Constitution
Fareham and Gosport Mind ltd
(Quality Management in Mind)
Constitution Policy
1. Membership
1.1 Membership of Fareham and Gosport Mind is free, however members must register their details with the company.
In the event of the company becoming insolvent all members are required to pay the sum of £1 towards the costs.
1.2 Membership shall be open to all.
1.3 The Company Secretary shall keep a register of members. The information will be kept secure and not divulged to any other person or group, without the permission of the member.
2. Officers
2.1 The Board of Directors shall be appointed annually. They can serve a term of three years if they wish to. After the three-year period they may stand again, but must be nominated and seconded by members of the company.
3. The Executive Officers
The Executive Officers of Fareham and Gosport Ltd will stand in office for a period of 1 year and can be re-elected at the 1st Board meeting following the AGM if they wish to continue. The Chair can stand in office for a period of three years but cannot be re-elected to this position after this time. The Board may co-op Trustee Directors during the year.
The Board of Trustee Directors shall have no less than nine, and no more than fourteen members, and no more than 50% should be mental health service users, and not less than two should have experience in working in Mental Health.
The Board of Trustee Directors should meet no less than four times per year (not including the AGM). All board members shall have equal voting rights.
A professional adviser may be invited to board meetings but will have no voting rights.
A minute secretary can be appointed to the board but will have no voting rights.
All Trustee directors can stand for re-election each year there is no limit to the time they sit on the Board.
4. Quorum
A board meeting will not go ahead if there are less than 3 Trustee Directors present.
The AGM will be held yearly not before 12 months or after 18 months of the previous year’s AGM.
In accordance with Charity law 21 days’ notice must be given when an AGM is being called.
An AGM will not go ahead if there is less that 10% of the membership in attendance.
5. Positions
5.1 Chairman
The Chairman shall take the chair at all meetings of the board of Trustee Directors. He/She will be responsible for the organisation of Board/Executive and Annual General meetings. He/She can then enlist the help of Manager, Company Secretary, or other Executive of the board to action this.
If the Chair is not in attendance at a Board meeting another member of the executive committee shall Chair the meeting.
5.2 Company Secretary (If charity is a Ltd Company)
He/She will have charge of all documents relating to the current business of the company.
He/she may attend any committee or other meetings of the Company.
5.3 Executive/Management Committee
The Executive/Management Committee shall meet every six weeks and deal with any day-to-day business. This meeting will be led by the Management.
The Executive Committee shall have equal voting rights.
The Executive Committee and or The Managers will have the power to spend up to £1000 without notification to the Board.
The Executive/Management Committee will be made up of The Executive Board, Manager, and Groups Manager. On occasions other directors or the Finance Advisor may be invited to attend. As with the board 50% only may be mental Health service users.
5.4 Auditor
The Auditor shall be appointed at the AGM. He/She may examine all the documents relating to the financial affairs of the Company.
April 2011
Fareham and Gosport Mind Ltd
(Quality Management in Mind)
Equal Opportunities
Fareham and Gosport Mind Ltd recognise that certain groups in society are discriminated against and do not get equal access to resources.
We are committed to ensuring that, within the law, we do not discriminate, for example, on grounds of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexuality, class, age, marital status, or responsibility for dependants.
Fareham and Gosport Mind Ltd recognise that people with mental health problems often face
discrimination when seeking access to advice, housing, support, treatment, education and employment. We seek to redress this balance by actively promoting the involvement of Mind service users and others with experience of mental health problems in the work of the organisation.
We also recognise that statements alone do not bring about change. We are
committed to integrating equal opportunities into all areas of our work.
We fully accept the statutory requirements laid down in the Race Relations Act 1976,
the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Equal Pay Act 1970 and the Disability
Discrimination Act 1995 and aim to extend the spirit of these acts to cover other
disadvantaged groups not currently protected by law.
It is the responsibility of all employees and trustees to promote the application of this
policy and to constructively challenge discriminatory behaviour.
Fareham and Gosport Mind Ltd will take with regard to:
Access to services
Service delivery
Recruitment of staff
Training
Marketing
Partnerships
Involving service users
Governance
Monitoring and review
Implementation
Fareham and Gosport Mind Ltd are committed to make the Equal Opportunities Policy a reality by:
Ensuring all employees understand they have a contractual obligation to apply
this policy positively in all aspects of their work.
Ensuring that the Senior Management Team and Board of Trustees understand
their responsibilities for the policies implementation and the monitoring of its
effectiveness.
Taking necessary action to ensure that the policy is implemented including, when
necessary, use of disciplinary procedures.
Including all these actions into the annual planning cycles of the organisation.
February 2011