CONSTITUTION 

Highgate Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club

The main purposes of the Club are to provide facilities for and promote participation of the whole community in the sports of cricket and tennis in London N8.

The income and property of the Club shall be applied solely towards promoting the Club’s objects as set forth in these rules and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred, directly or indirectly, to the members of the Club or third parties.

Section A The Club

  1. The Club shall be called the Highgate Cricket & Lawn Tennis Club.
  2. The Club colours shall be red, blue & yellow.
  3. The Club’s financial year shall run from 1st November in each year to 31st October in the following year.
  4. No Club rule shall be altered, rescinded or added to unless by the consent of a majority of two-thirds of those members voting at a General Meeting of the Club, and notice of any proposed alteration shall be sent to the Club Secretary, in time for it to be circulated with the notice of the meeting.

Section B Lands and Buildings

  1. The playing areas as at present constituted, shall be devoted to the playing of cricket, tennis and other sporting activities.
  2. The Club property shall only be used for Club purposes unless specifically authorized by the General Committee.
  3. The Club lands (comprising the pavilion buildings, main cricket pitch, two lanes of cricket nets, five hard courts and four courts located at Brookside are held in Trust by The Trustees of The Shepherds Cot Trust contained in a trust Deed dated 2nd December 1981 (as amended), as varied following the merger with Brookside LTC. The Club benefits from a shared user agreement with the London Borough of Haringey relating to four tennis courts located adjacent to the Club on the Highgate Wood School site. Under this agreement the Club has the right to use these courts outside school hours. This agreement was executed by the London Borough of Haringey and trustees on behalf of the Club on 21st February 2011.
  4. No monies shall be borrowed upon the security of the grounds of the Club.
  5. The purchase of intoxicating liquors may be made by all members and their bona fide guests and, at the discretion of the General Committee, by members of visiting clubs playing arranged sporting fixtures or visiting the Club for the purpose of taking part in the Club’s social events, provided always that persons, other than those previously specified, may, at the discretion of the General Committee, be permitted to partake in the purchase of intoxicating liquors and other bar facilities, when visiting the Club for social, sporting or similar functions.
  6. The Club is a Community Amateur Sports Club. The Club members shall not be entitled to dissolve the Club and distribute its assets to themselves. In the event that the Club shall dissolve and is not amalgamated with any other Community Amateur Sports Club, the Club’s assets shall be distributed to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) or their successors in accordance with the ratio of cricket and tennis members registered at the time of such dissolution.
  7. The Club’s database, records, email addresses, website and all intellectual property created in connection with the Club’s activities is the property of the Club and shall not be used by members for any purpose that has not been authorised by the General Committee.

Section C Membership

  1. Applying for membership

a) The Club has a policy of full, open membership to all the community. Membership of the Club shall be open to anyone interested in the sport on application, regardless of sex, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or other beliefs, except as a necessary consequence of the requirements of rules of the LTA or the ECB. The Club may have different classes of membership and subscription on a non-discriminatory and fair basis. The Club will keep subscriptions at levels that will not pose a significant obstacle to people participating.

b) Any person who wishes to become a member must submit an application in such form as the Tennis or Cricket Committees shall decide. The Tennis Committee or Cricket Committee may refuse membership only for good cause such as conduct or character likely to bring the Club or the sport into disrepute or which is contrary to the best interests of the sport or the good conduct and interests of the Club. Approval of an application for membership is a task which is delegated to the membership secretary of the cricket section or tennis section.  The Tennis and Cricket Committees will have the final decision in the event of any issues.

c) Where a person ceases to be a member and subsequently applies to rejoin the Club, the Tennis Committee or Cricket Committee may refuse readmission as a member only for good cause such as conduct or character likely to bring the Club or the sport into disrepute or which is contrary to the best interests of the sport or the good conduct and interests of the Club. Approval of an application to rejoin the Club is a task which is delegated to the membership secretary of the Cricket Committee or the Tennis Committee. The Tennis and Cricket Committees will have the final decision in the event of any issues.

d) Persons below the age of 18 may be admitted as junior members without the right to hold office or vote at General Meetings.

e) Our subscriptions will be fair with reduced fees for students, unwaged (which are defined as unemployed, claiming and receiving state benefits), players with a disability, juniors, and pensioners. Members’ financial circumstances will be considered when setting subscriptions.

f) Applications for non-voting Social Membership will be dealt with by the General Committee.

g) In the case of a person wishing to join both sections of the Club, they shall comply with the joining / rejoining process for each section and a joint membership fee will apply.

h) Each cricket and tennis section member agrees as a condition of membership to be bound by and subject to the rules of this constitution and the rules of their respective professional associations as follows:

i. County Lawn Tennis Association and those of Middlesex in the Community (as in force from time to time).

ii. LTA Rules and the LTA Disciplinary Code and all current ECB policies

2. Requirements and benefits of membership 

a. All members agree to abide by the Club’s Code of Conduct.

b. Any member accused of any breach of the Club’s Code of Conduct shall be subject to the Club’s Complaints and Disciplinary Process.

c. The subscriptions, entrance fees and match fees, shall be determined by the General Committee in consultation with the cricket and tennis sections of the Club.

d. The General Committee may at any time nominate any person, being a full member, for election as an Honorary Life Member, without subscription, in recognition of valuable services to the Club. Such nomination shall then be submitted to the next Annual General Meeting for decision by the members. Election shall be by simple majority vote.

e. Members’ personal data is held by the club in accordance with the club’s Privacy Notice 

f. Tennis subscriptions shall become due annually from the date of joining. Cricket subscriptions shall become due by 1st May annually.

g. If any member’s subscription is not paid within one month of the due date the membership lapses and any application to rejoin is subject to a re-joining fee.

h. Where membership is for less than a full year or in other exceptional circumstances, a reduced subscription may be authorized at the discretion of the section committee.

i. The terms and conditions of membership are reviewed by the Club annually.

j. With one exception, the members do not intend any term of this constitution, or the rules referred to within it, to be enforceable by any third party.  As such, the application of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 is excluded. The exception to this is that the LTA is entitled to enforce the Club’s disciplinary process against a member for an alleged breach of the LTA’s Rules.

Section D General Meetings

  1. An Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be held in either March or April of each year (subject to unforeseen circumstances), for the purpose of receiving accounts verified by an independent accountant for the past year ended 31st October, and for general business, including the election of all officers and members of the General Committee and Bar Committee.  Twenty-one days’ notice of such meeting shall be given in writing or by e mail. All members, excluding junior and social members shall be entitled to vote at this meeting. In the event of an equality of vote the Chair shall have a casting vote on all matters other than election of members to the General Committee. Twenty-five members shall constitute a quorum.
  2. Upon the request of the General Committee or receipt of a requisition for an Extraordinary General Meeting, signed by not fewer than 25 members entitled to vote, stating the purpose for which such meeting is to be called, the Club Secretary shall issue notice of such meeting. Voting procedures at an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be the same as voting procedures at an Annual General Meeting. Twenty-one days’ notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be given to all members.

Section E Officers and members of the General Committee 

  1. The General Committee shall direct the general affairs of the Club, have control of the finances of the Club and consist of:

a) The Chair, Vice Chair, the Hon. Club Secretary and the Hon. Treasurer.

b) The Chair of both the cricket and tennis sections.

c) A minimum of one and a maximum of two duly elected representatives of each section.

d) One further representative from each section drawn from either the general membership of that section or from a section committee.

e) The Chair of the Bar Committee

f) The Club Safeguarding Officer

2. Each member of the General Committee must satisfy HMRC’s fit and proper person test to be involved in the general control, management and administration of the Club and must declare that he/she is a fit and proper person prior to being elected. All members of the GC shall sign a declaration that they are a fit and proper person in accordance with the provisions of the Finance Act 2010 Schedule 6 Part 3.

3. The Officers of the Club, being the Chair, the Vice Chair, the Hon. Club Secretary, the Hon. Treasurer, the Chair of the Bar Committee, and the Club Safeguarding Officer, being aged 18 or over, shall be elected at an Annual General Meeting and shall be nominated, in writing or by email, by not fewer than two voting members. Only adult members of the Club shall have voting rights. Social members and those under the age of 18 shall not have voting rights.   Such nominations shall reach the Club Secretary not less than seven days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting. If there is only one candidate nominated to fill any particular vacancy, that candidate shall be declared elected unopposed for that particular vacancy at the next Annual General Meeting. If there is more than one candidate for any particular vacancy, there shall be an election for that position. The Club Secretary shall promptly inform the membership of the candidates that are standing. In the event that any member is not able to attend the Annual General Meeting to vote in person, voting by email is permitted. Email votes should be sent to the Club Secretary at any time from the notice of candidates until 5pm on the day before the Annual General Meeting. Voting at the Annual General Meeting shall be by secret ballot and all secret ballot and email votes shall be added together to determine the result for that position. All elections shall be conducted by the Club Secretary and another officer of the General Committee. In the event of a tie, the candidate to be elected shall (unless the candidates otherwise agree) be determined by lot.

4. If there are no nominations for a position of Officer of the Club, the General Committee will, at any time, be able to appoint a member to fill the vacancy on the General Committee until the next Annual General Meeting when that person shall retire but shall be eligible for re-election.

