Be Theatre Goers

1. Name

• The name of the Guild shall be ‘Bromley Theatre Guild’.

2. Aims

• To celebrate the pursuit of amateur drama in Bromley and the district through an annual full-length or one-act play festival and to raise funds towards this end.
• To share both acting and technical resources throughout the Guild’s member societies.
• To raise public awareness of the Guild’s member societies.
• To encourage the recruitment of new members to the Guild’s member societies.

3. Membership

• Membership shall be open to any amateur theatre society or other body with objects in sympathy with those of the Guild in Bromley and District Membership shall be subject to the approval of the Committee and to the payment to the Guild’s funds of an annual subscription which shall be a sum determined by the Guild in General Meeting (currently £25 per annum).
• Subscriptions shall fall due on 1st January each year.
• Any member society failing to pay its subscription in full by the 31st March following shall at the discretion of the Committee cease to be a member.
• The Committee shall have the power to deprive a member society of Membership and the use of Guild facilities for any reason considered prejudicial to the objects and the interests of the Guild.

4. Associate Membership
   

• Individuals may become associate members of the Guild on payment of an annual subscription which shall be a sum determined by the Guild in General Meeting.

5. Officers

• The officers of the Guild shall be Chair, Vice-Chair, Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer.

6. Committee

• The Executive Committee shall consist of the Officer of the Guild and one representative of each member society. One other member of each member society may attend committee meetings and may speak but not vote.
• The Committee shall have the power to co-opt any other person onto the Committee as may be necessary to serve in an advisory or informative capacity. The current Committee can be seen on the ‘Connect’ page.

7. Functions of the Committee
   

• The Committee shall exist to conduct all the business of the Guild, to decide upon the policy of the Guild, and to ensure that the Rules of the Guild are adhered to by all members.

8. Election of Officers and Committee

• All Officers shall be elected by the Guild at the Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting as may be necessary. Nominations should be received not less than three days before the election is due to occur. Prior consent of nominees should be obtained. All Officers and Committee shall retire at the end of each year but may offer themselves for re-election. Election of officers shall be by show of hands, or by ballot as requested by any member present.

9. Annual General Meeting

• Notice of an Annual General Meeting shall be given to every member not less than 14 days before the meeting.
• The annual General Meeting shall be held each year not later than 31st March for the following purposes:
  To receive the Annual Accounts and the report of the Auditors for the preceding years.
  To receive the Annual Report of the Chair.
  To elect the Officers for the ensuing year following the foregoing rules.
  To consider the resolution of any member of which at least 7 days’ notice in writing shall have been given to the Secretary.
  To consider any other matters affecting the Guild
  To appoint an Hon. Auditor to audit the accounts of the Guild for the ensuing year.
• The Chair or Vice-Chair shall preside at the Annual General Meeting.
• Every member society shall be entitled to be represented at the Annual General Meeting and shall have the right to vote in the election of Officers and upon any resolution put to the meeting.  Eight members personally present shall be a quorum.
• Associate Members are entitled to Notice and be present at an Annual General Meeting but not vote.
• Retiring Officers of the Guild shall have the right to vote except the person chairing the meeting as set out above.
• Voting upon any resolution put to the meeting shall be by show of hands, or by ballot if so required by any member or officer present.  The Chair shall have no vote on any resolution unless there is an equality of votes, in which case he/she will have a casting vote.

10. Extraordinary General Meeting

• An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by the Committee giving not less than 21 days’ notice of the meeting.  Not less than five members of the Guild may, in writing, require the Committee to call an Extraordinary General Meeting.  An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called to elect any such Officers as may be required at that time, or to receive any special resolution of which at least 7 days notice shall have been given to the Committee, or to conduct any business which may be not be conducted at a meeting other than a General Meeting.
• All members shall have the same rights at an Extraordinary General Meeting as they have at an Annual General Meeting.  Eight members personally present shall be a quorum.

11. Finance

• The financial year shall end on the 31st.
• The Treasurer shall keep proper books of account.
• A bank account shall be operated in the Guild’s name. All cheques drawn on the account shall be signed by two of four Officers nominated by the Committee.
• With the approval of the Guild’s bankers, the Guild may overdraw on the bank account to the limit stipulated by the Bankers.
• A deposit account at a bank, building society or similar institution may be operated in the Guild’s name.
• The Treasurer shall have the power to authorise expenditure in respect of the general running of the Guild, for which he shall account to the /committee at each Committee Meeting.  Capital expenditure over £5 must have the approval of the Committee.
• Estimates of expenditure on the annual festival must be submitted to the Committee for approval.  The Committee may, at its discretion, refuse to reimburse any member for his expenditure incurred without the prior approval of the Committee.
• At the discretion of the Committee, loans may be raised from whatever sources are available. Interest on loans shall be paid at a rate to be fixed by the Committee.
• No member shall make a financial gain from the Guild, except as in Rule 29 or 32.
• The Committee shall have the power to authorise the raising of money for the Guild subject to any restrictions which might be imposed by law from time to time.  (These restrictions include a prohibition on permanent trading).
• In the event of the dissolution of the Guild, a surplus of funds shall be distributed as follows:-
  Trade Creditors and loans
  The balance of funds in hand shall be donated to a body or bodies connected with drama and having charitable status as shall be decided at the last general meeting of the Guild.
  If a financial deficit occurs at the time of dissolution, the Committee shall employ by means necessary and desirable to settle the debts of the Guild.
• No individual shall be personally liable for any debts incurred by the Guild in the Guild’s name and with the approval of the committee.

12. Committee Meetings

• The Committee shall meet four times a year including the Annual General Meeting.
• Notice of Committee Meetings shall be given to each Committee Member not less than 5 days before the meeting.  When the date of a Committee Meeting is decided at a previous Committee Meeting, all members present at that meeting shall be deemed to have been given notice of the next meeting.
• Any Committee member may at any time require the Secretary to call a Committee Meeting.
• Committee members representing not less than 5 member societies personally present shall be a quorum, excluding officers of the Guild present at the meeting.
• A true record of each Committee Meeting shall be made by the Secretary to be presented at the next Committee Meeting.
• All proposals shall be approved by a simple majority. In the event of an equality of votes, the Chairman shall have a casting vote. The Chairman shall have no right to vote, except where there is an equality of votes.
• No person co-opted onto the Committee shall automatically acquire voting rights.

13. General
    

• No sub-society or sub-committee may operate within the Guild without the approval of the Executive Committee. Any sub-committee must contain at least one member of the Executive Committee.
• The action of any member in the Guild’s name must have the prior approval of the Officers of the Committee.
• In all matters concerning the general running of the Guild, the decisions of the Committee shall be final.

14. Rules

• Any amendment to these rules shall be made at a General Meeting, with the approval of the majority of the members present.
• No alteration shall be made to these rules which would cause the Guild to cease to be a charity at law.
• The Committee shall have the power to enforce these rules upon all members.  Any member found in breach of these rules shall, at the discretion of the Committee, cease to be a member, and shall lose the privileges of membership.
• Every member and prospective member shall be provided with a copy of these rules and any amendment thereto.  All members shall be deemed to have read these rules and accepted them in their entirety. No exclusions shall be made for the benefit of individual members. Membership applications will only be considered on the strict understanding that the applicant accepts these rules in their entirety.

28th July 2020