Name

The name of the club will be Wexford Camera Club [herein referred to as ‘The Club’] 

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Aims and Objectives

Wexford Camera Club provides the opportunity for local photographers to come together in a fun, friendly and mutually supportive environment.

 

The Club welcomes into membership a wide range of photographers from absolute beginners to experienced amateurs as well as professional photographers.

 

The aim is to promote and support all branches of photographic art and to provide a variety of opportunities in order that all members can develop their skills.

 

To achieve this aim: talks, informed discussions, field visits, demonstrations, competitions, and exhibitions will be arranged. Members wishing to gain Irish Photographic Federation (IPF) distinctions will be supported and encouraged. Members will have access to our website’s Forum to share work for feedback and a gallery to exhibit their work.

 

To contribute to and support community-based activities and events in Wexford.

 

To maintain membership of and pay subscriptions to the Irish Photographic Federation (IPF), Southern Association of Camera Clubs (SACC) and any organisation both national and international which the Club considers appropriate to its aims. 

 

To enter in photographic competitions at club, national and international level and to pursue accreditations in photography from the Irish Photographic Federation and other international bodies. 

 

The Club shall annually submit to the National Secretary of the Irish Photographic Federation the names, addresses, and contact details of the Club’s officers following the AGM. Members wishing to gain distinctions will be supported and encouraged. 

 

To embrace traditional, new and advancing photographic technologies and genres. 

 

Dignity and Respect:  

The Club will ensure a club environment free from discrimination, harassment, racism and disrespectful behaviour by dealing effectively with any complaints of such behaviour.

 

Membership

Membership is open to anyone interested in photography and over the age of 18 years.

 

Membership of the Club is conditional upon the undertaking to comply and abide by the Club’s Rules/Constitution.

 

Prospective members will be welcome to attend up to four club meetings, after which they will be invited to formally join, complete a membership application form, and pay the appropriate membership fee. A person may not participate in any club activity until the subscription fees have been paid or a specific arrangement has been made with the treasurer.  Temporary Membership will be available to Visitors to The Club for club functions or events and will be subject to such terms and conditions as The Club Committee may determine from time to time. In each Club year the committee shall determine the amount of the membership fee to be paid by each member in respect of the following club year. The determination of that figure shall be an item of business for the Annual General Meeting [AGM]. For new members joining after the 31st of August the membership fee shall be calculated on a pro rata basis. However, under exceptional circumstances, the committee shall be able to apply a lower rate of membership. The Club name, websites, social media sites, its facilities and equipment shall not be used by any of its members for commercial purposes other than to the benefit of the Club. No member or group of members may enter into any transaction of any kind wherein they represent themselves as representing or acting on behalf of Wexford Camera Club without first having been given permission by the Club Committee to do so in respect of each specific transaction. The Club reserves the right to refuse admission to membership. Honorary Membership may be granted for exceptional services to the Club as proposed by the committee and ratified at the AGM. Honorary members shall be subject to the same rules and have the same rights and privileges as club members. They shall be without liability to subscription. 

 

Subscriptions

The Club’s Subscription year will run from the 1st March to the end of February for members and the amount of the subscription will be as determined at the Annual General Meeting.The treasurer will be responsible for the collection of Annual Subscriptions from members as they become due.

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Officers and Club Committees

The business affairs of the club will be controlled and managed by the Club committee consisting of the following: Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations Officer (PRO) and not more than two additional club members. In certain circumstances some positions may be created and shared for the duration of the committee. 

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​Chairperson:

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The Chairperson shall be Chair of The Club Committee whose meetings he/she shall convene. He/she will represent The Club at all Official Functions and will submit a report on his/her term of office to the Annual General Meeting. He/she will remain in office for one year and be subject to the overall direction of The Club Committee.

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Secretary:

 

Under the control and direction of The Club Committee the Secretary shall keep minutes of all General Meetings of The Club and all Club Committee meetings and will be responsible for the general correspondence of The Club and the maintenance of up-to-date copies of these rules and by-laws. He/she will also be responsible for maintaining an up-to-date register of members of The Club containing their contact and other details. In the absence of the Chairperson, he/she will take the chair at all meetings of The Club or of The Club Committee. 

 

Treasurer:

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Under the control and direction of The Club Committee the Treasurer shall keep proper books of accounts and records of all financial transactions undertaken by The Club and at the close of The Club year shall prepare an income and expenditure account for submission to and for approval by the Annual General Meeting. The Treasurer shall have authority to make payments of behalf of The Club and operate The Club Bank account. Accounts in the name of The Club and all withdrawals and or disbursements made therefrom will be signed nominated by The Club Committee to be signatories to The Club Accounts. The Treasurer shall receive all monies due to the Club and shall pay sums as agreed by the committee. The Treasurer shall keep an account of all such receipts and payments and render such statements to the committee and auditors as they may require. The Treasurer shall on his/her retirement from office or under the direction of the Club Committee shall hand over to the Chairperson all account documentation, pin numbers, login details for online banking, bank cards, passwords etc, appertaining to the office. 

