RCTA Constitution

1. Name

The name of the group shall be The Roving Canal Traders Association or RCTA

2. Aims

• The aims of the Roving Canal Traders Association will be:
• To be a collective voice for all roving canal traders
• To provide advice to current and new roving canal traders as well as those interested in becoming roving canal traders
• To support the Canal and River Trust to improve accessibility for roving canal traders
• To hold waterside events that provide opportunities for roving canal traders
• To promote trading activities
• To aim to increase membership levels by 10% annually

3. Membership

There are three categories of membership:

• Associate membership
• Full membership
• Honorary Membership

3.1 Associate Membership is available to those who:

• are over the age of 18
• are in the process of applying for a Roving Canal Trader Licence
• at the discretion of the committee, are invited to help the association by providing support, skills, knowledge and experience
• are past members who wish to maintain contact and support the Association

Associate membership is free and is renewed annually.

An application for associate membership and renewal is approved at the discretion of the committee. An associate member cannot be co-opted onto the committee or undertake another role as specified in the constitution.

Associate members can not:

• vote at general meetings
• have access to full member benefits

3.2 Full Membership is available for up to two people aged over 18 per boat registered with CRT as holding a current Roving Canal Trader Licence of whom one is the licence holder.

Full membership begins on successful completion of the application process and payment of the membership fee. Membership can be renewed annually on the anniversary date of joining as long as the member continues to hold a current CRT Roving Canal Trader Licence.

Both full members per registered boat can:

• vote at a general meeting
• have access to full member benefits

There will be an annual membership fee which will be agreed at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), and will be payable by all full members.

3.3  Honorary Membership  is awarded at the discretion of the committee to acknowledge a special benefit or service provided by an individual.

Honorary memberships free and renewed annually at the discretion of the committee.

An honorary member can:

• hold a committee position
• be a trustee
• vote at a general meeting
• have access to full member benefits

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

3.4 Ceasing to be a member

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

Any member who has not paid their membership fee for one month will be contacted by the committee, who will then decide whether that member is deemed to have resigned.

Any personally directed offensive behaviour, including racist, sexist or inflammatory remarks, will not be permitted. Anyone behaving in this way or breaking the equal opportunities policy may be asked not to attend further meetings or to resign from the group if an apology is not given or the behaviour is repeated. The individual concerned shall have the right to be heard by the trustees, accompanied by a friend, before a final decision is made.

Physical assaults shall be reported to the police and the offender immediately suspended from the RCTA until both police and committee investigations are complete.

4. Equal Opportunities

Roving Canal Traders Association will not discriminate on the grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, sexuality, disability, religious or political belief, marital status or age.

5. Trustees and committee

The business of the group will be carried out by a Committee elected at the Annual General Meeting. The Committee will meet as necessary and not less than four times a year.

The Committee will consist of 9 members, and be composed of 3 trustees and 6 statutory committee members. Up to 9 additional members may be co-opted onto the committee at the discretion of the committee.

Committee Members may take on multiple roles. Trustees may also take on multiple roles but only one Trustee position

The Chair, Secretary and Treasurer hold office for one year, and are then eligible for re-election. Statutory committee members hold office for two years and are then eligible for re-election.

The roles of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer and statutory committee members are fixed unless changes have been approved by an AGM or SGM. Other committee roles or titles may be changed and updated from time to time to meet the requirements of the Association. Details of committee roles are given in appendix 1.

In the event of a Trustee standing down during the year, a replacement will be elected by a Special General Meeting of members .

In the event of a committee member who is not a Trustee standing down during the year, the committee may appoint a replacement.

Any committee member not attending a meeting without an apology for three months, will be contacted by the committee and asked if they wish to resign.

The committee meetings will be open to any member of Roving Canal Traders Association wishing to attend, who may speak but not vote.

6. Meetings

6.1. Annual General Meetings

An Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held annually, but no later than  fifteen months of the previous AGM.