5. The remaining members of the General Committee will consist of the Chair of both the cricket and tennis sections and up to two members from the Cricket Committee, and up to two members from the Tennis Committee. In addition, one further representative for each section may be elected from the general membership or the section committees. 6. These potential additional 6 members will be elected as General Committee members at the first section committee meeting following the Club AGM. They will be co-opted onto the General Committee to serve until the next Annual General Meeting and shall be entitled to vote at the meetings of the General Committee.

6. A suitably qualified accountant shall be selected, or reconfirmed at the Annual General Meeting, to conduct an independent review of the Club accounts before presentation to members.

7. General Committee members must put the interests of the Club first. General Committee members who have interests in competition with the Club are not entitled to serve as Committee members. A member of the General Committee shall be deemed to have vacated office if:

a) he/she becomes bankrupt or makes any arrangement or composition with his / her creditors generally; or

b) a registered medical practitioner who is treating that person gives a written opinion to the General Committee stating that that person has become physically or mentally incapable of acting as a member of the General Committee and may remain so for more than three months; or

c) by reason of that person’s mental capacity, a court makes an order which wholly or partly prevents that person from personally exercising any powers or rights which that person would otherwise have; or

d) he/she resigns his /her office by notice to the Club; or

e) he/she shall without sufficient reason for more than three consecutive meetings of the General Committee have been absent without permission of the General Committee and the General Committee resolves that his / her office be vacated; or

f) he/she is suspended from holding office or from taking part in any activity relating to the administration or management of the Club by a decision of the MITC, Middlesex Tennis, the LTA or the ECB.

g)  he/she is requested to resign by all the other General Committee members acting together.

8. Any person accepting election or nomination to the General Committee who has any financial interest in tennis or cricket must, before such election or nomination, state in writing to the Club all such interests. Failure to do so will lead to automatic disqualification from the General Committee. The General Committee has the right to veto such an election if, in its opinion, it is not in the best interests of the Club.

Section F Proceedings of the General Committee

  1. Meetings of the General Committee shall be held regularly at least eight times throughout the year. At such meeting, five members shall constitute a quorum. The Chair of the meeting shall have a casting vote.
  2. The Hon. Club Secretary shall attend all meetings of the General Committee (where possible) and take minutes.  He/she shall send out all general notices and carry out the directions of the General Committee.
  3. The Hon. Treasurer shall receive all monies and make all payments, subject to the control of the General Committee, and keep the accounts of the Club. He/she shall also attend all meetings of the General Committee (where possible) and at such meetings, shall provide details of the current financial situation.
  4. Decisions of the General Committee shall be made by a simple majority and in the event of an equality of votes the Chair shall have a casting vote.
  5. The General Committee will be entitled from time to time to set up sub-committees and / or working parties to deal with specific matters such as sponsorship, grant applications, ground development or recruitment and will be entitled to co-opt on to these sub committees non-General Committee members if it so decides where specialist skills are required. All sub-committees and / or working parties shall periodically report their proceedings to the General Committee and shall conduct their business in accordance with the directions of the General Committee.

Section G Section Committees

  1. The cricket and tennis section committees shall manage the affairs of their respective sections of the Club and may make such regulations as shall, in their opinion, be for the benefit of that section, provided always that such regulations do not conflict with the general rules of the Club.
  2. Decisions of the section committees shall be made by a simple majority and, in the event of an equality of votes, the Chair shall have a casting vote.
  3. The officers and members of each section committee shall be elected annually at a General Meeting and shall be nominated, in writing or by email, by not less than two voting members. Voting members are full members of the Club which shall exclude those under 18 years of age and social members. Such nominations shall reach the section Secretary not less than seven days prior to the date of the Annual General Meeting. If there is only one candidate nominated to fill any particular vacancy, that candidate shall be declared elected unopposed for that particular vacancy at the next Annual General Meeting. If there is more than one candidate for any particular vacancy, there shall be an election for that position. As a general rule, and where possible, no individual should stand for more than one position on a section committee.   The section Secretary shall promptly inform the membership of the candidates who are standing.
  4. Any member who is unable to attend the AGM in person may vote by sending an email to the section Secretary at any time from the notice of candidates until 5pm on the day before the Annual General Meeting. Voting at the Annual General Meeting shall be by secret ballot and all secret ballot votes and emailed votes shall be added together to determine the result for that position. All elections shall be conducted by the section Secretary and another officer of the relevant section. In the event of a tie, the candidate to be elected shall (unless the candidates otherwise agree) be determined by lot.
  5. In case of any vacancy, temporary or otherwise, in any of the Section Committees during a current year, the remaining Members of the Section Committee in which the vacancy occurs, shall have the power to fill the same. This co-opted member shall serve until the next Annual General Meeting.
  6. The section committees will be entitled, from time to time, to set up sub-committees and / or working parties to deal with specific matters such as sponsorship, grant applications, ground development, coaching or membership recruitment and will be entitled to co-opt on to these sub-committees non committee members if it decides specialist skills are required.