 

Public Relations Officer (PRO):

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Under the control and direction of The Club Committee, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) shall be responsible for promoting The Club at all events and exhibitions by various means, including printed materials. The PRO shall also be responsible for promoting the Club in the wider community. The Club committee as in 6.1 above, shall be elected by a single majority vote at the AGM. Each member present will cast one vote for their choice of candidate in each election.

 

Selection Committee:

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The Selection Committee: will consist of up to three members appointed at the AGM. Two members of the Selection Committee shall form a quorum.

 

In the event of any of the posts of the club committee remaining unfilled at the AGM, the already elected members of the club committee will be obliged to fill the remaining vacant posts from among themselves. Should the elected committee fail to fill such remaining posts; it will return to the general membership at the following ordinary meeting of the Club to seek nominations for these remaining posts. The outgoing Chairperson shall conduct the business of the AGM until such time as the new Chairperson is appointed or elected. 

 

No one member can hold any one office for more than three consecutive years. After having relinquished the office for a period of not less than twelve months, a person will then become eligible for a further term in the office which he or she had previously held. Any member may nominate another member to stand for election to the committee. Subject to the consent of the nominee, all nominations for election to the committee will be proposed by a club member, seconded by another club member. The committee shall co-opt members to fill any vacancies that may occur on the committee or amongst officers of the society during the society year. The committee may appoint sub committees from its members to oversee specific duties and/or events. For continuance of activities in the club, a committee can organise a programme of events into the term of the next committee. The new committee will have the right to change the programme when deemed necessary in the best interests of the Club. 

 

The committee will organise a programme of club meetings and other activities as outlined in Aims and Objectives. Two club meetings a month will be organised with breaks for Christmas, Easter and the Summer. No club meetings may be organised for August. The Minutes of all committee meetings shall be kept by the Secretary and circulated to all members of the committee in advance of the next committee meeting. All decisions at committee meetings will be reached by a simple majority. The Chairperson will hold the deciding vote in the event of equality of voting. The quorum for meetings of the Club Committee shall be 50%.

 

The Club Committee will appoint individual members to roles when required which will be discharged by the members concerned under the overall direction of the Club Committee and where appropriate under the direct supervision of a nominated member of the Club Committee. The holders of these roles may be members of the Club Committee. One such particular role will be that of: Webmaster who will be assigned specific responsibility for the maintenance and development of the Club’s electronic on-line presence and control the platforms associated with this space and digital social media.

 

Finances

The Financial Accounts shall be presented in respect of the last financial year to the AGM by the Treasurer and shall be approved by that body.

 

Any committee member or member of the Club shall be entitled to be reimbursed the full amount of all out-of-pocket expenses incurred wholly and exclusively in the course of undertaking duties on behalf of the club. 

 

The Treasurer will be required to ensure that The Club maintains adequate public liability and general insurance cover for its activities. However, all members participate in all club activities at their own risk and no liability rests with The Club arising from any accident, injury or loss of any kind sustained by a member in the course of his/her participation in Club events or arising from or related to such activity.

 

All accounts and books shall be open for inspection by any member of The Club Committee at all reasonable times. A request for such inspection shall be made at a meeting of The Club Committee.

 

The committee shall endeavour to maintain a reserve amounting to 50% of the annual subscription intake or €500.00, whichever is the greater.

 

 

Meetings including Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM)

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held in the month of March, on a date to be fixed by The Club Committee. The business to be transacted shall be: 

 

• To receive the Chairperson’s Annual Report for the year. 

• To receive the Secretary’s Annual Report for the year. 

• To receive the Treasurer’s annual report and statements of accounts. 

• To elect a Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, PRO. To determine The Club annual subscription of the coming year. To transact any other business properly before the meeting.

• To elect ordinary members of the committee.

• To elect the selection committee for IPF competitions (to be a subcommittee)

• To announce winner(s) of the Photographer of the Year

• To select Person of the Year by secret vote

 

Only ordinary members or those having the rights of ordinary members may attend and vote at General Meetings (Annual or Extraordinary). Notice of AGM shall be communicated to members by e-mail at their last e-mail address, as formally advised to the Secretary, at least 21 days before the meeting and this shall be deemed sufficient notice of the meeting. The agenda and running order of the meeting will be included in this notification. Notifications may be posted to the Club’s website. An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) shall be called by the Chairperson on a direction of The Club Committee, or on foot of a requisition of at least 10 members entitled to vote, stating the business to be brought forward. Such extraordinary general meetings shall be convened within 21 days of the receipt of the requisition by the Secretary, failing which any one of the signatories to the requisition may do so.No fewer than 12 members shall from a quorum at an Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting. If that number are not present 30 minutes after the time for which the meeting was summoned the meeting will stand adjourned for one week at the same time and place, whereupon in the further absence of a quorum the meeting shall be absolutely dissolved.

