THE CONSTITUTION OF HOLY FAMILY CONVENT
BAMBALAPITIYA Past Pupils’ Association( UK BRANCH)
(Initial version: (January 2021)
(created by Resolution passed at the 1st Meeting held on Sunday 26th January 2021)
1. NAME
1.1. The Association shall be called Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya Past Pupils’ Association (UK BRANCH) (hereinafter referred to as “The Association”)
2. ADMINISTRATION
2.1. Subject to the matters set out below The Association and its property shall be administered and managed in accordance with this constitution by the members of the Executive Committee, constituted by clause 8 of the constitution.
3. OBJECTIVES
3.1. The Objectives of The Association shall be to –
3.1.1. Unite all past pupils of Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya (“the School”) in the UK and strengthen ties between the past pupils, the community and the School.
3.1.2. foster a spirit of loyalty and promote the general welfare of the School.
3.1.3. support the goals and vision of the School.
3.1.4. create opportunities for past pupils to help current students at the School.
3.1.5. provide opportunity for the past pupils to reconnect with the School.
3.1.6. promote the wellbeing of the members of the Association;
3.1.7. provide fellow past pupils the opportunity to give back to the School through volunteering, mentoring or providing opportunities to current students;
3.1.8. organise events and activities for alumni.
3.1.9. maintain contact with the School and keep fellow alumni updated on developments at the School;
3.1.10. undertake fundraising activities to assist any charities chosen by the Association.
4. MEMBERSHIP
4.1. Those who are eligible to become members in the Association shall be restricted to all past pupils who studied at the Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya.
4.2. This rule shall not apply to those past pupils who are already members of the Association on or before the date of these articles coming into operation.
4.3. Individuals who have joined another Holy Family Convent
Members association in the United Kingdom are not eligible to join
this association.
4.4. any existing Member who are members of any other Holy
Family Convent members association in United Kingdom/or who plan
to join another Holy Family Convent Association in UK will be
removed from this Association. No refund of membership fees will be
granted.
5. MEMBERSHIP FEES
5.1. The Annual Membership fee per member shall be £20.00.
5.2. A Member who does not pay the Annual Membership Fee for 3 consecutive years, shall forfeit her membership in the Association.
5.3. If a member wishes to re-join the Association, such person shall do so on payment of arrears, the minimum being three years.
5.4. Life Membership Fee shall be £ 100.00.
6. PATRONESS
6.1. The Founder Mrs. Rajika Jesuthasan will be the Patroness as long as the Association exists.
6.2. Any further appointments can be made with the elected committee and approved by the Patroness.
6.3. Patroness has the authority to dissolve the committee in the event of inappropriate handling of the Association’s funds and activities.
7. COMMITTEE
7.1. The Committee of the Association shall consist of:
7.1.1. The Executive Committee;
7.1.2. The Office Bearers;
7.1.3. The immediate past president, secretary and treasurer.
8. OFFICE BEARERS
8.1. The Office Bearers of the committee of the Association shall be:
The President Rajika Jesuthasan
Joint Vice Presidents Ira Lakshman
Shamina Shivacumaran
Joint Secretaries Priyagowry Balakumar;
Rathika Raymond;
Joint Treasurers Prithiva Janaka;
Vinothikaa Thavabalasandran
Communications Chair Sivapriya Sriwansa
Joint Editors Deehayini Baskar Kulendran
Dashenthy Sangar
Social Media Rukshana Jesuthasan
8.2. The Office Bearers named above who form the first committee of the Association shall hold their position for four consecutive years unless clause 7.6 is applicable. All committee members thereafter will hold their positions for a maximum of two years.
8.3. Any newly elected president, secretary and treasurer shall be assisted by the immediate past president, secretary and treasurer for the first year of her time on the committee;
8.4. All Office Bearers shall be physically present at the Annual General Meeting;
8.5. The Office Bearers must be present for all committee meetings.
8.5.1. If an Office Bearer fails to attend 2 consecutive meetings, the president has the power to remove them from the committee.
9. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
9.1. The president, the joint vice presidents, the joint secretaries and the joint treasurers will be the Executive Committee.
10. ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS AND THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
10.1. The members of the Executive Committee are to hold their positions for a period of two years.
10.2. The Office Bearers of the committee shall be elected at an Annual General Meeting for a period of two years except for the members referred to in clause 8.2.
10.3. Any member of the Association can send a written request to either secretary to be appointed to the committee at least 7 days prior to the Annual General Meeting.
10.3.1. The committee will then consider the requests and nominate an individual for any role of Office Bearer.
10.4. Any Office Bearer has the right to nominate an individual for any role of Office Bearer.
10.5. The Patroness also has the right to nominate an individual for any role of Office Bearer.
10.6. Nominations for the Office Bearers shall be made by any Office Bearer and/or the Patroness at least 7 days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting, by a nomination form. The nomination form shall include the following particulars:-
10.6.1. Name of Proposer;
10.6.2. Name of Seconder;
10.6.3. The consent of the Nominee and assurance of physical presence at the Annual General Meeting where her name would be proposed; and
10.6.4. Confirmation of presence at the three Annual General Meetings before the nomination.
10.7. In the event of there being no nominations received for any role of Office Bearers, such Office Bearers shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting. Voting at the Annual General Meeting shall be by show of hands.
10.8. The individual’s appointment to the committee shall be subject to being elected by the Association by a majority vote and approval of
10.9. the Patroness.
11. AUDITOR
11.1. There shall be an Auditor to The Association, who shall be elected by the members of the Association by a majority vote at an Annual General Meeting for a period of three years.
12. TERM OF OFFICE
12.1. No Member of the Committee shall hold office in any capacity for more than two years notwithstanding clause 8.2.
13. SPECIAL APPOINTEES AND COMMITTEES
13.1. Special Committees for the purpose of carrying out any specific function may also be appointed by the president.
13.2. The president, vice presidents, secretaries and treasurers shall be ex-officio members of all such Special Committees. All Special Committees shall function under the direction of the Executive Committee.
13.3. A Special Committee for the purpose of furthering the objective mentioned above shall be elected by the members of the committee at the Annual General Meeting.
13.4. A Special Committee shall not consist of more than ten individuals.
13.5. The members of the Special Committee referred to in paragraph 13.2 shall be accountable to the membership of their activities connected with the furtherance of the objective.
13.6. When the objective of a Special Committee has been deemed to be concluded at an Annual General Meeting, the Special Committee will be dissolved.
13.7. There shall be appointed and/or reappointed at every Annual General Meeting, a representative from each year’s batch, who shall be a member of the Association to be the contact person between the batch and the Executive Committee.
13.7.1. The representative shall report to and support the Executive Committee whenever called upon or required to do so. However, such Representatives need not be members of the Executive Committee.
14. RESPONSIBILITIES OF OFFICE BEARERS
14.1. The president shall chair all meetings and in her absence, one of the vice presidents shall preside.
14.2. The president shall have the power to direct the secretaries to convene meetings.
14.3. Secretaries shall convene meetings and shall maintain a book of minutes of the proceedings of all meetings.
14.3.1. They shall carry out all decisions made by the Executive Committee.
14.3.2. They shall at The Annual General Meeting submit a report, duly approved by the Executive Committee, on the activities of the Association during the preceding year of office.
14.4. The Treasurers shall receive all monies of the Association and shall maintain a true and accurate record of the accounts of the Association.
14.4.1. The treasurers shall, where and if necessary, at every Executive Committee meeting, table a summary of the accounts stating the bank balances and the creditors and debtors totals. She shall be responsible for getting the accounts audited and made available to the members in time for the Annual General Meeting.
14.4.2. The accounts of the Association must be shown to and approved by the Patroness.
14.4.3. Any use of the monies of the Association must be authorised by the Patroness.
15. DUTIES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
15.1. The Executive Committee shall manage the affairs of The Association and shall be responsible for the disbursement of funds collected for specific purposes.
