BALLYWILLAN DRAMA GROUP, PORTRUSH
RULES AND CONSTITUTION
1. NAME: The society shall be called, and be known as, “ Ballywillan Drama Group”
2. MISSION STATEMENT: Ballywillan Drama Group is a cross-community organisation, affiliated to Holy Trinity Church in the Parish of Ballywillan, Portrush which seeks to promote and encourage all aspects of Theatrical Arts in an environment of friendship, support and responsibility.
3. MEMBERSHIP:
a. All persons shall be eligible to become members of the society on payment of the Annual Subscription, and with the approval of the Governing Committee of the Society.
b. Persons holding honorary and ex-officio positions shall be exempt from the payment of the Annual Subscription.
4. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION: The Annual Subscription shall be reviewed and agreed by the governing committee every two years prior to the Annual General Meeting.
5. PAYMENT OF SUBSCRIPTIONS: All subscriptions shall become due at the Annual General Meeting each year and shall be current until the following Annual General Meeting.
6. ARREARS: Any member in arrears of subscription may not be entitled to vote at any meeting of the society nor stand for election to the Committee.
7. VOTING:
a. All subscribing, ex-officio and honorary members aged 18 years and over, shall be entitled to vote at the Annual General Meeting, or at any other General Meeting of the Society.
b. Voting shall be by simple majority, and in the event of a tie, the Chair shall have a casting vote.
c. All subscribing members aged 12 to 18 years old shall be entitled to vote only on the election of Junior Committee Members. Whilst serving as Junior Committee Members they shall be entitled to full voting rights, irrespective of age.
8. PRESIDENT & VICE-PRESIDENT:
a. The President of the Society shall be the Rector of the Parish of Ballywillan for the time being, and shall be an ex-officio and voting member of the Governing Committee.
b. The Vice-President of the Society, shall be the Curate of the Parish of Ballywillan for the time being, and shall be an ex-officio and voting member of the Governing Committee.
c. The President or Vice-President shall preside at the Annual General Meeting or any other General Meeting of the Society. In the event of their absence, the Chair of the Governing Committee shall preside.
9. THE GOVERNING COMMITTEE:
a. The Society shall be governed by a committee of twelve members elected at the Annual General Meeting. The Chair, Vice-Chair, Hon. Treasurer, Hon. Secretary and eight other members (all aged 18 or over), shall serve for a period of two years. During a year where there are fifteen active junior members, two junior members will be co-opted onto the committee for one year without voting rights.
b. A minimum of six elected committee members (aged 18 years or over) shall be Parishioners of Ballywillan Parish, Holy Trinity Church.
c. The Chair or Vice Chair shall be parishioners of Ballywillan Parish, Holy Trinity Church.
d. The Hon. Treasurer shall be a parishioner of Ballywillan Parish, Holy Trinity Church.
e. All retiring members may stand for re-election.
10. DUTIES OF THE GOVERNING COMMITTEE:
a. To meet from time to time to govern the affairs of the Society. The attendance of nine members of the committee, of which two shall be parishioners of Ballywillan Parish, Holy Trinity Church and of which one shall be an Office bearer (Chair or Vice Chair, Hon. Treasurer) shall be requisite to form a quorum at any meeting.
b. All significant proposals shall be brought before the Committee for discussion and approval.
c. To administer and execute any project that may, from time to time, be approved by the society.
d. To co-opt onto the committee any member of the society to fill any vacancy which may occur during the two year period, provided that the balance of the committee does not contravene provision laid down in Rule 9.
e. To co-opt onto the committee (as Hon. Member if necessary) any person from within or outside the Society, whose assistance, the committee may deem necessary or advantageous for the successful accomplishment of any specific project embarked on by the Society. Such co-opted committee members shall vote only on matters relating to the specific project for which they were co-opted.
f. In the absence of the Chair and Vice-Chair at any Committee Meeting, those committee members present shall elect a Chair from their number for that specific meeting.
g. In the absence of the Hon. Secretary those present shall elect a minute taker from their number who will submit a record of the meeting to the Hon. Secretary.
h. All divisions in the committee shall be decided by a simple majority. In the event of there being an equal division on any decision, the Chair shall have a casting vote.
i. Committee members (not including the President and Vice-President) absent from committee meetings on three occasions will be asked to step down from the committee
11. HON. TREASURER:
a. The Hon. Treasurer shall keep the accounts of the Society, and shall present an audited Balance Sheet at the Annual General Meeting.
b. The Hon. Treasurer shall make available to each member of the committee a copy of the annual accounts at least seven days before a Committee Meeting called to discuss the finance of the previous year’s productions.
12. HON. SECRETARY:
a. The Hon. Secretary shall record, in a suitable Minute Book, the proceedings at all meetings of the committee, and of the Society. The Hon. Secretary shall summon a Committee Meeting on the request of the President, or any committee member.
b. The Hon. Secretary shall give at least seven days notice to each committee member of the intention to hold a Committee Meeting and, at the same time furnish the minutes of the previous Committee Meeting to each committee member along with a detailed agenda for the intended meeting including proposals if any. Any proposal or matter for discussion to be included on the agenda should be given to the Hon. Secretary at least 8 days before a Committee Meeting.
c. If an emergency Committee meeting is required the Hon. Secretary shall give as much notice as possible to all Committee members detailing the reason for the meeting.
d. The Hon. Secretary shall give at least seven days notice to each member of the society of the intention to hold the Annual General Meeting or any other General Meeting and at the same time furnish a detailed agenda including proposals if any. Any proposal or matter for discussion to be included on the agenda should be given in writing to the Hon. Secretary at least two weeks before the Annual General Meeting or other General Meeting.
13. HON. AUDITOR: A suitably qualified person shall be appointed by the Governing Committee each year as Hon. Auditor to the Society.
14. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING: The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held where possible before the end of May each year. An attendance of fifteen voting members of the Society of whom 5 shall be members of Ballywillan Parish, Holy Trinity shall constitute a quorum.
15. EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING: An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by the committee, or by a resolution signed by at least seven voting members of the Society and presented to the Hon. Secretary. An attendance of fifteen voting members of the Society of whom 5 shall be members of Ballywillan Parish, Holy Trinity shall constitute a quorum.
16. ALTERATION OF RULES & CONSTITUTION: The rules and constitution of the Society may only be altered, abrogated or amended at a General Meeting of the Society. Voting on any proposed alteration, abrogation or amendment to the rules governing Membership of the Society (Rule No.3), President and Vice-President (Rule No. 8), Election to the Governing Committee(Rule No. 9) and Alteration of Rules and Constitution (Rule No. 16) shall be limited to those voting members who are also parishioners of Ballywillan Parish Holy Trinity Church, due notice having been given to the committee.
Alterations and Amendments to the Rules and Constitution were approved at a General Meeting of the Society on 9th June 2022 and are effective from that date, replacing all previous copies.