Constitution

I know, I just think that the name, however important it is actually, is a good opportunity to create this separate entity with a separate brand at the same time.

If you just want a name that is on the bank account then create a 'trading as' brand then no worries.

I just don't want to miss an opportunity, s'all.

But that's the thing - there cannot be a separate brand.
We have a brand and we aren't creating anything new, nothing will change from the customer POV.
They will neither know (necessarily) nor care. It's Comrades in Arms.

But I thought on the AFRA thread (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3334&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15) we'd discussed the necessity of distinction between CiA Games, CiA Forums and CiA AFRA. I understood that to mean a stronger public separation.

If you're talking about changing nothing externally but simply administering this as part of the game-playing section of our lot then no worries.

Yes, that's it. We aren't going to set up three different 'clubs' or even set up one club and keep the rest as it is.
Once the process is done we will be a legit organisation with clear responsibilities.
What we do within that is up to us.

Then what have I been talking about!?!

It's no problem - it's as well to clear about the steps we are taking and the meaning of each.

First step:
We need to call ourselves something.
We already have a name - maybe 'Comrades in Arms' is sufficient? I haven't found anything yet that says what you should be called from a legal standpoint - i.e. a club (as defined in above docs) has to use that word or a substitute in the 'business' name.

Further reading:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications ... 25144513/3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntary_association
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/m ... 392969.stm
http://www.sexwork.com/montreal/lapdancing.html

Legal status is 'Unincorporated Association'
http://www.seniorsnetwork.co.uk/constit ... orated.htm
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/ac ... 1077475675
http://www.kevinboone.com/lawglos_Uninc ... ation.html
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ctmanual/CTM41305.htm

Will read those tonight, then post my thoughts. Dont have the time to go through all those links at the mo.

Me either, and I will be offline from 5pm until Sunday evening, also I'm not sure the lapdancing one is work safe anyway.

Hehe, just a ploy to keep you reading!

By the way, it isn't complicated and will take you 5 minutes - read this one if you can't be arsed with the others!
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/ac ... 1077475675

I'm now certain in my own mind that we would be an 'Unincorporated Association'

This carries no obligations (other than normal laws) and is unregulated as such.
However, for a constitution and other business-like procedures make clear how things work both to associates and authorities.

Therefore, I can see no reason not to keep the name as 'Comrades in Arms' !!!

At a glance it seems like the most sensible option. As we are going to be taking money we will have a bank account but we aren't taking any financial obligations so liability is automatically limited.

My only concern would be liability for and indemnity against personal lawsuits in the event of injury at one of our events. I guess that's part of the next step by taking a close look at the limitations within AFRAs insurance policies.

We are personally liable at the moment of course - anyone can sue anyone. That's why we are using and will have to use pukka insured sites for games. However, once under the AFRA scheme if everyone playing is an AFRA member then there is a degree of safety organising a game on private land (subject to conditions - but that's for another day!)

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I've moved on to Data Protection issues. I'm reasonable sure that we won't have to stump up £35 a year to a quango. We have obligations under law (the 8 points)
* Fairly and lawfully processed
* Processed for limited purposes
* Adequate, relevant and not excessive
* Accurate and up to date
* Not kept for longer than is necessary
* Processed in line with your rights
* Secure
* Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection

but we fall outside of the notification remit:
http://forms.informationcommissioner.go ... tion8.html

Yes, data protection is something I'm involved in every day and it's all very simple and straight forward really.

As long as we don't use information in a way that was not communicated to the person and the information is stored securely (a backed-up, password protected access database is sufficient) then it's all fine.

To the uninitiated Comrades in Arms Battle Group has no context and sounds too aggressive.

I don't think the name is there to sell it to our potential membership particularly, it's also a way of identifying us to non-believers.

I completely concur that WW2 needs to be in there. If the remit is widened at a later date then a name change may need to be made, but I don't see the need to exclude it at the moment and feel that it's inclusion is positive.

Kermit's right, Group does just sound a little thrown together. The word group always tends to have negative or unofficial implications (a group of youths, a music group) an association or society sounds a lot better.

Other nouns:

Federation?
Club?

Club's a big crap though....

PS: Where's Guy whilst we're talking about all of this?!!?

Sorry kids, been out of the loop in Plymouth since Wednesday afternoon , back now,
My thooghts - call it CIA , keep it simple . Adopt AFRAs/Davids modified version of the constitiution . Vote ourselves roles , chairman , treasurer, memebership secretary , event organiser, saftey officer etc .
Get a bonk account from Davids Lapdancers.
Launch the fecker on monday as affiliated to AFRA.

I've gone through AFRA's stuff, chucked out irrelevant stuff, then integrated it into Guy's initial draft....

Constitution for Comrades in Arms WWII Re-enactment Group

Purpose
Comrades in Arms WWII Re-enactment Group (CiA) exists as a non profit making group to organise high quality World War II re-enactment events and to provide a hub for WWII enthusiasts. CiA looks to encourage and promote other groups and playing sites to organise similar WWII events, and to forge links between suppliers, sites, and re-enactors.

