Constitution

You can also download the Constitution BTTAD CONSTITUTION 2012

1 NAME
The name of the Association shall be “The British Table Tennis Association for people with Disabilities” with the abbreviated title “BTTAD”.
2 OFFICE
The Office of the Association shall be at the Chairman’s residence; this will be notified to the Charity Commission (or its successor) at each change of address.
3 DEFINITIONS
Any definitions shall be covered in Appendix A.
4 OBJECTS
4 The objects of the Association shall be
4.1 to encourage the development of disability table tennis in the United Kingdom in co-operation with the National Governing Bodies for table tennis, Disability Sports Organisations and any other relevant agency;
4.2 to organise competitions at the UK level for its membership and to work with all other relevant bodies to organise and support other competitions for disability table tennis;
4.3 to be responsible to UK Sport (or its successor) for the organisation of the UK Disability Table Tennis World Class Performance Programme (or its successor);
4.4 to represent disability table tennis in the UK at any appropriate forum in the UK and abroad.
5 MEMBERSHIP
5.1 There shall be the following classes of Membership:
5.1.1 Full Member – any disabled person wishing to play table tennis
5.1.2 Associate Member – any person wishing to support disability table tennis
5.1.3 Organisation Member – any organisation wishing to support disability table tennis
5.1.4 Honorary Member - any person nominated by the Committee and approved by the Annual General Meeting for the posts of Honorary Life Vice- President , Honorary Life Member, President or Vice-President (these latter 2 categories are appointed for a 3 year period but are available for re- election) and all Nominated Representatives on the National Committee (these are approved annually but are available for re-election).
5.2 The initial application for Membership shall be submitted on a form which will indicate the mandatory requirements.
5.3 Any changes to this initial application shall be communicated by the Member to the Membership Secretary as designated by the National Committee.
5.4 The Membership Secretary shall maintain a Register of all Members.
5.5 All Members shall be bound by the Constitution, a copy of which will be made available to them.
5.6 Members who are under 18 at the start of the subscription year will be considered as Junior Members.
5.7 Members are liable to suspension by the National Committee either from Membership or from roles whether elected , approved or appointed.
5.8 Members are required to complete any documentation needed for the organisation of the Association
5.9 Members are required to comply with the Anti – Doping Rules of the BTTAD ; these are the UK Anti - Doping Rules published by UK Anti - Doping (or its successor ) as amended
from time to time. These rules are published on relevant websites including the British Paralympic Association and the English Table Tennis Association .
6 SUBSCRIPTIONS
6.1 Each Member other than an Honorary Member shall pay an annual subscription as agreed by the Annual General Meeting for each calendar year.
6.2 Membership shall remain valid until the end of 2 months after the end of the calendar year and shall then lapse until a new annual subscription fee is paid.
6.3 All Members other than Honorary Members shall pay the appropriate rate for the subscription year unless otherwise decided by the National Committee.
7 NATIONAL COMMITTEE
7.1 The National Committee shall consist of
7.1.1 Elected Officers: Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary;
7.1.2 Up to 6 Elected National Committee Members;
7.1.3 Up to 4 Nominated Representatives - one on behalf of British Table Tennis Federation (or its successor) and the other three as people with skills and expertise which would benefit the Association
7.2 Nominations for Elected Officers and Elected National Committee Members shall be proposed by a Member and seconded by another Member on the form provided by the Association, which shall include the requirement for consent to the nomination by the nominee.
7.3 Nominations for Nominated Representatives shall be proposed and seconded by any two Officers on a form provided by the Association, which shall include the requirement for consent to the nomination by the nominee.
7.4 All Elected Officers and Elected National Committee Members shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting; all Nominated Representatives shall be proposed for approval by the Annual General Meeting.
7.5 All Members of the National Committee shall hold office from the end of an Annual General Meeting until the end of the following Annual General Meeting.
7.6 Any Member of the National Committee or a sub–committee wishing to resign shall notify the Secretary in writing, indicating the date of his or her resignation.
7.7 In the event of a casual vacancy among Members of the National Committee , the National Committee may appoint a successor until the next Annual General Meeting and shall advise Members of any such appointment.
7.8 All Members of the National Committee shall be Members of BTTAD.
7.9 No member of staff appointed by or through BTTAD may be a Member of the National Committee.
7.10 The National Committee may co-opt any Member or invite any person to a meeting of the National Committee or a sub–committee to assist either generally or with a particular item of business.
7.11 The National Committee shall meet at least 3 times each Administrative Year.
7.12 The quorum for any National Committee meeting shall be 3, including at least 1 Officer.
7.13 All meetings shall be chaired by the Chairman, or in his or her absence, the Vice-Chairman; if neither is present the other Members of the National Committee present shall appoint one of their number to chair the meeting.
