusted to the Committee who will jointly have power to deal with any matter not provided for in these rules, provided that the aims of the Guild are not put in jeopardy. The Committee may delegate certain powers to individual Committee Members or Sub-Committees.
The Committee has the following duties:
(a) To Choose the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer.
(b) To publish newsletters/magazines to members at intervals determined by the availability of news and the financial state of the Guild.
(c) To elect new members and to consider complaints relating to, by or from existing members.
(d) To ensure that the Guild does not make commitments which are beyond its financial capability or are outside its powers or objectives.
(e) Any breach of duty by a member of the Committee will be dealt with internally by the Committee.
9. Powers and Duties of The Chairman:
The Chairman will take the Chair at all meetings of the Guild or its Committees at which they are present. In the event of an indecisive vote the Chairman will have a casting vote in addition to their vote as a member. It is the duty of the Chairman to ensure that meetings are held in an orderly manner and they have the power to require a member to leave any meeting to restore good order. The Chairman also has the power to determine the order in which proposals are taken, debated and voted upon at any meeting.
10. Powers and Duties of the Secretary:
The Secretary is responsible for maintaining the records of the Guild including the minutes of meetings, official correspondence and co-ordinating and liaising between the Committee and the Members.
The Secretary must reply promptly to correspondence directed to them by outside parties and media, and if the subject of such correspondence has not already been resolved, and they are unable to seek the Committee’s view prior to making a reply, copies of the correspondence should be presented to the next meeting of the Committee for confirmation.
The Secretary is responsible for the issuing notices and agendas for all meetings of the Guild and Committees prior to the time limits set for notice under these rules.
11. Powers and Duties of the Treasurer:
The Financial Year of The Guild of Needle Laces is to be from September 1st to August 31st inclusive.
The records of receipts and payments of the Guild funds will be maintained by the Treasurer, and it is the Treasurer’s responsibility to advise the Membership Secretary of any subscriptions received via Pay Pal, or other methods, without undue delay.
The Treasurer will not be held personally responsible for the commitments of the Guild should another Committee Member take on commitments which the Guild is unable to meet from its funds.
In the event of the Guild’s commitments exceeding its resources the Treasurer has the power to request a Special General Meeting of the Guild with a view to either finding a solution to the Guild’s difficulties or to having the Guild’s affairs wound up.
All Committee Members:
Should any Committee member receive subscriptions they should pass the payment and details as soon as practicable to the Membership Secretary.
12. Committee Meetings:
The Chairman will convene Committee meetings as necessary. An agenda, circulated by the Secretary at least seven days prior to the meeting, will be discussed. The Quorum for any Committee meeting will be five members including one Officer.
13. Resignation or Removal of Committee Members:
A Committee Member may resign at any time by giving notice in writing to the Secretary of their intention to do so. A Committee Member will be removed if they cease to be a member of the Guild and may be removed if they fail to attend three consecutive Committee Meetings without giving a satisfactory reason. In the event of a Committee Member being removed, a letter informing them of their removal will be sent by the Chairman. The Committee will be entitled to co-opt replacements to serve until the next AGM, following any such removals.
14. Annual General Meetings:
Notices of the Annual General Meeting should go out not less than one full calendar month prior to the Annual General Meeting. The Annual General Meeting of the Guild will be held in the period between September (last Saturday of the Month) and January (last Saturday of the month) each year and will deal with the following matters.
(a) Reports and Statements from the Chairman and Treasurer which will be put before the meeting for approval.
(b) A recommendation to approve the accounts of the Guild.
(c) The election of Committee Members.
(d) A proposal to fix the subscription rate for the following year. Members proposals must be included in full in the agenda for the previous General Meeting, but the Chairman may accept minor amendments to these proposals from the floor of the meeting. No new proposals may be accepted after notice of the meeting has been despatched.
(e) Proposals and resolutions must be received, in writing, by the Secretary 14 days prior to the Annual General Meeting. All members may vote on proposals at an Annual General Meeting and a simple majority is required for a resolution to be adopted.
15. Extraordinary General Meeting:
Any proposal which would involve a change to the Rules of the Guild, the expulsion of a Committee Member or Ordinary Member must be put to an Extraordinary General Meeting.
(a) Only Ordinary Members (including Committee Members) are entitled to vote at an Extraordinary General Meeting, and the resolution will receive the approval of at least two thirds of the members voting to be passed.
(b) Only matters on the Agenda will be discussed and voted upon.
(c) Resolutions put to an EGM must have the support (in writing) of at least twelve members or a resolution of the Committee before any meeting may be called.
(d) If an EGM is called at any time other than to coincide with the Annual General Meeting or by resolution of the Committee, it will be the responsibility of those calling it to provide adequate finance to cover postal, printing and hiring costs associated with the meeting.
16. Finance:
The Guild’s liquid funds will be held in a bank approved by the Committee in the name of the Guild, and may be invested in accordance with the wishes of the Committee. All withdrawals of funds must be made on the signatures of two out of three of the designated Committee Members. Deposits into the bank must be notified to the Treasurer immediately.
17. Auditor:
The Committee will appoint an Auditor or an Independent Examiner to report on the accounts of the Guild drawn up by The Treasurer.
18. Subscriptions:
The annual subscription rate will be set by resolution at the Annual General Meeting one year in advance of implementation and the rates published in the first and subsequent magazines following the Annual General Meeting.
No subscription is payable by the Life President.
Subscriptions become due each year on October 1st (and must be paid up fully before attending the Annual General Meeting). Failure to pay a subscription is set out in Rule 5. The Liability of each Member is limited to their annual subscription and no refund of subscription can be made in any circumstances.
19. Liquidation:
In the event of liquidation or disbandment of the Guild for any cause, any assets of the Guild remaining after payment of all liabilities will be donated to another Guild in the United Kingdom formed for the purpose of promoting the interests of needlemade laces, or if no such Guild exists, to a charity formed for promoting the care, teaching and conservation of lace generally and chosen by the then serving Committee.
These are the rules, regulations and aims governing The Guild of Needle Laces, and are duly accepted and adopted by the Committee of the Guild.
18th October 2008