The Heritage Singers
 
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CONSTITUTION

(as amended 20th. April 2008)

 

 

 

 

THE CHOIR

 

1.         The Choir shall be called ``The Heritage Singers'.

 

2.         It shall be non-political and non-sectarian.

 

OBJECT

 

The objects of the Choir shall be:

 

3.       To promote, develop and maintain public education in and appreciation of the art and science of choral music in all its aspects by the provision of music for church services, the presentation of public choral concerts and for the general purpose of such charitable bodies, or for such other purposes as shall be exclusively charitable as the committee may from time to time determine.

 

OFFICERS

 

4.       The Officers of the Choir shall consist of a Musical Director, a Treasurer and an Administrator.

 

COMMITTEE (THE TRUSTEES)

 

5.       Management of the Choir shall be conducted by a Committee consisting of the Musical Director, Administrator, Treasurer, Librarian, Tour co-ordinator, Funding and Grants Secretary and Membership Secretary.  The Officers and other members of the Committee shall be called the Trustees of the Choir and in this constitution are called together “the Trustees”.

 

6.       A Trustee must be a member of the Choir.

 

7.       No Trustee shall receive payments other than reimbursement of approved expenses, properly incurred by him or her when acting on behalf of the Choir.

 

8.       A Trustee shall cease to hold office if he or she:

 

a)     is disqualified from acting as a Trustee by virtue of section 72 of the Charities Act 1993 (or any statutory re-enactment or modification of that provision);

b)    ceases to be a member of the Choir;

c)     is found by the Trustees to be acting outside the terms of this constitution and the Trustees resolve that his or her office be vacated;

d)    is absent without the permission of the Trustees from all their meetings held within a period of one calendar year, or is otherwise found to be not fulfilling the requirements of their office and the Trustees resolve that his or her office be vacated; or,

e)     resigns as a Trustee by notice to the Choir.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POWERS OF THE TRUSTEES

 

9.       The Trustees must manage the business of the Choir and they have the following powers in order to further the objects (but not for any other purpose):

 

a)     to raise funds.  In doing so, the Trustees must not undertake any substantial permanent trading activity and must comply with any relevant statutory regulations;

b)    to buy, take on lease or in exchange, hire or otherwise acquire any property and to maintain it and equip it for use;

c)     to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of all or any part of the property belonging to the Choir.  In exercising this power, the Trustees must comply as appropriate with sections 36 and 37 of the Charities Act 1993;

d)    to co-operate with other charities, voluntary bodies and statutory authorities and to exchange information and advice with them;

e)     to establish or support any charitable trusts, associations or institutions formed for any of the charitable purposes included in the Objects;

f)     to acquire, merge with or enter into any partnership or joint venture arrangement with any other charity formed for any of the Objects;

g)    to obtain and pay for such goods and services as are necessary for carrying out the work of the Choir;

h)     to open and operate such bank and other accounts as the Trustees consider necessary and to invest funds and to delegate the management of funds in the same manner as the trustees of a trust are permitted to do by the Trustee Act 2000;

i)      to do all such other lawful things as are necessary for the achievement of the Objects.

j)      the committee shall have the power to make such rules and standing orders as it considers to be necessary relating to the management of the choir and the conduct of its members.

 

10.     No alteration of this constitution or any special resolution shall have retrospective effect to invalidate any prior act of the Trustees.

 

11.     Any meeting of Trustees at which a quorum is present at the time the relevant decision is made may exercise all the powers exercisable by the Trustees.

 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE (THE TRUSTEES)

 

12.     The Officers and Committee (the Trustees) of the Choir shall be elected by a majority of the Members voting, by ballot if necessary, at the Annual General Meeting, or at a properly called Special General Meeting.

 

GENERAL MEETINGS AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS

 

13.     The Annual General meeting of the Choir shall be held within the first three months of each year or any other date sanctioned by the Committee, Two weeks notice shall be given of the meeting and nominations for office shall close one week before the meeting.

 

14.     A Special General Meeting may be called with 14 days notice at the request of at least 5 Members.

 

15.     No business shall be transacted at any general meeting unless a quorum is present.  A quorum is formed of five members.

 

16.     The Committee shall meet four times a year or at other times when business warrants. No business shall be transacted at any Committee meeting unless a quorum is present.  A quorum is formed of three Trustees.

