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Constitution

1. Name:

The Club shall be called the ‘National Correspondence Chess Club’ and referred to as ‘The Club’, ‘Natcor’ or ‘NCCC’.

 2. Objects:

a) To promote the practice of correspondence chess in Great Britain with a special emphasis on friendship between participants.

b) To organise tournaments and matches using all methods of play.

c) To provide opportunities for correspondence chess players to meet by the organisation of social activities and over-the-board chess events.

3. Governing Body:

a) Subject to section 7 of this Constitution the affairs of the Club shall be managed by a committee comprising the following ex-officio members: Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Editor of ‘En Passant’ and Webmaster plus three elected general officers.

b) The Committee shall be empowered to co-opt additional members as and when they deem it necessary.

c) The Committee posts specified in section 3a shall be subject to annual election by postal ballot of all members.

d) The result of the election shall be announced in the first edition of ‘En Passant’ issued after the 1st of May.

4. Membership:

a) Membership of the Club shall be open to anybody whose application is acceptable to the Committee.

b) At the discretion of the Committee, recruitment may be encouraged by the offer of a free trial period not exceeding one year. Such members shall be offered all the rights and benefits of full membership but shall be under no obligation to rejoin at the end of the trial period.

c) Free life membership shall be offered to any member deemed by the Committee to be worthy of the honour.

d) A period of free membership may be granted to any member at the discretion of the Committee. Such membership may not exceed one year but may be renewed at the Committee's discretion.

e) Membership of the Club carries the following obligations: -

i) To maintain the traditional friendly atmosphere that has been associated with the Club since its foundation.

ii) To preserve for reference all Club rules & the individual tournament rules as appropriate.

f) The Committee shall have the power to terminate the membership of any member whose continued membership is considered by the Committee not to be in the interests of the Club. The Committee shall give any such member an opportunity to make written representation to the Committee before reaching a final decision.

5. Subscriptions:

a) A subscription renewal of an amount determined by the Committee shall become due on 1st September each year (except for life members).

b) The Committee shall have the power to set a reduced subscription for members who are less than 18 years old or more than 65 years old.

c) The initial subscription payable by new members joining the club during the year shall be assessed on a monthly pro rata basis to August 31st.

d) Any member who fails to renew their subscription within two months of September 1st shall be removed from the membership list.

6. Club Funds:

a) Payments may be made by cheque, postal order, electronic payment or any other currently acceptable method.

b) Cheques in respect of subscriptions, donations and other payments to the Club shall be made payable to the “National Correspondence Chess Club” and sent to the Treasurer.

c) The financial year shall be from 1st January to 31st December.

d) The Treasurer shall prepare a statement of accounts at the end of the financial year.

7. Election of the Committee, Returning Officer and Auditor

a) Nominations for the posts specified in section 3a, Returning Officer and Auditor shall be invited in ‘En Passant’.

b) A nomination shall consist of the signatures of the proposer and seconder, and a signed statement by the candidate that, if elected, he/she will be willing to serve. The candidate, proposer and seconder must be fully paid up members of the Club

c) Members of the Committee willing to continue in office will automatically be placed on the ballot paper.

d) In the event of a contested election ballot papers will be sent out with "En Passant’ together with manifestos (if written by the candidates) to a maximum length of 300 words each. The papers are to be sent out so that the election can be completed in time for the result to be announced in the first EP issued after the 1st of May.

e) Ballot papers shall be sent to the Returning Officer who shall be responsible for counting the votes cast for each candidate and notifying the Chairman of the results by 1st of May.

f) In the event of a tied vote the Chairman shall have the casting vote.

g) Successful candidates shall take up office as soon as possible and not later than one month following their election. The retiring committee member shall inform their successor fully as to the duties of the office.

h) In the event of an elected member of the Committee resigning during the year a replacement shall be co-opted by the Committee until the next election. Such a member may seek election as specified in section 7b.

i) In the event of a co-opted member not being readily available to replace a Committee member who has resigned another Committee member may take over at the discretion of the Chairman until the next election.

8. Election Of President:

A Club President shall be elected to serve from 1st May – 30th April each year. Nominations for the post shall be invited in the final edition of ‘En Passant’ each year and the first edition of the following year. The post of President is awarded in recognition of services to Natcor and carries with it no obligations. Any member may nominate a candidate by submitting a brief statement of their reasons for the nomination to the Secretary by the end of February. In the event of a tie the Committee will decide the outcome. Outgoing Presidents shall become lifetime Vice-Presidents of Natcor.

9. Extraordinary General Meeting:

a) An EGM shall be held if proposed by any member and seconded by a minimum of 20% of the membership at the date of submission. The meeting shall take place within 2 months of being called.

b) The only items to be discussed at the EGM shall be the ones contained in the request.

c) The quorum for such an EGM shall be 20% of the membership of the Club.

10. Financial Report:

An audited report of the Club’s finances shall be provided by the Treasurer for publication in ‘En Passant’ as soon as possible after the end of the financial year. Members will have 28 days following publication in which to query the report after which it shall be formally adopted.

11. Policy Motions:

a) Any member of the Club may call for a postal ballot of all members by submitting a motion to the Secretary.

b) Such a motion must bear the signatures of the proposer and four seconders.

c) Ballot papers shall be prepared by the Returning Officer and sent out to all members within two months of receipt of a motion together with the case for the policy motion to a maximum length of 300 words.

d) For each motion it shall be the responsibility of the Returning Officer to invite Club members, via EP and the web site, to write the case against.

e) The Returning Officer shall fix a date by which all ballot papers shall be received. This date shall be neither less than ten days nor more than three weeks after the date of dispatch of the ballot papers and accompanying documents. The Returning Officer shall notify the result to the Chairman within one week of the date fixed for receipt of the ballot papers.

f) Results of any such vote shall be binding on the Committee.

g) No decision on the dissolution of the Club or its amalgamation with any other organisation shall be valid unless supported by at least 90 per cent of the votes cast in a postal ballot of all members.

12. Official Journal:

a) The Official Journal of the Club shall be called ‘En Passant’ and shall be issued free to all members.