CONSTITUTION AND RULES

24th June 2025

THE CLUB

NAME - The name of The Club shall be: - Reddish Angling Club.

Also referred to as: - Jacksons 

Address - The address of The Club shall be that of The Club Secretary or Treasurer, as amended from time to time.

Form - The Club shall be a Private Members Coarse Fishing Club. 

The Clubs Headquarters

Houldsworth Working Men’s Club.

Leamington Road

Reddish

Stockport. SK5 6BD

The address of the clubs headquarters can change from time to time.

Objective - The objectives of The Club shall be to promote coarse angling in Reddish and in the wider community and encourage the good fellowship of all anglers.

Property - The Club’s property consists of the land, water, equipment and fish stocks situated adjacent to Melanie Drive, Rothay Drive and Harcourt Street playing fields in North Reddish. Known locally as “Jacksons Pond” 

Trustees

• The Clubs Property shall be vested in The Club Trustees.
• The Trustees shall have in relation to The Club’s property all the powers of an absolute owner and shall be indemnified by The Club against any action, cost or claim, incurred in their capacity as Trustees of The Club.
• The property and funds of the club shall be applied solely towards the objectives of the club and shall not be used to confer any private benefit upon any trustee, member, individual, or organization, except in the pursuit of the club’s stated purposes and only where such benefit is incidental and reasonable.
• No less than two and no more than four trustees to be appointed at anyone time.
• Trustees remain as such until time as they request to resign, and a replacement is nominated or become deceased or that if in the opinion of the trustees and the committee of the club any trustee appears unfit through mental impairment, they can require the trustee in writing to retire from their duties.
• Any new proposed trustee must be elected by a vote taken by the committee prior to being appointed into position.
• Trustees must have a least three consecutive year’s membership before being accepted as such.

Management - The Management of the Club shall be vested in a Committee consisting of not less than eight and no more than sixteen members to assume such areas of responsibility as the committee shall determine. The names of the members serving on the committee will be recorded on The Clubs web site www.reddishanglingclub.com and will be amended from time to time as required.

• Candidates for the positions of Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer must have completed three consecutive years of membership. All other Committee positions may be filled by members co-opted onto the Committee as needed, and ratified at the next available AGM. All candidates must be senior members.
• The members of the committee are elected by the members at the appropriate AGM for a term of three years. After their full term they may stand for re-election. 
• The Committee will have due regard to the law on disability, discrimination and child protection. 
• The committee shall uphold and enforce The Club rules. 

 The Committee shall have the power to:

• Co-opt members to fill vacancies created by the resignation of any officer from the committee. 
• A co-opted member of the committee must stand for election at the next available AGM.
• The committee has full powers in all matters save that it will not interfere with or amend any decision of the Annual General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting.
• In the event that a number of Committee members resign from their posts, leaving the Committee partially constituted (e.g., 5 out of 8 members resigning), the remaining Committee members shall, in the case of an emergency, have full authority to act as the situation requires in order to safeguard the wellbeing of the Club, its property, and its finances, in cooperation with the Trustees.
• Members serving on the committee are expected to paying the annual subscription fee. 

Committee Roles

Chairman - The Chairman’s role is to control all meetings of The Club, ensuring that the meetings are conducted in an orderly manner as per the rules of The Club, enforcing were necessary those rules. The Chairman has a casting vote which must and can only be used in the event of a tied vote.

Club Secretary - The Club Secretary’s role is to co-ordinate in conjunction with the other members of the committee and the membership in general the activities of The Club. The Club Secretary must correspond and liaise with the various external bodies that impact on The Clubs activities.

Treasurer - The Treasure is responsible for the keeping of proper and correct records of The Clubs finances, providing an audited final account of each year’s finances which is given to the members at the AGM 

Minutes Secretary - The Minutes Secretary is responsible for keeping an accurate record of the proceedings of each meeting, which are to be read out loud at the following meeting to ensure that the record is accurate and understood by those parties concerned. Proposed and seconded by attending members.

Membership Secretary - The Membership Secretary’s duties are to keep an accurate record of the membership and monitor attendances as appropriate.

Junior Secretary - The Junior Secretary is responsible for the running of the junior section of The Club, its matches and general membership.

Club Welfare officer - The club Welfare is the person who has responsibility for receiving and acting upon concerns reported to them within the club setting. The CWO should be selected for their skills and knowledge, such as being able to handle safeguarding matters in an appropriate and confidential manner, also to do specialist training in this field if available.

Head Bailiff - The Head Bailiff’s responsibility is for policing the club’s pond and enforcing the clubs’ rules when and where necessary.

