1. Name

The name of the group shall be The 7mm Scale Society, hereinafter referred to as “the Society”.

2. Aims

The aims of The 7mm Scale Society shall be:

• To promote dialogue and the exchange of information between members relating to railway and related modelling in 7mm/ft scale by means of an on-line Forum.
• To publish, and edit, with permission where appropriate, material posted on the Forum about subjects of interest in order to create reference documents accessible via the Forum for the use of members.

3. Membership

Membership is open to anyone who is aged over 18 and supports the aims of the Society.

Membership will begin as soon as the membership fee and first annual payment has been received.

The membership fee will be determined by the Committee on an annual basis prior to the renewal of the Forum software licence and payments due to the forum hosting service, and will be payable by all members.

A list of all members will be kept electronically by the membership secretary.

Members may resign at any time by writing to the membership secretary.

Any member who has not paid their membership fee for 13 months will be deemed to have resigned.

4. Forum Discipline

Members rights to post on the forum shall be governed by a set of Rules drawn up by the Committee and published on the forum. 

Any offensive behaviour, including racist, sexist or inflammatory remarks, will not be permitted. Anyone behaving in an offensive way may have their access rights to the forum suspended on a temporary or permanent basis in accordance with the published moderation policy of the Society.

The forum rules shall provide a mechanism whereby any member dissatisfied with any disciplinary action may appeal against the decision.

The 7mm Scale Society reserves the right to terminate the membership of any member who in their opinion persistently disregards the forum rules. Any decision to terminate membership shall be taken by a majority of the Committee.

5. Officers and committee

The business of the Society will be carried out by a Committee. 

The Committee will meet as necessary and not less than four times a year. It may meet remotely by use of digital conferencing.

The Committee will consist of at least 3 members, who shall be responsible for undertaking the following roles: 

1. Chair, who shall chair committee meetings
2. Secretary, who shall be responsible for maintaining Society policies, the taking of minutes and the distribution of all papers
3. Membership secretary, who shall be responsible for keeping records of members
4. Treasurer who shall be responsible for maintaining accounts

In the event of committee member standing down during the year a replacement shall be co-opted by the Committee and approval sought from the members via the Forum. Additional members may be co-opted to serve on the Committee.

Committee members will normally serve for a term of two years before requiring re-approval from the forum membership. Any member may be proposed to stand for election to the Committee by another member and a seconder. Elections will be held via an electronic poll of forum members.

For the purposes of voting, any member choosing not to register a vote for or against the nominated candidate shall be deemed to have abstained.

6. Finances

An account will be maintained on behalf of the Association at a bank agreed by the committee. The Treasurer and another Office holder will be signatories to the account.

Payments may be signed by one of the signatories.

• For cheque payments, the signatory will sign the cheque.
• Other payments (such as BACS payments, cash withdrawals, debit card payments or cash payments) will be made by the Treasurer. A cash payment will require a signed receipt from the payee.
• Records of income and expenditure will be maintained by the Treasurer and a financial statement given to the Committee at each meeting.

A financial statement detailing income and expenditure will be made available to members at annual intervals. Interim statements may be issued at the Treasurer's discretion.

All money raised by or on behalf of the Society shall only  be used to further the aims of the Society, as specified in item 2 of this constitution.

The Society will operate as a not for profit organisation and any funds accumulated over a 12 month period in excess of a working reserve shall be donated to a railway charity of the Committee’s choosing. In deciding the charity to be chosen, the Committee shall consult with the members via the Forum.

7. Amendments to the Constitution

Amendments to the constitution may be made as and when required subject to -

- unanimous agreement by the Committee

- the proposed changes having been circulated to members via the Forum not less than  21 days in advance of any meeting at which the changes may be agreed.

8. Dissolution

If a meeting, by simple majority, decides that it is necessary to close down the Society it may call a meeting to do so. The sole business of this meeting will be to dissolve the Society.

If it is agreed to dissolve the Society, all remaining money and any assets, once outstanding debts have been paid, will be donated to a railway related charitable organisation. The organisation will be agreed at the meeting which agrees the dissolution.

Adoption of this constitution was confirmed by electronic communication from the following founder members of the Society:-

Arun Sharma   David Rae

Phil Thorogood   Doug Wardle

Rick Williamson   Mike England

Peter Thurston   James Snowdon

Ian Kirk   Chris Basten

As at 19 October 2020 this represents a unanimous confirmation.