The Medieval Dress and Textile Society Constitution

updated 2024

I. The name of the Society shall be ‘The Medieval Dress and Textile Society’. The official abbreviation for the name shall be MEDATS.

II. The objectives of the Society are exclusively for purposes of a charitable and educational nature. They are:

  1. To promote, for the benefit of the public, education in medieval dress and textiles, by the improvement of knowledge concerning textile history and its public dissemination
  2. To bring together, on an interdisciplinary basis, those with a serious interest in all aspects of medieval dress and textiles
  3. To hold study days and conferences on specific topics, periods, countries and sources
  4. To provide access to expertise
  5. To co-operate with and promote other societies who have similar interests
  6. To encourage serious study of all aspects of clothing and textiles
  7. To circulate a regular newsletter
  8. To hold public and private meetings

III. The Executive Committee.

  1. The management of the Society shall be vested in an Executive Committee which shall consist of the officers of the Society and four others who shall all be members of the Society. All officers and other members of the Committee shall be elected at the AGM. The seven Honorary Officers shall be: Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Secretary, Newsletter Editor, Events Secretary, Communications Secretary, and Social Media Secretary. They shall hold office for two years and shall be eligible for immediate re-election. If a position is not vacant but an officer is resigning, a handover date can be arranged for a later date, if so desired, and the resigning officer remains in charge until the handover date has been agreed on by both old and new officer and is recorded by the committee. No member shall hold more than one office on a permanent basis. In an emergency the Chair may appoint temporary officers whose appointment shall be referred to the Committee at its next meeting for confirmation.
  2. The Committee shall have power to co-opt such additional members as they shall think fit.
  3. The Executive Committee shall have discretionary power to appoint an Honorary President
  4. The Chair will normally serve for a period of four years and shall be eligible for re-election thereafter.
  5. The Committee shall be convened by the Chair at least once a year, or more often should it be deemed necessary. If four members of the Committee apply to the Chair in writing to convene a meeting, the Chair shall convene the meeting within four weeks of receipt of the application.
  6. At all meetings of the Committee four shall form a quorum.
  7. Nominations to fill vacancies in the Executive Committee, duly proposed and seconded by two members of the Society and indications of the willingness of the nominees to stand must reach the Honorary Secretary in writing the day before the AGM or in person at the AGM.
  8. The Executive Committee may call a Special General Meeting at such time as it may deem advisable.
  9. Voting for Officers on the Committee may be secret at the discretion of the Chair.

IV. Membership.

  1. Any person or institution may apply for membership of the Society.
  2. No member of the Society may use the name of the Society for any purpose without the permission of the Committee.
  3. The Committee shall have power to cancel membership of any member without reason being given.
  4. Individual members, or two members residing in the same household and institutions shall pay a subscription rate as agreed by the Committee. Changes shall be ratified at the AGM or Extraordinary General Meeting following that decision. Membership subscriptions are due on 1 January and are payable in advance.
  5. A member whose subscription is not paid by the end of January of the current year shall be so notified and if payment is not received within four weeks of notification, he or she shall cease to be a member of the Society.
  6. Honorary members shall be elected on the nomination of the Executive Committee, by the Society in General Meeting.
  7. All members shall be eligible to vote.

    V. The Annual General Meeting.

    1. The Annual General Meeting of the Society (of which not less than three weeks’ notice shall be given) shall be held within 15 months of the last AGM, as an online meeting, for the purpose of receiving the annual statements of accounts and appointing the members of the Executive Committee.
    2. Decisions shall be taken on a simple majority of those present and voting. Voting via email or postal vote is also possible, and will count towards quorum, but has to be received by the Chair before the day of the AGM and cannot be applied to decisions proposed on the day of the AGM only.
    3. If the Executive Committee shall decide that the Society be dissolved it shall call a Special General meeting of members, giving not less than three weeks’ notice of such a meeting and the purpose for which it is called.
    4. In the event of the Society ceasing to exist, any funds remaining to its credit after the discharge of its liabilities shall be given, as decided at a final General of Special Meeting, to an appropriate charitable organisation with similar aims, or of an antiquarian nature as the meeting shall decide.
    5. No change in the rules of the Society shall be made except at the Annual General meeting or at an Extraordinary General Meeting. Amendments shall be proposed and seconded and the Secretary informed, and members shall be given three weeks’ notice prior to the date of the meeting.
    6. The quorum at a meeting of the Society shall be 10 percent of the total actual membership.

    VI. Finance.

    1. All moneys raised by or on behalf of the Society shall be applied to further the objects of the Society and for no other purpose.
    2. The Honorary Treasurer shall keep proper accounts of the finances of the Society.
    3. A statement of the accounts for the last financial year shall be submitted by the Committee to the Annual General Meeting. Any member can request an independent examination of the accounts.
    4. A bank account shall be opened in the name of the Society with Bank of Scotland Bank PLC, of 15 Queen Square, Brighton BN1 3FS, or with such other bank as the Committee shall from time to time decide. All cheques or authorisations for payment are to be signed by two signatories selected from the Executive Committee.
      email@medats.org.uk