15.2. The Executive Committee shall have the power to fill any vacancy that may occur in the Executive Committee during the course of the year.
16. FILLING VACANCIES
16.1. Any Office Bearer of the Committee who fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the Committee without a valid
reason, shall cease to be an Office Bearer.
16.2. The secretaries shall inform the absent Office Bearer of the dates of the three consecutive meetings she had not attended, and if no explanation is given by the absent Office Bearer for her absence within fourteen days, the Committee shall replace her.
16.3. Such an Office Bearer who fails to give sufficient explanation as to her absence, shall not be eligible for re-election to the Committee at the next Annual General Meeting.
17. CONTRIBUTIONS
17.1. The Executive Committee, may by resolution, authorise the collection of voluntary contributions for the furtherance of the objectives mentioned in clause 3. All appeals for funds shall bear the signature of the Patroness.
18. FUNDS
18.1. All monies collected shall be handed over to the treasurers who shall issue receipts to individual subscribers.
18.2. The funds of the Association shall be deposited with any bank or banks in the UK as directed by the Executive Committee. All orders of the withdrawals and cheques drawn up on the funds of the Association shall be signed by the president and one of the treasurers.
18.3. The Financial Year of The Association shall end on the 31st day of August every year.
18.4. Expenses of Committee meetings are shared between the Office Bearers and not taken out from the Associations’ fund.
19. MEETINGS
19.1. All annual events and other celebrations shall be held at a time and place decided by the Committee, depending on the condition prevailing at the time of holding such celebrations.
19.2. An audited statement of accounts for the preceding Financial Year shall be presented by the treasurers at the Annual General Meeting.
19.3. The secretaries shall summon a Special General Meeting of the Association at the written request of five members of the Association within fourteen days of the receipt of such request and at least seven days notice shall be given to all members of the Association stating the business to be transacted at such meeting. No other business shall be transacted at a Special General Meeting, other than that for which the meeting is convened.
19.4. The quorum at a Special General Meeting or at an Annual General Meeting shall be 30 members of The Association.
19.5. Meetings of the Committee of which not less than seven days notice shall be given, shall be held at least twice a term.
19.6. All meetings of the Association shall be held in the premises with the permission of the Patroness.
19.7. The quorum at a Committee meeting shall not be less than ten members of such Committee.
20. PRESIDENT
20.1. The Executive Committee shall call for nominations for President at the end of the tenure of the incumbent president of the Association, to be sent through the post/email to reach the joint secretaries at least two weeks prior to the Annual General Meeting.
20.2. In the event of there being more than one nominee, the names of such nominees shall be brought at the Annual General Meeting and a vote taken by secret ballot.
20.3. Any Member who is not present at the Annual General Meeting shall not be eligible as an Office Bearer in the Committee.
21. RESOLUTIONS
21.1. Notice of a resolution to be moved at an Annual General Meeting or a Special General Meeting shall be given to the secretaries not less than seven days before the date of such meeting.
21.2. All resolutions shall be considered at an Executive Committee meeting which shall be held not less than three days before any Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting.
21.3. All resolutions must be moved by the Patroness.
22. GENERAL
22.1. The President, with the consent and concurrence of her Committee and with the written approval of the Patroness, shall have the power to act, whether in contravention to the rules or otherwise to ensure the continuing existence and proper functioning of the Association whenever she considers it is in the best interest of the Association.
22.2. Matters not provided for the rules, shall be decided upon by the Patroness.
23. WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE SUB-COMMITTEE
23.1. A Special Committee, consisting of not more than seven members, including the President, a Secretary nominated out of the two joint secretaries, a treasurer nominated out of the two joint treasurers, the website administrator, nominated from within the Executive Committee and upto a maximum of three other Members, nominated from within or without the Executive Committee, all of whom shall be members of the Association, should be appointed annually by the Executive Committee, to ensure the long term sustenance and continued development and maintenance of the website created by the Association.
