1. Name

The Club shall be called Bracknell Forest Runners and will be affiliated to UK Athletics (or its successors).

2. Philosophy

The philosophy of the club is “running for fun”.

3. Objectives

The objectives of the club are:

• To promote fitness, health and running in the community with a strong element of enjoyment.
• To offer coaching and competitive opportunities, mainly targeted at five kilometres to marathon.
• To foster a positive social environment.
• To ensure present and future members receive fair and equal treatment.
• To ensure a duty of care to all members

4. Membership

The membership will consist of officers and members of the club. All members will be subject to the regulations of the constitution and by joining the club will be deemed to accept these regulations and codes of conduct that the club has adopted.

All members will be enrolled as full members and must be aged 18 years or older. Concessions are offered to members aged over 65, registered disabled and members aged under 25 and in full time education.

5. Membership Fees

These will be set annually at the Annual General Meeting. Fees are payable annually in advance from April 1st

6. Officers and Management Committee

The officers of the club will be:

• Chair
• Vice Chair
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Membership Secretary 
• Coaching Co-ordinator

No one person may hold more than one of the above positions.

In addition, there will be 5 ex-officio members of the management committee such that in total there will be up to 10 members of the committee. The ex-officio members will each take responsibility for a specific area of work, however the committee reserves the right to re-define the individual roles in order to best enable the needs of the club to be met. At any time, the current ex-officio responsibilities will be up to date on the ‘Committee Members and Contact Information’ page of the website.

All officers and committee members will retire each year but are eligible for re-appointment. Committee members should confirm their intention to either stand again or step down to the Club Secretary at least 4 weeks prior to the AGM. The Club Secretary will make this information known to the wider club in a timely manner.

Any club members who wish to stand for a committee role must make their intentions known to the Club Secretary in writing at least 14 days prior to the AGM. However, if not enough members have put themselves forward to allow creation of a full committee, then members will still be free to stand after the 14 notice period has passed right up to and including the night of the AGM.

The club will be managed through the committee.

The committee will be convened not less than 4 times per year. The quorum required for committee business will be 5.

The committee will be responsible for adopting new policies, codes of conduct and rules that affect the organisation of the club. 

The committee will have powers to appoint sub-committees as necessary and appoint advisors as necessary to fulfil its business.

In addition to the committee, there will also be a Coaching Coordinator. The holder of this role will be decided by the committee, but the position does not need to be held by someone on the committee. 

There will also be two Welfare Officers (one male and one female). These officers will be independent of the committee and the posts cannot be held by members already sitting on the committee. These will be nominated and voted in following the same process as for committee members, as outlined in section 8.

7. Finance

The Treasurer will be responsible for the club finances. All club monies will be banked in accounts held in the name of the club.

An independently audited statement of accounts will be presented by the Treasurer at the Annual General Meeting.

All cheques drawn against club funds will bear the signatures of two of the Chair, Treasurer and Secretary.

8. Annual General Meeting

Notice of the Annual General Meeting will be given by the Secretary not less than 21 days prior to the meeting.

The Annual General Meeting will receive a report from the Chair and a statement of the audited accounts from the Treasurer.

All committee members must be nominated and seconded by club members present at the Annual General Meeting. In the event of two or more members being nominated for one committee position then all those present at the meeting will be invited to cast one vote; the nominated member gaining the most votes will be elected into the committee position.

The quorum for an Annual General Meeting will be 20% of the total membership of the club.

Any member of the club can call for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) provided that the proposal is supported by 5% of the total club membership - the total membership number can be obtained at any time by contacting the Membership Secretary.

At the time of requesting an EGM the member must provide full written details of the motion or motions that attendees of the EGM will be asked to vote upon. This document must be addressed to the Club Secretary and must be signed by all members in support of the EGM. The member requesting the EGM and the members supporting it must consider that the motion/s require such urgent attention that they cannot wait until the next scheduled AGM to raise them.

The Club Secretary will convene an EGM in the same manner as an Annual General Meeting within one calendar month of the request being delivered. Procedures for an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be the same as for an Annual General Meeting.

9. Dissolution

A resolution to dissolve the club can only be passed at an Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting. Dissolution can only be affected though a majority vote of the entire membership, either present or by postal vote to the Secretary’s home address.
In the event of dissolution any assets of the club shall become the property of UK Athletics (or its successor) or another local club with objectives similar to those of Bracknell Forest Runners.

10. Amendments to the Constitution

The constitution will only be changed through agreement by a majority vote at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) or Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). Proposed amendments to the constitution should be made in writing and hand delivered to the Secretary in sufficient time for the Secretary to advise the membership of the proposal at least 4 weeks prior to the AGM or EGM.

11. Disciplinary and appeals process

Disciplinary and Appeals matters shall be dealt with using the Club Disciplinary and Appeals Procedure published separately on the Club website and available from the Club Secretary on written request.

12. GDPR

All members of the club are subject to the laws relating to GDPR and anyone who has access to personal information that relates to any other member is specifically bound by the laws relating to GDPR – failure to comply with these laws and any abuse of any personal information that any member of the club or committee may be privy to, will result in immediate and total suspension from all club activities pending disciplinary action.

13. Declaration

Bracknell Forest Runners adopts and accepts this constitution as a current operating guide regulating the actions of the members.