BSoUP Members Forum Login

BSoUP Facebook Group


Open to all

BSoUP Members
Website of the Week

Keith Lyall

BSoUP's
Sponsors

These rules regulate the structure, administration and activities of the British Society of Underwater Photographers (hereinafter called ‘the Society’).

THE AIMS OF THE SOCIETY ARE:

• To foster and promote underwater photography in all its aspects, both as an art form and as a means of recording underwater observations
• To provide a forum at which presentations can be made and discussions held on topics of common interest to promote a wide exchange of knowledge and experience
• To collaborate and co-operate with other individuals or bodies which can help the Society achieve its aims.

Membership

1. Membership shall be open to all persons interested in underwater photography.
2. There shall be two types of membership: (a) Ordinary Members, who agree to pay the annual subscription, and (b) Honorary Life Members. Honorary Life Membership shall be awarded at the discretion of the Committee to people who have distinguished themselves in the field of underwater photography or who have made an exceptional contribution to the Society, and these members will not be liable to pay annual subscriptions, but shall have the same voting rights as fully paid-up members.
3. An Ordinary Member shall retain his or her membership until he/she has resigned, or is deemed to have resigned as the result of his/her Society subscription being three months or more overdue.
4. The Committee may terminate the membership of any member who, in its opinion, brings the Society into disrepute. Any member removed from membership in this way shall have the right of appeal to the membership at either the Annual General Meeting (AGM) or at an Extra-ordinary General Meeting (EGM). In the case of an upheld or unchallenged termination of membership no refund of annual subscription will be payable.

Subscriptions

1. Subscriptions shall be paid annually on the first day of February, at a rate to be agreed by the members present at an AGM.

Management

1. The affairs of the Society shall be managed by a Committee consisting of the Officers of the Society and up to six ordinary members, who shall be elected at each AGM. The Committee may, at its discretion, elect a President who may attend meetings but may not vote in that capacity. The Committee shall have the power to co-opt additional members.
2. The Committee will hold office following its election at an AGM until its dissolution at the next such meeting.
3. The Committee shall hold and administer for the benefit of the membership all funds, equipment and property owned by the Society.
4. The Officers shall consist of Chairman, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer.
5. The Chairman shall normally take the chair at all meetings of the Society and of the Committee at which he/she is present, and his/her decision on matters of procedure shall be final. The Chairman shall have a second or casting vote if a situation so requires it.
6. The Secretary shall record the Minutes of all meetings and shall conduct the correspondence of the Society. The Minutes of Committee proceedings shall be open to inspection by any member who approaches the Honorary Secretary to do so.
7. The Honorary Treasurer shall be responsible for all monies received or paid on behalf of the Society, after authorisation by the Committee. All cheques issued on behalf of the Society shall be signed by two out of three nominated Committee members, one of whom shall be the Honorary Treasurer. At the close of each financial year the Honorary Treasurer shall prepare for consideration by the Committee a statement of Income and Expenditure to be audited by a nominated person or persons, and submitted to the AGM.
8. Candidates for election to the Committee shall be proposed by one fully paid-up member and seconded by another. All Officers and Committee members are eligible for re-election each year at the AGM, but they shall not serve longer than three consecutive years in any one office unless at the discretion of the membership.
9. Candidates for election to the offices of Chairman, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer shall have previously served on the Committee for at least one year.

Meetings

Annual General Meeting

1. The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held during the month of November each year. Notice of the meeting and the Agenda shall be sent by post or otherwise transmitted to all paid-up members at least twenty-one days before the meeting.
2. The Notice shall identify those members of the Committee who are standing again and shall request nominations for Officers and other members of the Committee. Committee members standing again shall be deemed to have been nominated by the Committee.
3. The Notice of the meeting shall also include the text of any motions proposed by or to the Committee. Any member may propose amendments to such motions and may propose any further motions for consideration at the meeting. However, all proposals for consideration must be received in writing by the Honorary Secretary at least seven days before the date of the meeting.
4. The Officers and other members of the Committee shall be elected at the meeting by a show of hands or, at the Chairman’s option, by ballot. If a Nominee stands unopposed, he/she shall be deemed to have been so elected.
5. The quorum at an AGM shall comprise a minimum of ten per cent of the paid-up members, including Honorary Life Members.
6. The Agenda at the AGM shall include:
1. Apologies for absence
2. Minutes of previous AGM
3. Matters arising
4. Chairman’s report
5. Honorary Treasurer’s report
6. Other reports, as relevant
7. Election of new Committee
8. Proposals in respect of which due notice has been received
9. Any other business

Extraordinary General Meetings

1. An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society may be called at the discretion of the Committee, providing that a simple majority of members then serving on the Committee so request.
2. Alternatively, the Committee shall call an EGM upon receipt of a request to do so signed by no fewer than ten per cent of the members of the Society, provided that the request states the reason for the meeting and contains the text of at least one motion proposed for consideration.
3. The business of an EGM shall be that for which it was convened and no other.
4. Members shall be given a minimum of fourteen days' notice of an EGM and the proposals to be made.
5. A quorum at an EGM shall be ten per cent of the membership.

Voting

1. Voting of any given motion at a general meeting shall be by show of hands or by ballot, as the Chairman may decide, and motions shall be carried by the affirmative votes of a simple majority of voting members.

The Committee

1. The Committee shall meet not less than five times a year.
2. A simple majority of voting Committee members then serving shall form a quorum for a meeting provided, however, that no quorum shall be formed without the presence of either the Chairman, the Honorary Secretary or the Hon Treasurer
3. No resolution may be adopted by the Committee unless it has the affirmative votes of a simple majority of those members present and entitled to vote. In the event of an equality of votes the Chairman shall have a casting vote.
4. Committee vacancies occurring during the year may be filled by co-option, and these co-opted members shall have full voting rights.

Dissolution

1. The Society may not be dissolved except as the result of a vote taken at a General Meeting.
2. A proposal to dissolve the Society shall be subject to a ballot and, in order to be carried, it must receive the affirmative votes of two-thirds of the voting members of the Society who are present at the meeting.
3. If the dissolution of the Society is voted in accordance with the preceding provisions of this Rule, the Committee shall proceed without delay to realise the property of the Society and to discharge the Society’s outstanding liabilities. Any net assets remaining shall be distributed to such recipient or recipients and in such fashion as the Meeting shall have decided.

Amendment Of Rules And Matters Not Covered By Them

1. These Rules may only be amended at a General Meeting in accordance with the affirmative votes cast by not less than ten per cent of the Members of the Society entitled to vote at a General Meeting.
2. The Committee shall have the authority to decide any matter not covered by these rules.