 

The Chairperson or in his/her absence the Secretary shall preside at General meetings. If both Chairperson and Secretary are not present or decline to preside then the members present and entitled to vote may appoint a person to preside. The Chairperson has a casting as well as a deliberative vote.

 

Notices of Motion or amendments to motions must be delivered to the Secretary, with the details of the proposer and seconder, in time to permit their circulation, by email to members for 7 clear days before the day of the General or Extraordinary General Meeting, otherwise any such motion cannot be accepted by the Chairperson. Motions at the AGM shall require a simple majority and motions at an EGM shall be decided by two-thirds majority, save in respect of a Resolution for the Dissolution of The Club which must be carried by two thirds of the members present and entitled to vote. The Chairperson shall hold the deciding vote in the event of equality of voting.

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Competitions and Use of Images

Club Competitions shall be held throughout The Club year under the control and direction of the Club Committee.

 

There shall be four categories of photographer in club competitions, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced and Advanced Plus

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All members in Novice, Intermediate and both "Advanced" and "Advanced Plus" are allowed enter any in club Wexford Camera Club Challenge or Competition under the simple overall category of "Advanced".

 

Where Wexford Camera Club is entering certain restricted external competitions, members in "Advanced Plus", who are members who have attained certain achievements at I.P.F. standard or higher elsewhere i.e. Associateship or Fellowship or have gained medals, these members will be considered not eligible for those external restricted competitons.

 

New members shall be assigned a category commensurate with their photographic experience. Progression from one category to the next will be determined by the results achieved in the Club Photographer of the year for each category. The winner of each category automatically advances to the next category. The minor placings may be considered for promotion by the Club committee. A member, who has a win at a national competition which precludes them for inclusion in the Irish Photographic Federations National Shield competition, shall be automatically upgraded to the advanced category. The subjects and specific conditions governing each club competition will be determined and promulgated by the Club Committee as required.Judges will be selected by The Club Committee for each competition. Images shall be judged anonymously, and scores recorded.

 

The Overall Photographer of the Year Competition, which will be The Club’s premier competition, and will be held annually. It will be open to all members in each category and will be based on the results of the Club Challenges and Competitions throughout the Club year. Images which have been used in previous club competitions or a variant thereof may not be re-entered in any other club competition. Only images taken within 2 years of the challenge entry date are eligible.

 

By choosing to enter any Club competition a member will be deemed to have agreed to make any image entered available to The Club for selection for external competitions. However, a member who enters an image in a club competition may specify, for reasons of personal privacy, that a particular image may not be used or published outside the confines of The Club or on its website or Facebook page, and in such cases the member’s wishes will be respected. Members must also agree not to make any image they enter available to another club for inter-club events in which Wexford Camera Club is also involved during the same season.

 

Entries to represent The Club in SACC or IPF Club Competitions must in each case comply with the rules of the particular competition and will be selected on each occasion by a Selection Committee, whose decision shall be final. Advance notice of each contest or competition shall be given, with details of the relevant rules or requirements. The selection committee will then call in all high scoring entries from previous club competitions and invite members to submit other images for consideration.Images submitted by members for any Club event, may be retained by The Club as part of an image bank for use in other exhibitions or public displays, or for assessment of an individual members skill level for the purpose of grading prior to entry into internal or external competitions. Full copyright of all images held by The Club in its image bank will always remain with the member who owns them. However, the submission of images to The Club image bank and/or entering them in Club competitions by a member is deemed to confer a right on The Club to use such images in the pursuit of Club objectives and the permission of the owner is deemed to have been given for such use.

 

Club Equipment

All equipment or other assets of a permanent nature which The Club owns are deemed to be Club property.Such equipment and or assets may be placed in the temporary care and custody of individual members who will be responsible to The Club Committee for its safekeeping.Members to whom Club property is entrusted for safe keeping are not permitted to use such equipment for personal or any commercial purpose, or from loaning it to any third party, whether he/she be a member of The Club or not. However, such equipment may be loaned to individual members in support of Club aims, subject to the authorisation of the Committee. Any member to whom Club property is given for safe keeping will be required to return it forthwith to The Club, if requested to do so by any member acting on the instructions of The Club Committee.The Treasurer will maintain a register of club equipment, together with details of the members to whom it is entrusted, and such register will be checked, and its records verified from time to time.  The Club will not accept responsibility for loss of or damage to equipment owned by any members or third parties while attending society meetings, workshops, demonstrations, lectures or group outings organised by the Club. 

