Club Rules

1.0 Identity

1.1     The club will be called Peterborough Wargames Club, hereafter referred to as “the Club”.

1.2     The Club is currently based at the George Alcock Centre, Whittlesey Rd, Peterborough PE2 8QS.

2.0 Purpose

2.1     To provide the opportunity for members to participate in the hobby of collecting, painting and gaming with tabletop miniatures and game systems.

2.2     To have fun.

3.0 Membership, Child Protection and Health and Safety

3.1     Membership of the club is gained by attending 8 or more meetings in a running year and maintained by attending 1 meeting in each subsequent running year or at the discretion of the committee.

3.2       Only persons aged 16 and over may become members of the club. The committee to ensure that at least one attending committee member has a current DBS check at all meetings at which under 18s are present. It may at its discretion fund a DBS check to facilitate this process.

3.3       A weekly record of attendance will be kept.

3.4     All members and non-members attending any weekly meeting are expected to pay the standard meeting ticket price on arrival at the club.

3.5     Club meetings are open to non-members aged 16 years and over, who can make use of the club facilities upon payment of the standard meeting ticket price. Persons under the age of 16 may attend as the guest of a Member upon payment of the normal ticket price and are the responsibility of the Member at all times. The Club cannot act “in loco parentis” for under 16’s.

3.6: COVID Regulations:

3.6.1: You are required to comply with all currently applicable national and venue regulations regarding the wearing of masks and social distancing where they are more restrictive than the below rules.

3.6.2: You are requested to pre-book, by notifying the committee via email, forum or Facebook, if you are the person responsible for organising a game. You are welcome to turn up without booking, but we cannot guarantee table space for game organisers turning up ‘on spec’ on a club night.

3.6.3: If you have, or believe you have been in contact with someone who has, COVID or a similar respiratory infection, we would request that you do not attend, as a courtesy to fellow club members.

3.6.4: If you would be more comfortable with your fellow players for a game remaining masked, please indicate on the relevant forum thread ahead of time.

3.6.5: These regulations will remain in effect until repealed by an Emergency General Meeting.

4.0 Club Assets

4.1     The assets of the club (gaming equipment, cash in hand and cash at the bank) belong to the members.

4.2     In the event of the club closing and following the payment of all outstanding liabilities any remaining cash will be donated to a charity/charities of the members choice. All other physical assts of the club will be distributed amongst the members as evenly as possible.

5.0 Club Officials

5.1     The club will be led by a committee of officials consisting of at least a Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary.

5.2     The term of office for each official on the committee will be from the date of their election at an Emergency or Annual General Meeting until the next Annual General Meeting

5.3     Officials must have attended at least one half of the meetings held since the previous AGM to be eligible for elections or re-election.

5.4     A minimum of one official will be present at each club meeting.

5.5     The committee may make other appointments (e.g. Web Manager) as they see fit. These appointments are valid until the next AGM.

6.0 Club Funds

6.1     Club funds will be administered through a bank or building society account which is designed for this purpose.

6.2     All withdrawals and payments from the club bank account, other than recurring necessary payments such as venue hire fees, must be notified to the rest of the committee by email from the treasurer

6.3     The Treasurer will keep a record of transactions on club funds showing all credits, debits and current balance. The record will be available for inspection by any club member.

6.4     A receipt will be obtained for all club expenditure, checked by the Treasurer and retained for audit purposes. If the Treasurer commits expenditure then the receipt will be checked by a different signatory.

6.5     The club financial year will run from January 1 to December 31. At the end of the year a suitably qualified independent person may inspect the financial records.

6.6     Decisions involving expenditure in excess of £250 will be made by majority vote of club members present at a normal meeting: such expenditures must be itemised in the annual Treasurer’s report. Club Officials may make decisions on day to day running, expenditure of up to £250, and payment of recurring costs such as venue hire fees.

6.7     The club’s financial assets may be used to support the running of the annual show, subject to a vote in favour each year at the AGM or at an EGM.

7.0 Voting and club decisions

7.1     If the committee consider it necessary to change the rules, or wind up the club, or consult the members on some other matter they must call an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) so that the membership can make the decision. The committee must also schedule an EGM to take place within 28 days of receipt of a written request from the majority of members. Details of an EGM must be published by the Chairman not less than 1 week in advance of the meeting.

7.2     The committee will keep a record of decisions taken at club meetings. The record will be available for inspection by any club member.

7.3     Only current members (not visitors or members’ guests – see 3.0-3.5) may vote.

7.4     The first non-Bank Holiday meeting in January will be an Annual General Meeting, or as soon after as is reasonable, in the event of circumstances beyond the committee’s control.

8.0 Standards of conduct

8.1     Club members and visiting non-members will at all times adhere to the following standards of behaviour.

8.1.1         There will be no verbal or physical abuse of any member or visiting non-member.

8.1.2                     There will be no discrimination of any kind by any member or visiting non-member towards any other person at the club meetings or on internet message boards and social media sites. This includes but is not limited to discrimination on any grounds.

