Membership and volunteer information

Full Members.

The Full Members may direct the Management Council to create other classes of membership as they may from time to time require.

The Management Council may propose classes of membership to the Full Members for consideration for such direction.

Once created, only the Management Council may dissolve a class of membership, with the exception of the classes of Full Member and Honourary Member which cannot be dissolved without the winding up of the charity.

Other than Full Membership and Honourary Membership, the Management Council, acting alone, may set criteria for admittance into any other membership class and may, with due cause, remove membership from any existing member of any other class.

All Members of all classes, other than Honourary Members and Founder Members can only remain Members if they are involved with, or helping, Border Collie Rescue in a voluntary capacity.

Full members, being founder members, appointed members and timed members (i.e. current trustees).

BCR Full Members are the only members who have a vote and are entered onto the charities register of members as - Member of Border Collie Rescue - and will be entitled to describe themselves as such.

They can use their vote at the AGM to appoint trustees or at special meetings to decide policy, appoint officers or direct the Management Council.

The nomination of an Office of the Charity to include Full timed membership rights must be made by any Full Member, seconded by any Full Member and carried by a majority vote of all Full Members.

There shall be no subscription or benefit associated with Full Membership.

Founding Members

are Full lifetime members of Border Collie Rescue until such times as they resign their membership. Full lifetime membership is not transferable and ceases on death.

Appointed Full Members

A person wishing to be appointed and admitted as a Full Member of BCR must submit an application in writing in the format currently required.

That application must be proposed and seconded by two existing Full Members before a vote can be taken as to the suitability of the applicant to be admitted as a Full Member of BCR.

There must be a majority, in favour, of at least 75% of all Full Members entitled to vote before an applicant can be admitted.

In order to qualify to apply for Full membership as an appointed member, an applicant must have been an Active Member of Border Collie Rescue for at least two years and must have made a regular weekly commitment to the work of the organisation of at least 20 hours during that period, subject to absence caused by sickness and reasonable holidays.

Alternatively, if such a regular work commitment has not been made, providing the applicant has been an Active Member for two years, an applicant may qualify by acting as substantial guarantor for goods or services required by BCR.

In accepting an applicant as a Full Member of BCR, existing Full Members may limit the term of the applicants membership by appending conditions which, if breached, would cause their membership to lapse or by imposing a time limit on their membership, after which their membership would lapse.

In the absence of any time scale or conditions being imposed, an appointed Full Member of Border Collie Rescue become a lifetime member until such times as they resign their membership or are voted out by other Full Members. Full lifetime membership is not transferable and ceases on death.

Appointed Full Members may be voted out, with due cause, by a 75% majority vote of other Full Members.

Timed Full Members

Appointment as a Trustee on the Border Collie Rescue Management Council confers automatic Full membership rights on the person so appointed for the duration of their period in office and will cease at the point they resign as a Trustee, are dismissed as a Trustee or their period in office ends naturally and they are not re-elected.

To qualify as a candidate for election as a Trustee, a person must have been an active member of Border Collie Rescue for at least one year, during which time they must also have been appointed to a position as an Officer of the organisation.

Timed Members may be voted out, with due cause, by a minimum 75% majority vote of other Full Members.

Although, in these circumstances, their rights as a Full Member will cease, this will not affect any other membership classes they may have joined, nor, if a Trustee, their position on the Management Council for the duration of their allotted time as Trustee, after which they will need to stand for re-nomination and election.

Voting Rights of Full Members

Full Members may nominate, second and vote on the election of, Trustees and shall be the only class of membership of Border Collie Rescue who may do so.

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Active membership

The Management Council of Border Collie Rescue may, from time to time, set or change criteria or procedures for the acceptance or appointment of Active Members.

There shall be no subscription or benefit associated with Active Membership.

Active Members will be entered on the charities register of Members as - Active Member of Border Collie Rescue - and will be entitled to describe themselves as such.

Active Members of Border Collie Rescue are formal volunteers who fill in a designated form to pledge their help to Border Collie Rescue by working as a volunteer to help and fulfil the objects of the organisation.

Active Members have no voting rights.

Active Members may be appointed as Officers of the organisation.

Only Active Members who have become Officers are eligible to become Trustees.

