This is the Constitution of the Show Society adopted at an EGM January 11th 2007.
Following the text of the Constitution are some notes of explanation.
If you would prefer, you can download the text as a .pdf document by clicking HERE...

The Show Society Committee 2008 - elected at the AGM 17th January 2008
There are four offices specified in the Constitution. Other committee members’ areas of responsibility are indicated in brackets.

• Chairman : Martin Ripley
• Secretary : Mark Woodman
• Equestrian Secretary : Mary Pribyl
• Treasurer : Dave Hayward
• 12 other members:

  Alison Carse (Flower Show including Children’s Section)

  Ken Fry (Canine Secretary)

  Sue Ripley (Carnival)

  Beth Goddard (Publicity & Advertising)

  Barry Hiller (Programme Advertising Sales)

  Russell Hatch (Layout & Set-Up)

  John Basevi (Attractions)

  Liz Penter (Catering)

  Graham Marwood (Gate & Parking)

  Rachel Chevis (Equestrian Representative)

  Two committee places were not filled at the meeting,
  we are actively seeking to fill them at present.

1. Name

The Name of the Society is “Wanborough Show Society” (“the Society”). For the purposes of the Society Wanborough includes the parishes of Wanborough, Liddington, Hinton Parva and Bishopstone.

2. Objectives of the society

To run the Wanborough Spring Show and the Wanborough Country Show as events of interest and enjoyment for the residents of Wanborough and to provide opportunities for local non-profit making organisations and charities to publicise their activities.

3. Membership

1. Membership of the Society is automatically conferred on all residents of Wanborough of 16 years of age or over.
2. Membership may also be conferred by the Committee on any individuals who express an interest in furthering the objectives of the Society irrespective of their place of residence.

4. Meetings

1. The Society shall hold an Annual General Meeting (“the AGM”) open to all Members of the Society in January of each year or as soon as practicable thereafter.
2. The date of the AGM shall be notified in the relevant Parish Magazines for January.
3. Other meetings of Members of the Society shall be held as often as the Committee determines.

5. The Committee

1. The Committee of the Society (“the Committee”) shall consist of four officers, namely (i) the Chairman (ii) the Secretary (iii) the Treasurer and (iv) the Equestrian Secretary, and twelve other Members of the Society.
2. The Committee shall be elected by Members of the Society at the AGM. Such election shall be by simple majority of the Members present at the AGM. Every Member present at the AGM shall have one vote. The Committee shall serve for a term commencing at the conclusion of one AGM and ending at the conclusion of the following AGM. Any existing Committee member may be re-elected.
3. The Society and its property shall be administered in accordance with this Constitution by the Committee. The Members of the Society have no right to vote at meetings of the Society except for the purpose of electing the Committee members as set out in paragraph (2) above.
4. The Chairman shall act as chairman of meetings of the Committee but if he is absent the Committee members shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting before any other business is transacted.
5. Every member of the Committee shall have one vote. Decisions of the Committee shall be made by simple majority of the Committee members present. In the case of equality of votes the chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.
6. The quorum of the Committee shall be eight.
7. The Committee may form Sub-committees. The Chairman of each Sub-committee shall be a member of the Committee and shall be the spokesman for that Sub-committee. Members of the Sub-committee need not necessarily be Committee members.
8. No Member of the Society or of the Committee shall benefit in person, either directly or indirectly, in any material way from membership of, or association with, the Society, excepting legitimate business services and small tokens of gratitude upon retirement from the Society or of sympathy in case of personal distress.

6. Powers of the Committee

The Committee shall have the following powers:

1. to raise funds to further the aims of the Society.
2. to buy, lease, hire or otherwise acquire any property and equipment necessary for the achievement of the objects of the Society and to maintain and equip it for use.
3. to set aside income and reserve as defined in the Society's Reserves Policy.
4. to obtain and pay for such goods and services that are necessary for furthering the aims of the Society.
5. to open and operate such bank and other accounts as the Committee consider necessary.
6. to do all such other lawful things that are necessary for the achievement of the objectives of the Society.
7. to donate funds, judged to be surplus to the requirements of the above, to local organisations operating for the benefit of the Members, and to registered charities supported by the Society.

7. Alteration of the Constitution

The Committee may alter the Constitution only at the Annual General Meeting or at a Special General Meeting called specifically for that purpose.

8. Minutes

The Committee must keep a register of all appointments of members of the Committee and minutes of all meetings of the Members of the Society and of the Committee.

9. Annual report and accounts

1. the Committee will maintain accounting records of the society and prepare an annual report to include financial summary and other pertinent information which shall be presented to the AGM.
2. account reports will be prepared in compliance with the capital statement of recommended practice (SORP) as issued by the Charity Commission.

NOTES

3. Membership:

In order to elect a committee, any organisation needs to have members who vote for the committee. An organisation like the National Trust for instance has paying members. The School PTA defines members as all Parents of children at school and the school staff. We do not have a neat pool of members, so we have simply said that, in effect, everyone in the villages we serve, plus anyone we would like to join in (such as our Dog Show and Children's Section organisers) are members. There has to be a mechanism for making the selection of the Committee accountable.

5. Committee:

Looking at the number of people presently involved, and the major roles that need to be covered, it was felt that 16 members in total were sufficient. Only 4 key officers are named as these are essential to the running of the organisation. Other members of the committee will of course have areas of specific responsibility, but these tend to evolve and change both with the changing character of the event and the interests and availability of personnel. We will still have individuals coordinating for instance publicity, attractions, safety etc. etc., but these will be by agreement between the committee. The committee could agree to a non-committee member being responsible for a specific role if appropriate. Equally, a Committee member need not have a single defined responsibility, but rather bring their knowledge and experience to the organisation. Thus we get the best of the available pool of skills.

We have defined a quorum so that big decisions aren’t taken by sparsely attended meetings.