1. The name of the club shall be "Two Thirds Blue Sub Aqua Club", abbreviated to "Two Thirds Blue SAC" or "Two Thirds Blue", hereafter referred to as "the club".
2. The club shall be affiliated to the Sub Aqua Association (SAA). SAA membership will be additional to the club membership fee.
3. The objective of the club is to promote the sport of SCUBA diving among its members and invited guests.
The means of achieving this objective will be:
a. To arrange dives and diving trips for its members and invited guests. The club however does not undertake to arrange every dive and members are to be encouraged to use their own initiative in this matter. The club diving officer shall be notified of all dives/trips undertaken by its members.
b. To test and train newcomers to the sport, using a diver-training program approved by the SAA.
c. To strive within the club to achieve higher standards of diving, safety and training.
d. Not forgetting the one essential objective – to have fun diving.
4. An Executive Committee comprising of a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Diving Officer shall run the club. All other club members will be encouraged to attend meetings, but they shall not have voting rights on the Executive.
5. The Committee shall be elected annually at an Annual General Meeting to be held each September at which a quorum would consist of three members including at least three Committee Members. In the event of a quorum not being achieved, the A.G.M. would be postponed and arranged for about two weeks later, at this meeting the members present would be deemed to be a quorum. Elections of the committee will be a simple majority. In cases of difficulty in attending meetings a voting request in writing from the absent member would be considered.
6. The committee shall have the power to appoint members to the committee to fill positions left vacant by resigning members.
7. General and Annual General Meetings will be advertised at least fourteen days prior to the date of the meeting, in writing to all members. In the event of a quorum not being achieved for a General Meeting the A.G.M. procedure will be followed. A quorum for a committee meeting shall be three committee members.
8. The moneys collected on behalf of the club will be held in a recognised financial institution in the name of "Two Thirds Blue SAC". Cheque's drawn of this account must bear the signature of the Treasurer and one of two other signatories who must be committee members. The Treasurer shall keep records of all the financial transactions and present a financial report to the A.G.M.
9. The Secretary shall keep all notes of general and committee meetings.
10. Qualifications may be accepted from other training organisations at the discretion of the Diving Officer.
11. Application for membership should be made by completion of an application form. Upon approval by the committee an informal interview may be organised between the committee and the applicant. The application will then go to and be accepted by the members.
12. Membership shall run from Sept 14th. Pro-rata fees for new full members will be calculated monthly. All fees shall be decided by the committee and may be revised when necessary.
13. Membership fees should be paid on or before the date due. SAA membership should be paid in September, along with club membership. Members whose fees are still outstanding 28 days after the due date will be deemed to have resigned and will lose all the benefits of the Club and SAA membership.
14. It is the duty of every member to ensure that the standard of diving procedure and training is maintained to a degree, which is approved by the Diving Officer.
15. The decisions of the committee in respect to governing of the club shall be recorded in a book of By-laws (see below). These By-laws will become effective when the minutes of the meeting are published.
16. Changes to the constitution can only be made at the AGM or an extraordinary general meeting called for that purpose. Proposals for change must be circulated in writing to all members’ fourteen days prior to the meeting. Changes can only be made with a two-thirds majority of members present.
17. The club may be dissolved by the resolution to that effect being passed at a General Meeting with 80% of all paid members voting in favour.
18. Upon dissolution of the club, all assets shall be realised and donated on a 50/50 basis to the RNLI and The Diving Diseases Research Centre, registered charity, Plymouth. No members shall have call upon these assets other than where the committee has authorised outlay and recompense.
The Club Constitution is adopted on behalf
of the committee.
signed on behalf of Two Thirds Blue SAC
Steve Jakeway
Chairman
October 3rd 2001
1. All members shall carry a personal delayed SMB and reel on every dive and
have received training in its correct use.
October 1997
2. All dives must have a Dive
Marshal Sheet filled out in full, with relevant pre-dive information completed
before the dive.
February 2000
3. Any member wishing to dive on a club trip, holiday or guest of another group,
must inform the Diving Officer and get permission to dive.
March 2000
4. All dives and training activities, including pool and confined open water
must have a relevant Risk Assessment form completed prior to start of activity.
Sept 2001
5. All members applying for new or renewed membership of the club will be required
to give their permission for their criminal record to be checked through the
Criminal Records Bureau. Original results will be sent to the member in question.
A copy will be sent to the SAA Welfare Officer, or other nominated person, who
will then provide a “yes/no” answer to the question “Is there
anything within this person’s criminal record that suggests that they
are not suitable for Club membership?” No other correspondence on this
issue will be entered into.
February 2003