TREAD THE BOARDS YOUTH MUSIC THEATRE

CONSTITUTION AND RULES

(1) NAME
The Society shall be called TREAD THE BOARDS YOUTH MUSIC THEATRE (Hereafter known as the Society).

(2) OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Society are to:-
·     Provide a permanent Youth Music Theatre in Dundee and the surrounding area.
·     Encourage participation in theatre amongst young people in the region.
·     Develop the linguistic and literary skills of young people.
·     Cultivate the arts of music and drama, particularly amongst young people, and to encourage public appreciation of these arts.
·     Develop the creative skills of young people through the craft of theatre.
·     Encourage young people to work together as a community and in so doing experience the practical workings of theatre while respecting its skills and disciplines.

(3) MEMBERSHIP
There are three categories of membership – Child, Juvenile and Adult.

3.1 Child membership is open to young people aged 12 or under.

3.2 Juvenile membership is open to young people aged 13 to 19.

3.3 Adult membership is open to anyone aged 20 or over at the discretion of the Artistic Director(s).

3.4 Membership is open to all persons sharing the Society's objectives regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin or disability. There is no geographical or residence restriction on membership. The Executive Officers and Management Committee reserve the right to refuse membership or renewal of membership to persons having a history outside the society of those behaviours which would bring about expulsion (see section 6).

(4) ADMINISTRATION
The administration of the Society shall be conducted by the Executive Officers and Management Committee.

4.1 The Executive Officers are the governing body consisting of The Artistic Director(s), The Pastoral Co-ordinator and Life Members. Life Members are initially appointed by The Artistic Director(s). The Artistic Director(s) will then invite nominations from such persons as they deem suitable from Parents (or Relatives) of Acting Members or Former Acting Members and from Senior Acting Members, who would be willing to serve on the Management Committee.

4.2 The Management Committee shall be comprised of nine officers elected at an Annual General Meeting, consisting of The Chairman, Vice-Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer, Business Manager, Membership Secretary, Ticket Secretary, Publicity Manager and Fund-Raising Convener, who are responsible for long-term planning and setting and monitoring project budgets.

4.3     Performing members aged 13 and over are eligible to vote at an AGM. Adult members who are parents of children under the age of 13 are eligible to vote on a pro-rata basis - one vote per child member. Two weeks notice is required for an AGM, which will be held as soon as practicable after the last production of the year. The previous year's Management Committee is dissolved at each AGM and each officer wishing to continue in his/her post must submit himself/herself for re-election. There is no limit to the number of times that the same officer may be re-elected. All persons standing for election must be prepared to be police-checked for suitability to work with young people. Persons failing a police-check are ineligible to serve on the Management Committee.

4.4     The Management Committee shall meet at least once every month, the Chairman having a vote and a casting vote. The meeting shall be conducted by the Chairman or by a person appointed by him/her. No business other than the formal adjournment of the meeting shall be transacted at any meeting unless a quorum of 4 is present. As Executive Officers of the Society, The Artistic Director(s) are required to attend all committee meetings.

4.5      POWERS OF THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR(S)
The Artistic Director(s) shall have the powers to:-
·     Appoint Directing Staff for all productions, who are responsible for auditioning and choosing the cast for the work in progress.
·     Select the works to be produced by the Society.
·     Revise the cast from time to time, if an acting member to whom a character has been assigned shall in his/her opinion prove unsuitable for the part.
·     Appoint a project team of individuals with administrative, technical and artistic skills, drawn from inside and outside the society, who in his/her opinion are capable of working harmoniously together to bring about a successful completion of the project. The Director is a member of the project team. The project team is dissolved at the end of each project. An individual may be a member of more than one project team.
·     Administer the finances of the project within a budget agreed by the Management Committee and supervised by the Treasurer.   Give an account of the project's incomes and expenditure to the Management Committee. Collection of fees and administration of petty cash may be delegated.
·     Contract to hire performance, rehearsal and storage premises, scenery, stage-properties, costumes, general equipment and supplies, performing rights and the services of non-members with specialist skills.
·     Arbitrate and resolve contentions between roles and responsibilities of the project team members.
·     Temporarily override all other functions of the Society in order to deal with health and safety problems.
·     Appoint a Pastoral Co-ordinator to administer Chaperoning needs at rehearsals and performances.

