CONSTITUTION OF THE YEOVIL AND SHERBORNE ANGLING ASSOCIATION
Revised February 2025
The Association shall be known as the Yeovil and Sherborne Angling Association.
- PURPOSE
i) To provide freshwater angling for trout and coarse fish within the local area. To obtain fishing rights where possible in local rivers and still waters and where it is not possible to obtain leases for such fishing.
ii) It shall be the purpose of the Association wherever possible to maintain existing fish stocks or subject to the landowners’ consent and Environment Agency byelaws to improve them by restocking.
- MEMBERSHIP
i) Membership of the Association shall be open to members of the public and shall be secured by payment of an annual subscription.
ii) The rates of subscription shall be decided at the AGM on the recommendation of the committee.
iii) Membership of the Association allows all members the right to fish all waters obtained by the Association subject to any restrictions as documented on the club website (YSAA-online.co.uk).
iv) All members must hold the appropriate Rod Fishing Licence available online. Rod Fishing Licence – England and Wales (www.gov.uk)
v) Life Membership may be conferred upon members at the Annual General Meeting on recommendation by the Committee, where it is considered that a particular member has performed an exceptional service to, or on behalf of the Association. The number of life members shall not exceed 11 at any one time. In order to maintain their Life Membership they are required to provide the Membership Secretary with their current address and contact details and expected to support the Association where possible.
vi) There shall be no restriction on members belonging to other angling bodies however if the member holds a position of authority eg committee member of another angling club they cannot attend or vote at YSAA committee meetings.
vii) Junior membership to be available to those under the age of 16 years.
vii) Intermediate membership to be available to those between 16 – 18 years.
ix) Adult membership to be available to those over the age of 18 years.
x) Senior Citizen membership to be available to those over the age of 65
xi) The Committee reserves the right to refuse membership.
xii) Where a member is in breach of the Association or Environmental Agency Rules the matter shall be considered by the Committee who shall decide whether or not disciplinary action should be taken. The defaulting member shall be invited to attend any disciplinary hearing and may be represented. Where a member fails to appear before the Committee any decision shall be communicated to the member within 7 days of the hearing. Members shall have the right to appeal to the AGM, Notice of Appeal to be lodged three weeks prior to the date of the AGM.
- OFFICIALS
i) The association officials shall comprise: –
Executive Roles
President
Chairperson
Vice Chairperson
Secretary
Treasurer
Association Waters (Rivers) Secretary
Membership Secretary
Minutes Secretary
Match Secretary
Association Historian
Event Organiser
Social Media Secretary
Lake Maintenance and Project Lead
River Maintenance and Project Lead
Association Water Bailiff Lead
Association Water Bailiff
All officials shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and in taking on the role will be entitled to a free membership.
ii) The office of President shall normally extend for the lifetime of the person elected.
- ROLES
i) President – They are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting if they wish and if in attendance, they will be called upon to take the Chair when it is vacated by the retiring Chairperson.
ii) Chairperson – It is the duty of the Chairperson to preside over all meetings. The Chairperson is responsible for ensuring the fair hearing of all matters to be considered, to formally open the meeting at the outset and to formally announce its closure on completion. In the event of a tied vote the Chairperson will cast the deciding vote.
He/she will also endeavour to foster a good relationship with landowners and tenants who lease or rent waters to the Association. He/she is responsible at committee meetings for presenting and signing the minutes of the previous meeting.
iii) Vice Chairperson – In the absence of the Chairperson from a meeting or function the Vice Chairperson shall be called upon to perform the duties normally performed by the Chairperson. He/she will also support the Chairperson in the performance of his/her duties.
iv) Secretary – It is his/her duty to receive and deal with all correspondence addressed to the Association and developing good working relations with the Sherborne Castle Estates regarding the fishing access and rights to Sherborne Lake.
He/she is to be responsible for arranging meetings ensuring that interested parties are aware of the date, time and place of meetings and producing an Agenda upon which the conduct of the meeting is to be based. He /She will be responsible for the filing and safe keeping of all correspondence, communications and documents appertaining to the management and affairs of the Association. Such correspondence etc., to be kept for a minimum period of 10 years.
The Secretary may hold a cash float, agreed with the committee, which is to cover the incidental costs of his/her post.
v) Treasurer – The Treasurer is required to manage the Associations financial business ensuring that water rents and subscriptions to landowners and other agencies are paid and presenting to the committee a summary of the Associations accounts at each meeting.
He/she is responsible for compiling and presenting the annual accounts at the AGM and for ensuring that Association funds are handled in such a manner as to gain interest wherever possible.