An Active Member may be recruited by any Officer of the charity and will start as a general assistant. Until the recruitment is formally approved by the Management Council, they shall be classed as Probationary and shall not be eligible to hold any Office within Border Collie Rescue but shall remain as a general assistant.

The acceptance of an Active Member to work in any Department may be at the discretion of the current Head of Department or by the direction of a Trustee or the Management Council.

Removal of an Active Member from working in any Department may be by their own request or, at the discretion of the current Head of Department or, by the direction of a Trustee or, by direction of the Management Council.

Active membership will cease upon the resignation of a Member or automatically if the Member has not carried out any duties requested of them for Border Collie Rescue for a period of 12 months or, has made no personal effort to communicate with the charity over a period of 12 months or, have been guilty of a serious breach of the charities bye laws or, if their membership is rescinded for any other reason or, if Probationary, not accepted by the Management Council.

Associate members.

The Management Council of Border Collie Rescue may, from time to time, set or change criteria or procedures for the acceptance or appointment of Associate Members.

Associate Members will be entered on the charities register of Members as - Associate Member of Border Collie Rescue - and will be entitled to describe themselves as such.

Associate Members of Border Collie Rescue are individuals, organisations or bodies corporate who apply and are accepted to be Associate Members of Border Collie Rescue and also support the charity financially by means of subscription.

Acceptance is subject to criteria specified by the Management Council, as may from time to time apply, and will carry an annual subscription as set by the Management Council, which may vary, dependent on the status of the applicant.

Whatever criteria set by the Management Council, no person, organisation or body corporate may be admitted as an Associate member if their activities or ethics conflict with those of Border Collie Rescue or if they may, or do, bring Border Collie Rescue into disrepute through such association.

Acceptance on to the role of Associate members is at the discretion of the Management Council

Associate Members have no voting rights.

Associate Members may receive benefit in the form of 3rd party incentives and discounts approved by the Management Council from time to time. Direct benefits from Border Collie Rescue are subject to charitable law and cannot, as such, exceed the legally accepted proportion of value of any subscription paid for Associate Membership, by any individual Associate Member.

Associate Members remain as such for the duration of their subscription and their membership will lapse if they default on any subscription instalment for more than 4 weeks past its due date.

The Management Council may, with due cause, rescind the Associate membership rights of any individual Associate Member providing any balance of subscription outstanding is repaid to that Member.

Membership of other classes of Border Collie Rescue does not preclude Associate membership.

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Honourary Members

The Management Council of Border Collie Rescue may, from time to time, set or change criteria or procedures for the acceptance or appointment of Honourary Members; however no changes can be implemented without the prior consent of a majority of Full Members.

There shall be no subscription or benefit associated with Honourary Membership.

Honourary Members will be entered on the charities register of Members as - Honourary Member of Border Collie Rescue - and will be entitled to describe themselves as such

Honourary Membership can be conferred on individuals or organisations that it is felt have done sufficient to support Border Collie Rescue, or the objects of Border Collie Rescue, to merit such honour.

Any Full Member of Border Collie Rescue, at any meeting of Members or the Management Council may nominate a person or organisation for Honourary Membership with another Full Member seconding the proposal, whereupon a case officer should be appointed to research, collate and present the relevant information needed for consideration if the nomination and a date set for a hearing.

The hearing may be a full meeting of the Management Council or a meeting of at least two Trustees appointed for such purpose by the Management Council at a date and time agreed. If the hearing is held by any less than the full Management Council, the decision shall be deferred until the next Full Meeting of the Management Council where it will be entered, by the Secretary, on the agenda.

If approved by the Management Council, a nomination for Honourary Membership should then be voted on by all Full Members of Border Collie Rescue, at meeting or by written resolution, and will succeed by majority vote.

Honourary Membership can, with due cause, be rescinded by the majority vote of the Management Council and the Full Members.

Once entered on the register of membership, a Honourary Member remains such until such times as they resign their membership or their membership is rescinded.

Honourary membership is not transferable but does not cease on death and the Honour may be conferred posthumously.

Helpers

Helpers are people working for Border Collie Rescue as volunteers and who are not Full or Active Members.

