'SUEZ VETERANS
ASSOCIATION'
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With effect from: 11th
September 2011. 1.
TITLE The name of the
organisation
shall be the ‘Suez
Veterans Association’ hereinafter called the
S.V.A. 2.
AIMS. (a)
To
rekindle and promote a spirit of comradeship amongst
those who served in the
Canal Zone. (b)
To
organise periodic reunion visits to the Canal Zone. (c)
To
organise periodic reunions within the UK. (d)
To
keep members informed of activities by means of a
quarterly newsletter. 3.
MEMBERSHIP. (a)
Membership
is open to all who served in the Canal Zone up to and
including 1956, either in
the Armed Forces, the Nursing Services or Civilian
Support Staff to the Armed
Services. (b)
Membership
includes spouse or partners. (c)
Associate
Members can be accepted into the S.V.A.
They will have no voting rights. (d)
Associate
Members will not have preference over Full Members. Associate
Members will have had military
experience though not in the Canal Zone. (e)
The
Membership Secretary, in consultation with the
Chairman and such Committee
members recognised as a quorum shall have the right to
refuse any potential
member of the S.V.A. if thought detrimental to the
S.V.A. (f)
The
S.V.A. has the right to revoke the membership of any
member should his or her
actions bring the S.V.A. into disrepute.
The member has the right of appeal in writing
to the Chairman. (g)
Each
new member will be supplied with a copy of the
Constitution and will be
requested to sign the membership form to the effect
that they have read,
understood and accept the Constitution as a condition
of membership of the
S.V.A. 4.
RIGHTS TO
MEMBERSHIP. The rights of
membership are
determined by the rules of the S.V.A., which may be
amended from time to time
by the Committee. 5.
HONORARY PRESIDENT. To be recommended by
the
Committee for a period to be determined by the
Committee and periodically
reviewed by the Committee. The
recommendation to be endorsed or otherwise by the
membership at the AGM.
The Honorary President shall have no voting
rights on the Committee. 6.
HONORARY OFFICERS. The Honorary Officers
of the
S.V.A. shall be:- Chairman. Secretary. Treasurer. Membership Secretary. Reunion Secretary. Newsletter Editor. Egypt reunion
Organiser. Website Manager. Quartermaster. Welfare Secretary. A maximum of eight (8)
Regional
Representatives.
These, wherever
possible, should be drawn from the above Offices. The Officers shall be
elected annually
at the AGM and take office immediately.
The Committee shall
comprise of
the above elected Officers. The
Committee shall be authorised to co-opt up to a
further ten (10) members, as
and when required. 8.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF
THE COMMITTEE. (a)
The
Committee shall meet no less than twice each year. The Chairman
may call additional meetings at
his discretion. (b)
Each
elected member of the Committee, with the exception of
the Chairman, shall be
entitled to one vote.
In the case of
equality of votes, the Chairman shall have a casting
vote. (c)
The
Committee shall have executive powers in organising
and administrating the
affairs of the S.V.A., subject to the finances
available. (d)
The
Chairman, in consultation with other elected members,
shall have the right to
make any emergency decision between Committee
meetings. Any
such action shall be reported at the next
Committee meeting and formally approved by the members
present. (e)
Each
elected member shall present a written report at the
AGM. 9.
GENERAL MEETING. (a)
A
quorum shall consist of five (5) elected members. (b)
The
AGM shall, as far as possible, be held to coincide
with the Annual UK Reunion
meeting, but in any case take place within six months
of the financial year
end, - (30th June.) (c)
An
agenda will appear in the June edition of the
Newsletter. All Agenda items must
be submitted in writing to the Secretary before 15th
May. (d)
An
Extraordinary General Meeting may be demanded by a
minimum of ten (10) members. This meeting
shall be convened by the
Secretary within twenty-one (21) days of receipt of
the request and shall only
deal with the published agenda. (e)
A
simple majority of all these members present shall be
necessary to pass any
resolution at a General Meeting. Proxy
voting will not be allowed. (f)
Any
proposition passed at a General Meeting shall be
binding on all members. 10. AMENDMENTS TO THE
CONSTITUTION. (a)
Proposals
to amend the Constitution shall be submitted in
writing to the Secretary not
later than the 15th May by:- (1)
The
National Committee. or (2)
A
member of the S.V.A., seconded by another member. (b)
No
alteration to the Constitution shall be made except by
special resolution at a
General Meeting, with not less than two-thirds of the
votes cast in favour. 11. DISCRIMINATION. The S.V.A. will not
discriminate
on grounds of sex, disability, religion, social,
ethnic or cultural background
in any of its activities or relations with outside
parties. 12. FINANCE. (a)
The
financial year shall end on the 30th June
each year. (b)
The
Treasurer shall present an Income and Expenditure
Account together with a
Balance Sheet to be circulated with the notice calling
the A.G.M. (c)
Each
cheque drawn on the S.V.A. bank account must have the
signatures of two
authorised Officers of the S.V.A. The
Chairman will be authorised to supply a second
signature in the absence of
either of the two authorised signatories. (d)
The
Committee shall arrange for the accounts to be
prepared annually by a suitably
qualified external accountant. The
accountant must not be an existing member of the Suez Veterans Association or a close
relative. 13. ANNUAL
SUBSCRIPTIONS. (a)
Each
Member and Associate Member shall pay an annual
subscription, determined by the
Committee, which is due on the 1st of April
each year. (b)
The
Chairman shall have the power to reduce or waive the
subscription depending on
an individual applicant’s circumstances. (c)
Only
one subscription shall be demanded of a member and
will cover him/her plus
spouse or partner. 14. POLITICAL. The S.V.A. shall be non
political. 15. REQUESTS FOR
INFORMATION. (a)
Any
requests for information relating to the affairs of
the S.V.A. received from
any non-member or outside body must be referred to the
Chairman for an official
statement to be issued.
(b)
To
safeguard against mis-use, any details of the names
and addresses of members
will only be disclosed to third parties on the written
authority of the
member(s) to which this information relates.
(c)
Members
should also note that any such information provided to
them by the S.V.A. is
supplied for their own personal use and should never
be passed on to a
non-member. (d)
This ruling
shall also apply to any person who
has ceased membership of the S.V.A. in respect of any
such information
supplied, during his/her period of membership of the
S.V.A. 16. INDEMNITY. (a)
The
S.V.A. shall indemnify the Committee members against
contingent liabilities
incurred in the execution of their duties to the
S.V.A. (b)
A
Committee member shall be indemnified by the S.V.A.
against all costs and
losses which he/she may incur or sustain in relation
to the execution of
his/her office, by reason of any duty performed for,
or with the authority of
the Committee. 17. DISSOLUTION. (a)
The
S.V.A. shall be dissolved by the passing of a
resolution to that effect at a
General Meeting, after due notice by a minimum of
two-thirds of those present
and voting. Such
a meeting shall appoint
trustees to wind up the affairs of the S.V.A. and
dispose of any assets. (b)
Any
funds remaining on the dissolution of the S.V.A.,
after all assets have been
realised and all known liabilities paid, shall be
donated in equal sums to the Army Benevolent
Fund and the Royal Air Force
Benevolent Fund. This revised
Constitution was
approved by Members at the Annual General Meeting held
at the Grays Hotel and
Conference
Centre, Telford on 11th September 2011. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |