1. Title

The name of the club shall be Ashford Striders Running Club and it was established in January 2018.

2. Headquarters

The headquarters of the club shall be the Ashford Railway Club, Beaver Road, or such other place as the management committee shall decide.

3. Objectives

The object of the club is the promotion of amateur athletics for the gain of physical, social and mental wellbeing. The club may pursue this objective through:

Corporate membership of athletics and other sporting bodies.
Organisation and running of races.
Training and Coaching.
Internal competitions for the beneﬁt of members.
Awarding of cups, trophies etc.
Any other activity at the management committee’s discretion.

4. Management

The management of the club shall be vested in a management committee (The Committee).

The Committee shall consist of The Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Welfare Oﬃcer and Head Coach. and at least 2 other members.

The Committee shall be elected annually at the A.G.M.. In the event that a committee member resigns or is unable to continue in post, the Committee shall elect a temporary replacement who will hold oﬃce until the next A.G.M.

Quorum for The Committee will consist of 4 committee members. All decisions of the Committee shall be by majority vote. In the event of a tie the Chairman shall have a casting vote.

The Committee may at its absolute discretion co-opt members to The Committee, and form sub-committees as and when required. The Committee shall devolve such powers as it wishes to such sub-committees. Membership of sub-committees is not limited to Members.

5. Members

All full, concession and second claim members shall be Members of the Club (Members)

6. Membership

The club shall consist of amateurs according to the eligibility rule of the UK governing body for athletics (currently uk:athletics). Application for membership shall be made formally in writing to the Secretary via membership application form. Approval of the application shall be by a simple majority vote of The Committee. The Secretary shall inform formally to the applicant conﬁrming The Committee’s decision.

Grades of membership shall be:

Full Membership: To include registration under the national governing body for athletics (currently England Athletics) registration scheme and full voting rights at general meetings.
Concession Membership: The same rights as full membership but restricted to persons on State Pension, unemployed, juniors and students.
Second Claim Member: Includes all the rights of full membership except for the registration to the national governing body registration scheme. Second claim members will have their registration to the national governing body registration scheme through their ﬁrst claim club.
Lifetime Member: If a member has attained age 65 at the beginning of the club year (1st December) and has completed 20 years as a member of the club, they will automatically be entitled to Lifetime Membership. A Lifetime Member will not be required to pay an annual subscription. For insurance purposes Lifetime Members who continue to run with the club on either a social or competitive basis will have their registration fees for England Athletics or any organisation that succeeds it paid by the club. Lifetime Members who do not run will not need to be registered.

7. Voting rights

All Members are eligible to vote at A.G.M. and Extraordinary General Meeting (E.G.M.).

8. Club Colours

The club colours shall be a red vest. Any change to the colours shall be subject to a majority vote of the membership at an A.G.M. or E.G.M

All competitors representing the club at any competitive event are strongly encouraged to wear club colours.

9. Disciplinary Matters

Any member guilty of misconduct, as deﬁned by the UK governing body for athletics, may be subject to caution, once or directly expelled from the club by way of a majority decision of The Committee. The Secretary shall inform the member formally in writing, giving 14 days notice of The Committee’s intention to consider an allegation of misconduct. The member shall have the right to make written representation and The Committee at its discretion may invite the member to attend The Committee.

The Secretary shall inform the member of The Committee’s decision, formally in writing within 7 days. Upon notification, any member expelled from the club may appeal in writing within 28 days to the Secretary. Upon receipt of the appeal the Secretary shall convene a meeting consisting of the Chairman, Ladies or Men’s Welfare Officer, the Secretary and one other member of The Committee. This sub-committee shall consider the appeal. The member shall have a right to amend and also be represented by a full member of the club. The decision of the sub-committee shall be ﬁnal. The Secretary shall formally advise the regional governing body for athletics of such ﬁnal decision in writing.

10. Resignation

A member intending to resign membership of the club shall give formal written notice to the Secretary. The Secretary shall report the resignation to the next meeting of The Committee. The date of membership termination shall be the date that the Secretary records receipt of the letter of resignation.

In the event that the member is ﬁnancially indebted to the club, the member shall not be released from membership and available to join an alternative club until the Treasurer certifies that the ﬁnancial liability is discharged.

