Fakenham Auto Club Rules And Constitution (Updated March 2026)

 

1/ TITLE: the name of the club shall be Fakenham Auto Club hereafter referred to as “The Club”

2/ OBJECTS

  • To further interest in motoring and motor sport
  • To arrange events, talks, social and other meetings
  • To afford members such benefits and privileges as it may be possible to arrange

3/ CONSTITUTION

Ladies and Gentlemen of not less than 18 years of age shall be eligible for membership. The membership shall consist of (a) Life Members (b) Ordinary Members. There will also be a category called Family Member for children under aged 18 who are the children of Life Members or Ordinary Members.

4/ MANAGEMENT

The authority and responsibility for the transaction of the business of The Club for its management shall be vested in a Committee, who, in addition to the powers and authorities by these rules expressly conferred on them, may exercise all powers and do all acts in furtherance of the Objects for which The Club is established or done by the Club in a General Meeting.

5/ ELECTION OF COMMITTEE

The Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and, subject to termination of office at the next Annual General Meeting following their appointment.

The Committee shall consist of the numbers of members as deemed to be appropriate by the Committee. The Committee shall have the power to co-opt other members as they deem necessary.

Nominations of Candidates for election to the Committee must be received by the Secretary not less than 14 days before the Annual General Meeting, with an intimation in writing signed by each Member nominated that he or she is willing to serve. Nomination of candidates shall be signed by the member proposing them. The Committee shall have the power to appoint a Sub Committee of not less than three persons to meet on its behalf in respect of any matter that is specifically referred to such a Sub -Committee.

6/ ELECTION OF OFFICERS

The Committee shall elect from its own members a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, a Treasurer and Secretary and any other officers as the Committee think fit, and as far as possible officers of the Committee shall be eligible for the one position only and in furtherance of The Club objectives;

One half of the Committee shall form a quorum. No officer may be re-elected to the same position that he has previously held for a consecutive period of three years, except when the officer is further mandated by a majority vote renewable annually by the remaining Committee members of The Club. Exceptionally officers can also be removed by a majority vote of the Committee, without recourse to either an Extraordinary Meeting or the Annual General Meeting.

7/ MEETING OF COMMITTEE

The Committee shall meet regularly to discuss and agree Club business. Such meetings to be held at the discretion of the Committee depending on the amount of Club business requiring its attention. The date for the next meeting to be agreed at the end of each Committee meeting.

8/ ABSENCE FROM COMMITTEE

Any member of the Committee who shall, without sufficient reasons, absent himself or herself from three consecutive Committee meetings, may be called upon to resign his or her position upon the Committee.

9/ DUTIES OF SECRETARY

It shall be the duty of the Secretary to attend in person or by deputy, all meetings of the Committee to take minutes of the proceedings. Such minutes shall be presented for confirmation at the following meeting.

10/ BANKING

All monies belonging to The Club shall be banked by the Treasurer in the name of The Club, and no disbursements shall be made therefrom except as authorised by the Committee. Disbursements may however be made with a signatory to the cheque by a responsible officer of the Committee agreed by the Committee and legally authorised by the bank. Such a signatory may not sign cheques where they are the beneficiary including as the cheque payee.

11/ ELECTION OF MEMBERS

Applications of candidates for membership of The Club shall be submitted to the Committee by the Secretary or Membership Secretary and the election of such candidates shall be at the discretion of the Committee. The name and address of the candidate shall be stated on each application submitted to the Committee using the approved official forms. All applications must be made by an individual in his/her own correct name and be signed by the said applicant. The Committee reserve the right not to grant or renew any membership as per rule 20.

12/ VOTING OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Each member present at a meeting of the Committee shall be entitled to exercise one vote. The Committee shall vote by ballot if any member present so demands. A vote of one third against any application for membership shall exclude such individual from membership of The Club.

13/ SUBSCRIPTION

The amount of the annual subscription shall be determined by the Committee and reviewed annually.

14/PAYMENT OF SUBSCRIPTIONS

Subscriptions will be due to be paid by the 28th February.

15/ NEW MEMBERS

Any member who joins The Club and who fails to pay his subscription within one month shall be requested in writing by the Secretary or Treasurer to pay the same and if he fails to make the full payment within fourteen days shall be removed from all communications from The Club. No new member shall be entitled to any of the privileges of membership until after the payment of the subscription.

16/ NON PAYMENT

Any existing member of The Club who has not paid his subscription by the due date  shall be notified of the fact in writing by the Secretary or Treasurer by email to their recorded email address, and one month thereafter any member who has still failed to pay his subscription will, unless sufficient reasons be shown to the satisfaction of the Committee be taken off the register of members forthwith and will receive no further communication from the club.