All members will be notified by email at least 3 weeks before the date of the meeting, giving the venue, date, time and agenda.

Meetings may be held at both physical and virtual locations at the discretion of the committee

Members who send their apologies a minimum of 1 week prior to the meeting shall be allowed to vote on any expected issues in the agenda. Votes shall be sent out 24 hours before the meeting and be returned at the latest 1 hour before the meeting

Nominations for the committee may be made to the Secretary before the meeting, or at the meeting.

The minimum attendance for the AGM will be 15% of the membership, or 15 members, whichever is the greater number. Should too few people attend, then a general vote shall not take place and the committee shall continue to carry out the business of the group.

6.2 At the AGM: –

The Committee will present a report of the work of Roving Canal Traders Association over the year.

The Committee will present the accounts of Roving Canal Traders Association for the previous year.

The Trustees and Committee for the next year will be elected.

Any proposals given to the Secretary at least 7 days in advance of the meeting will be discussed, provided that they have been notified to all members in the remaining week prior to the meeting. Any new proposals arising during the AGM and which have not been circulated to all the membership will be considered at a subsequent SGM or AGM

6.3 Special General Meetings

The Secretary will call a Special General Meeting at the request of the majority of the committee, or at least twelve other members, giving a written request to the Chair or Secretary stating the reason for their request. The meeting will take place within twenty-one days of the request.

All members will be given two weeks notice of such a meeting, giving the venue, date, time and agenda, and notice may be by telephone or email.

Meetings may be held at both physical and virtual locations at the discretion of the committee.

Any proposals given to the Secretary at least seven days in advance of the meeting will be discussed, provided that they have been notified to all members in the remaining week prior to the meeting. Any new proposals arising during the SGM and which have not been circulated to all the membership will be considered at a subsequent SGM or AGM

Members who send their apologies a minimum of 1 week prior to the meeting shall be allowed to vote on any expected issues in the agenda. Votes shall be sent out 24 hours before the meeting and be returned at the latest  1 hour before the meeting

The minimum attendance for the Special General Meeting will be 15% of the membership or 15 members, whichever is the greater number.

6.4 Rules of Procedure for meetings

All questions that arise at any meeting will be discussed openly and the meeting will seek to find general agreement that everyone present can agree to.

If a consensus cannot be reached a vote will be taken and a decision will be made by a simple majority of members present. If the number of votes cast on each side are equal, the Chair of the meeting shall have an additional casting vote.

7. Finances

An account will be maintained on behalf of the Association at a bank agreed by the committee. Two signatories, who should be Trustees and responsible for any bank accounts and any banking system deemed necessary, will be nominated by the Committee ( one to be Treasurer ). The signatories must not be related nor members of the same household.

Records of income and expenditure will be the responsibility of the Treasurer and a financial statement given to each meeting. He will be assisted by the Bookkeeper

Any pre-agreed reasonable expenses shall be reimbursed. Travel to Annual General Meetings or Special General Meetings are excluded from reimbursement in all circumstances.

All money raised by or on behalf of Roving Canal Traders Association is only to be used to further the aims of the Association and other canal based charitable organisations wherever possible.

Income from Membership and Markets shall be kept separate.

8. Amendments to the Constitution

Amendments to the constitution may only be made at the Annual General Meeting or a Special General Meeting.
Any proposal to amend the constitution must be given to the Secretary in writing.

The proposal must then be circulated with the notice of meeting.

Any proposal to amend the Constitution will require a two thirds majority of those present and entitled to vote.

9. Dissolution

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

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

This constitution was agreed at the 3rd Annual General Meeting of the Roving Canal Traders Association on: –

Date 28/09/2019
Name and position in group Andrew Mills, Chair
Signed ………………………………………….
Name and position in group  Ronni Payne, Treasurer
Signed ………………………………………….

