FRIENDS OF MARYON AND MARYON WILSON PARKS
Constitution (2019)
1. Name: The Friends of Maryon and Maryon Wilson Parks
2. Aims / Purpose
To work in partnership with the Royal Borough of Greenwich to support the needs of the community by protecting and enhancing Maryon Park, Maryon Wilson Park, Barrier Park and Gilbert’s Pit as places of enjoyment and recreation; and to encourage residents to contribute to the upkeep and safe maintenance of the parks.
3. Membership
3.1 Membership of the group shall be open to all interested in actively furthering the aims of the group however parties with current commercial interest in the Parks should not be eligible to vote and should not sit on the Committee.
3.2 Members should be aged 16 years or over and should submit a registration form to the membership secretary.
3.3 All new members will be sent recognition of the membership.
3.4 It is at the discretion of the Annual General Meeting whether to apply membership fees or not.
3.5 We will be organised in a way that is democratic and fair.
3.6 The Committee may unanimously and for good reason terminate the membership of any individual, provided the individual’s case has been heard by the committee before a final decision is taken.
3.7 Any member of the group may resign their membership by giving written notice to the Secretary.
4 Management
4.1 Committee
4.1.1 The Committee will consist of a minimum of three (3) members and will include a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer (please see Section 6 below). Not all members of the Committee need hold a position.
4.1.2 The Chair should be a resident of the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
4.1.3 Should a vacancy on the Committee become available, the Committee has the right to appoint a Full Member to the position until the time of the next Annual General Meeting.
4.1.4 The Committee shall be accountable to the members at all times.
4.1.5 No two persons from the same household shall be named as co-signatories on the group’s bank account.
4.1.6 The Royal Borough of Greenwich will be informed of changes to the officers following elections at the Annual General Meeting. (This is to ensure Parks, Estates and Open Spaces have up to date contact information for each group).
Meetings
4.2 We will aim for a minimum of three (3) meetings of the Friends per year, plus an AGM, the timing of which will be decided by the Committee. A minimum of seven (7) days notice will be given to all members prior to an ordinary meeting taking place.
4.3 The meeting may only make binding decisions when a minimum of six members are present.
4.4 Voting at any meetings will be taken by a show of hands and carried by a simple majority. In the event of a tie, there will be a revote and if there is another tie then the Chair will have the casting vote.
5 Elections
5.1 All members of the Committee should be elected by a simple majority.
5.2 All members of the Committee will hold their post until the next Annual General Meeting unless they resign beforehand and all will be eligible for re-election.
5.3 At each Annual General Meeting, the following positions shall be elected:
• Chair (responsible for conducting meetings)
• Secretary (responsible for the convening/notice of all meetings, ensure that minutes are kept and submitted and management of membership)
• Treasurer (responsible for the keeping of the group’s income/expenditure and account records)
• Other positions such as Vice-Chair are optional
5.4 Nomination for election can be made prior to an Annual General Meeting in a written request to the Secretary or taken from the floor.
6 Annual General Meetings
6.1 There shall be an Annual General Meeting held no later than 12 months after the previous one.
6.2 The Committee shall give at least 21 days’ notice to members of an Annual General Meeting.
6.3 The Committee shall give a report of its stewardship of the group at each AGM, including financial accounts.
7 Special General Meetings
7.1 Requests for Special General meetings of the Friends shall be considered by the Committee.
7.2 No less than 7 days prior to a Special General meeting will be given to all members.
8 Quorum
8.1 The Annual General Meeting will make no binding decisions if fewer than 10 voting members are present.
8.2 No Committee meeting will make binding decisions if fewer than one third of Committee members are present. See also 5.2.
9 Finance
9.1 Any money obtained by the group shall be used only for the aims and purposes for which the group exists.
9.2 Any bank accounts opened for the group shall be in the name of the group and not that of an individual and expenditure should be authorised by two authorised signatories.
9.3 An independently examined statement for the last financial year shall be submitted by the Committee to all members at the Annual General meeting.
10 Working with the Council
10.1 The Friends of Maryon and Maryon Wilson Parks will work with the Council in the pursuit of joint aims and objectives.
10.2 The Council will support the Friends in the writing of funding applications and the supplying of resources to help further the aims of the group wherever possible.
10.3 The Friends will positively support applications for Green Flag, Community Green Flag and additional awards that are beneficial to the parks.
10.4 The Friends agree to seek the Council’s permission prior to embarking on funding bids / works being undertaken in Maryon Park and Maryon Wilson Parks.
11 Conduct
11.1 All members of the Friends group will conduct themselves in an orderly fashion. Any aggressive or intimidating behaviour from members will grant the Committee grounds for suspension. Language or behaviour that is in any way discriminatory will also constitute grounds for suspension.
11.2 The Friends agree to set up a complaints procedure to assist in the resolution of any disputes.
11.3 If any complaint is made against a member of the Group, the complaint will be dealt with by the Committee.
12 Equal Opportunities
12.1 The Friends will treat all members equally, whatever their race, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, age, status, gender, disability or circumstances and will abide by the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s Equality Policy.
13 Events
13.1 The Friends agree to follow The Royal Borough of Greenwich’s Event guidelines and processes ensuring that all risk assessments, application forms and licenses have been completed and submitted to the Council.
14 Volunteering
14.1 It is suggested that all volunteers working with the Friends complete a registration form including emergency contact details. This is to ensure that the Friends of have access to essential information in the event of an emergency.
14.2 Wherever possible, an accurate estimate of volunteering hours will be recorded each year and presented at the Annual General Meeting.
15 Dissolution
15.1 If a motion for dissolution of the Friends group is to be proposed at an Annual/Special General Meeting then a minimum of 21 days’ notice must be given to all members and the proposal should be disclosed when the meeting is advertised/promoted.
15.2 Any property or funds held by the group following dissolution and after all debts have been paid, shall be donated to community groups or charities in the Greenwich area or given to the Council to be reinvested into the Parks.
16 Agreement
This Constitution was adopted at an Annual General Meeting held at St Thomas Church, SE7 on 7 November 2019
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© Royal Borough of Greenwich, Parks, Estates & Open Spaces, November 2017
Friends Of Maryon Park and Maryon Wilson Park 