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Jersey Festival Choir Constitution1

1. Name


The name of the Society shall be Jersey Festival Choir, hereinafter referred to as the Choir.


2. Objects


The objects of the choir shall be to improve and develop the art of choral music by the presentation of public performances; and for the general purposes of such charitable bodies or for such other purposes as shall be exclusively charitable as the Committee may from time to time decide.


3. Membership


Membership of the choir shall be open to any person interested in furthering the objects of the choir and who has paid the annual subscription at the appropriate rates as shall be determined by the Committee, all subscriptions being paid at the beginning of each Choir year.


The Committee may confer Honorary membership of the Choir on any person, subject to approval by the Choir in general meeting, and where Honorary membership has been conferred no membership fee is payable by the person concerned.2


Every member shall have one vote at all general meetings


The Committee has the power to terminate the membership of an individual, provided that the decision of the committee (with the exception of (i) the individual concerned if a member of the Committee and (ii) any member of the Committee making or connected with the complaint against the individual) is unanimous both as to the termination and there being good reason for it.  The individual concerned shall have the right to be heard by the Committee, accompanied by a friend if desired, and to know the reason for the proposed termination,2 before a final decision is made.

   

4. Officers and Committee


The management of the Choir shall be in the hands of a Committee consisting of the following Officers:


  President, who will act as Chair2 of all meetings

  Secretary

  Treasurer

 Other members of whom there will be at least two, and a maximum of five, elected2


The officers and other Committee members shall be elected by and from members of the Choir at the Annual General Meeting; they shall hold office until the next Annual General Meeting and be eligible for re-election.


The Musical Director2 will be ex-officio a member of the Committee and will be eligible to vote at all matters before the Committee.

  

The Committee may co-opt any other Choir member to attend Committee Meetings as it deems fit.


5. Management


All arrangements for concerts and other events and the control of finance shall be in the hands of the Committee.


6. Powers


In furtherance of the objects but not otherwise, the Committee may exercise the following powers:-


i)   power to raise funds and to invite contributions, provided that in raising funds the Committee shall not undertake any permanent trading activities and shall conform to any relevant requirements of the law;    


ii)   power to co-operate with other charities, voluntary bodies and statutory authorities operating in furtherance of the objects or of similar charitable purposes and to exchange information and advice with them;

 

iii)  power to commit to the hire of premises for performances and social events, the hire of soloists and musicians to accompany the Choir and to enter into any other commitments related to performances or social functions of the Choir;   


iv)  power to support any charitable trusts, associations or institutions whose objects relate to or are similar to those of the Choir, or are charities existing to provide benefits to the Island's community;


v)  power to appoint such advisory committees as the Committee may think fit,


vi)  power to incur or commit Choir funds, being of either a capital or revenue nature, provided such expenditure is in furtherance of the objectives as set out above and does not exceed the sum of £7,5002 in any one instance.  A sum greater than £7,500 will be submitted for approval to choir members in General Meeting,


vii)  power to do all such other lawful things as are necessary for the      achievement of the objects.


7. Meetings and the Proceedings of the Committee  

                 

i)  The Committee shall hold at least two meetings each year.  A special meeting may be called at any time by the Chair, or by any two members of the Committee, upon not less than one week's notice being given to other members of the Committee of the matters to be discussed.

  

ii)  The President shall act as Chair of the Committee.  If the Chair is absent from the meeting, the members of the Committee present shall choose one of their number to be Chair before any other business is transacted.


iii)  There shall be a quorum when at least five members2 of the Committee are present at the meeting.


iv)  Every matter shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members of the Committee present and voting on the question, but in the case of equality of votes, the Chair of the meeting shall have a second or 'casting' vote.


v)  The Committee shall keep minutes of the proceedings at its meetings and of any sub-committee and make them available at any time to members of the Choir, upon request, subject to any redaction that may be necessary2.                                        


vi)  The Committee may appoint one or more sub-committees, consisting of two or more members of the Committee, for the purpose of making any enquiry or supervising or performing any function or duty, which, in the opinion of the Committee, would be more conveniently undertaken by a sub-committee.  All acts and proceedings of such sub-committee shall be fully and promptly reported to the Committee.


8.       Finance

         

i)  The financial year shall end on the 31st July each year.


ii)  A bank account shall be opened in the name of the Choir and cheques shall be signed by any two officers of the Choir.


iii) The Choir may receive donations, grants and in the appropriate circumstances financial guarantees.


iv)  The income and property of the choir shall be applied solely towards promoting the objects of the Choir as set forth above and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred either directly or indirectly to any member or members of the Choir except in payment of legitimate expenses on behalf of the Choir.


v)   No monies or property of the Choir may be donated to other charitable societies unless agreed by a majority of the Committee and approved by the Choir in general meeting of which at least fourteen days notice has been given.


9.       Annual General Meeting


i)   Within three months of the end of each financial year, there shall be held an Annual General Meeting of which at least 21days notice in writing shall be given to all members.


ii)   The Committee shall present to each AGM the report and accounts of the Choir for the preceding year.


iii)  Nominations for election to the Committee must be made and seconded by members of the Choir, either in advance of the AGM to the Secretary or at the AGM.  Should nominations exceed vacancies, an election shall be held.2


iv)   Other matters to be considered at the AGM will be at the discretion of the Committee or may be requested by a member or members.


10.       Special ( Extraordinary ) General Meeting


A Special General Meeting, or Extraordinary Meeting, of which at least 21 days notice in writing must be given to members, may be called for by the Committee or on written request to the Secretary signed by at least six members of the Choir.  The notice must state the business to be discussed.


11.       Procedure at General Meetings


The Secretary or other person specially appointed by the Committee shall keep a   full record of proceedings at every General Meeting of the choir.


 There shall be a quorum when at least 10% of the members of the Choir at the time are present at any General meeting.


12.       Accounts


The accounts shall be audited to the extent required by legislation or, if there is no requirement, scrutinised by a person who is independent of the Committee and then submitted to the members at the Annual General Meeting.


13.      Alterations to the Constitution


The Constitution may be altered by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting at any General Meeting, provided that twenty one days' notice of the proposed alteration has  been sent to all members and provided nothing therein contained shall authorise any amendment which shall have the effect of the Choir ceasing to be a charity.



14. Dissolution


In the event of the Choir being wound up, any assets remaining on dissolution after the payment of proper debts and liabilities shall be transferred to a charitable institution or institutions having similar objects to those of the Choir.     



1 Adopted on 10th September 2003

2 Amendments adopted on 6th October 2021

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The constitution of the choir can be downloaded from here. The document is Portable Document format (pdf) and the Adobe Acrobat reader program is needed to view it, if you do not have this then you can download a free copy from here