Code of Conduct

Preface

Thames Valley IVC has a Code of Conduct which all Full Members of the club and members of the club’s Meetup group are expected to abide by.  It can be downloaded downloaded from as a PDF document from here, and a copy is shown below.

All Members

1. This Code of Conduct applies to all full and prospective members of Thames Valley IVC. All have exactly the same rights and responsibilities as described below.
2. All Members are entitled to freely enjoy their membership of the Club.
3. You are entitled to be treated with courtesy and respect at all times and conversely you must treat all other members with courtesy and respect. If you find that you cannot do this then this club is not for you. You don’t have to like every other member but you do have to treat every other member with respect.
4. You must take reasonable care over the health and safety of yourself and other members, particularly if you are running an event.
5. You must respect the rules and policies of the club.
6. You must respect the rights of others just as you are entitled to have your rights respected. By all means know your rights; please also know your responsibilities.
7. Please bring a tolerant approach to your membership. Please be aware of the impact your behaviour is having on your fellow members and be prepared to moderate your behaviour if others aren’t as amused as you think they should be. The club needs sociable members.
8. No one should act in a negative or destructive manner towards the club, its events or its members. This does not preclude fair and reasonable comment appropriately and fairly expressed.
9. You are entitled to be free of harassment and bullying. Harassment is any persistent course of conduct that continues to irritate, annoy, or upset someone over a period of time. Bullying is any abusive, aggressive, intimidating, or coercive behaviour
10. Issues and/or disputes do occasionally arise and they are best dealt with informally if at all possible. If, exceptionally, you find yourself involved in a dispute or disciplinary process, either as the person making a complaint, the person complained about or as a witness then you must act responsibly. You must treat the process as confidential and do your best to minimise rather than exaggerate the problem. Once the dispute or complaint has been dealt with everyone should accept the conclusion and ‘move on’. Complaints are not in the sprit of the club.

Committee Members

Committee Members have the same rights as other members to enjoy their membership for a social purpose. However, they also have special responsibilities over and above those of an ordinary member.

11. Committee Members must act genuinely in the best interests of all members, present and future, and must not act for any collateral purpose or sectional interest.
12. If Committee Members find themselves in a position where a conflict of interest arises, they should disclose it to the Committee and not take part in any discussions or votes on the issue.
13. Committee Members must exercise reasonable care and such skill as might reasonably be expected from a person of their knowledge and experience.
14. As a result of being a member of the Committee, members should not gain any additional benefit or advantage that is not generally available to all members, unless provided for under the Constitution.
15. The Committee is only entitled to act genuinely in pursuit of the stated aims and objectives of the club. If the committee acts other than as above then their actions and decisions are illegitimate and invalid (the legal term for this is ‘ultra vires’ which is Latin for ‘beyond the power’). Exceptionally individual committee members who took part in the decision might be held personally liable.
16. Committee members should be aware that their behaviour and conduct will be more prominent than that of ordinary members. Any behaviour which looks as if it may be wrong may cause damaging controversy, may undermine confidence in the Club and should be avoided.
17. Committee members may come across confidential or sensitive information about members. They must respect and keep the confidentiality of such information, not just while a Committee Member but for all time.

Sanctions

18. Members who appear to not be keeping to this Code of Conduct may be asked to be more careful about their behaviour and may become liable to disciplinary action under the rules of the Club

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