Appendix 1

Details of Committee Roles

Chair: who shall chair both general and committee meetings. Is responsible for ensuring that the Trustees have not been barred from holding such positions. Can cast an additional vote when there is a tie. The Chair will also be responsible for public liaison

Secretary: who shall be responsible for overseeing the distribution of correspondences and communications to members. Maintaining the RCTA email server. To record items to include in meeting agendas. To record all votes. Taking of minutes at general and committee meetings, and distributing these to the other committee members. To digitally store all minutes and any other documents that require storage, as provided by other committee members. To ensure members have access to meeting minutes and documentation as appropriate. To retrieve records as required. To record and monitor any requests for Special General meetings and, if necessary, call a SGM as required in section 6.3. To record all complaints, and responses to complaints.

Treasurer (and Book keeper): who shall be responsible for maintaining accounts and ensuring financial safeguarding. Will also ensure that all financial transactions are in keeping with the aims and best interest of the Association. Inputting of invoices raised and payments received, receipt keeping for supplier payments.

The Statutory Committee members’ roles are as follows:

Membership Admin: who shall be responsible for keeping an up to date database of members, in liaison with the Website Manager, and ensuring all members adhere to the membership criteria.

CRT Liaison & Traders Liaison: Shall attend meetings with CRT as the RCTA representative, prepare meeting reports, and draft all correspondence with CRT for committee approval. Point of contact for traders experiencing issues with mooring and/or licensing, if needed, can be raised with CRT to take further.

New Traders Liaison: Point of contact and support for new traders. Produce new members ‘good trading practices’ information. Help with getting started, booking events, queries on moorings and any other issues.

PR Communications External and Markets Posters Coordinator: In support of the Secretary. Manage general RCTA PR, including press releases, radio interviews etc. Distribute PR opportunities to traders. In support of ‘Market and Event Coordinator’ and ‘Secretary’, arrange printing and distribution of posters/flyer PDF’s for members’ use, online communication and social media. Printing, and coordinating the distribution of posters and flyers to members. Making sure each ‘Market Manager’ is given banners, flags and posters etc as appropriate.

Market and Event Coordinator: Manage applications to hold RCTA events. Organisation of Risk Assessments and sending them with event applications. Liaison with relevant authorities. Ensuring measurement of locations and assessing moorings available is undertaken appropriately. Deciding the maximum number of boats that can trade at a set Floating Market location.

Other committee roles are as follows:

Market Bookings Admin: In support of ‘Market and Event Coordinator’. To ensure market bookings have been placed on the website and and keep a waiting list if all bookings are filled. Admin of booked places and making sure all payments have been made. Checking length of all booked spaces, and adjusting remaining spaces accordingly. Preparing a list of attendees for each market and communicating this to market managers. Emailing any relevant market and H&S information to attendees. To liaise closely with external PR, the Website Manager and the Treasurer/Bookkeeper. Production of all market safety signage and distribution to market managers.

PR Communications Newsletter: To research and produce a quarterly newsletter to all who sign up for the newsletter, including members. Regular bulletin communication updates to members.

RCTA Facebook Admin and Market Facebook Admin: In support od ‘Secretary’. Administration and moderation of all RCTA Facebook pages. Answering questions from members and visitors. In support of ‘Market and Event Coordinator’, ‘Market Bookings Admin’ and ‘Secretary’. Boosting FB market posts at least one week before each market. Sharing market posts on all appropriate FB community and interest groups.

Website Manager: In support of the ‘Secretary’ , maintaining members information and liaising with them to enable them to keep their information up to date; maintaining a list/calendar of festivals, events and markets; keeping RCTA floating markets and events up to date in liaison with ‘Market and Event Coordinator’ and ‘Market Bookings Admin” posting photos of  events; maintaining Traders Directory; building links; keeping members documentation accessible in liaison with ‘Memebrship Admin’ and ‘Secretary’. Continuing to build the website as appropriate to support RCTA and its aims