Constitution
THE HAYLING ISLAND - GORRON TWINNING ASSOCIATION.
1: The Name of the Association.
The name of the Association shall be The Hayling Island - Gorron Twinning Association.
2: The Aims of the Association.
The Aims of the Association are:
(a) To promote and foster friendship and understanding between the people of Hayling Island in the county of Hampshire, United Kingdom, and the people of Gorron in the department of Mayenne, France, taking into account the Charters signed by the two communities in 1998.
(b) To encourage visits by individuals and groups to and from these communities, particularly by children and young people, and to develop personal contacts, and hence to establish mutual understanding of the cultural, recreational, sporting, educational and commercial activities of the twinned communities.
To organise fund-raising activities and encourage membership of the Association in order to foster the aims of the Association.
3: Membership.
Membership shall be open to all persons in sympathy with the aims of the Association and shall be gained and maintained by payment of an annual subscription normally payable on 1st October, subject to the decision of the Management Committee. Subscriptions shall be determined at the AGM and shall be payable within two months of the subscription due date.
There shall be two categories of membership:
(a) Individual membership.
(b) Family membership, being open to families, including children up to the age of eighteen.
4: The Management Committee.
The affairs of the Association shall be conducted by a Management Committee (hereafter "the Committee") consisting of Association members, being broadly representative of the organisations, associations, clubs and people of Hayling Island.
The Committee shall be elected by the Association.
(a) The Committee shall have an Honorary President, who is non-elected, a Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer ("the Officers").
(b) The Committee shall have the power to co-opt, and co-opted members shall have the vote.
(c) One-third of the Committee shall offer themselves for election each year.
(d) The Committee shall normally meet at least once per month. The quorum is four, including two Officers. The Secretary shall chair the meeting in the absence of the Chairperson.
(e) The Committee shall ensure that all appropriate links are maintained with local, national and international organisations that may be able to assist the Association in its objectives including, but not exclusively, such governmental and statutory bodies as may have funds and expertise available to assist the organisation.
The Committee shall take account of the Local Government International Bureau’s Guidelines in establishing, prioritising and assigning management duties to be performed by Committee Members. Where appropriate, the Committee may delegate such duties to non-Committee Members/subcommittees save that the responsibility for performance remains with a designated Committee Member.
5: General Meetings.
The Committee shall hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) within ten weeks of the completion of the Financial year which will run from 1st January to 31st December.
The AGM shall:
(a) Elect members for vacant Committee positions.
(b) Examine the Annual reports of the Chairperson and Treasurer.
(c) Discuss matters which have been tabled in writing to the Secretary with at least 28 days notice.
At the AGM, an Individual Membership counts one vote and a Family Membershlp two votes providing two Family Members of at least sixteen years of age are present. Voting is restricted to Members present and the Chairperson shall have the casting vote.
An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called at any time upon twenty-eight days notice following the presentation of a petition signed by ten Members to the Secretary.
6: The Association's Funds.
All monies received on behalf of the Association shall be kept in safe keeping by the Treasurer. Cheques drawn on the Association's account shall be signed by the Treasurer plus any one of the other Officers.
Accounts to 31st December of each year shall be agreed by the Committee and then submitted to the AGM for approval.
To the extent that monies received from Statutory bodies (see section 4) and Members' subscriptions (see section 3.) prove insufficient to support the Association’s aims, the Committee may raise additional funds as it thinks appropriate to: cover administrative costs incurred in pursuit of the Associations aims, subsidise the development of youth activities between the two Communities.
##In the event that additional funds raised are unable to be dispensed of meeting the above aims then the Committee may propose to the AGM that a determined proportion of the funds be passed to local charities.The receiving local charities to be determined by the Committee.
++ Funds to run the association are generated by the annual membership subscription and income from social events and the Ale-Ing Fest (Hayling Island’s real ale and cider festival)
7: Amendments to this Constitution.
Amendments to this Constitution shall only be made at the AGM or at an Extraordinary General Meeting. Notice of the proposed amendment shall be given in writing to the Secretary with at least 28 days notice with appropriate details made available in the notice of the meeting. The amendment is carried if more than two-thirds of the Members present vote in favour.
8: Dissolution of the Association
In the event of the dissolution of the Association, all surplus funds shall be transferred to such charitable causes as the Committee shall decide in its absolute discretion.
Version No. 1. Agreed by the Committee: February 1999.
## Amendment: Agreed by the Committee: March 2015
++ Amendment: Agreed by the Committee: October 2023