Version 3 of Club Constitution proposed and ratified by the committee and members present at the EGM held Thursday 18th April 2024

1. Name of Club:

The Club wil be known as Arbroath FC Walking Football Club and affiliated to Arbroath FC Community Trust.

2.The aims and objectives of the Club will be: • • •

• To offer anyone who has attained the age of 50 years or more, the opportunity to play Walking Football.
• To promote the sport of Walking Football
• To ensure a duty of care to all members

3. Membership:

Membership will consist of members of the Club.

Any new members admitted to the Club must have or will have attained the minimum age of 49 years old in the year that they join the Club.

Any new members admitted to the Club will serve a 4-week probationary period before membership is confirmed and being granted access to Club communication channels.

All members will be subject to the regulations of the constitution & by joining the Club, will be deemed to accept these regulations & codes of conduct that the Club has adopted. In addition members will play Walking Football in accordance with Walking Football Scotland Laws of the Game pertinent at the time.

4. Members

Will only be enrolled in one category - A full member.

Members can come and go when they please. There wil be no pressure to attend any games.

5. Committee:

The Club wil be managed through a committee consisting of:

• Club Chairman
• Vice Chairman
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Club Captain
• Social Events Organiser
• General committee member

Only the aforementioned posts wil have the right to vote at meetings of the Committee.

Committee members wil be elected or re-elected annually at the Club's Annual General Meeting.

Meetings of the committee wil be convened by the Club Secretary bimonthly. Where this is not possible a minimum of 4 meetings per year wil be held.

In circumstances where a committee member resigns their post mid-term, the Club wil immediately seek to replace the said committee member. An extraordinary general meeting of members wil be convened to vote on and agree any new appointment.

The Committee will be responsible for adopting new policy, codes of conduct and rules that affect the organisation of the Club.

The Committee will have powers to appoint sub-committees as necessary and appoint advisers to the Committee as necessary to fulfil its business needs.

The Committee will be responsible for arranging disciplinary hearings of members who infringe the Club constitution, rules or regulations. The Committee will be responsible for applying any action of suspension or discipline following such hearings.

6. Finances

All Club monies wil be banked in a Club account.

The Club Treasurer wil be responsible for maintaining an accurate record of Club income and expenditure.

The financial year of the Club will end on 30 September each year.

An audited statement of annual accounts will be presented by the Treasurer at the Annual General Meeting.

2 independent auditors from the Club should be appointed to confirm the audited statement provided by the Club Treasurer.

Any monies drawn against Club funds must be approved by the Treasurer and ratified by one of the other two signed signatories of the Club's digital account.

Any charitable donations agreed by the Club should be based on a % of Club profits from the previous year.

7. Annual General Meetings:

The Club AGM wil be held within 2 months of the Club's financial year end 30th September.

The date of the AGM will be advertised no less than 14 days from the date of the AGM.

The Club members wil receive a report from the Committee and a statement of audited accounts.

Nominations for positions within the Committee wil be sent to the Club Secretary prior to the AGM.

Election/Re-election of Committee members wil take place at the AGM.

Al members have the right to vote at the AGM.

The quorum for AGM's wil be 25% of the membership.

8. Competition policy:

Arbroath FC Walking Football Club have a strict age 50 or over policy for all League and Cup competitions. There wil be no exceptions.

The Club policy will be to select the strongest squads possible from available members when participating in League and Cup competitions. Due to the competitive nature of League and Cup competitions, we cannot guarantee that anyone who puts their name forward for such competitions wil be selected as a squad member and, if selected, game time cannot be guaranteed.

Any player falling foul of Walking Football Scotland's Yellow and Red card offences during League and Cup competitions wil be responsible for paying the required fine.

9. Code of conduct:

Arbroath FC Walking Football Club is committed to providing an environment that is free from harassment, intimidation and discrimination for its members and guests.

Club members and visitors are reminded that an acceptable standard of behaviour is always expected. This includes at weekly club sessions, exhibition matches, friendly matches and League and Cup competitions.

10. Disciplinary procedures:

The committee of Arbroath FC Walking Football Club will conduct investigations, hold hearings and impose penalties within the guidelines set out in this document.

All complaints regarding the behaviour of members should be submitted to the Club Secretary. If the Club Secretary is not available, complaints can be made to any current committee member. Complaints must be made within 3 working days of the matter/incident occurring.

Once a complaint has been received, the committee will determine the level of offence in accordance with the Grading of Complaints guidance at Appendix 1 - Infringements. The committee will then decide fi further action is required. Al parties involved in the complaint will be informed by the Club Secretary of the complaints progress until conclusion.

11. Grading of complaints:

All complaints & charges will be graded 1 to 2 with 1 being the lightest grading and 2 being the most serious. This wil be done by reference to Appendix 1- Infringements and the following notes.

The committee wil determine the grading of the offence. The grading allocated wil determine the action to be taken and the potential penalty (Appendix 2 - Penalties) to be imposed.

Therefore, consistency of grading across offences is important. It is also a requirement that accurate records are kept in support of the grading process.

If a complaint is upheld by the committee, it shall give its decision in writing outlining the reasons for the decision and any penalty imposed in accordance with Appendix 2 - Penalties, within 5 working days of the date of the hearing.

It is expected that the committee wil deal severely with proven cases of serious misconduct and in some cases, where the conduct constitutes a criminal offence, the matter should be referred to the police.

The Committee will meet to hear submitted complaints within 14 days of the complaint being lodged. The Committee has the power to take appropriate disciplinary action including termination of membership.

There will be the right of appeal to the Committee following the conclusion of the disciplinary procedures and the penalty imposed.

Members will have the right to appeal the disciplinary decision made by the Committee and will have 7 days to appeal.

The Committee should consider the appeal within 14 days from the date the appeal is lodged.

Inclusivity:

Arbroath FC Walking Football Club are an inclusive club. We wil strive to make sure that every member of the club is treated fairly on and off the pitch.

However, due to the competitiveness of League and Cup competitions (including games abroad) we cannot guarantee that anyone who expresses their interest in representing the Club will be selected to do so.

Dissolution:

A resolution to dissolve the Club can only be passed at an AGM or EGM through a majority vote of the membership.

In the event of dissolution, any assets of the Club that remain will be split between local charities.

Amendments to the Constitution:

The constitution will only be changed through agreement by majority vote at an AGM or EGM.

Declaration:

Arbroath FC Walking Football Club hereby adopts and accepts this constitution as a current guide regulating the actions of its members.

NAME: Michael Burnett

POSITION: Club Chairman

SIGNED DATE 18/04/2024

NAME:David Milne

POSITION: Club Secretary

SIGNED DATE 18/04/2024

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