Constitution
CANTERBURY & DISTRICT NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH ASSOCIATION
Registered Charity No. 1078269
STATEMENT OF CONSTITUTION
1. Name
The organisation shall be called "Canterbury & District Neighbourhood Watch Association"' hereinafter referred to as "the Association".
2. Aims and Objectives
The Association is established to pursue the following aims and objectives in the Police Area or Areas serving Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable:
To promote good citizenship, Community Safety and greater public participation in the prevention and solution of crime so that effective liaison between the Community and the Police can be achieved. To investigate and conduct research in the prevention and solution of crime and to publish the useful results of any such research.
In furtherance of the objects but not otherwise the Association may exercise the following powers:
a) Support Neighbourhood Watch schemes which have been accepted as members of the Association to help them develop and improve.
b) Encourage and promote the establishment of new Neighbourhood Watch schemes, Country Eye membership and such other Crime Reduction and Community Safety schemes and initiatives as may from time to time be adopted by the Association.
c) Develop and improve Neighbourhood Watch in partnership with the Police and other community safety partners.
d) Promote good citizenship and greater public participation in the prevention and detection of crime by means of effective liaison between the Community, the Police relevant local authorities, government, public agencies, voluntary organisations and other partners.
e) Provide a forum for discussion on all matters relating to Neighbourhood Watch.
f) Represent its members on other Neighbourhood Watch bodies, including forums and associations.
g) Represent its members by participating in partnerships with public agencies, local authorities (which may include but are not limited to the Police and District, County, Unitary or other authorities serving the area specified in paragraph 2 above) voluntary, community, business and other organisations.
3. Membership
The members of the Association shall be the co-ordinator and the co-ordinator's nominee, from each of the street/village Neighbourhood Watch schemes registered by and within the geographical area defined in paragraph 2, including area co-ordinators who are registered with responsibility for more than one Neighbourhood Watch scheme (hereinafter referred to as "Members").
4. Management
a) Management of the Association shall be vested in a committee (hereinafter referred to as "the Committee"), the members of which shall be elected at each Annual General Meeting (hereinafter referred to as "AGM"). Candidates for election to the Committee must be Members of the Association as defined in paragraph 3 above. Candidates must be nominated in writing to the Secretary no less than 14 days prior to the AGM. Nominations must be signed by two Members (not including the candidate) as proposers, and must include the signed consent of the candidate.
b) The Committee shall comprise up to nine Members of the Association and its meetings may also be attended by a Neighbourhood Watch Liaison Officer nominated by the Police.
c) The Committee may consider co-option of up to three Association Members at any time between AGMs to temporarily fill vacant Committee places. A co-opted member may fulfil the same function as an elected member of the Committee but will not be eligible for election as an Officer of the Committee.
d) All members of the Committee shall be eligible for re-election. Standing Committee members, other than co-opted members, shall be exempt from the nomination requirements of paragraph 4a).
e) The Committee may invite one or more guests to attend all or part of any Committee meeting. Guests shall submit themselves to the direction of the Chair and shall not be entitled to vote.
f) The Committee shall elect a Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer from among Committee members, hereinafter referred to as "the Officers".
g) The Committee may appoint sub-committees from among the Officers to deal in detail with specific projects and prepare recommendations for approval by the Committee. The Committee may invite or co-opt other persons to provide specialist advice in specific assignments.
h) The Committee shall meet as the needs of its business require, but in any event not less than four times each calendar year, one of which may be the Annual General Meeting.
i) A quorum of the Committee shall comprise at least five Committee members, one of which must be an Officer.
j) Minutes shall be prepared of all General and Committee meetings of the Association and retained by the Secretary. Minutes of all Committee meetings shall be copied to all Committee members whether or not they were in attendance at any particular meeting.