4.6 POWERS OF THE PASTORAL CO-ORDINATOR
The Pastoral Co-ordinator shall have the powers to:-
·     Appoint a Head Chaperone and organise a rota for the Pastoral Team to cover all rehearsals and performances. Insist that all Chaperones are police-checked.
·     Administer first aid, if required. Care for the safety and well-being of members of the company at all times.
·     Break up divisive cliques.

4.7 POWERS OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
The Management Committee shall have the powers to:-
·     Raise funds.
·     Hold funds in bank or building society accounts.
·     Authorise expenditure of funds for the purposes of the Society.
·     Co-opt additional and replacement officers. All co-opted officers automatically become members of the Society, if they are not already.
·     Call an extraordinary general meeting with one week's notice.
·     Expel or suspend members from the Society.
·     Waive the subscriptions of members in cases of financial hardship. Such situations are to be treated with total confidentiality.
·     Approve, monitor and enforce agreed codes of conduct.
·     Set up sub-committees to administer fund-raising and social events.

4.8 LEGAL STATUS OF THE OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
The Chairman, Vice-Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer, Business Manager, Membership Secretary, Ticket Secretary, Publicity Manager, Fund-Raising Convener, Artistic Director(s) and Pastoral Co-ordinator are legally required to be adults, as they must be able to contract to hire venues, properties, scenery, etc., and arrange insurance and administer funds.

(5) FINANCES

5.1 The Management Committee will keep accounts which will be audited annually. In addition, for each production the Treasurer will present a statement to the Management Committee summarising major sources of income and expenditure for the production. The Management Committee will appoint an independent auditor.

5.2 Persons authorised to sign cheques for expenditure are to be agreed by The Artistic Director(s) and Management Committee. There will be four signatories for any account, one of whom shall be the Treasurer. The Management Committee may decide to set up a separate petty cash account to an agreed maximum sum. All receipts from petty cash expenditure are to be clearly identified as such and signed by the user and forwarded to the Treasurer or person delegated to deal with petty cash.

5.3 All funds shall be held in major banks or building societies and shall not be used for speculative investment.

5.4 Subscriptions are to be agreed by the Management Committee and may be changed at no greater frequency than three times a year. Nominal weekly subscriptions are payable by performing members to the Membership Secretary or his/her deputy on a non-refundable basis.

5.5 In the event of the Management Committee waiving subscriptions, the fact that this has been done is to be recorded for auditing purposes. However to preserve confidentiality the names of the members are not to be recorded as part of the openly accessible accounts.

5.6 FUNDING OF SOCIAL EVENTS
It is recognised that as well as having dramatic and artistic objectives, the Society has social and personal development functions for its young members. Accordingly the Management Committee may from time to time arrange parties, trips, barbecues, etc. Any subsidy for any such expenditure is to come solely from the money raised by the members.

Social events may receive income only from members' own contributions in the form of:

5.6.1 A contribution towards the cost of the event.
5.6.2 A proportion of the members' subscriptions to be decided by the Management Committee.
5.6.3 A proportion of takings from coffee mornings, car boot sales and raffles.
5.6.4 Social events must not be subsidised from any grant, sponsorship, or any other external donation, or from ticket or programme sales, or from patronage unless the patron specifically requests the money be used for that purpose.

(6) EXPULSIONS
Members may be expelled by the Management Committee on the grounds of :-

6.1 Deliberate or grossly negligent violations of safety procedures.
6.2 Disruptive, discriminatory or divisive behaviour including racist and sexist verbal abuse or harassment.
6.3 Activities which bring the Society into disrepute.
6.4 Gross misuse of the Society's funds or properties, or properties loaned to the Society.

(7) ALTERATIONS TO THE CONSTITUTION
Proposed alterations to the constitution are to be approved at the Annual General Meeting.

(8) DISSOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY
8.1 The Society shall be dissolved by majority vote of the Management Committee. Should the Management Committee decide to dissolve the Society all further expenditure is to be frozen. When the auditor has confirmed that the Society has no outstanding financial obligations all remaining funds are to be donated to local arts societies with similar objectives to Tread The Boards YMT, subject to the constraint that no society may receive more than one third of the remaining funds.

8.2 No funds arising from dissolution are to be distributed to members of the Society. All properties are to be offered free of charge to local youth theatres, drama groups and schools.

28/06/2009