Constitution

Constitution for the Friends of Badock’s Wood

Name of Group: Friends of Badock’s Wood

Aims and Objectives:

The Group aims to ensure that the Badock’s Wood Local Nature Reserve (LNR) is maintained and protected as a nature reserve for the mutual benefit of both wildlife and people. To fulfil these aims, the Group will:

Liaise with Bristol City Council’s Parks Department to ensure a high level of care for The Badock’s Wood LNR and to have a positive input into how the site is managed

Provide opportunities for involvement by as many individuals as possible, particularly local residents, by way of promoting ”woodland events“

Provide a friendly and welcoming community focus for people interested in the preservation of Badock’s Wood as a community asset

Contribute to making Badock’s Wood a safe and inviting place to visit

Encourage more considerate behaviour and greater respect for Badock’s Wood by the local community

Contribute to the management of Badock’s Wood, including the protection of any wildlife habitats and to promote the importance of urban green spaces

Research and collect information relevant to the wildlife and history of Badock’s Wood

Work with Bristol City Council and other bodies (such as BTCV, English Nature, English Heritage, Environment Agency, Wessex Water) to ensure that the effects on Badock’s Wood are fully considered in any plans or developments for the surrounding areas

Membership and Equality:

The Group is non political and Membership is open to anybody with an interest in Badock’s Wood or the immediate surrounding area.

The Group will achieve this objective by ensuring that membership is as widely publicised as possible and promote the fact that membership is open to everyone.

Organisation:

All Meetings are open to all Members of the Group. Individual Members will be elected to the following posts:

Chairman – who will act as the main contact and spokesman for the Group and will also keep Meetings fair, unbiased and on time.

Vice-Chairman – who will stand-in for the Chairman, as and when necessary.

Treasurer – who will be responsible for maintaining a bank account for the Group, holding the cheque book, keeping receipts and a record of all income/expenditure for the Group. Two signatures will be required on any cheques issued by the Group.

Secretary – who will be responsible for arranging Meetings, circulating Meeting’s Agendas and Minutes/Notes and maintaining a record of all Members’ contact details.

Minutes Secretary – who will be responsible for taking Minutes/Notes at Meetings.

Projects Leader – who will be the focus for liaison with outside Agencies regarding funding applications for any major projects and to take the lead on progressing these applications to their eventual conclusion.

In time, as the Group evolves, it may be organisationally efficient to create the following additional posts, as and when deemed necessary:

Work Party Organiser – who will liaise with Bristol City Council to agree any practical conservation/maintenance work to be undertaken by the Group and who will also ensure that all necessary equipment is mobilised for each work session.

Research Co-ordinator – who will collate information on the history of Badock’s Wood and who will also be responsible for making the information available to Members and other interested parties.

All practical work to be carried out by the Group will be agreed and risk-assessed by Bristol City Council in order to meet the conditions of the Council’s Public Liability Insurance. Each Work Party will have a Leader trained in the safe use of tools (the Leader will not necessarily be the Work Party Organiser as it is expected that the Group will have several people willing to be Leaders).

There will be an Annual General Meeting (AGM) at which the Group’s finances and activities will be reported and officers elected. Changes to the Constitution can be made at the AGM. Vacant Officer’s posts can be filled at any time during the year but any such vacancies must be ratified and elections held at the next AGM. Any individual may hold up to two elected posts concurrently.

The AGM will be held in March/early April each year, following due Notice of 14 days.

As far as possible, decisions will be reached by consensus rather than by voting.

In addition to ad hoc workdays, the Group will hold Ordinary Meetings as necessary – probably up to 6 times a year. There will be standing invitations to Bristol City Council’s Parks Department, Avon & Somerset Constabulary and Ground4Change (formally The Trymside Project) to attend these Meetings.