5. General Meetings
a) The Committee shall call an Annual General Meeting no more than 578 days from the date of the previous General Meeting. A minimum of 21 days notice of the AGM will be given to all Members who are entitled to attend. All Members will be entitled to vote on the business of the AGM, which will include the election of the Committee.
b) The Committee may call an Extraordinary General Meeting ("EGM") at any time should they consider it warranted. Any ten Members may at any time call an EGM by writing to the Secretary clearly stating the business they wish discussed. The letter must be signed by all ten applicants. Representation and voting at any EGM shall be as in 5a) above.
c) Resolutions put to the vote, except as covered by Paragraph 8 below, shall be decided by a simple majority of Members present on a show of hands.
d) Twenty Members shall constitute a quorum.
e) If a quorum is not present within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting, or if during a Meeting a quorum ceases to be present, the Meeting shall stand adjourned to such time and place as the Chairman shall determine.
f) At the Committee’s discretion, in exceptional circumstances and following appropriate assessment of risk, alternative means of conducting the usual business of an AGM/EGM may be used, when such use is deemed reasonable in order to safeguard the health and/or wellbeing of Members. Such means may include circulation of AGM/EGM documentation, and return of voting forms, via email or online facilities.
6. Finance
a) Donations to the Association may be requested by the Committee from time to time from Members in amounts to be determined by the Committee, such amounts to be the minimum necessary to cover routine secretarial and general administration costs.
b) No expenditure shall be paid or authorised, nor shall any loan or other financial undertaking, contract or agreement be entered into which would cause the liabilities of the Association to exceed its assets.
c) All funds raised by or on behalf of the Association shall be applied solely to further the purposes of the Association.
d) The Committee shall be authorised to:
(i) Refund any reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by any Officer or Committee member as a result of their duties on behalf of the Association.
(ii) Make payment of remuneration to any other person or persons for services rendered to the Association.
e) The Treasurer shall keep proper accounts of the income and expenditure of the Association ("the Accounts").
f) The Accounts shall be examined in accordance with the requirements of the Charity commission by an independent examiner appointed by the AGM.
g) A statement of the Accounts, examined under the provision of paragraph 6f), for the last financial year shall be submitted by the Committee to the AGM.
h) A bank account shall be opened in the name of the Association with such bank, or any other financial organisation, as the Committee shall from time to time decide; the Committee shall authorise three persons, one always being the Treasurer and two other Officers, to sign cheques and operate online banking facilities on behalf of the Association in accordance with the procedural measures prescribed within the Association’s published Financial Policy And Procedures document.
i) The Association will be prepared to hold, as a ring-fenced sum within its general fund, monies passed to it from any closing Member Scheme. If within 24 months of the Scheme’s closure a new Member Scheme, as defined by Article 3 of the Constitution, registers within the locale of the closed Scheme, the Association will offer repayment of the original sum into a bank account in the name of the new Scheme. If, however, after the passing of 24 months no new Scheme has been registered, the Association will deem the said monies available for general use in pursuing the Association’s Aims and Objectives as defined by the Constitution.
j) A list of closed schemes, for which monies are held in accordance with sub paragraph i) above, shall be maintained by the Treasurer. The amounts held for each such Scheme will be duly noted in the Association’s accounts.
7. Collection, Processing and Protection of Personal Data
a) Canterbury & District NHW Association (the Association) maintains a list of current members’ names, addresses / contact details in order to support their NHW activities and despatch membership information / newsletters relevant to the purposes of Neighbourhood Watch.
b) For the purposes of data protection legislation, the Association is regarded to be a Data Controller, and as such will comply with all requirements of current UK data protection requirements in connection with the handling and processing of data for the above purposes.
c) The Association’s website contains full detail of the data protection handling policy.
8. Alterations
a) Alterations to the Constitution shall be made only by a vote of at least two thirds majority of Members present at an AGM or EGM provided that at least 21 days notice in writing of such a meeting, setting forth the proposed terms of the alteration/s has been sent by the Secretary to all Members.
b) No alteration to this document shall take effect until reasonable efforts shall have been made to obtain the approval in writing of the Charity Commission or a successor authority having charitable jurisdiction.
9. Dissolution
In the event of the dissolution of the Association, a meeting of the Committee shall be called which shall make proposals for the manner in which any monies and chattels remaining after the settlement of all liabilities shall be disposed of. The proposal shall be put to all Members, either at an EGM or by correspondence, and implemented after endorsement by a simple majority.
As amended and agreed unanimously, after due notice, by the Association’s AGM 15th October 2021 (which due to Covid-19 concerns was conducted electronically)
Neal Fowler
N. Fowler
Chair C&DNHWA
Date: 20th October 2021