Fisheries Officer - The Fisheries Officers responsibility is for the water in The Clubs ponds and everything in them, i.e. fish stocks, plants, weeds and other aquatic life, , also in practice the fisheries and banks officer are to work closely together, liaise with each other before undertaking any works on the club water.

Banks Officer - The Banks Officer is responsible for everything above the waterline on The Clubs pond, i.e. the banks, pegs, trees and other flora, also in practice the fisheries and banks officer are to work closely together, liaise with each other before undertaking any works on the club water

Match Secretary - The Match Secretary’s responsibility is the organization and running of The Clubs angling matches. The Match Secretary is also responsible for the provision of accounts relating to the matches held, detailing the date, venue number of pegs booked/sold etc. These accounts must be passed to the treasurer no later than 31st October for their provision in that year’s final account.

Media Support  - Update the wed site / Facebook with up-to-date information regarding Reddish Angling Club 1951, and promote the club using these platforms.

Finances - The Clubs funds are invested with the: - 

NatWest Bank 

Stockport Underbank Hall Branch.

10 Great Underbank Stockport Cheshire SK1 1LL.

• The Club operates a current account for use in all financial transactions.
• The Club operates a reserve fund in the form of a savings account specifically for use in times of need.
• The funds of The Club cannot be used for the direct or indirect private benefit of the trustees, any member or group of members or any other person, persons or organisation. 
• Funds from the reserve fund account must be transferred into the current account by the Treasurer prior to being released for use and then only by agreement of the committee.
• All transactions are too made by cheque unless agreed by the committee beforehand.
• The signatures for the current and savings account are to be governed by a bank mandate which only members of the committee are to be signatory to, with a minimum of two nominated committee members signatures required to access the accounts one of whom must be the Treasurer.
• On-line banking to be use for;- direct debits/ on-line payments/ bank statements only. 
• The use of a bank credit card is sole to be used by the acting treasurer.
• The Club also operates a petty cash account for use on sundry items at the discretion of the Secretary.
• The petty cash account must be passed to the treasurer no later than 31st October for their provision in that year’s final account.
• The petty cash account is to be capped at £300.00. i.e when funds in this account require topping up then the amount transferred from the current account cannot exceed £300.00.

Transactions

• A written estimate for any goods or services to be purchased by The Club must be sought and must be on valid company note papers and must be presented to the committee prior to any agreement to release any funds. The authorization to use The Clubs funds for any goods and services must be taken at a bona fide committee meeting and the decision recorded in the minutes.
• No member is to purchase any goods or services on behalf of The Club without the prior agreement of the committee. 
• All goods and services purchased by cheque or with cash from the petty cash account must be accompanied by a valid receipt. These receipts must be passed on to the treasurer no later than October 31st in order for him to complete the balance sheet prior to the AGM.
• Under no circumstances will any monies be paid to any member for goods or services purchased on The Clubs behalf without an authentic / valid receipt.
• The Clubs financial year will run from November 1st – October 31st
• The Clubs accounts are to be subject to an independent audit.
• The Clubs audited accounts are then to be presented for approval by the Treasurer at the annual general meeting.

Membership - Membership of the Club shall be open to anyone interested in Coarse Angling upon application and approval. No Person shall be refused membership on the basis of sex, gender reassignment, disability, race, ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or other belief, in accordance with applicable equality legislations. The club retains the right to limit the total number of members in consideration of the available facilities. Any such limitations shall be implemented in a fair, transparent, and non- discriminatory manor. Access to facilities will be subjected to the club’s technical, financial, and operations capacities.

At the date of the adoption of this constitution the classes of membership are: -

Senior Member, (16 to 66 years of age)

Senior Citizen Member, (66 years and above)

Junior Member, (12 to 15 years)

 Carers/ associated permit - Members who wish to be accompanied by a non- fishing person may apply for an "Carers/ associated Permit" for that person. The carer may only be present on Jackson's pond when accompanied by the full member. The carer has no fishing rights and no vote or right to speak at club meetings. The carer and the associate members must always have their membership card with them when on Jackson's pond. The full member is responsible for the conduct of both classes. All individuals granted access under a carer or associate members must carry their membership card while present at Jackson’s pond.  The primary member associated with the individuals holds full responsibility for their conduct while on site. The number or cares permits issued will be determined at the discretion of the committee, based on relevant considerations.

Membership will run from 1st April 31st March - Existing members must renew their membership at any of the three March joining meetings.  (There is no general meeting in March). These meetings will be on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Wednesday of the month at the clubs headquarters, commencing at 19:30hrs. Members must bring their existing membership card when re-joining. Members attempting to renew membership after the March meetings must re-pay the joining fee.