7.14 Voting at National Committee shall be on the basis of one vote per Member; if there is equality of votes on any motion the Chairman shall have a second and casting vote
7.15 The National Committee shall operate under Standing Orders and Terms of Reference approved by the Annual General Meeting.
7.16 The National Committee may appoint sub- committees and may delegate any matters to a sub- committee.
7.17 The National Committee shall be responsible for monitoring to ensure proper actions are taken by its Members on behalf of the Association.
8 GENERAL MEETINGS
8.1 The Association shall hold an Annual General Meeting before the end of March in every calendar year.
8.2 Not later than 63 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting, all Members shall be sent details of
8.3 the date, time and place of the meeting (as previously agreed by the National Committee);
8.4 the procedure for elections and resolutions, including the latest date for return of nominations and resolutions, which shall be 42 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting.
8.5 Not later than 21 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting, all Members shall be sent
8.5.1 the Agenda for the meeting;
8.5.2 the Annual Report for the past Administrative Year;
8.5.3 the Statement of Accounts, Auditor’s Report (if any )and Treasurer’s Report for the Financial Year;
8.5.4 the nominations received for Elected Officers, Elected National Committee Members , Nominated Representatives and any other Honorary Members;
8.5.5 the resolutions received for consideration at the meeting.
8.6 An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called on resolution of the National Committee or on receipt by the Secretary of a requisition signed by 20 Members.
8.6.1 Any such meeting shall be called within 21 days and must be held within 42 days of the resolution or requisition being received by the Secretary.
8.6.2 The resolution or requisition must include a statement of all the business to be transacted and all relevant resolutions to be considered by the meeting.
8.7 Accidental omission of any Member in the circulation or non-receipt of information by any Member shall not invalidate any General Meeting decision.
8.8 The quorum for any General Meeting shall be 15.
8.9 Any General Meeting shall be chaired by the Chairman or, in his or her absence or for the election of Chairman, by the Vice–Chairman; failing that, by any Member of National Committee elected by those present
8.10 Voting at any General Meeting will be on the basis of one vote for each Member present.
8.10.1 If there is an equality of votes for any motion, the Chairman of the Meeting shall have a second and casting vote.
8.10.2 All resolutions other than an amendment to the Constitution shall be decided by a simple majority of those present and voting.
8.10.3 An amendment to the Constitution shall require a 2/3 majority of those present and voting.
8.10.4 All voting shall be by show of hands except where a contested election is held, when it will be by written vote counted by tellers who have no voting or speaking rights.
8.10.5 Any amendments to a resolution shall relate to the subject of the resolution and should be submitted to the Secretary to arrive not later than 7 days before the meeting, but may be accepted during the meeting at the discretion of the Members present.
8.11 Any General Meeting will be held in accordance with Standing Orders approved by the Annual General Meeting.
9 FINANCE
9.1 The National Committee shall ensure that the funds available to the Association shall be used only to further the objects of the Association.
9.2 The Treasurer shall keep appropriate financial records which may be available for inspection by any Committee member.
9.3 The Treasurer shall lodge all funds in the name of the Association in banking or building society accounts as approved by the Committee; accounts may be identified for specific purposes only.
9.4 Any cheques or drafts drawn on these accounts shall be signed by any 2 of the 4 Officers but no signatory shall be the recipient of the payment signed for.
9.5 The Financial Year of the Association shall start on January 1 and shall end on December 31.
9.6 An Audited or Certified Statement of Accounts and Balance Sheet for the previous Financial Year together with the Treasurer’s Report shall be circulated to Members and presented at the Annual General Meeting.
9.7 A copy of the documents itemised in 9.6 shall be sent to the Charity Commission (or any successor) each year together with the Annual Report for that year.
9.8 The Committee shall be empowered to accept funds in any legal way provided no permanent trading is undertaken and shall conserve or invest all funds at its discretion.
10 INDEMNITY
10.1 No Member of the National Committee (Elected Officer, Elected National Committee Member, Nominated Representative) shall be liable for any losses to the assets of the Association caused through any action made in good faith unless illegal.
10.2 No Member of the Association or any other person may purport to represent the Association unless authorised to do so by the Association through the Annual General Meeting or by the National Committee.
11 DISSOLUTION
11 The Association can be dissolved only by a resolution passed by two-thirds of those Members present and voting at a General Meeting convened for the purpose.
11.1 If on the dissolution of the Association there remains, after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities, any funds then those funds shall not be distributed among the members of the Association but shall be given or transferred to an organisation or organisations having objects similar to the objects of the Association as determined by a resolution passed at the General Meeting convened for the purpose of dissolution of the Association. If such a resolution cannot be effected, then the distribution to an appropriate table tennis organisation shall be decided by the Charity Commission (or its successor).
12 INTERPRETATION
12.1 Any matter of doubt or interpretation arising from this Constitution, including its Appendices, shall be resolved initially by the Committee subject to the approval of a General Meeting.
12.2 The Constitution shall be governed by English Statute.