Constitution

1. Name

The group shall be known as the Mid Cornwall Beacon and Repeater Group, a non-profit organization funded by a mixture of subscriptions and donations and managed by dedicated volunteers in line with this constitution.

2. Mission Statement

a. To develop, install and maintain such beacons utilized by Educational Establishments for national and international propagation research studies including repeaters and other amateur radio services for radio amateurs and Short Wave Listeners, as decided by the management committee.

b. To co-operate with amateur radio clubs in Cornwall, so that the projects of the group will reflect the aims and requirements of radio amateurs in the form of education and self-training as deemed appropriate.

c. To provide Radio communications for the Radio Amateur Emergency Network (RAYNET). To provide facilities for Cornwall Search and Rescue Group, the ATC and in an emergency as directed by the Cornwall Council Resilience and Emergency Management team.

3. Membership

Membership is open to all persons of all ages interested in the aims of the group, only members have voting rights; all members are expected to abide by the constitution of the group.

The group has no Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checked committee members. Any minor/young person or vulnerable adult that may be elected to the committee, visit the site, attend an AGM or man a stand at a rally must be accompanied by the legal parent, legal guardian or responsible adult.

Complaints against any member will be handled in accordance with the complaints procedure in Appendix A

4. Subscriptions/ Donations

a. A minimum membership subscription covering a period of 12 months shall be set and agreed at the AGM, it will be due for renewal within one month of the anniversary of joining after which membership will cease. Payments at the membership minimum and above will be treated as a subscription unless the payee states it is a donation, payments below the membership minimum will be classed as a donation.

Payments are accepted either in Cash, Cheque, PayPal via web site, Standing Order or Bank Transfer, to use Bank Transfer / Standing Order first contact the Treasurer by e-mail via the link on the group web site for details.

b. The management committee shall have the power to waive or reduce subscriptions in special circumstances, for a period of not exceeding 12 months at a time.

c. Donations (gifts) of any value to the group are welcomed, they do not give the donator membership voting rights and are given freely without any recompense by either party and can be made using by the same payment methods as in sect a. above.

d. Commission received for sales of equipment via the group’s web site will be deemed to be a donation.

5. Finance

The financial year shall run from 1 October to 30 September, accounts will first be presented to committee members then for audit prior to the October AGM. Income received by the group in excess of a cash float not exceeding £100 shall be promptly deposited in the group’s bank account either by manual payment at a bank or by Online Bank Transfer.

Withdrawals / payments shall require approval from the committee followed by authorization of the group’s Treasurer and one of the two nominated committee members.

Payments by cheque will require two signatures; Direct Debit payments need committee approval and will be processed by the Treasurer.

6. Membership of the Group Management Committee

The group’s affairs shall be administered by a management committee elected at the annual general meeting for a terms of 12 months, there is no limit on how many terms a committee member can be re-elected to the management committee. The committee who all have equal voting rights in whom all the group’s property be responsible for, shall consist of ……………….

a. President

b. Chair who will preside at all meetings at which they are present.

c. Vice Chair who will act as chair in the absence of the Chair.

d. Secretary who will be responsible for:

Keeping the minutes of all meetings of the group.

Ensuring that all correspondence is correctly handled.

Maintaining a register of group’s equipment.

Holding a list of shut down operators for each Repeater and Beacon

e. Treasurer who will be responsible for:

Keeping the group’s accounts.

Advising the committee on all financial matters.

Preparing the accounts for audit and presenting them at the AGM.

Maintaining a master role of members.

f. A Deputy Treasurer who will act in the absence of the Treasurer

g. Six committee members to include a Web Master and Public Relations Officer (PRO)

h. Data officer in accordance with General Protection of Data Regulation (GPDR)

I. One representative from Raynet, ATC, Cornwall Search and Rescue and each of the local amateur radio clubs, who are forwarded by their organisation or club.

J. Not more than two co-opted members.

7. Liability of Trustees and Members

To meet legal requirements the Chair Person, Secretary and Treasurer named as the Principals shall act as trustees for the group; their liability shall be covered by the Repeater Public Liability policy arranged through the RSGB and amateur radio insurance services for all Repeater and Beacon groups. The insurance extends cover to the NOV holder’s license requirement, Repeater Group Members and to Data protection.

The lease for the land is renewed every year, with the three officers named in named above acting as Trustee’s. These officers, if willing and proposed are re-elected at each years AGM. If they are not re-elected, an outgoing officer may still act as Trustee (providing they agree) and are approved to do so at the AGM each year.

The title to the equipment, building’s and mast is held by all members

Insurance excess costs resulting from claims made on the insurance policies will be met from group’s funds unless it is proved to be a member’s fault who will then be liable for the excess. The excess amount will be in line with the current values posted on the RSGB web site and policy documents.

Membership lists will be held in accordance with the current Data Protection Act and will only be used for the purpose of administration. Member’s information (Data) will held only by the “Public Relations Officer (PRO) Data Officer” to enable e-mails to be sent when required and the Treasurer for the master role of members. The information will be stored securely and in accordance with General Protection of Data Regulations (GPDR). All members will have the right to ask the data officer the following:

1, What data do you hold on me.

2, Has my data been released to other parties

3, Where is my data secured.

4, Please can you delete my data

Members who use PayPal agree to have their address details forwarded to the Group by PayPal, these details will be protected under the data protection act, the only details to be retained within the group will be the name, e-mail address and call sign of the payee.