 

Alteration of the Constitution

No Rule of the Constitution of The Club shall be repealed or altered, and no new Rule be made save at a General Meeting and by a Resolution carried by the votes of a majority of the Members present and entitled to vote, except that it shall require a majority of not less than two thirds of the Members present and entitled to vote to carry a Resolution for the Dissolution of The Club. Where matters arise that require interpretation not covered by this constitution then the Club Committee shall have the power to act in the best interests of the Club until such time that the committee can convene an Extraordinary General Meeting [EGM] of the Club. 

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Data Protection

Wexford Camera Club shall adhere to all current data protection legislation in all its activities. 

 

Club Website

The Club will maintain its own Website at www.wexfordcameraclub.com. The Website will be built on the principle of sharing images and social integration and for purposes as decided by the committee. The Website shall be hosted by persons or companies as deemed fit to do so by the committee. The committee shall ensure that whatever arrangements are made for hosting the site are such that: The Club reputation is not damaged in anyway. The Club does not lose control of the Website. That the content of the site is not lost or compromised. Login details remain the property of the club at all times. 

 

The Webmaster, under the direction of the committee, shall be responsible for designing, implementing, and managing all aspects of the club’s website and social media sites. He/she shall arrange the content, layout, and design requirements of the Club’s Website. He/she shall ensure the Website’s content is kept up-to-date and communicate these updates to the members. He/she shall monitor the Website’s technical performance, effectiveness and security, and report statistics back to the committee and members as appropriate. He/she shall carry out any other duties relevant to his/her office and deemed necessary by the committee. On his/her retirement from office or under the direction of the committee the Webmaster shall hand over to the Chairman all data files, login details, etc., appertaining to his/her office. The webmaster may at any time and for any reason, under the direction of the committee, correct without liability any typographical, clerical, or other error or omission in the information contained on the Website. Wexford Camera Club aims to update the Website regularly and may change the content at any time. If the need arises, Wexford Camera Club may suspend access to the Website, or close it indefinitely. 

 

Social Media Sites

The Club currently has a social media site on Facebook. It should be noted that this site is open to the public to view and comment on. It is recommended that members should make sure that they familiarise themselves with the terms and conditions of the various social media platforms that the Club is using before using them. Club members must take responsibility for the accuracy and appropriateness of any public media communications in which reference is made directly or indirectly to the Club’s activities. Members must have approval from the Club Committee before making any public media statement that purports to represent the views of the Club or that could affect its interests. Members are advised that when posting information or content to the Club Facebook site, they ensure the content or information: is factually accurate and complies with the Club’s policies and procedures, is not obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, is not discriminatory or hateful to another member or person affiliated to the Club such as, but not limited to, a committee member, member, judge or sponsor, is respectful of all individuals and communities and the opinions of others, does not bring into disrepute the reputation of the Club, is not confidential to the Club, individual members of the Club or a person affiliated to the Club such as, but not limited to a member, a judge or sponsor, does not include personal information relating to another member of the Club or a person affiliated to the Club such as, but not limited to, a judge or sponsor, without their express written consent, does not include any photographs copyrighted to another member unless express permission has been sought and given by the individual member to whom the photograph belongs.

 

Membership – Suspension Expulsion

Any Member who, in the opinion of The Club Committee, has been guilty of conduct detrimental to the interests of The Club may, after due process and consideration, be sanctioned up to and including suspension. As far as possible such matters shall remain confidential.

 

Complaints

If Complaints cannot be resolved informally, they shall be made in writing to the Chairperson who, if unable to remove the cause or resolve the issue, shall submit them to The Club Committee, where appropriate, whose decision shall be final.  

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Interpretation

The Club Committee shall be the sole authority for the interpretation of these rules and its decision shall be final and binding on all concerned.Copies of this Constitution will be posted on The Club website for information of members.No member shall be absolved from the effects of the Rules contained in this Constitution, on the basis of being unaware of or not having received a copy of said rules. Any contingency not covered by these Rules will be dealt with at the discretion of The Club Committee.

 

Dissolution of the Club:

If upon the winding up or dissolution of the Club there remains, after satisfaction of all debts and liabilities, any property whatsoever, it shall not be paid to or distributed among the members of the Club. Instead, such property shall be given or transferred to some other institution or institutions having main objects similar to the main objects of the Club. The institution or institutions to which the property is to be given or transferred shall prohibit the distribution of their income and property among their members to an extent at least as great as is imposed on the Club under or by virtue of the Income and Property clause hereof. Members of the Club shall select the relevant institution or institutions at or before the time of dissolution, and if and so far as effect cannot be given to such provisions, then the property shall be given or transferred to some charitable object. Final accounts will be prepared and submitted that will include a section that identifies and values any assets transferred along with the details of the recipients and the terms of the transfer. 

 

 

Dated 7th March 2022