11. Subscription

The Committee shall recommend an annual rate of subscription and joining fee to be approved by majority vote at the A.G.M. The rate of subscription and joining fee may vary according to class of membership. Annual subscription shall become due upon accepting membership of the club and on the 1st March each year thereafter.

12. Annual General Meeting

An A.G.M. must be held during the month of November, each year.
The purpose of the A.G.M. shall be to:

receive and consider reports from the Secretary and Treasurer
elect one Director and all members of The Committee. A quorum for the A.G.M. shall be 25 members or 25% of the voting membership of the club.
vote on the award of medals, trophies as necessary
consider such other matters speciﬁed on the Agenda

General decisions of the A.G.M. shall be by majority vote of members. In the event of a tie, the Chairman shall have a casting vote. Votes in respect of changes to the rules and constitution of the club will require a majority of two thirds of the members present.

Only members not ﬁnancially indebted to the club are eligible to vote. The Secretary shall give in writing a minimum of 21 days notice of the date of the A.G.M. This may be by, letter, email or announcement in a newsletter. Any member, not ﬁnancially indebted to the club may have any business placed on the Agenda for the A.G.M. provided that notice is received by the Secretary in writing, no later than 14 days prior to the date of the meeting.

13. Extraordinary General Meeting

An E.G.M. must be called by the Secretary within 28 days of the receipt of a request, presented formally in writing. The request must be signed by a minimum of 10 members. The request must state the nature of the business to be discussed at the E.G.M. A quorum for the E.G.M. shall be 25 members or 25% of the membership.

General decisions of the E.G.M. shall be by majority vote of members. In the event of a tie, the Chairman shall have a casting vote. Votes in respect of changes to the rules and constitution of the club will require a majority of two thirds of the members present.

Only members not ﬁnancially indebted to the club are eligible to vote. The Secretary shall give in writing a minimum of 21 days notice of the date of the E.G.M. This may be by letter, email or announcement in a newsletter. Any member, not ﬁnancially indebted to the club may have any business placed on the Agenda for the E.G.M. provided that notice is received by the Secretary in writing, no later than 14 days prior to the date of the meeting.

14. Alteration of Rules and Constitution

The rules and constitution may only be changed at an A.G.M. or E.G.M.

15. Roles of the oﬃcials of the Club

The duties and responsibilities of oﬃcials acting for the club shall be identiﬁed through a written proﬁle prepared and agreed by The Committee. The written proﬁle will be used for guidance purposes and may be varied by agreement of The Committee.

The written proﬁle shall be made available to members by the Secretary on request.

16. Winding up of the club

Winding up the club may only be agreed by resolution of Members, not indebted to the club. Such a resolution shall only be considered at an A.G.M. or E.G.M. The decision shall be by majority vote of the members present. In the event of a tie, the Chairman shall have a casting vote.

In the event of such a resolution being passed, The Committee shall be required to complete all outstanding business and honour all obligations within 6 months of the date of resolution. Such obligations shall include meeting or discharging the terms set by any external party, accepted by the club when obtaining goods, services or ﬁnance.
In the event that the club is in ﬁnancial deﬁcit at the time of passing of the resolution, every member of the club undertakes to contribute to the assets of the club in the event it is wound up, during the time that he or she is a member or within one year afterwards, such amount as may be required not exceeding £1.00.

In the event that the club is in ﬁnancial surplus, having discharged all obligations, such surplus shall not be paid or distributed amongst the members of the club, but shall be transferred either to some other institution having objects similar to those of the club, or to some institution the objects of which are the promotion of charity. Such institutions to be determined by the members.

17. Financial Matters

The Treasurer shall maintain records of the ﬁnancial transactions of the club. Monies shall be held in suitable accounts at a ﬁnancial institution at the discretion of the Treasurer. Any changes of account will also require the agreement of the Chairman and Secretary. Cheques must be signed by a minimum of 2 persons from the following: – Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer and any other selected committee member as agreed by The Committee. The ﬁnancial transactions of the club may be subject to external audit at such intervals as may be determined by The Committee or by resolution at an A.G.M. or E.G.M.

18. Adoption

This Constitution was adopted at the Annual General Meeting held on 8th November 2024

Signed: Andy Found (Chairman)
Signed: Sharon Gardner (Secretary)