He/she shall with the Chairperson and other persons nominated by the committee be responsible for signing Association cheques or authorising any payments. He/she shall be responsible for assisting and advising the committee on the need for insurance in respect of the Association, its activities and its members.
vi) Association Waters (Rivers) Secretary – It is his /her duty to establish and manage good relationships with association waters landowners and to seek new opportunities for obtaining fishing rights in the local area and bring this to the committee for further consideration. It is also their responsibility to ensure appropriate signage is erected at entry points to Association waters.
vii) Membership Secretary – It is his /her duty to manage the full membership database for the Association in conjunction with ‘Clubmate’ (https://clubmate.fish/clubmate-app/) our online membership and website management supplier. The Membership Secretary will work closely with the Secretary to vet new applicants where required and once approved ensure that the appropriate license is allocated to the new applicant.
The Membership Secretary will liaise with Sherborne Castle Estates, keeping them up to date on the assignment of valid access cards to members and those cards that need to be withdrawn.
viii) Minutes Secretary – It is his/her task to record minutes of the business enacted at all meetings. Minutes of meetings are available to be viewed at the discretion of the committee.
ix) Match Secretary – It is their task in co-operation with the committee and other officials to arrange for the Association match and venues. They are responsible for liaising with landowners and the organisation and advertising matches, but not for arranging the pools.
x) Association Historian – It is the role of the historian to collate historic evidence of the Associations activities from the past and any waters that were previously fished by the association, also collating history of the past Association officials and Life members.
xi) Events organiser – The role of Events organiser is to be the key point of contact when organising events such as introduction of Juniors or potential new members to angling.
xii) Social Media Secretary – Develop the Associations footprint on social media bringing to the committee options available to promote the club and updating and managing information as required.
v) Lake Maintenance, Safety & Project Lead – The role is to plan and manage a team of volunteers to support the maintenance, repairs, stocking of Sherborne Lake , planning and carrying out water testing of association waters and liaising with the Landowners and Environment Agency as required. Responsible for carrying out risk assessments and ensuring that safety of the team whilst performing any work activities.
vi) Association Waters Maintenance, Safety & Project Lead – The role is to plan and manage a team of volunteers to support the maintenance, repairs, stocking of all other association waters excluding Sherborne Lake , planning and carrying out water testing of association waters and liaising with the Landowners and Environment Agency as required. Responsible for carrying out risk assessments and ensuring that safety of the team whilst performing any work activities.
vii) Association Water Bailiff Lead – The role of the Lead Bailiff is to be the focal point at Sherborne Lake liaising with the estates Gamekeepers and ensuring that the control of predators is managed effectively. They will ensure that members adhere to Association rules and check anglers fishing Sherborne Lake are current members, using the Clubmate records and ID cards provided.
They will also liaise with all other Association Bailiffs to formalise a programme of monitoring Association Waters and if we are experiencing any poaching or illegal fishing on Association waters then they will be the point of contact with Environmental Agency Officers or local Police should the need arise.
viii) Association Waters Bailiffs –The duties of Bailiffs serving the Association waters will be to ensure that members adhere to Association rules and to check anglers fishing Association Waters are current members, using the Clubmate records and ID cards provided.
ix) Committee – The Committee includes all officials detailed above. Some roles may be held by the same individual. It is their task to meet regularly and to manage the Associations affairs, meetings will normally take place on the second Tuesday of each month at the agreed venue. For a committee meeting to take place a quorum of 5 members must be present.
The Committee shall be empowered to co-opt members should a position become vacant mid-term or a new role be required. The position can be filled through co-option provided a simple majority vote of the Committee is achieved, the new incumbent will be granted voting rights on the Committee.
The Committee shall consider all disciplinary matters and make such recommendations to the AGM as may be deemed necessary. Attendance at meetings is recorded on the minutes and any members who fail to attend two consecutive meetings without good reason may, at the discretion of the Committee, be required to surrender their place on the committee.
The Committee shall make such recommendations as it sees fit to the AGM and shall hear and decide upon disciplinary matters.
x) Non-Committee Members – These are volunteers which offer to support the association with maintenance, swim clearing, grass cutting and repairing platforms etc. They do not attend committee meetings but are registered with the club to be called upon when help is needed.
- RULES
Association rules are available on the club’s website. Rules may be changed as determined and recommended by the Committee at the AGM. Temporary change of rules can be introduced by the committee but must be voted on at the next AGM to become permanent.
Any proposal effecting Rules must be discussed and agreed by the Committee in advance of the AGM. A similar ruling will apply to any proposed change in the constitution, any changes will only be made by a majority vote at the AGM.
- TRUSTEES
The Committee shall act as Trustees of the association. In the event of the Association ceasing to exist the Trustees will be responsible for the disposal of the Associations assets and monies.
- WINDING UP
The decision to wind up the affairs of the Association can only be taken at the AGM or at a Special Meeting. All members of the Association will be notified by email and posted on the club website of any decision to wind-up and be informed of the time and date of the relevant meeting. The final decision will rest on the outcome of a simple majority vote.
08 February 2025