Organisation
There are two levels of status within CiA: Executive Officers and Ordinary Members

Executive
The Executive consists of Executive Officers (EO’s) are defined as responsible for the running the group activities, website and forum. Among their specific roles are:

Chair
Secretary
Treasurer
Membership
Safety Officer
Events Coordinator
External Relations[/list:u:1rkz62oc]

EO’s may have multiple roles and/or roles other than the above list as agreed amongst themselves. EO’s are invited to the post by mutual agreement amongst the existing EO’s.
EO’s are only allowed to be reimbursed for CiA related expenditure and may not receive recompense for their time or other loss of earnings.

Members
Ordinary Members (OM’s) are defined as people who share the aims and objectives of CiA, but have no direct responsibilities in the running of the group, no voting rights or take part in any decision making process. OM’s can apply for membership through the Membership Officer, who will be responsible for keeping an up to date list of members details. OM’s join on a lifetime basis, and it is not mandatory to be a member to play at a CiA event but only players at CiA events may become OM‘s. CiA may take a part in organising or sponsoring other organisation’s events which case the EO’s may decide it has the status of a CiA event and so enable CiA Ordinary Membership to be considered.
OM’s will be required to abide by rules laid down by - membership can be removed at any time by the EO's

General Meetings
The Annual General Meeting ( AGM) shall take place during 1st month of each year.
The agenda of the AGM shall include, but not be limited to, Treasurer, Membership & Safety Officer, and Events Coordinator report.
The roles taken by the EO's will be agreed on at most an annual basis by consent at the AGM or intermediate period.

Assets
A list of assets owned by the group will be maintained by the EO's. Examples of assets are:-
The CiA brand name and Logo
The Website and Forum
Props constructed or Purchased by CiA funds
Pyrotechnics, uniforms or other game relates items

The Ownership of these assets is by CiA, EO’s retiring form CiA have no direct claim to them except by mutual agreement. In the event of CiA deciding to disband, the distribution of assets will be between the EO’s by mutual agreement.

General Rules of Conduct for the Playing of Games

CiA events will abide by the rules of the site hosting the event. In the event of conflict, the host site’s rules will take precedent over CiA's own rules.
Uniform, weapons and other equipment shall be appropriate to the WWII period, either original, reproduction, or 'look alike'.[/list:u:1rkz62oc]

General philosophy of Comrades in Arms

Non-profit making and site independent
Organise WW2 games that follow a 'film-sim' principle (restricted ammo, authentic uniforms and weapons, period props) giving a high degree of suspension of disbelief
Clear and consistent rules for CiA and CiA supported games
Encourage site owners to run like-minded WW2 games
Create a hub for WW2 enthusiasts
Forge links between suppliers, sites and players
Keep an 'friendly and inclusive' approach rather than 'elitist and stitch-counting'
To be loyal to the Queen, her heirs and successors[/list:u:1rkz62oc]





 

I'll also draft up a rule set for the members to read, sign and take away at the end of a game.

The Queen....are you havin' a laff, is he havin' a laff??

"OM’s join on a lifetime basis"

Shouldn't that be "yearly basis", as the 15 quid covers them for a period of 12 months?

"EO’s may decide it has the status of a CiA event and so enable CiA Ordinary Membership to be considered"

what about: "EO's may, with consideration towards the membership criteria and CiA standards of clothing and equipment, decide that players at a co-hosted event will qualify for Ordinary Membership" (or some other shite like that)

"OM’s will be required to abide by rules laid down by - membership can be removed at any time by the EO's"

How about: "OM’s will be required to abide by rules laid down in the membership agreement - membership can be revoked for transgressions of the OM agreement, conduct unbecoming of a member, or for bringing Airsoft of Re-enactment into disrepute"

Covers pretty much everything from cheating to punching a fellow player, or simply because someone is being a complete cock.

And whilst I remember, do we actually need something in the constitution about the minimum requirements for membership? - which i still reckon needs to be 2 events, in kit, within a 6 month period, with EO's discretion on top of it.

"OM’s join on a lifetime basis"
Shouldn't that be "yearly basis", as the 15 quid covers them for a period of 12 months?

The constitution doesn't have anything to do with AFRA directly - it only concerns itself with CiA rather than an affiliation.

"EO’s may decide it has the status of a CiA event and so enable CiA Ordinary Membership to be considered"
what about: "EO's may, with consideration towards the membership criteria and CiA standards of clothing and equipment, decide that players at a co-hosted event will qualify for Ordinary Membership" (or some other shite like that)

Same applys (although my wording is clumsy) - CiA membership is given to our players, other criteria are considered for AFRA validation.

"OM’s will be required to abide by rules laid down by - membership can be removed at any time by the EO's"

How about: "OM’s will be required to abide by rules laid down in the membership agreement - membership can be revoked for transgressions of the OM agreement, conduct unbecoming of a member, or for bringing Airsoft of Re-enactment into disrepute"

Fine, I was avoiding being too specific to cover eventualities.

99% happy with draft one .

Avoids the word airsoft , don't drag it back in there kermit .

too many EO roles ? perhaps define responsibilites of them in a loose way ?