New members

• Reddish Angling Club reserves the right to decline any application for membership.
• No new memberships will be dealt with until the third Wednesday in March meetings.
• Thereafter, membership applications will be dealt with ONLY at the end of a general meeting commencing with the April meeting. 
• New members must fill in an application form. These forms are available on line at www.reddishanglingclub.com or on request from the members Secretary.
• The completed form must be proposed and seconded by existing members. 
• The proposing and seconding members are responsible for the conduct of the new member for the first year. In the event of misconduct on the part of the new member; the members who proposed and seconded that member may have their right to propose new members withdrawn.
• The signed application form must be accompanied by two current passport style photographs and presented to the members Secretary at the end of the general meeting.

New membership fees consist of the following;

Joining fee - Senior £00.00, Senior Citizen £00.00 – junior £00

Yearly subscription fee – Senior £00.00, Senior Citizen £00.00 – junior £00

Gate/ barrier key / card key fee - £00.00 (£00 card key replacement, £00.00 gate replacement)

Carers and associated members permit fee - £ 00.00 (This is to cover administration fees)

Details of the current fees can be found on our web site or on application from the members Secretary

Payment can be made by cheque or cash only.

Cheques payable to: - Reddish Angling Club.

No memberships will be dealt with before the general meeting commences, No memberships will be dealt with at an AGM or at an EAGM. These fees will be reviewed on a yearly basis and any proposed changes to the membership fees will be subject to a notice of motion from the committee at the AGM.

Please Note;-All membership cards and gate/ barrier keys remain the property of The Club.

Details of membership fees can be found on The Clubs web site www.reddishanglingclub.com. Members records will be held on a secure computer and details will not be passed to any third party or used in way other than for the regulation of membership. Copies of the details held are available on request. (Data protection 2018 )

Conduct Policy

All member of the club are expected to adhere fully to the rules and regulations as outlined in the official Constitution and rule book. Membership in the club is both a privilege and a responsibility, and members must uphold the values and reputation of the club at all times.

General Conduct

Members must conduct themselves in a respectful, responsible, and courteous manner. As representatives of the Club, each member’s behaviour reflects on the organization as a whole

The Club adopts a zero-tolerance approach to any form of:

Violence, 

Threats or aggression,

Bullying or harassment,

Discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or any other legally protected characteristic

Disciplinary Procedures:

Breaches of the club’s rules may result in disciplinary action. The severity of the action taken will be proportionate to the nature and seriousness of the breach.

Sanctions may include:

Verbal or written warnings.

Temporary suspension of membership.

Full expulsion from the club.

Disciplinary decisions shall be made by the club committee or a specially convened disciplinary Panel.

To ensure fairness:

Any person involved in the alleged incident (e.g., a witness or complainant) shall not participate in the decision-making process.

Both the complainant and the respondent shall be entitled to equal procedural rights (“equality of arms”), including access to any facilities such as remote testimony options.

All accused members shall be presumed innocent unless proven otherwise, and hearings must be conducted impartially.

Appeals Process:

Members have the right to appeal any disciplinary decision.

Appeals must be submitted in writing to the committee within 7 days of notification of the decision.

A separate Appeals Panel, consisting of individuals not involved in the original decision, shall hear the appeal.

Members may present their appeal in person and be accompanied by a representative if they wish.

Legal Compliance

All members are required to:

Hold a valid Environment Agency Non-Migratory Trout and Coarse Fishing Licence,

Comply with all relevant North West Region Rod Fishing Bye-laws,

Environment Agency Bailiffs have full authority to access Club waters at any time to conduct licence and compliance checks.

Committee Meetings

• Except for December, committee meetings are held on the last Wednesday of each month, at The Clubs headquarters commencing at 19:30hrs prompt. It is compulsory that all committee members attend. It is correct and proper that they send apologies for their absence.
• No non-committee members or members of the public are permitted to attend the committee meetings unless specifically invited by the committee.
• A minimum of five committee members is required to form a quorum (i.e. the minimum number of members present for a meeting to be held is five)

General Meeting

• General meetings are held at The Clubs headquarters on the first Wednesday of each month (except January, March and December) commencing at 20:00hrs prompt.
• All matters must be addressed to the Chairman. The speaker must first state their name and only one person should speak at a time thus allowing that person to be heard.
• No junior members are permitted at the General Meeting unless specifically invited by the committee. Similarly, no senior members are permitted at the junior meeting.
• A minimum of fifteen members is required to form a quorum (i.e. the minimum number of members present for a meeting to be held is fifteen).
• Members are required to attend a minimum of four meeting per year.
• Members must sign the meeting attendance book when attending a general meeting.
• A fine of £2.50 is imposed for each one of the four meetings missed. I.E. none attendance of any meetings will result in a £10.00 fine and must be paid before renewing their membership
• Any member who has a genuine reason for not attending the meetings can write to the Secretary giving a brief explanation of the reason (you do not need to go into personal or medical detail) after which the member will be excused from complying with the requirement.

