RULES OF THE GUILD OF ST GABRIEL
NAME
1. The Society shall be called the Guild of St Gabriel (Great Britain & Ireland). The Guild, where wanted, may use the additional words ‘Religion on Stamps’ & ‘Faith & Philately’ in publicity material.
OBJECTS
2. The purpose for which the Guild is formed is to promote the collection and study of postal material of religious interest and greater understanding between members of varying races and creeds who collect such material, and to this end a Bulletin will be published periodically, an exchange packet will be circulated when possible and a postal auction will be held when possible. The Guild will at all times seek to maintain membership of the International Federation of St Gabriel (‘The World Union St Gabriel’).
MEMBERSHIP
3. Members who are interested in this aspect of philately shall be:-
a. Ordinary Members
b. Honorary Life Members, awarded by the Executive Committee to an ordinary member as a token of gratitude for long and outstanding service to the Guild.
APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
4. Application for membership must be made to the Secretary on such form as may from time to time be prescribed by the Executive Committee.
The current year’s subscription should accompany the application.
RESIGNATIONS
5. Any member may resign from the Guild by giving one months’ notice, in writing, to the Secretary, and shall upon expiration of such notice cease to be entitled to the benefits of membership but shall remain liable for any unpaid subscriptions or monies owing to the Guild.
TERMINATIONS
6. The Executive Committee shall in their absolute discretion have power to terminate the membership of any member. Such a decision shall be notified to the member by post to his/her last known address and shall be effective from the date of despatch of such notice. The decision of the Committee shall be final.
SUBSCRIPTION
7. The subscription to be paid by members shall be fixed annually by the Executive Committee, and be payable in Sterling. All renewals of subscription will be on the 1st January following date of joining (except at the discretion of the Secretary/Treasurer). All subscription shall be paid to the Treasurer, who shall report to the Executive Committee the name of any member who is 1 month in arrears. Such member shall receive written notice of arrears and lapse of membership.
MANAGEMENT
8. The management of the Guild shall be vested in the Executive Committee, which shall consist of Honorary Officers who, wherever possible, shall be a President, Vice/President, a Secretary, a Bulletin Editor, a Treasurer, a Packet Secretary and up to three ordinary members and such other members as may be entitled under rule 12. The immediate Past President shall be ex-officio member of the Executive Committee during the term of his successor. The Committee shall meet four times per year one of which will be the A.G.M.
The Secretary shall convene all meetings of the Executive Committee, Annual general Meeting and any Extraordinary General Meeting and shall maintain records of minutes taken of the proceedings.
The Executive shall have power to decide their own quorum, and unless they decide otherwise, this shall be four.
The Executive Committee shall have the power to fill vacancies arising. They may co-opt additional members who however will not count towards the quorum, or be able to vote.
The President shall be ex-officio member of all Committees & Sub-Committees.
The Executive Committee shall be responsible for the proper custody of all property of the Guild.
TERM OF OFFICE OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
9. All officers and members of the Executive Committee shall retire each year and those to fill their places shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting each year. All members of the Executive shall be eligible for re-election
The President shall normally be required to retire after a period of two years in office, but may be re-elected after a lapse of one year, during which period he/she may if elected hold another office.
Where there is no other acceptable candidate for the position, the President may remain in office indefinitely with his agreement and that of the Executive Committee. This is to be ratified at the Annual General Meeting each year.
ELECTION OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
10. Nominations for office shall be made in writing to the Secretary, so as to arrive by 31st December, signed by the person nominating together with the consent of the nominee to serve if elected.
A retiring officer shall, if willing to do so, be deemed re-elected in default of no nomination.
All members of the Guild should be given the opportunity to vote, at the Annual General Meeting, normally in person, but a postal vote may be applied for from the Secretary.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & EXTRA-ORDINARY GENERAL MEETINGS
11. An Annual General Meeting shall be held at such times and place as the Executive Committee determine. At least fourteen days’ notice of the meeting shall be given, in writing in the Bulletin, to all members.
The Executive Committee may if they consider it necessary convene an Extra-ordinary General Meeting at any time, provided that not less than fourteen days notice, in writing, is given to all members and that such notice clearly states the purpose of the meeting.
An Extra-ordinary General Meeting may also be convened under the same conditions at the request of not less than ten members whose subscriptions are not out-standing. The request together with details of the business to be discussed shall be lodged with the Secretary.
Such meetings must be held within twenty eight days of the request being lodged.
At every Annual General Meeting the Secretary shall present a report to cover the activities of the Guild for the year ending the 31st December prior to the annual general meeting and the Treasurer and Packet Secretary shall each present a balance sheet and statement of Accounts duly certified by Honorary Auditor. The accounts shall be closed on the 31st December prior to the AGM.
At every AGM an Honorary Auditor shall be appointed.
LOCAL GROUPS & STUDY CIRCLES
12. Within the framework of the National Guild, and with the approval of the National Committee, local groups may be formed on a regional basis. Such groups will formulate their own rules which, together with any amendments will be subject to the approval of Executive Committee.
Local or regional groups will elect their own officers.
When the group membership exceeds seven in number it may nominate one member as representative, who will sit on the Executive Committee with full voting powers. In the event of his/her not being able to attend he/she may send a deputy.
Specialist study circles may be set up by the Executive Committee as and when required for specific tasks.
ALTERATIONS TO THE RULES
13. No alterations of these rules shall be made, except at the Annual general Meeting, or at an Extra-ordinary General Meeting convened specifically for the purpose.
Details of proposed alterations shall be sent to all members, each of whom shall be given opportunity to vote.
COPIES OF THE RULES
14. All members shall be provided with a copy of the rules.
FAILURE OF THE GUILD TO CONTINUE
15. In the event of the Guild ceasing to function, all Trophies should be held by the British Thematic Association or the National Philatelic Society. Any Monies in the Guild’s bank accounts after settlement of all liabilities, should be returned to members if practical, or donated to BTA to fund Thematic Stamp collecting in general, or the World Union St Gabriel or to other appropriate organisations, as decided by Officers & Committee at the time of winding up.
These rules are based on the World Union Rules.
Last updated March 2008.