Aims & Rules of the Group

Aims and ambitions

  1. We are a BN member club welcoming BN and non-BN members alike.
  2. We promote non-discriminatory and inclusive naturism.
  3. We welcome new members to the Group whether they are experienced naturists or new to the lifestyle.
  4. We will run naturists events that reflect the interests of the Group’s members and the expectations of BN.

Rules of Group

  1. The Group will comply with the legislation of England and Wales and Scotland.
  2. The Group will be a member club of BN, paying the annual subscription for this support.
  3. The Group’s approach to membership is to be inclusive of those interested to join us and could reasonably be expected to join meetings and events.  However, the Group maintains the right to refuse membership to a person who is on the UK Sex Offenders Register.
  4. Events and meetings may be organised to be in-person or through videoconferencing.
  5. Given the geographic area the Group covers, approximately the British Naturism North Western Region, we recognise that there may be significant travel distances for members to attend events.
  6. Where events are held at a landed club, we recognise that our members are guests of that club, need to be accepted by it and follow its rules.  However, we will seek to only visit clubs that are sympathetic to the inclusive Aims and Ambitions of the Outreach Group above.
  7. Communications within the Group will be supported by social media platforms such as WhatsApp.
  8. Members are to behave with respect for those we interact with and adopt the naturist standards promoted by British Naturism (BN).
  9. Members of the Group are asked to provide registration information that includes, home address, phone number, email address, emergency contact details and BN membership number.  On joining the Group, members will be added to the social media platform sharing their first name, an initial and mobile phone number.  The list of information will be held by the Management Committee only.  The Group will not provide the list of information to third parties.  Members are asked to update their information with the Committee as and when it changes.
  10. The Group will hold information for three years and then delete records, with the exception of our banking records where information will be held by the Group for seven years.
  11. The members of the Group will delegate operational management of the Group to the Management Committee.
  12. Misbehaviour – any member who is aware of a concern that a member of the Group is misbehaving such that it might bring the Group into disrepute should inform the chair of the Management Committee directly.
  13. If the Group accumulates funds more than the preceding three years annual expenditure, the Management Committee may seek AGM approval to gift money to UK registered charities, the Group accounts should not be reduced to less than the previous three years of expenditure through this process.

Management Committee of the Group

  1. The Management Committee will normally have between three and seven members.
  2. Membership of the Committee will be confirmed at the AGM.  Membership is to be reconfirmed every two years.
  3. A chair, treasurer and secretary function will support the committee.  The Chair will then allocate roles to meet the Group’s management needs.
  4. Each member of the Management Committee will have an equal vote, in the event of tied votes the Chair will have the deciding vote.
  5. The bank account will be with a UK “high street” bank.  Three members of the committee will have authorisation to make payments.   Two members of the committee will be required to authorise each payment.  Ideally, committee members would not authorise payments to themselves or to their partner, where this needs to happen another member of the committee is to give their approval prior to the payment being made.
  6. The Management Committee will review the risks of the Group and treat them where possible.  This approach will determine whether policy statements or insurance cover should be in place.  Where insurance is required the Management Committee may proceed to put the cover in place without reference or approval of the AGM.
  7. Misbehaviour – any concerns of misbehaviour by a member should be reported to the Chair. 
    1. The Chair will notify the relevant member that a complaint has been received against them and that the Group’s misbehaviour review process needs to be progressed.  The chair will keep confidential the details of who made the complaint.
    1. Appointment of the review panel:           Having received such a report, the Chair will identify one member of the Management Committee to review the concern raised and invite the person about whom the criticism has been made to identify another member of the Group to act as a co-reviewer. 
    1. The review panel will:
      1. work in confidence,
      1. agree how the review will be carried out with the Chair
      1. confirm the detail of the allegation with the person raising the concerns, recognising the need for confidentiality throughout the review
      1. gather information about the issue raised to enable them to take a view on whether the concern raised could reasonably be considered to bring the Group into disrepute
      1. provide a brief written report to the Chair, ideally this would report would provide a joint view of the reviewers, however, if that can’t be reached the report should provide the views of each reviewer.
      1. The review (stages (I) to (v) above) should take no more than three weeks
    1. The Chair will then formulate a view as to whether the member is found to have brought the Group into disrepute. 
    1. If that is the case, the Chair may decide to terminate their membership of the Group and the individual will not be eligible to attend Group events or meetings thereafter. 
    1. If the individual (terminated member) wants to appeal the decision, they will need the support of another member of the Group to organise an extraordinary general meeting, the Chair may review the decision in the light of the conclusion of the extraordinary general meeting and has the opportunity to re-instate membership of the individual.

Formal Group meetings

  1. AGM – The Management Committee will organise an AGM once a year giving members a minimum of 10 days’ notice of the meeting.  The quorum for AGM will be seven members.
  2. At the AGM the Management Committee will report as a minimum on:
    1. Group finance
    1. Planned events
    1. Selection of new members of the Management Committee
  3. The chair will decide what information needs to be circulated prior to the meeting.
  4. Extraordinary Meetings – If five or more members request an extraordinary general meeting, the Management Committee will organise such a meeting.  Those seeking the meeting will circulate information prior to the meeting and chair the discussion.  The quorum for an extraordinary general meeting will be ten members of the Group.

Closure of the Group

  1. If the Group reaches a position where it is not in a viable position to continue operating and it must be dissolved the remaining funds will be donated to British Naturism.