Section H Bar Committee 

  1. The Bar Committee shall comprise no fewer than 3 and no more than 5 members.
  2. The Chair of the Bar Committee shall be elected at the AGM of the General Committee.
  3. The Chair of the Bar Committee shall sit on the General Committee.
  4. The members of the Bar Committee shall be appointed by the Bar Committee Chair.
  5. Both sections of the Club (cricket and tennis) shall be represented on the Bar Committee.
  6. All members of the Bar Committee shall be over the age of 18.
  7. The Bar Committee shall meet no fewer than 6 times per year.
  8. Any bar manager engaged at the time and any franchisees or person(s) providing food or beverage services to the bar shall attend Bar Committee meetings.
  9. The Bar Committee shall ensure that the Club abides by all requirements of their licence to sell alcohol and play music.
  10. The Bar Committee shall ensure that any conditions imposed upon the Club by virtue of their sale of food, beverages and alcohol are met. This includes compliance with local authority health and safety regulations relating to all matters including cleaning and maintenance of the bar and kitchen areas, as well as the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Where meeting those conditions is the responsibility of the franchisee, the Bar Committee shall ensure that the franchisee complies with any such conditions.
  11. The Bar Committee shall ensure that all necessary licences are kept up to date.
  12. If any member of the Bar Committee ceases to be a member of the Club, s/he automatically ceases to be a member of the Bar Committee, and another member of the Club must be appointed in their place if the number of members of the Bar Committee falls below 3.

Section I Cricket section rules

  1. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the cricket section will take place between 1st September and 31st January in each year. 21 days’ notice of this date will be given and the agenda sent out or posted on the cricket section website. Fifteen voting members shall constitute a quorum.
  2. The Cricket Committee will consist of:

a) Cricket Chair

b) Cricket Secretary

c) Captain Men’s 1st X1

d) Fixture & Hire-Outs Secretary

e) Women & Girls’ Committee Representative

f) Cricket Safeguarding Officer

g) Junior’s Representative

h) Fundraising Officer

i) Membership Secretary

 

3. Voting and nomination procedure:

The positions set out in 2 above will be voted on at the cricket section Annual General Meeting in accordance with the procedures outlined in Section G3 and 4 of the Club’s constitution.

Before accepting nomination for these positions, members must be aware of the responsibilities that go with them and should discuss the position and its responsibilities with the incumbent committee member, and/or the Cricket Chair.

4. The Cricket Committee will meet at least four times in each calendar year. Five members of the committee will constitute a quorum.

5. The Director of Cricket should attend all Cricket Committee meetings whenever possible but will not have voting rights.

6. Annual subscriptions are due on 1st May and are governed by Section C (2) above.  Notwithstanding the club rules, members who have not paid their subscription by 31st May will not be selected for any team.

7. Members who bring the club into disrepute by word or action or fail to comply with these Rules will be subject to disciplinary action according to the Club’s Complaints and Disciplinary Process.

8. All members of a team are expected to carry out any reasonable duty required of them by the Captain/Vice Captain on the day of the match and will fully comply with the responsibilities expected of him or her as set out in the Club’s  Code of Conduct, the ECB General Conduct Regulations for Recreational Cricket 2023, the ECB Safe Hands Policy, the ECB Safeguarding Adults Policy and ECB Anti-Discrimination Code 2024, and any future ECB policies.

9. Highgate Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club cricket section is affiliated to the England and Wales Cricket Board through Middlesex in the Community and adheres to all present and future ECB policies.

 

Section J Tennis section rules

  1. The tennis section Committee shall consist of:

a) Tennis Chair

b) Tennis Secretary

c) Women’s Tennis Captain

d) Men’s Tennis Captain

e) Membership Secretary

f) Junior Tennis Coordinator

g) Tennis Safeguarding Officer

h) Three General Committee Members

 

2. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the tennis section will take place immediately after the General Club AGM.

a) 21 days’ notice of this date will be given and the agenda sent out or posted on the tennis section website.

b) All members, excluding junior and social members shall be entitled to vote at this meeting. Twenty-five members shall constitute a quorum.

3. The Tennis Committee members shall be elected annually at the tennis section Annual General Meeting in accordance with the procedures outlined in Section G 3 and 4 of the Club’s constitution. The Tennis Committee shall meet a minimum of six times a year. Five members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum.

4. The Director of Tennis should attend all Tennis Committee meetings whenever possible but will not have voting rights.

5. Tennis Committee members must put the interests of the Club first. Tennis Committee members who have interests in competition with the Club are not entitled to serve as Committee Members.

 

As approved at an AGM on 25th March 2018 and cricket AGM 23rd January 2022 and updated at the club AGM 26th March 2023 and updated at the club AGM on 13th April 2025.