As such a Helper may not be required to fill in an application form and can be recruited by any Officer of the charity so appointed by the Management Council or - for the purposes of a specific task, for the duration of that task, by any officer responsible for the completion of the task and shall be the responsibility of the officer recruiting them while they were helping.

A helper may not work unsupervised nor hold any Office within the charity.

While helping Border Collie Rescue, a Helper will be regarded as a volunteer for the duration of their involvement.

Staff - Volunteers and Employees

Staff are people who work, in any capacity, for Border Collie Rescue - paid or unpaid.

Employees are people who are employed or paid, full or part time, by Border Collie Rescue. As such an employee cannot be a Member and their terms and conditions of employment will be governed by current legislation at the time.

Volunteers are people who work in an unpaid capacity for Border Collie Rescue and include all classes of Membership and Helpers.

No Member or helper can be paid for the work they do for Border Collie Rescue.

No member, upon resignation of membership, can be employed by the charity in any paid capacity, for a year and a day from the date of their resignation without the prior approval of the Management Council and subject to charitable law. This restriction will not apply to helpers.

The following byelaws refer to all Membership Classes

No member of Border Collie Rescue may give his or her name, address, telephone number, fax number or any other current or future means of communication, in any medium, as a contact for Border Collie Rescue, or permit or consent to such being published, or represent themselves to any party as a contact for Border Collie Rescue, without the express and prior consent of the Management Council or a Trustee appointed by the Management Council for that purpose.

Any direct approaches and attempts to contact a member by anyone other than another member of Border Collie Rescue should be reported by that member to Head Office or a Trustee or their Head of Department.

No member of Border Collie Rescue may exceed any authority or make and implement any decisions beyond that authority delegated to them by their Head of Department or the Management Council.

Any member hearing of such breaches of authority should report the occurrence to Head Office, a Trustee or their Head of Department.

No member of Border Collie Rescue may make any statement to the press, appear in any newspaper or allow their names, address or any personal or contact details to be published in any medium in any association with Border Collie Rescue without the express and prior consent of the Management Council or a Trustee appointed by the Management Council for that purpose.

Any member hearing of such breaches of authority should report the occurrence to Head Office, a Trustee or their Head of Department.

No member of Border Collie Rescue may intervene upon, or divert, or personally act upon any enquiry made to the charity for any purpose nor divert any goods, property, funds or dogs that are the subject of that enquiry to any third party or person or for their personal gain or ownership. All members have a duty to pass on such enquiries, goods, property, funds and dogs to the charity. Failure to do so may constitute a criminal offence, fraud or theft.

Any member hearing of such actions should report the occurrence to Head Office, a Trustee or their Head of Department.

Any member in deliberate breach of any of the above bye-laws shall, by that action, cease to be members of Border Collie Rescue from the time that the action was committed.

The Management Council has the right to terminate the membership, subject to the bye laws governing each class of membership, of any member found to have breached any of the charities bye-laws.

The Management Council may authorise the acquisition and distribution of Non Geographic telephone numbers or mobile phones or email addresses or any other form of communication that they may, from time to time approve, that can be used as means of public and private communication for Members and Officers requiring such means, but such means would be and remain the property of Border Collie Rescue.

Property of Border Collie Rescue (including dogs) may be issued to members for use in their duties for Border Collie Rescue and must be signed for by that member.

Once signed for they are the responsibility of the member to whom they were issued but remain the property of Border Collie Rescue and must be returned to the organisation fit for use, subject to wear and tear.

On request, end of use or on termination of membership, such items must be returned to Border Collie Rescue by the member to whom they were issued or handed over to a designated person by direction of an officer of the charity.

This is of particular relevance to foster homes who are keeping dogs for Border Collie Rescue. The dog remains the property of Border Collie Rescue at all times and is fostered temporarily, subject to being found a permanent home.

Once a permanent home is found the dog will be moved to it and must be surrendered.

Although foster homes (and any other member) may apply to adopt a dog from Border Collie Rescue they cannot adopt a dog they are currently fostering.

Any dog that has been specifically placed with a member for the purposes of their consideration for adoption will be placed under the standard 4 week trial period normal in all BCR adoptions and subject to completion of the adoption process.