1 The Club
​1.1 The club shall be known as the Walsall Wood and Brownhills Camera Club (“the club”)
2 Affiliation
​2.1 The club shall be affiliated to the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain through the Midlands Counties Photographic "Federation.
3 Aims and Objectives
​3.1 To promote and encourage all aspects of photography.
3.2 To encourage beginners to learn and practice the methods of photography and to expand their interest in it.
3.3 To provide a friendly positive atmosphere in which discussion and constructive criticism may take place about photography for the benefit of all members.
4 Membership
​4.1 Membership shall be open to all persons who have an interest in photography regardless of race religion or gender.
​4.2 Membership of the club will take place upon payment of the subscription agreed at the Annual General Meeting.
​4.3 Any member whose subscription remains unpaid for more than two months shall be reminded by the Treasurer of such non payment and if the subscription shall still be unpaid after one further month from the date of the reminder then such member will be deemed to no longer be a member of the club.
​4.4 The Treasurer will keep a record of the membership of the club.
​The Secretary will keep members’ contact details in a password-protected file.
Members who do not wish to divulge some private contact details will not be
compelled to do so.
Telephone numbers and e-mail addresses will also be held by the Digital
Secretary, and by the External Competitions Secretary, also in password-
protected files.
The MCPF require contact details for Club officials.
​A list of emergency contacts (in case a member should become ill whilst at the
Club) will be held on the Club premises in a secure location.
Club officials who need to send an e-mail to an address list of 2 or more members
must adopt the following procedure: The sender sends the message to
himself/herself, with a “blind copy” (Bcc) to the recipients on the list.
The Club’s Data Protection Policy is attached (appendix 1)
4.5 Acceptance of membership of the club will imply an undertaking by the member to comply with the rules of the club under this constitution.
4.6 Members under the age of 18 years must be accompanied at all times by a parent, guardian or other responsible adult at all meetings and events held by the club.
4.7 The committee shall have the right to refuse membership of the club for any person whose membership of the club in the opinion of the committee could be contrary to the welfare and interests of the club. The committee shall have the right to terminate the membership of any member who shall in the opinion of the committee bring the club into disrepute.
5 Subscriptions
​5.1 The rate and method of paying subscriptions for membership of the club, and visitors attendance fees shall be agreed at the clubs Annual General Meeting each year, or at a Special general Meeting, bearing in mind the recommendation of the committee.
6 Management of the Club
​6.1 The club shall be managed by a committee which shall consist of the officers of the club and not more than 5 other members.
​6.2 The officers of the club shall consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Programme Secretary and Competitions secretary. The duties of Programme Secretary could be carried out by a small sub-committee appointed by the committee if deemed appropriate, in which case only one Programme Secretary would be allowed to vote at committee meetings.
​6.3 The committee shall have the power to co-opt members of the club to the committee to fill any' vacancy on the committee provided that such co-option shall not increase the number of committee members to more than 10, There shall however not be more than 2 co-opted members on the committee at any one time.
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6.4 All officers of the club and all of the committee members shall retire annually but shall be eligible for re-election each year at the Annual General Meeting. The retiring committee members will continue to serve until the end of the season.
6.5 The committee shall hold regular committee meetings and a quorum shall consist of 5 members 2 of which must be officers of the club.
6.6 The Secretary will conduct all of the general administration and correspondence of the club (except as directed by the committee) and keep minutes of all committee meetings, the Annual General Meeting and any special general meetings of the club. The minutes of the Annual General Meeting and any Special General meetings shall be made available to the membership of the club.
6.7 The Programme secretary elected at the Annual General Meeting shall be responsible for on-going planning of the programme, picking up from where the previous Programme Secretary left off.
6.8 All offices and other membership of the committee shall be open to any paid up member of the club and shall be chosen by ballot at the Annual general Meeting.
