Club Constitution

The Management Committee of Dovey Yacht Club are considering a change of status from an unincorporated Club to a company limited by guarantee. WHY INCORPORATE Unincorporated clubs are not, in law, considered to have their own legal identity thus the club cannot own property, enter into contracts or employ staff in its own name. Anyone suing an unincorporated club in relation to such matters must do so in the name of representative individuals and this usually means the officers, committee members or trustees. In addition, the individual members of an unincorporated club can be held personally liable to meet the debts of the club. Such debts may arise out of contractual disputes and employment disputes, or even personal injury claims if for some reason the club’s insurance provision is inadequate. For more information on an unincorporated club’s potential exposure to liability please see the RYAs Guidance on Unincorporated Club Liability http://www.rya.org.uk/clubs/support/management/constitution/Pages/legalstructureofyourclub.aspx . Incorporation of a club does not, however, protect individuals within the club who might owe a personal duty of care towards others, such as that owed by an instructor towards their students (you can find examples of other types of relationships that may possibly give rise to a duty of care in a club context in the RYA’s Race Training and Event Management Guidance - http://www.rya.org.uk/clubs/support/management/healthandsafety/Pages/organisingandmanagingevents.aspx ). It therefore remains vital that an incorporated club procures appropriate insurance to cover its various activities. Property owning clubs: If an unincorporated club owns its own property, be it freehold or leasehold land, it has to find trustees who are prepared to hold the club’s property in their name and some clubs are finding this increasingly difficult. Each time a trustee retires or dies the property must be transferred to new trustees. This can prove to be time consuming and expensive particularly where club owned land is registered with HM Land Registry. If the club has a lease it is the trustees who hold the lease and who will be liable to pay the rent, although they will usually be indemnified from the club’s assets. Dovey Yacht Club Trustees. Dovey Yacht Club currently has three Trustees; Searson Thompson, David Tildsley and David Benbow. They hold the lease of Dovey Yacht Club on behalf of all club members. All three have given many years of devoted service to the club and it is intended that once incorporated the lease will be held in the name of the incorporated club. An application will need to be made to Gywnedd Council as lessors for consent. Fashion replica bags on sale online. As soon as the lease is transferred the trustees will be able to retire and be relieved of any further liability. All have agreed that a change is appropriate. Clubs with Employees: Clubs that employ staff must do so in the name of individuals, who may be exposed to potential liability if there is an employee dispute resulting in a Tribunal Award. The Major Benefits of Incorporation are: „h _The club will be able to hold property, enter into contracts and employ staff in its own name; „h _As an incorporated company it is considered in law to have its own legal identity.It can sue and be sued in its own name. „h _Members’ personal liability for the debts of the club will be limited to their guarantee of £10 Extra Ordinary General Meeting It is anticipated that within the next month each full member of the Club will receive by email details of the proposals that are in the course of preparation with a view to those proposals being presented to an Extra Ordinary General meeting of the Club to be held before the Annual General Meeting on the 31st July.Formal notification of this meeting will be sent to all members in accordance with the constitution of the Club. Constitutional Committee

The Club Committee have established a sub-committee to see this matter through.The members of that Committee are Bob Usher Commodore Steve Lister Treasurer Des George Michael Blamire -Brown David Inman