Annual General Meeting (AGM)

• The AGM is held on the First Wednesday of December at The Clubs headquarters commencing at 8pm prompt and its function is as follows.
• To elect officers of The Club
• To receive the Secretary’s report.
• To receive the Treasures report.
• To Appoint Auditors
• To discuss and deal with notices of motion.

Notice of motions

• Essentially if a member wishes a rule to be changed or amended they must submit a written notice by the September meeting prior to the AGM.
• The written notice of motion should fully detail the change that is desired and must be seconded by another club member. A written notice of motion must be submitted for each rule change that is required.
• The notice of motion should be read out at each of the three general meetings prior to the AGM thus giving member’s time to consider the matter(s).
• A notice of motion may be withdrawn prior to the AGM by the proposing member only. This must be done in writing to the committee.
• The proposing member and the seconder member of the motion must both be present at the AGM if the motion is to be heard.
• Once the notice of motion is read out to the members at the AGM the proposing member is to be given up to 10 minutes to clarify the proposal. Secondary and subsequent speakers will be given 5 minutes.
• Amendments to the motion may be made. These will be dealt with in strict rotation.
• The member proposing the motion must be given the right to reply and his/her reply will close the discussion. No member may speak more than once on the same question unless given permission to do so by the Chairman or unless they are drawing the attention of the Chairman to a point of order.
• No member may move or second more than one amendment on any single notice of motion.
• Once the notice of motion is agreed, whether in its submitted form (i.e.as original written) or in an amended form, the Chairman will call for a vote. Those for or against and abstentions will be recorded. In the event of a tied vote the Chairman must use his casting vote. Should the majority vote for a motion, the motion passed becomes a club rule. The amended motion will be voted on first if this is passed the original motion is defeated. If the amendment fails, the original motion is voted on. Once voted upon, a motion will not be discussed further.
• The AGM will deal with all submitted notices of motion.
• A minimum of twenty-five members is required to form a quorum (i.e. the minimum number of members present in order to for the meeting to be held is twenty-five).
• No junior members or non-members are permitted at an AGM.
• No new members will be joined at an AGM.

Extraordinary Annual General Meeting (EAGM)

• An EAGM can be called at the request of at least ten senior members. Notification stating the nature of the business and the names of the ten requesting members must be submitted to The Club Secretary. The meeting will then be called at the earliest convenient date allowing for the notification of The Club members which will be done via letter by the Secretary.
• The matter raised is the only business to be discussed. There is no “Any Other Business”.
• No junior or any non-members are permitted to attend the EAGM unless the committee specifically invites them, and they are materially relevant to the matter raised.
• A minimum of twenty-five members is required to form a quorum (i.e. the minimum number of members present in order to for the meeting to be held is twenty five).
• No new members will be joined at an EAGM. 

Dissolution of 'The Club'

If at any general meeting of The Club, a resolution be passed calling for the dissolution of The Club, the secretary shall immediately convene a Special General Meeting of The Club to be held not less than one month thereafter to discuss and vote on the resolution.

If at that Special General Meeting the resolution is carried by at least 90% of the full members present at the meeting, the general committee shall thereupon, or at such a date as shall have been specified in the resolution, proceed to realise the assets of The Club and discharge all debts and liabilities of The Club.

After discharging all debts and liabilities of The Club, a further meeting will be called to vote on the distribution of the remaining assets.

