Constitution

1. Name of Association
The name of the Association shall be Exeter Twinning Circle.

2. Aims of the Circle
a. To promote and foster friendship and understanding between the people of Exeter and those of Rennes in
France; Bad Homburg in Germany; and Terracina in Italy.

b. To encourage and facilitate visits by individuals and groups to and from twinned towns and by doing so to
broaden the understanding of cultural, educational, recreational and social activities of the twinned towns.

c. To encourage relationships between individuals and groups from Exeter with our twinned towns.

d. To organise fund-raising and social activities to further the aims of the Circle.

3. Membership
a. Membership shall be open to all persons or organisations in sympathy with the aims of the circle. There
shall be four categories of membership:

i) Individual membership.
ii) Family membership, being open to all members of the family excepting sons or daughters over the
age of eighteen years.
iii) Association membership, being open to organisations or societies within the Exeter area. Association membership does not of itself entitle members or employees of the organisation or society which is an association member to the rights of individual or family membership. Association membership entitles not more than two members of the organisation to those rights.
iv) Individual honorary life membership. Honorary life members are entitled to the rights of individual membership without payment of annual subscription.

b. The membership subscription will be determined at each Annual General Meeting for the following
calendar year and shall be payable to the Membership Secretary who will hold a full membership list.

c. Membership shall run from 1st January to 31st December. Members will be deemed to have not renewed
membership if their subscription remains unpaid by 1st April.

d. New members joining the Circle after the 30th of September of any year shall be deemed to have paid
their membership subscription for the following calendar year.

4. Executive Committee and Officers
a. The affairs of the Circle shall be conducted by the Executive Committee (herein after called the Committee)
consisting of five Officers and ten members, elected at each Annual General Meeting.

b. The Officers shall be: –
Chairman/Chairwoman
Deputy Chairman/Chairwoman
Secretary
Treasurer
Membership Secretary

c. All Officers shall serve in any one office for a term not exceeding five years.

d. Where it is necessary or appropriate, an Officer may be appointed, at an Annual General Meeting to serve
for an approved additional period agreed by a majority of the Committee and approved by a two thirds
majority of voting members at an Annual General Meeting.

e. The Committee will appoint from its elected members: –

i) Minutes Secretary iv) News Letter Editor
ii) Publicity/Press Officer v) Webmaster
iii) Co-ordinating officers to each of the three twinned cities. vi) Schools Liaison Officer

f. Other members may be co-opted to serve on the Committee in the event of a vacancy arising during
the year or for other special purposes.

g. The quorum for a Committee meeting shall be not less than seven, including two of the officers.

h. The Committee may set up sub-committees as required. The Chairman/Chairwoman, Deputy
Chairman/Chairwoman, Secretary and Treasurer shall be members of all such sub-committees and may
attend such meetings

i. All Committee members are required to attend not less than one half of the Committee meetings or
they relinquish the right to be re-elected, unless a leave of absence is approved by the Committee.

5. Patron, President, Honorary Life Members
a. The Circle may invite the Lord Mayor of Exeter to be its Patron.

b. On the recommendation of the Committee, the Circle may, at its Annual General Meeting, elect a
President, yearly, who may attend meetings of the Committee but shall not be entitled to vote.

c. Honorary Life Members may be created on the recommendation of the Committee and be confirmed at
the Annual General Meeting.

6. Annual General Meeting
The Committee shall call an Annual General Meeting of the Circle in January of each year (or other such month as the Committee may determine), giving each member at least fourteen days notice in writing.

7. Voting at the Annual General Meeting
a. Only members present at the meeting shall be entitled to vote.

b. Each member shall be entitled to one vote but, in the event of a tied vote, the Chairman/Chairwoman
shall have a casting vote.

8. Accounts and Independent Financial Examiner
a. Independently Examined Accounts for the year to the 31st December shall be submitted to each Annual General Meeting.

b. At each Annual General Meeting an Independent Financial Examiner shall be appointed for the forthcoming year.

9. Monies
a. All monies received on behalf of the Circle shall be held by the Treasurer in approved Bank Accounts and
all cheques drawn on the Circle shall be signed by any two of the Chairman/Chairwoman, Secretary or
Treasurer, except that the Treasurer, alone, is authorised to sign cheques up to an amount agreed
annually by the Committee.

b. All such monies shall be used for administration; for providing hospitality for visitors from our twin cities
and other expenses approved by the Committee.

10. Amendments to the Constitution
Amendments to the Constitution shall be made only at an Annual General Meeting. Notice of the proposed amendment shall be given in writing to the Secretary at least 28 days before the meeting and details given in the notice convening the meeting. No such amendments shall be carried unless more than two-thirds of the members present vote in favour.

11. Dissolution of the Circle
In the event of the dissolution of the Circle all surplus funds shall be transferred to such charity or charities as the Committee in its absolute discretion shall decide, save that any unspent grant from Exeter City Council shall be returned to that Council.