17/ RESIGNATION

Any member ceasing voluntarily or otherwise, to be a member of The Club shall thereafter cease to have any claim upon the property of The Club. Or enjoy any privileges of membership, but he or she shall remain liable for the payment of any debts due to The Club from him or her.

18/ USE OF THE CLUB NAME

The name and address of The Club shall not be given by a member as his address for trade, advertising or business purposes or in connection with any legal proceedings.

19/ LIFE MEMBERS

Members who have maintained their membership for a continuous period of at least ten years and who have, in the opinion of the majority of committee members, made a substantial contribution to the development and /or running of The Club, can be considered for Life Membership of The Club. If agreed by the Committee as above, the member shall be exempt from all future payments of the annual subscription. All other rules in the Constitution shall apply to life members in the same way as they do to Ordinary Members.

20/ EXPULSION OF MEMBERS

It shall be the duty of the Committee if at any time they shall be of the opinion that the interests of The Club so require, by letter, to invite any member to withdraw from The Club within a time specified in such letter, and in default of such withdrawal to submit the question of his expulsion to a meeting of the Committee to be held within six weeks of the date of such letter. Members of the Committee shall be given at least seven days notice that a question of withdrawal or expulsion is to be discussed at a meeting of the Committee. The member whose expulsion is under consideration shall be given at least seven days notice of such a meeting and shall be allowed to offer an explanation of his conduct verbally or in writing and if two thirds of the members present shall then vote for his expulsion, he shall cease to be a member of The Club.

21/ ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Annual General Meeting of The Club shall be held in the month of February in each year upon a date and at a time to be fixed by the Committee. The Annual General Meeting shall

  • Receive from the Committee a full statement of accounts, including the club year end bank statement, duly examined by a suitable third party (who is not a member of the Committee) showing the receipts and expenditure for the year ending.
  • Receive from the Committee a report of the activities of The Club during the said year.
  • Elect the Committee
  • Decide on any resolution that may be duly submitted to the meeting as hereinafter provided.

22/ SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING

A Special General Meeting may be convened by the direction of the Committee, or on a requisition of the Secretary stating the business for which the Special General Meeting is required and signed by a majority of Club Members. If the meeting so requisitioned is not convened within twenty one days the said majority of club members may convene such meeting and the majority of club members will need to be present to form a quorum.

23/ AGENDA

When members wish a matter to be discussed at a Special General Meeting, the text of such matters signed by at least six members shall be sent to the Secretary at least seven days before the date of such a meeting so that it may be included on the Agenda.

A copy of the Agenda shall be sent to each member at least five days prior to the meeting, but the fact that any member has not received a copy of the Agenda shall not invalidate the proceedings. No business that is not included in the Agenda shall be discussed at the meeting. Should the proposer of any motion fail to move a resolution in respect of the relevant item on the Agenda, then that motion shall be struck off.

24/ VOTING

Each Member present may exercise one vote. The Chairman will not vote except in the case where a casting vote is needed. At all Special General Meetings except as provided in rule 26, a majority of votes decide a resolution.

25/ RIGHT TO BE PRESENT

No one can take part in a General Meeting unless he is a Member of The Club and has paid his subscription according to the rules.

26/ OBSERVANCE AND INTERPRETATION OF RULES

Every Member binds himself to abide by the rules of The Club and also any modification thereof made in conformity with such rules, and also to accept as final and binding the decision of the Committee in all cases of dispute or disagreement as to the interpretation of these rules.

27/ ALTERATION OF RULES

Any alteration may be made to these rules by a General Meeting provided that (a) details of the proposed alteration or alterations are included in the notice of the General Meeting and (b) the resolution proposing such alterations is supported by a majority of those voting should a poll be demanded as provided for in rule 23.

28/ COPIES OF RULES

Every member shall be furnished with a copy of the rules upon request by e-mailing the Membership Secretary

29/ DISSOLUTION

The Club may be dissolved by a Special General Meeting convened by direction of the Committee. If the resolution of the dissolution be duly passed, the Committee shall forthwith liquidate the affairs of The Club, and if there be any surplus assets on realisation, these shall be disposed of at the discretion of the Committee providing that no member shall benefit from this liquidation of assets.

30/ DATA PROTECTION

The use of members’ data shall be in accordance with the Data Protection Regulations in force from time to time. And the members and Club’s interests and confidentialties safeguarded at all times.

All references in this document to a particular gender should be read as applying to all genders.

Revised  9th March 2026