THE ANGLO-CATALAN SOCIETY
CONSTITUTION
1.0 TITLE
The name of the society shall be the Anglo-Catalan Society, hereinafter referred to as ‘THE SOCIETY.’
2.0 PURPOSES
The society is established with the following purposes:
2.1 To advance the education of the public in Catalan Studies in Great Britain, Ireland, Catalonia and other Catalan speaking areas,
2.2 In the furtherance of these purposes, but not otherwise, the Society may:
(i) promote understanding between English and Catalan speaking communities for their mutual benefit.
(ii) organise conferences to advance Catalan Studies at which papers shall be read by members of the society or by invited speakers.
(iii) raise funds and invite contributions from any persons or organisations whatsoever by means of subscription, donation or otherwise, provided that it shall not undertake any permanent trading activities in raising funds for its charitable purposes.
(iv) provide and organise, or assist in the provision and organisation of, events such as exhibitions, meetings, lectures, classes, the showing, making and broadcasting of cinema and video films, radio and television broadcasts and sound recordings, and the production and performance of plays, recitals and other appropriate activities.
(v) procure to be written and published, issued and circulated gratuitously or otherwise, any report, periodical book or other material beneficial to the work of the Society .
(vi) provide at least one annual grant to a student from an English speaking area to visit a Catalan speaking area, and/or from a Catalan speaking area, for the purpose of visiting Great Britain and Ireland; the purpose of the grants being to enable students to carry out research into topics relevant to the purposes of the Society in promoting Catalan studies. The Society will endeavour to give students from Catalan speaking areas all help and support in the course of their investigations in Great Britain and Ireland.
3.0 MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
The Society shall be administered by a management committee, hereinafter called ‘the committee.’ The committee shall manage the affairs of the society in the best interests of the members and in accordance with the purposes set out above in 2.1 and 2.2 (i)-(v), and shall have the compositions, powers and duties set out below:
3.1 The committee shall consist of the Honorary Officers and four members of the society, at least one of whom shall be of Catalan origin, elected for a period of three years. The committee shall determine its own procedural arrangements and quorum, which shall be approved by the Annual General Meeting.
3.2 Honorary officers of the committee shall be:
(i) An Honorary Life President:
(ii) A President who shall be elected for three years, but who shall not thereafter be eligible for re-election for a period of at least 3 years, and shall be chairman of the committee.
(iii) An Honorary Secretary and an Honorary Treasurer, who shall be elected annually, and shall be eligible for re-election thereafter.
(iv) The immediate past secretary who shall be, ex-officio, a member of the committee for a period of one year, following his or her relinquishment of the post.
(v) The Editor of Anglo-Catalan Occasional Publications.
3.3 The four members of the committee shall be elected annually for a period of one year, and shall be re-eligible.
3.4 The powers and duties of the Honorary Officers of the committee shall be defined by the committee, which may also allocate other specific duties to committee members.
3.5 In the event of a casual vacancy, the committee shall be empowered to appoint a new member to fill that vacancy, and/or allocate duties carried out by a former honorary officer or committee member to another member of the committee until the next Annual General Meeting.
3.6 The committee shall have the power of co-option of any persons with special knowledge or experience to serve on the committee, including past honorary officers and committee members. Co-opted members may serve for up to three years, after which the Committee will review the co-option and renew it for a further period of time at its discretion.
3.7 The committee may appoint such sub-committees as may be deemed necessary, and may determine their terms of reference, powers, duration and membership.
3.8 The election of officers and committee shall take place at the Annual General Meeting. Nominations shall be made by the committee or be received by the Secretary not less than fourteen days before such a meeting.
3.9 The Secretary and the Treasurer shall be exempted from paying annual subscriptions for the period of their service on the committee.
4.0 OTHER COMMITTEES
An Audit Committee of two members of the society who are not committee members shall be appointed annually at the AGM to audit the accounts of the Society.
5.0 ANNUAL AND EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETINGS
5.1 An Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be held once every year at such place as the committee shall decide. The Secretary shall give due notice to the members not less than fourteen days before the date agreed.
5.2 The committee may decide to call, or will call on receipt of a written request so to do signed by five members of the Society, an Extraordinary General meeting to deal with any matters that merit the attention of the membership as a whole. The Secretary shall give at least fourteen days notice of such a meeting.
5.3 Attendance at the AGM shall be open to all members of the society, and any other parties invited by the committee. However, voting shall be restricted to members of the society.
5.4 The quorum for the Annual General Meeting shall be 15 members or 25% of the total membership whichever is the smaller figure. The President shall be Chairman of the Annual General Meeting. In the absence of the Chairman, the members may elect a chairman for that meeting.
5.5 The Annual General Meeting will review the activity of the Society, determine future policy and activities, approve the annual accounts, appoint external accountants, legal and other advisers (except where it devolves this responsibility to the committee), elect officers and committee members and consider and decide upon any other matters referred to it.
6.0 FINANCE
6.1 Proper accounts shall be kept by the Treasurer and audited accounts by the Audit Committee shall be submitted to the Annual General Meeting for approval each year.
6.2 The Treasurer shall manage the finances of the Society so as not to produce a deficit.
6.3 The committee shall be empowered to spend such monies to cover whatever expenses it considers appropriate within the purposes of the society.
6.4 The committee may appoint and pay such legal and financial advisers as shall from time to time be necessary for carrying out the work of the Society.
7.0 MEMBERSHIP AND SUBSCRIPTION
7.1 Membership shall be open to all persons genuinely interested in the aims of the Society. Classes of membership shall be defined from time to time by the Annual General Meeting.
7.2 The annual subscription, the amount of which shall be determined by the Annual General Meeting, shall be payable in advance to the Treasurer, before October 1 each year.
8.0 TRUSTEES
8.1 Subject to the approval of the Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting, the committee may appoint a trust corporation to act as trustees for the purpose of holding any monies or property belonging to the Society.
9.0 ALTERATIONS TO THE CONSTITUTION
9.1 Changes to the Constitution shall only be made by a resolution passed by a two thirds majority of those members present and voting at an Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting of the society for which due notice of fourteen days shall have been given.
9.2 No alteration shall be made to the purposes of the Society without prior approval of the Charity Commissioners, provided that no amendment shall be made that would cause the society to cease to be a charity at law.
10.0 DISSOLUTION
10.1 The Society may at any time be dissolved by a resolution passed by a two thirds majority of those members present and voting at a general meeting of the society for which due notice of fourteen days shall have been given.
10.2 Any such resolution shall give instructions authorising the disposal of assets held by the Society provided that if any assets remain after the satisfaction of all debts and liabilities, such assets are given or transferred to such other organisation or organisations having purposes similar to some or all of those of the Society, as the committee may, with the approval of the Charity Commissioners, determine.
10.3 The Treasurer shall not be held personally liable for any debts incurred by the society; such liability, if any there be, falling to the whole current membership of the Society in equal parts.
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