8.2     The formal grievance procedures are to be considered an avenue of last resort after all other reasonable approaches have failed. “Gaming” the club rules will not be tolerated.

8.3     It is the responsibility of all persons to ensure that they:

8.3.1                     Provide a welcoming place for people to game in by ensuring high standards of sportsmanship and behaviour.

8.3.2         Respect the venue, its facilities and the club’s property.

8.3.3                     Resolve rules disputes quickly and amicably by using the appropriate rule book, by asking another member or by the roll of a dice.

8.3.4                     Be courteous to their fellow club members and respect their choice of games systems, miniatures etc.

8.3.5              Respect the decision of the umpire if one is present.

8.3.6         Do not endanger the health and safety of themselves or others;

8.3.7                     Observe the rules established for the safety of those involved in club activities. These are defined as required by the Club Committee.

8.4     The club discourages “Gamesmanship”, “rules-lawyer-ing” and other methods of play designed to detract from enjoyment of the game.

8.5     Irresolvable disagreements between club members

8.5.1                     The following procedures are to be used only if informal efforts to resolve differences between the parties concerned have been made and failed.

8.5.2                     Any irresolvable disagreements between members must be referred to the Chairman for resolution, who may choose to consult other members of the committee not involved in the disagreement.

8.5.3                     If the Chairman is unable to resolve the disagreement due to being personally involved, the Treasurer will take responsibility for handling the issue.

8.5.4              Irresolvable disagreements between members of the committee will result in the holding of an EGM.

8.5.5                     All the parties to the disagreement must be given reasonable opportunity to state their case.

9.0      Disciplinary Policy

9.1     Every member is expected to maintain high standards of behaviour and conduct during club meetings or whilst representing the club. Occasionally, where it is clear that the club’s rules of conduct have not been met or a member’s behaviour has fallen outside of acceptable standards, it may be necessary to begin the disciplinary process.

9.2     Examples of misconduct include but are not limited to: Failure to adhere to club rules, improper behaviour toward other club members, negligence.

9.3     Examples of gross misconduct include but are not limited to: Assault, fighting, threatening or abusive behaviour, any action endangering another person’s safety, harassment, victimisation or discrimination, theft, fraud or misuse of club funds, bringing the club in to disrepute

9.4     In the event of a breach of discipline the procedure outlined below should be followed. The disciplinary policy outlines the agreed approach and process for dealing with issues of misconduct. Our aim is to ensure fair and consistent treatment for everyone.

Disciplinary Procedure

Warning Levels and Sanctions

Informal Warning Process and Potential Outcomes

It will normally be appropriate to manage minor issues informally before proceeding to the formal disciplinary procedure. Issues should be handled promptly to avoid escalation. Highlighting an issue to a member will often be enough to prevent the issue occurring again. Minor issues should be dealt with by holding an informal discussion. The member should be advised that further unacceptable behaviour or misconduct may lead to formal disciplinary action. The member should be clearly told that they have received an informal warning and should be clear on the improvement that is required.

Discuss any help that is required in order for the member to improve. A note of the discussion should be taken showing the date, the fact that an informal warning was given and the action required by the member to improve.

If no further action is necessary, the file note should be removed after 12 months.

Formal Warning Process and Potential Outcomes

Where a member’s conduct has not improved following an informal warning, or when the matter appears to be more serious, formal disciplinary procedures may be necessary. Any further incidents of misconduct during the life of a disciplinary warning may result in further disciplinary proceedings, usually at the next stage of the formal process.

An investigation of a disciplinary breach must be conducted by the Committee. In the case of Gross Misconduct the member involved may have their membership suspended whilst the investigation is completed. The most senior Committee member not involved must contact the member by letter or email to request a meeting to discuss the breach of discipline. This letter or email must give 3 days notice of the staging of the meeting and must detail the member’s rights of representation, whether permanent suspension of member is a possible outcome, the specific reason for the meeting, including full details of the allegation including dates and times, any losses incurred or impact on the Club and copies of any documents that may be referred to in the meeting including any witness statements.

The meeting then takes place and the Member should be informed of any decision and of the right to Appeal. A member has the right to appeal against disciplinary sanctions at each formal stage of the procedure.  Appeals should be made within 7 calendar days from receipt of the disciplinary outcome letter.

In order to make an appeal a Member must set out  the grounds for appeal in writing to the committee. Members are requested to clearly state the detailed reasons for their appeal. Upon receipt of an appeal letter the Committee will send an Appeal Acknowledgement Letter and an Appeal Meeting invitation letter to the member. Before the Appeal Meeting the appeal panel should be briefed on all relevant facts. Appeals will usually be chaired by a Committee member who has not been directly involved in the disciplinary process. Once the Appeal meeting has taken place the member will be informed of any decision and that decision is final. The outcome of the appeal can be to either reject the appeal, upholding the original disciplinary action or to uphold the appeal, reject or reduce the original disciplinary action.