 

17.     General and Committee Meetings shall be chaired by the Choir Administrator, or in his absence, the Musical Director.  If neither of these persons is present, the meeting will be chaired by a Trustee nominated by the Trustees present.

 

18.       For both General and Committee meetings, where a vote is called for, each member shall have one vote, but if there is an equality of votes, the person chairing the meeting shall have a casting vote in addition to any other vote he or she may have.

 

19.     The Trustees must keep minutes of all appointments of Officers and Trustees made by the Choir, all proceedings at Choir General meetings, and all meetings of the Committee (including the name of the Trustees present, the decisions made, and where appropriate the reasons for the decision.)

 

MEMBERSHIP

 

20.     Membership of the Choir is open to all singers over the age of 16, provided that they have demonstrated the requisite level of singing ability to the Musical Director.

 

21.     Members will be required to pay an annual subscription to retain membership of the Choir.  The membership subscription rate shall be determined at the Annual General Meeting.

 

22.     Participating members are expected to attend as many rehearsals as possible.  At the discretion of the Musical Director, members who have not attended sufficient rehearsals for a particular event may be asked not to participate in that event.

 

23.     Members will be issued with a robe for wearing at sacred services, and a scarf (ladies) or tie (men) for concert wear, all of which must be returned to the Choir if the member leaves.  Members will be expected to provide their own clothes for concert wear, according to the dress code stipulated by the Choir.

 

24.     Persons may also become patrons, non-participating members, or sponsors of the Choir.  These classes of members will receive monthly newsletters and reduced entry fee to concerts.

 

25.     The Trustees will keep a register of names and addresses of members, which must be made available to any member on request.

 

FINANCE

 

26.     The income and property of the Choir shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the Objects.

 

27.     A Trustee may pay out of, or be reimbursed from, the Choir funds reasonable expenses properly incurred by him or her when acting on behalf of the Choir.

 

28.     Reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred by members on the authorised business of the Choir will be reimbursed at the discretion of the committee.

 

29.     None of the income or property of the Choir may be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of dividend bonus or otherwise by way of profit to any member of the Choir.  This, however, does not prevent any member who is not also a Trustee from receiving reasonable and proper remuneration for any goods or services supplied to the Choir.

 

30.     A suitable bank account shall be maintained in the name of the Choir and operated under the signatures of both the Musical Director and the Treasurer.

 

31.     The financial year of the Choir shall terminate on 31st December. The financial position shall be reviewed four times a year by the Committee.

 

32.       The books of account shall be examined by two nominated examiners from the choir between the end of the Choir financial year and the date of the Annual General Meeting. The examiners shall be appointed at the Annual General Meeting each year and shall not be the Treasurer or any Financial Assistant to the Treasurer. If the annual sum exceeds the amount allowed by Charities Act, the accounts shall be examined by an external examiner.

         

MUSIC

 

33.     All music is the property of the Choir and must not be sold or loaned without sanction from the committee. No music may be borrowed by a member for any purpose without permission from the Librarian.

 

34.     The choice of music shall be in the hands of the Musical Director and the Librarian.  Those members with a special interest in a particular choice may make suggestions.

 

35.     Programme selection for concerts shall be in the hands of the Musical Director.

GENERAL

 

36.     The constitution may be amended by a two-thirds majority of the members present at an Annual or Special General Meeting, provided that 14 days notice of the proposed amendment has been sent to all members and provided that nothing herein contained shall authorise any amendment which shall have the effect of the choir ceasing to be a charity at law and no alteration shall be made to Rule 3, Rule 40 or this rule without the prior written approval of the Charity Commission.

 

37.     A copy of this constitution shall be made available to each Member.

 

 

DISSOLUTION

 

38.     If the members resolve to dissolve the Choir, the Trustees will remain in office as Charity Trustees and be responsible for winding up the affairs of the choir in accordance with the following rules.

 

39.     The Trustees must collect in all the assets of the Choir and must pay or make provision for all the liabilities of the Choir.

 

40.     If, upon the winding up or dissolution of the Choir, there remains any property whatsoever after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities, the same shall not be distributed among the members of the Choir but shall be given or transferred to some Charitable Institution or institutions having objects similar to the objects of the Choir; such institution or institutions to be determined by the members of the Choir at or before the time of dissolution and, in so far as effect cannot be given to such provision, then to some charitable object.

 

41.     The Trustees must notify the Charity Commission promptly that the Choir has been dissolved, and if required, send to the Commission the Choir’s final accounts.