6.9 The Chairman will not vote on a proposal at any meeting except in a situation where a casting vote is required.
7 The President
​ 7.1 The President is an honorary position appointed by the committee and approved by the membership of the at the Annual General Meeting.
7.2 There shall be no limit to the number of years the President may remain in office.
7.3 The President shall have the right to attend committee meetings but shall not have any committee voting rights.
8 Annual General Meeting
​8.1 The Annual General Meeting shall be held on a Tuesday in June in each year to be decided at the discretion of the committee.
8.2 The Secretary shall give notice of the Annual General Meeting at least one month in advance each year.
8.3 Nominations for the position of the 5 officers of the club shall be given to the secretary together with the names of proposer/s and seconder/s thereof at least 14 days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting.
8.4 Nominations for the other committee positions duly proposed and seconded will be accepted from the membership present at the Annual General meeting
8.5 A quorum shall consist of 10 members of the club, 5 of which must be members of the committee.
9 Special General Meetings
​9.1 A Special general Meeting may be called by the committee to discuss a special issue that cannot be delayed until the next Annual General Meeting.
9.2 Any individual member of the club can call for a Special General meeting provided that they can show proven support from at least 10 other members of the club.
9.3 A Special general Meeting shall be held within 21 days of the calling notice - such notice must however be issued through the committee.
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10 Financial Matters
10.1 The club financial year shall run from the 1st of May of one year to the
30th April of the next year.
10.2 The treasurer shall collect all monies due to the club and shall maintain a record of income and expenditure of the club and shall present a written balance sheet detailing such income and expenditure each year for approval by the members at the Annual General Meeting.
10.3 The club’s bank account shall be operated by the treasurer upon the authority of 2 of the 3 authorised signatories all of whom shall be officers of the club.
10.4 Visiting judges and lecturers will in line with their normal or agreed fee be reimbursed on behalf of the club.
10.5 Members of the club will be reimbursed for all usual expenses incurred in carrying out business on behalf of the club.
10.6 The club shall maintain insurance cover in accordance with the recommendations of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain and the Midland Counties Photographic Federation.
11 Dissolution
​11.1 Dissolution of the club can only be made by a majority vote at an Annual General Meeting or Special general meeting called in accordance with the rules of the constitution.
11.2 In the event of the club being dissolved, all items of the club/s property and equipment shall be sold and proceeds of the sale shall be paid into club funds from which all the club’s liabilities will be discharged including all Treasurer’s and other officers expenses incurred. Any surplus after such payments will be donated to a charity which shall be selected by the committee at the time of dissolution.
12 Interpretation
12.1The committee shall be the sole authority for the interpretation of these or any rules of the constitution of the club and the decision of the committee upon any matters affecting the club not provided for by these rules shall be final and binding upon the members of the club.
13 Amendment to the Constitution
13.1 Amendments to this constitution may only be made by agreement of the majority of the members of the club present at the Annual General Meeting or a Special General Meeting.
Appendix 1
Data protection Policy
This policy is formulated in consideration of the General Data Protection
Regulations (GDPR) May 2018
Walsall Wood Camera Club is established with the objects set out in its constitution, and is a data controllerwithin the UK.
The personal information referred to in this Policy may include name, contact details, service records, records of entries to events, correspondence, and such other information as may be needed for the effective management of the legitimate interests of the Club.
Any person wishing to verify the information held by the Club may apply to the Club Secretary.
The Club collects and holds personal data about:
1. The committee, other appointees and its members. This information is
held by the Secretary in password-protected files.
Additionally the External Competitions Secretary and the Digital Secretary
hold members’ contact information, also in password-protected files.
A list of members’ emergency contact information is kept as a paper copy,
on the Club premises in a secure storage facility.
2. Others necessary for the conduct of the business of the Club.
3. Photographers as creators of images used in the Club. This information
may be used in the publication of catalogues, results, awards, or other
publicity relating to the Club.
The Club may maintain historical archives for example but not limited to records of meetings, handbooks, catalogues, awards, and other event results.