Guidance on the Operation of the Society

1

The Society shall be called the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society.

2

The object of the Society is to promote the study of history, archaeology, antiquities and architecture of the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland and to furnish suggestions for the preservation of all remains considered to be of value and importance.

3

Membership of the Society is open to anyone who is interested in furthering its purposes.

4

The Membership of the Society will comprise its Honorary, Ordinary, Student, and Affiliated member societies. The attendance and voting rights, obligation to pay subscriptions and access to the Society’s publications and facilities, for each class of membership, are set out in these Rules.

5

Rules relating to the Annual General Meeting, and other General Meetings, are set out in the Constitution.

6

Rules relating to the dissolution of the Society are set out in the Constitution.

7

The Management Committee shall make arrangements to open Bank accounts for custody of the Society's funds, such accounts to be in the custody of the Treasurer.

8

The Society shall arrange a programme of lectures, demonstrations, discussions and similar presentations to be held regularly at a time and place to be determined by the Management Committee.

9

The Society has the power to give grants in pursuit of its Objectives. The Society will give grants in the fields of (i) Research (ii) Acquisitions (iii) Public Heritage (iv) a number of LAHS Prizes. One Officer will be elected to each role at the AGM. The Officer will have delegated authority to spend such Grant as the Management Committee may determine (for example, £5,000 per financial year); The Officer shall refer back to the Management Committee for approval any proposed Grant in excess of the delegated authority. The Officer may consult informally with others as they see fit and establish a formal Panel should they wish; but there will be no separate Research, Acquisitions or Public Heritage Committees.

10

The Society shall publish, for circulation among its Members, Transactions, Leicestershire Historian and a Newsletter which shall contain papers and other information connected with the objects of the Society. The Society may also undertake the publication of other works, on the recommendation of the Management Committee. The Editors shall be responsible for the publication of the Transactions, Leicestershire Historian, Newsletter and of such other works of scholarship as the Society may issue, subject to the approval of the Management Committee.

11

Each Ordinary member shall pay an annual subscription, a sum determined by a General or Special Meeting of the Society as the current subscription, to be payable on the first day of May at the commencement of the Society's financial year. Each Ordinary Member shall receive a copy of the published volumes of the Society's Transactions, Leicestershire Historian and Newsletter in a publication format offered by the Society and shall be entitled to use the Library on terms to be laid down from time to time by the Management Committee, and attend all the Society's Meetings and Events. Events may attract a supplementary charge.

12

Persons who are full-time students shall be eligible to become Student Members at the discretion of the Management Committee or Membership Secretary. No subscription will be payable. Student Members may attend the Society’s Meetings, but they may not vote. Student Members shall be entitled to use the Library on terms to be laid down from time to time by the Management Committee, and attend all the Society's Excursions. Events may attract a supplementary charge. Student Members shall not receive a copy of Transactions or Leicestershire Historian but will receive a copy of the Newsletter.

13

Any Society formed for the encouragement of historical or archaeological research, and any educational institution, may at the discretion of the Management Committee, be appointed to the Affiliated Society membership class. Affiliated Society members shall pay an annual subscription, a sum determined by a General or Special Meeting of the Society as the current subscription, to be payable on the first day of May at the commencement of the Society's financial year. Affiliated Society members shall be entitled to received one copy of each published volume of Transactions and all other printed literature of the Society.

14

Honorary, Ordinary and Affiliated Societies shall each be entitled to one vote when present at any meeting of the Society. For this purpose, Corporate Bodies – that is, Societies and Institutions shall each be entitled to appoint a representative to act as their proxy at any meeting. In the event of an equality of votes, the Chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

15

The Society's financial year shall run from 1st May in one year to the 30th April in the next year, and subscriptions for that year shall be due on 1st May in each year. If any subscribing member is found to be more than six months in arrears or is found to be in breach of the aims of the Society as determined by the Management Committee, he or she shall be warned that his or her name will be removed from the list of members of the Society at the end of twenty-one days from the date of such warning (in accordance with Para 9.4 of the Constitution). The Member shall have the right to make representations to the Management Committee either in writing or in person as to why his or her name should not be removed but the Management Committee's decision shall, after such representations have been duly considered, be final.

16

The Trustees may delegate their powers and functions in accordance with Para 18c of the Constitution to a Management Committee comprising the Executive Officers and Committee Members; five members of the Management Committee to form a quorum.

17

The Trustees will, at least annually in accordance with Para 18c of the Constitution consider the arrangement for the delegation of their powers and functions; if content with the arrangement, formally note that the arrangement is satisfactory and shall continue.

18

The Officers of the Society shall report to the members at the Annual General Meeting on the performance of their roles during the preceding year.

19

The Officers of the Society shall be elected on a one-member, one vote basis at the Annual General Meeting of the Society as appropriate.

20

The President and Vice-Presidents and the Honorary Members (who shall be persons who have rendered signal service to the Society, or are specially learned in the subjects the study of which it is formed to encourage) shall be nominated by the Management Committee at one of their Meetings, and proposed for election only at the Annual General Meeting of the Members. No annual subscription will be payable by any Honorary Member. Each Honorary Member shall receive a copy of the published volumes of the Society's Transactions, Leicestershire Historian and Newsletter and shall be entitled to use the Library on terms to be laid down from time to time by the Management Committee, and attend all the Society's Meetings and Events. Events may attract a supplementary charge.

21

The Officers of the Society shall include a President, Vice Presidents, Executive Officers and Committee Members. Between three and ten of those roles will be Trustees of the Society, as determined by the Management Committee prior to the election of Officers at the Annual General Meeting of the Society.

22

The Officers of the Society will (sequentially, to avoid the Society having no Trustees during the course of the AGM which would be a breach of Para 12.3 of the Constitution) resign at the AGM. They may seek re-election. There will be no term limits.

23

The Managing Committee's decisions on the interpretation of the Constitution and Rules shall be final and binding on all Members of the Society.

24

The Management Committee shall elect each year a Chair.

25

Each member of the Management Committee will have one vote. The Chair will, if necessary, hold and exercise a casting vote.

26

Any Management Committee member who misses five consecutive Management Committee Meetings shall be deemed to have resigned.

27

The Management Committee shall meet at the times and places that they may themselves appoint. Not less than five meetings shall be held each year.

28

Any changes to the Officerships or Rules must also be approved at the Annual General Meeting providing always that due notice of such new rules or alterations to the rules shall have been given by circular to each member of the Society in the notice calling the meeting and further provided that no alteration shall be made to these rules that would cause the Rules to conflict with the Constitution of the Society.

29

The Management Committee shall have the power to fill vacancies among the Officers of the Society and among the members of the Management Committee.

30

The Management Committee may amend, strike out, or create new new Officerships and Trusteeships for the Society.

31

The Management Committee may amend, strike-out, or create new Rules for Society.