Note from the President on the Draft New Rules

These notes relate to important issues about the Club’s constitution, and therefore they directly affect all members. I apologise if the tone is rather dry, but that I'm afraid is the nature of constitutions - has anyone read the Lisbon Treaty?

Background

A year ago I reported here on the developments which your Committee had been undertaking in order to ensure the future of the Club, and to enhance its effectiveness both in promoting Old Citizen activity and in supporting the School. At the subsequent AGM last November two resolutions were passed, approving the Committee's actions to date, agreeing to changes to Rule 12 on membership and subscriptions, and mandating the Committee to continue the programme of reorganisation, including proposing further changes to the Rules.

Since then, the arrangement with the School whereby all Sixth Form leavers become Life Members of the Club on payment of a single subscription has been implemented. The arrangement commences for 2009 leavers. In addition, we have appointed an Alumni Relations Officer, Karen Sage, who is now in post and who will be increasingly taking over responsibility for much Old Citizen communications. We have also continued the work of extending our database to ensure we have as inclusive and thorough a list of contacts as possible. As anticipated, these and other initiatives have meant that the Committee has needed to make an extensive review of the Rules in order to bring the constitution of the Club fully into line with present circumstances.

A great deal of work has been undertaken over the year, with much of the onus falling on the broad shoulders of Keith Baker, aided and advised by a number of others, including Paul Wickham, Dickie Jones and Martin Israel. Importantly, though, I should emphasise that the whole Committee has been involved in this process at various stages. I can now report that the Committee has unanimously agreed a revised set of Rules. These will be presented to this year's AGM for approval.   

Changes

I thought it would be helpful to highlight some of the key changes we are proposing ahead of the AGM. I should start by emphasising that as a principle our approach has been not to propose changes unless we judged they were completely necessary. To enable easier cross-referencing, we have tried to stick as closely as possible to the original numbering.

Membership Categories

The first of the changes is the redefinition of the categories of membership of the Club (Rules 3 and 4). We are proposing that there be Full (to include Dining), Playing and a new category of Associate Members. These would replace the current Ordinary, Dining and Playing Members.

The thinking behind this proposal is first that we now think the concept of Dining membership is outdated, and that no new Dining Members need be admitted. We propose that henceforth Full Membership will entitle the Member to a set of common entitlements. Of course, existing Dining Members, of whom a few remain, will continue to receive their historical benefits.

More significant is the proposal to create the Associate Member category. An Associate Member would be an Old Citizen with whom the Club is in contact, and who has agreed that we can store personal information about them, including contact details, but who has chosen not to pay a subscription to the Club. Associate Members would receive Club communications electronically only and not be entitled to priority or discounted bookings at Club events. Our thinking here is driven by a key priority: we want to ensure that we connect to as many Old Citizens as possible - to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Associate Membership allows us to register and keep contact and other details about all Old Citizens (except of course for those who opt out entirely) and so enable us to communicate with them and, we hope, engage with them over time. 

It is our proposal that all members of the Club, except Associates, will continue to pay a subscription (Rules 11-14). The Period subscriptions that have applied to leavers in various forms since 1980 would continue in place; although, of course, in time they will come to a natural end.

Our Administrator

The proposed new Rules also take account of the appointment of our Alumni Relations Officer (Rule 15c), who will increasingly take responsibility for the list of Members and management of the Membership Database, for organising events and for ensuring our activities are aligned with the School's. As a result, we are proposing a reduction in the number of specified Officers on the General Committee, ceasing both the Membership Secretary and the Subscription Treasurer.

Club Funds

Finally I should also point out that we are taking this opportunity to propose amending some wording relating to the administration of the Club's various Funds (Rules 34 and 39c). We are responding here to the changing regime relating to the administration of Trusts, and to the money laundering regulations which can make the disposal or transfer of Trust assets a most arduous business (for the gory details of their recent experience in this area, consult Keith Baker and Dickie Jones!). The proposed changes should allow us to be more flexible and efficient in managing the Trusts' assets.

There are also a number of other smaller changes, some a result of the major proposals, others recognising changed and current circumstances.

I urge Members to read the proposed Rules carefully. We have decided not to make a mass distribution of copies, but the proposed Draft is available here. Those who would like a printed version should contact Karen Sage, our Alumni Relations Officer, who will be happy to despatch a hard copy. Karen's telephone numbers are: 020 7489 4766 and 07815 766984. Her email address is aro@jcc.org.uk.

Your Committee is confident that this set of proposals will ensure that the Club is administered under Rules that are consistent, appropriate and relevant. We should also acknowledge, though, that circumstances can change and that a future Committee may well need to revisit the situation and make further recommendations.

 Those who are unable to attend the AGM and who have observations to make about the proposed Rules are most welcome to contact me. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the AGM on November 25th and, of course, at the Supper that follows.