8. NOV Holders

The group owns all the equipment, building and mast. The Repeaters and Beacons operate in accordance with Ofcom regulations by a Notice of Variation (NOV) to a licensed Radio Amateur. This Person is responsible for the correct operation of the Beacon or Repeater and has, regardless of a committee decision, the final say on use and installation of the beacon or repeater.

A shut down list for each repeater or beacon will be maintained in accordance with Ofcom, all on the list can shut down the equipment but permission must be received from the NOV holder before the equipment is switched on, this can be by phone or text etc. Lists will be reviewed at the AGM.

9. Committee Standing Orders

a. The quorum for the committee shall be at least six, of whom one shall be an officer of the group. In the absence of a quorum business may be dealt with any decisions shall only become valid after ratification at the next meeting which a quorum exists.

b. The chair, secretary or any member of the committee may call committee meetings.

10. Annual General Meeting.

a. The annual general meeting shall normally be held in October each year, at least 21 days’ notice shall be given.

b. The quorum of the meeting shall be ten members.

c. The agenda for the meeting shall be:

1. Apologies for absence.

2. Minutes of the previous AGM.

3. Chair’s report.

4. Secretary’s report.

5. Treasurer’s report.

6. Repeater keepers report.

7. Beacon keepers report.

8. Election of the new committee as per section 6.

9. Election of auditors.

10. Membership subscriptions level for following year.

11. Trustee approval

12. Shut down list

13. Other business

d. Items 1 to 7 to be chaired by the outgoing chair, item 8 by an acting chair who is not standing for office and the remaining business by the newly elected chair. The acting and newly elected chair will ask for nominations or volunteers from members present at the AGM for the committee places in addition to those received in writing before the AGM for each committee position.

e. Nominations for committee members will only be valid if confirmed by the nominee at the meeting or previously by writing.

f. Items to be raised by members under other business shall be notified to the secretary not less than 21 days before the AGM

11. Extraordinary General Meeting

a. Extraordinary general meetings may be called by the committee, or not less than ten members of the group, the date of the meeting being at the earliest convenient as decided by the committee. At least 28 days’ notice given in writing must be given to the secretary, who in turn shall give members at least 14 days’ notice in writing of the agenda, no other business may be conducted at the EGM.

b. The quorum for the meeting shall be ten members..

12. Amendments to the Constitution

The constitution may be amended only at an AGM or an EGM for the purpose.

13. Site Maintenance and engineering

In the interests of Health and Safety (Good practice) all visits to the group’s site must be logged into the note pad in the repeater room stating date and name/ call sign.

When working on the mast no person under the age of 18 will be allowed on site while the mast is being climbed. No person will climb the mast unless there is at least one other committee member on site, the person or persons climbing the mast must wear a fall arrest harness and must have a second method of attaching themselves to the mast when at working height, i.e. fall arrest and second method. All personal on site must wear a protective hard hat when a person is on the mast regardless of where they are on site, hard hats are held on site. All on site must follow the instructions of the person climbing the mast.

At least one person on the ground must have a working mobile phone to be used in case of an emergency. The National Grid Reference (NGR) for the site is SW990574, Little Johns Pit; a notice will be displayed in the repeater room showing the NGR and graphical location for reference in case of an emergency. No visitors will be allowed on site unless accompanied by a committee member who will be responsible for the visitor and will advise the secretary of the person’s name, date and length of visit.

14. Winding up the Group

a. In the event that it is thought necessary to wind up the group, an EGM shall be called for the purpose. Failing a quorum the decision to wind up the group may be taken by the residual committee.

b. The assets of the group shall be sold, or disposed of as deemed appropriate after the settlement of any outstanding debts and any assets or monies left, will be distributed amongst the local radio clubs or other organizations deemed appropriate at time of wind up.

Appendix A, Complaints procedure

1 Any complaint concerning any member must be made in writing and signed by the complainant(s). The

written complaint must then be forwarded to the Secretary so that the matter can be addressed by the

committee as soon as is practicable.

2 The Committee may impose a suspension not exceeding 30 days upon any member in the event of

misconduct. Any suspension must be accompanied by a verbal and/or written warning as deemed

appropriate in accordance with section 5.

3 The Committee may consider removal from the role of members any member whose conduct is

considered to be prejudicial to the group. Dismissal will be in accordance with the following procedure in

order to comply with the laws of natural justice:

a. The member is to be given a recorded verbal warning by an authorised Committee Member in which the

member is made aware of their misdemeanour and what they are reasonably required to do to make amends.

b. If the member does not respond, they will be given a written warning by an authorised Committee Member to advise them of their misdemeanour and what they are reasonably required to do to make amends.

c. If they still fail to respond, the Committee should invite them in writing to meet with them at a previously agreed date and time to discuss the situation, advising they are considering withdrawal of their membership.

d. If they still fail to respond to reasoning or fail to attend without reasonable cause, the Committee can advise them in writing that their membership is withdrawn, stating the reasons why this decision was reached.

e. When the member is advised of withdrawal of their membership, they must be given the right of appeal. If he opts to appeal, this will be to the Club membership at a GM which the Committee would call on their behalf at a previously agreed date and time. The motion to uphold the membership withdrawal or reverse it must be in accordance with the voting procedures set out in the Club Constitution.

4 In the event of gross misconduct, immediate dismissal without warnings may be considered but the member must still be accorded their rights to present their case to the Committee and be given a right of appeal in accordance with sub-paragraphs c, d and e above.

Reviewed 2020