The Society's Constitution

Note: The version of this document under Documents is more up to date.

Name

The name of the group shall be The Greater Manchester Skeptics Society (hereinafter referred to as the “Society”)

Aims

The Society is an unincorporated organisation with the following objects:

to develop and support the skeptical community in Greater Manchester;

to provide opportunities for socialising and friendship;

to educate the public about the principles of scientific skepticism and the importance of critical thinking;

to promote higher standards of education, especially in the areas of science and critical thinking;

to lobby for rational law making in our country;

to work with other organisations in pursuit of common goals.

Membership

Full membership shall be open to all provided they support the Societies aims as set out above. The membership list shall be as recorded on the Societies ‘Meetup’ page.

If a member is deemed disruptive, such as breaching the Societies harassment policy, any member of the Executive may require the disruptive member to leave an event.

If a member is persistently disruptive, the Committee reserves the right to revoke their membership, after a majority vote by the committee.

The Society shall be under the control of the membership.

Any member who is registered on the Societies Meetup page shall have full voting rights at General Meetings of the Society.

Any new (as opposed to renewed) member may not vote within 6 weeks of becoming a member.

A list of all members will be kept by secretary.

Members may resign at any time in writing to the secretary.

Equal Opportunities

The Society will not discriminate on the grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, sexuality, disability, religious or political belief, marital status or age.

Any offensive behaviour, including racist, sexist or inflammatory remarks, will not be permitted. Anyone behaving in an offensive way or breaking the equal opportunities policy may be asked not to attend further meetings or to resign from the group. The individual concerned shall have the right to be heard by the management committee, accompanied by a friend, before a final decision is made.

Officers and committee

The business of the group will be carried out by a Committee elected at the Annual General Meeting. The Committee will meet as necessary and not less than four times a year.

The Society shall have the following office-holders: Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Social Secretary, Bookgroup Officer (Skeplit), Web Manager, Outreach Officer, Publicity Officer plus up to 2 floating committee members forming the Committee).

The Chair shall be ultimately responsible for the conduct of the society.

The Secretary shall be responsible to the Chair for the administration of the society and shall be responsible for the taking of minutes and the distribution of all papers.

The Treasurer shall be responsible to the Chair for the finances of the society.

The Social Secretary shall be responsible to the Chair for the co-ordination of social events.

The Bookgroup Officer shall be responsible to the Chair for the co-ordination of the bookgroup (Skeplit).

The Web Manager shall be responsible to the chair for the establishment and maintenance of the society’s online presence.

The Outreach Officer shall be responsible to the chair for the co-ordination of the society’s liaison with external organisations

The Publicity Officer shall be responsible to the chair for the co-ordination of the publicity for the society

The Floating Committee members shall be responsible to the chair for assisting or deputising for any other committee members on an ad hoc basis.

Office holders shall be elected by the membership at the Annual General Meeting or at a special general meeting called to elect a replacement in the event of a vacancy. Such special general meeting to be held no less than 56 days after the vacancy arising.

Any full member of the society is entitled to stand for the office holder positions.

No full member shall be barred from standing for office in the Society.

Any committee member not attending a meeting without apology for three months will be contacted by the committee and asked if they wish to resign.

The Committee meetings will be open to any member of the Society wishing to attend, who may speak but not vote.

Meetings

Annual General Meetings

An Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held within fifteen months of the previous AGM.

All members will be notified by telephone, email, or internet posting (on the Society’s Meetup page and/or Facebook page) at least 3 weeks before the date of the meeting, giving the venue, date and time.

Nominations for the committee may be made to the Secretary before the meeting, or at the meeting.

The quorum for the AGM will be 10% of the membership or 10 members, whichever is the lesser number.

At the AGM:

The Committee will present a report of the work of the Society over the year.

The Committee will present the accounts of the Society for the previous year.

The officers and Committee for the next year will be elected.

Any proposals given to the Secretary at least 7 days in advance of the meeting will be discussed.

Special General Meetings

The Secretary will call a Special General Meeting at the request of the majority of the committee or at least eight other members giving a written request to the Chair or Secretary stating the reason for their request.

The meeting will take place within twenty-one days of the request.

All members will be given two weeks notice of such a meeting, giving the venue, date, time and agenda, and notice may be by telephone, email, or internet posting (on the Society’s Meetup page and/or Facebook page).

The quorum for the Special General Meeting will be 10% of the membership or 10 members, whichever is the lesser number.

General Meetings

General Meetings are open to all members and will be held at least once every 3 months or more often if necessary.

All members will be given two weeks notice of such a meeting, giving the venue, date, time and agenda, and notice may be by telephone, email, or internet posting (on the Society’s Meetup page and/or Facebook page).

The quorum for a General Meeting shall be 10% of the membership or 5 members, whichever is the lesser number.

Rules of Procedure for meetings

All questions that arise at any meeting will be discussed openly and the meeting will seek to find general agreement that everyone present can agree to.

If a consensus cannot be reached a vote will be taken and a decision will be made by a simple majority of members present. If the number of votes cast on each side are equal, the chair of the meeting shall have an additional casting vote.

Finances

An account will be maintained on behalf of the Association at a bank agreed by the committee. Three cheque signatories will be nominated by the Committee (one to be the Treasurer). Any two of these must sign every cheque. The signatories must not be related nor members of the same household.

Records of income and expenditure will be maintained by the Treasurer and a financial statement given to each general meeting.

All money raised by or on behalf of the Society is only to be used to further the aims of the group, as specified in item 2 of this constitution.

Amendments to the Constitution

Amendments to the constitution may only be made at the Annual General Meeting or a Special General Meeting.

Any proposal to amend the constitution must be given to the Secretary in writing. The proposal must then be circulated with the notice of meeting.

Any proposal to amend the constitution will require a two thirds majority of those present and entitled to vote.

Dissolution

If a meeting, by simple majority, decides that it is necessary to close down the group it may call a Special General Meeting to do so. The sole business of this meeting will be to dissolve the group.

If it is agreed to dissolve the group all remaining money and other assets, once outstanding debts have been paid, will be donated to a charitable organisation. The organisation to be agreed at the meeting which agrees the dissolution.