The name of this club shall be Lancaster Castle Sports and Social Club

Article II. PURPOSE

The purpose of Lancaster Castle Sports and Social Club shall be to foster friendship and links through sporting and social activities between staff, staffs families, other establishments, the outside community and whoever or wherever deemed appropriate by the committee.

Lancaster Castle Sports and Social Club will work toward its goals by:

A. Acting in a professional and decent manner at all times.
B. Giving the opportunity to all those, as in Article III, to participate regardless

of race, religion, gender or ability.

C. To be non profit making.

Article III. ELIGIBILITY

Section 1. Participation in events is open to staff and their families in the first instant and then friends of staff.

Section 2. All events must be clearly displayed in the establishment.

Section 3.All members of staff and their families are to be regarded as members of the club.

Section 4. Sporting ability will not be a determining factor, the only criteria for taking part is as in Section 1.

Article IV. FEES

Section 1. Any fees or subscriptions for events must be paid, at the very least, on the day of the event to the Treasurer or his representative.

Section 2. Failure to pay fees or subscriptions as above may result in the person being suspended for that and any other event until the money is paid.

Article V. OFFICERS

Section 1. The Committee of Lancaster Castle Sports and Social Club shall be the President, Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Football Rep, Rugby Rep, Cricket Rep, Social Rep, Fund Raising Rep, plus up to eight other committee members. The creation of additional officers positions must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Committee.

Section 2. Only staff, past and present, and their families may serve as officers.

Section 3. The duties of the President shall include:

A. Acting as an ambassador for Lancaster Castle Sports and Social Club

B. Chairing meetings in the absence of the Chairman of the club.

C. Give support when and where needed.

D. Assisting or deputizing for the Chairman in the fulfillment of his/her duties.

Section 4. The duties of the Chairman shall include:

A. Coordinating meetings of the club.
B. Chairing all meetings of the club.
C. Calling emergency meetings, pursuant to Article IX. Section 3.
D. Providing leadership to the club.
E. Working directly with the HMP Lancaster and their Accountant to ensure the club is operating within the expectations of the establishment.

F. Becoming familiar with pertinent Prison Service policies and procedures
G. Acting as the chief spokesperson of the club.
H. Appointing all committee chairs, pursuant to Article VII.
I. Providing support for the development of club activities planned by the committees.
J. Working with the Treasurer to establish budgets for committees that are created.

Section 5. The duties of the Treasurer shall include:

A. Keeping a record of all financial transactions.
B. Meeting with the Establishment Accountant on a regular basis to review account balances and financial transactions.
C. Preparing any and all budgets, financial budget requests/appeals, etc.
D. Working with the Chairman to establish budgets for committees that are created.
E. Maintaining detailed fee/subscription records, including the amount of dues collected from each member.

                        Section 6. The duties of the Secretary shall include:

A. Keeping detailed minutes of all meetings.
B. Coordinating the press relations of the club.
C. Ensuring that all changes of officers are reported to the appropriate areas.
D. Working with the Chairman to establish budgets for committees that are created.

Section 7.The duties of the Social Representative shall include:

A. The organizing of the social side of events and matches.

B. To Co-coordinate sponsorship and charity initiatives and activities working in conjunction with the Fund Raising Rep.

C. To keep the chairman and committee abreast of developments as soon as is practicably possible.

Section 8. The duties of the Football, Rugby, Cricket Representatives shall include:

A.      To arrange matches with others whether in the prison estate or in the wider community.

B. To meet the requirements of Article III.

C.      To keep the chairman and committee abreast of developments as soon as is practicably possible.

Section 9. The duties of the Fund Raising Representative shall include:

A. To Co-coordinate sponsorship and charity initiatives and activities working in conjunction with the Social Rep.

B. Coordination and selling of raffle tickets.

C. Collection of goods/items for the use in money raising initiatives.

D. To keep the chairman and committee abreast of developments as soon as is practicably possible

Section 10. The duties of Committee Members shall include:

To support and/or assist any other committee member in any initiatives and/or events.

Article VI. OFFICER ELECTION/IMPEACHMENT

Section 1. All Club Officers shall be elected at the AGM and will serve a term from that moment to March 31st. The lap over time between the AGM and March 31st shall be a hand over period.

Section 2. Officer elections will consist of the following three-step process: 1. Nominations, 2. Elections, 3. Run-off elections (if needed).

1.       Nominations - Nominations will be held the meeting prior to the scheduled date of elections. Any active club member may nominate a fellow club member to any of the club officer positions, with the exception of the President position. Only members holding a current office or committee chair position shall be eligible to run for the presidency. Candidates can be nominated for more than one position and they may nominate themselves for a position if another member does not nominate them.

2.        Elections - Only members present at the meeting shall cast a vote, and only these votes shall count toward the computation of the 50%+1 required margin for election to office. The order of elections shall be as follows: President, Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Football Rep, Rugby Rep, Cricket Rep, Social Rep.

3.        3. Run-Off Elections - In the event that no candidate receives at least 50%+1 of the vote of the club members present, a run-off election shall be held between the two candidates receiving the most votes.

Section 3. In the event that an officer is judged to be deficient in his/her duties (as decided by a unanimous agreement of the seven other club officers), he/she may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the club's membership.

Article VII. COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Section 1. The Club Officers shall decide on an annual basis which committees need to be established in order to advance the club's position.

Section 2. All committee chairs will be appointed no later than April 15 by the Chairman. All appointments must be approved by a majority of the Club Officers.

Section 3. Only staff and staffs families, past or present may serve as officers.

Section 4. The duties of all Committee Chairs shall include:

A. Selecting members to serve on their respective committee.
B. Coordinating and chairing committee meetings, as needed.
C. Keeping the Club Officers abreast of the plans and intentions of the committee.
D. Becoming familiar with pertinent Prison Service policies and procedures.

Article IX. Meetings

Section 1. The club shall meet at least once a quarter. A listing of meeting dates shall be established by the Club Officers and shall be posted on the Gate, that being HMP Lancaster gate area, notice board no later than April 1.

Section 2. The AGM shall be before 31^st March.

Section 3. Only members as laid out in Article V Section I, may vote at meetings.

Section 4. In the event that an emergency meeting of the club needs to be held, the Chairman of the club shall have the authority to call such meetings. All officers must agree in advance to the emergency meeting and at least 24 hours notice must be provided to all members by displaying a notice at the Gate. Communication of emergency meetings will be the responsibility of the Club Secretary.

Article X. DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS

Section 1. All disbursements of funds must be first approved by the Treasurer and President.

Section 2. Reimbursement for expenditures will only be accepted for members who have retained an original, itemized receipt and a description of the expense incurred.

Section 3. Any expenditure in excess of £200 must be approved by a majority of the Club Officers.

Section 4. All financial transactions of the Club will be audited through the HMP Lancaster Accountant as stipulated by The Governor of HMP Lancaster.

Section 5. Only the Club Officers shall have the ability to charge expenses to the Club.

Article XI. AMENDMENTS

Section 1. Amendments to this constitution may only be made at an AGM by a two-thirds vote of the attending club membership.

Section 2. Members interested in proposing amendments to the constitution must submit the proposed amendment to the Chairman no later than fourteen days before the Club's next AGM meeting.

Section 3. The proposed amendment shall be presented by a notice at the Gate to the club membership no later than five days before the meeting where the amendment will be debated.

Section 4. Upon receiving a two-thirds affirmative vote in favor on a constitutional amendment/revision, the Chairman shall submit the amendment/revision in writing to Establishment accountant.