Rules appertaining to Reddish Angling Club, (known as Jackson’s)

1. Membership ID cards/Green constitutional booklet and gate key must be on your person when on club water and produced when requested by a bailiff or any other club member. If not, you will be asked to leave the club pond.
2. Members only are permitted on the club pond.
3. Fishing allowed from dawn till dusk ONLY (when the street lights go off to when they go on)
4. No dogs allowed.
5. Bicycles must not be ridden around the pond.
6. All vehicles MUST be parked on RAC car park.
7. No electronic bite alarms or indicators.
8. No radios/stereos except personal types and must be used with ear/headphones.
9. No bivies. Day shelters etc. should not obstruct the paths.
10. No fishing after7pm on club meeting nights(first Wednesday of the month)
11. Entry via main gate only.
12. Fishing only allowed from recognized pegs. NO FISHINGBETWEEN PEGS.
13. No stalking (i.e. walking along the bank).
14. Members must be in possession of a seat, landing net, disgorger and an unhooking mat.
15. One rod with one single hook to be fished at any one time.
16. All fish to be returned to the water unharmed, if any sores/wound on fish apply fish care solution.
17. Barbless hooks only, maximum size hook,10s.
18. Braided line and wire traces are prohibited. Only monofilament line, maximum 15lb main line and hook length of lesser braking strain to be used.
19. Maximum ledger/weight – 24 grams
20. No Floating baits or artificial baits to be used of any kind on the club water.
21. Ground bait may be used up to a maximum of 1kg per visit.
22. Liquidized bread may be used in moderation between October and March by pole cup or feeder only. Bread flake/punch may be fished down in the water all year round.
23. No boilies/trout pellets/nuts of any kind/cat or dog biscuits. No cat or dog food or gravy-based meats to be fed or used on a hook.
24. Keep the pegs tidy. All litter to be taken home (this includes cigarette stubs)
25. Unused bait may be thrown into the water to feed the fish, not left on banks, no bread/slices to be thrown in.
26. No cans/tins or glass bottles allowed on the bank.
27. No keep nets to be used for pleaser purposes at any time other than a on bona-fide matches only.
28. No fish to be retained in keep nets longer than 5 - 6hr on a bona-fide match, match secretary discretion.
29. NO CARP TO BE KEPT in floatation nets other than keep nets on a bona-fide match only.
30. On entering the club water to fish, Bio security wash plant rules MUST be followed, before proceeding to a peg. Keep nets, landing nets and stink bags to be dipped in disinfectant tub, unhooking mats to be brushed down with disinfectant solution in tub. Failure to comply with this rule will result in immediate referral for disciplinary action being revocation of membership.
31. No alcohol or illegal substances allowed to be consumed on the club bank/water.
32. On Sundays when matches are held on Reddish Angling Club, pegs 1,2,3,4,5,6 are reserved for pleasure anglers.
33. The deliberate feeding of water fowl is prohibited.
34.  Pegs are taken on a first come, first served basis. The exception being that if a wheelchair user wants to use one of the 3 wheelchair accessible pegs an able-bodied angler has to give way to this provided another peg is available to fish from.
35. All fish must be handled with the utmost care. No fish to be unhooked on the ground, this include slaying your landing net on the ground. If an angler is unable to unhook a fish in the landing net or on their lap, an unhooking mat must be used.
36. Any fish caught must not leave the area of the peg it was caught, any pictures to be taken quickly and the fish not held more than 12" above the ground. It must then be returned to the water on the peg from which it was caught
37. The magic twig is banned on Reddish Angling Club water.
38. No artificial baits of any kind to be used, which includes spinning and artificial tied flies
39. No fixed leads, only inline feeders to be used.

Work Parties.

• Each member to attend one working party per year. The date of the working parties will be announced at each month’s general meetings by the Banks Officer. A yearly list will be given out at the Annual general meeting and on pond notice board.
• Work parties will commence at 8:30hrs and finish at 12.00hrs with a break of 15 minutes at 10.30hrs.
• The Banks Officer will record your attendance. Make sure it is recorded yourself at the back of the booklet.
• Risk assessments to be read and understood and signed.
• Members who fail to attend a working party will be expected to pay £25.00 towards the work party fund before renewing their membership; memberships will not be renewed until paid.
• New members joining after the date of the last work party will be exempt for that year.
• No fishing is allowed during a working party.

MATCHES

A MATCH CONSTITUTION AND RULES IS AVILABLE FROM THE MATCH SECRETARY.

JUNIOR RULES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE MATCH SECRETARY.

Children under 12. Only Member’s children or the children of close relatives may be brought to the pool. Not more than 2 children can fish the pool in total at any time. Whilst at the pool all children are expected to be well behaved and under the close supervision of the member at all times. Children over 12 can only attend the pool if they are junior members of the club.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS       

CHAIRMAN – 

CLUB SECRETARY –

MINUTES SECRETARY – 

TREASURER -

MEDIA SUPPORT - 

MATCH SECRETARY – 

FISHERIES OFFICER –

BANKS/FISHERIES/ WATER TESTS  ASSISTANT -

BANKS OFFICER –  

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY – 

HEAD BAILIFF – 

CLUB WELFARE OFFICER – 

GENERAL ASSISTANT –