Constitution of Bristol Riichi Mahjong

1. Name and Objectives

The club shall be called Bristol Riichi Mahjong. The objectives of the club shall be to enable, facilitate and promote the playing of riichi mahjong in and around Bristol. It shall also seek to collaborate with other clubs to help promote the wider playing of riichi mahjong in the United Kingdom (UK) and Republic of Ireland (RoI).

2. Composition and Membership

  1. The club shall consist of individual members.
  2. Membership is automatically awarded to anyone who has completed at least one game at a club Meetup in the last calendar year.
  3. Membership is lost if that individual does not complete a game at a club Meetup for one calendar year, unless this is waived by a simple majority of the Executive.
  4. A participant in club events may waive their right to membership and a member may revoke their own membership at any time.

3. Governing Body

  1. The governing body of the club shall be an elected Executive.
  2. The Executive will include, at minimum, the following positions:
    1. Chair
    2. Co-chair.
  3. The holders of these posts must be distinct individuals, and members of the club.

4. The Executive

  1. Members of the Executive have the power to:
    1. Deal with all business of the club and decide on policy.
    2. Ensure that the aims of the club (as set out in section 1) are carried out.
    3. Be the final authority for interpretation of the game and the rules at all events held by the club.
    4. Form sub-committees for any purpose.
    5. Deal with urgent business of the club. If needed, these should be ratified at a subsequent General Meeting.
    6. Do anything ancillary to or connected with the above powers.
    7. Attend ex-officio any sub-committee meeting.
    8. Review complaints about members and decide upon any disciplinary action required.
  2. Duties of the Officers forming the Executive:
    1. The Chair:
      1. The Chair shall be responsible for calling all meetings of the Executive and General Meetings and shall act as chairman at said meetings.
      2. They shall have unlimited authority over every question of order, unless challenged by a simple majority of the members present.
      3. On all voting matters, in the case of a tie, the Chair shall have a casting vote in addition to their ordinary vote.
      4. The Chair shall keep minutes of all meetings of the Executive and of General Meetings.
      5. The Chair will be responsible for all correspondence of the club.
    2. Co-Chair:
      1. The Co-Chair shall support the Chair in performing their duties.
      2. The Co-Chair shall perform the duties of the Chair in the latter’s absence.

5. General Meetings

  1. The quorum of a General Meeting shall be five (5) members, including the Executive.
  2. Votes may not be proxied at a General Meeting.
  3. All members are entitled to one (1) vote.
  4. An Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be held once a year.
  5. An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) may be held at the request of not fewer than four members. This must be held within one month of the request being received by the Executive.
  6. Both EGMs and AGMs require that notice of not less than one (1) week be provided to all members of the club, including the date, time, location and agenda of the meeting. This notice will set the agenda for the meeting.
  7. EGMs and AGMs may be hosted either in person or online. Where possible, the forum hosted should help facilitate the maximum possible attendance of club members.
  8. Motions may be proposed either in advance of a meeting by emailing bristolriichimahjong@gmail.com, or during Any Other Business within an EGM/AGM. These must be seconded by another member to be voted upon.
  9. Motions require a simple majority to pass, unless they involve a change to the constitution, in which case a two-thirds majority is needed.
  10. All posts in the Executive will be up for election at each AGM. The current Executive will vacate their post as of the end of the AGM (unless re-elected). There are no term limits on any post. Unforeseen vacancies of Executive posts will trigger an EGM.
  11. New posts for the Executive must be submitted as per a change to the constitution and elected accordingly.
  12. All General Meetings shall be minuted by the Chair, and these shall be distributed to the members within 14 calendar days of the meeting.

6. Alterations to the Constitution

Changes to the constitution may only be made at a General Meeting, as described above.

7. Communication and Member Data

  1. Members and non-members may request to join the mailing list held through the bristolriichimahjong@gmail.com email account.
  2. Only members of the Executive have access to the bristolriichimahjong@gmail.com email account.
  3. Any individual on the mailing list may request to be removed from the mailing list at any time. The Executive must honour this request within 14 calendar days of receiving the request and must remove the individual’s contact profile from the bristolriichimahjong@gmail.com email account.
  4. At the start of each year, a confirmation email will be sent to all current mailing list recipients for them to confirm their desire to remain on the mailing list.
  5. All communications sent to the mailing list recipients must be via blind carbon copy (bcc) to prevent the sharing of email data.
  6. Only official club communications will be sent through this mailing list.
  7. Abuse of the mailing list or sharing of mailing list member data without the express permission of the member is not permitted.

8. Conditions Governing Members

  1. A member must at all times abide by the constitution and authority of the club.
  2. When playing at an event in the jurisdiction of another authority, a member is required to abide by the rules of that authority.
  3. All complaints regarding the behaviour of members should be submitted in writing to the Executive via bristolriichimahjong@gmail.com.
  4. Any member who has a complaint raised against them shall be given the opportunity to be heard by the Executive.
  5. The outcome of any complaints raised shall be communicated to the complainant in writing.

9. Meetups

Club Meetups (hence: Meetups) are any gatherings organised officially under the club by the Executive.

Meetups should adhere to the following set of rules:

  1. The Meetup will be advertised as run by the club
  2. The Meetup will be advertised publicly
  3. The Meetup will have the following details included in advertisements:
    1. The time and date of the Meetup
    2. The location of the Meetup
    3. Any costs for attendance to the Meetup
    4. Any limitations to attendance numbers for the Meetup
    5. The Rules of riichi mahjong games to be played at the Meetup (if defined as “casual games” then rules are at the discretion of the players during the Meetup).

10. Dissolution

Upon dissolution of the club its assets, after all debts and liabilities are paid, shall be distributed in accordance with the wishes of those voting at a General Meeting.

This constitution was voted in at the Annual General Meeting on 23rd February 2025.

Bristol Riichi Mahjong

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