1. TITLE

The name of the Club shall be "The London and Southern Counties Mouse and Rat Club.

(a) Application for membership, accompanied by remittance of the first subscription, shall be submitted to the Hon. Secretary who shall satisfy himself that the applicant is worthy of membership. The right is reserved to refuse admission to any person who is considered undesirable. Any person being refused admission can apply to the Committee for their consideration of the application.

(b) There shall be five grades of membership, namely, Life (see rule 15), adult, adult partnership, junior, and junior partnership.

(c) Payment of the first subscription shall be deemed to mean that the member consents to be bound by these rules.

(d) Membership shall be open to all persons provided that they meet the membership requirements as detailed in rule 2(a).

The objects of the Club shall be:

a) The promotion of breeding and exhibiting all varieties of fancy mice and rats;

b) To interest the public generally in the work and mission of the Club;

c) To maintain a high standard of excellence in judging and show management;

d) To endeavour to arrange and hold at least two open shows each year, table shows each month, and do all in its power to advance the interests of the Fancy.

e) To protect its members; the suppression of frauds and all dishonourable conduct thereon.

The Officers of the Club shall be a President, two Vice Presidents, Chairman, Hon. Secretary and Treasurer (joint office), Mouse Show Secretary, and Rat Show Secretary, to be elected annually.

No member can hold more than one official position except in the case of a judge.

The Committee shall consist of six ordinary members (elected at the Annual General Meeting) and the Officers.

a) This Committee shall have the power to manage all the business of the Club and to deal with any matter not covered by these rules.

b) The quorum for a Committee meeting shall be five members.

c) Should any member of the Committee be absent from three consecutive Committee meetings without reasonable excuse, his/her office shall be declared vacant.

d) Should a vacancy occur among the Committee or officers then the Committee shall fill the vacancy by majority vote.

e) The committee shall hold a meeting at any time but in any case shall hold a minimum of four meetings in any one year, the Annual General Meeting to count as one and the other meetings to be held at approximately three month intervals.

f) A member, not being an Officer or a Committee member of the club, may not attend or speak at Committee meetings without invitation, but may submit proposals etc to the Hon. Secretary not less than fourteen days before the proposed date of the Committee meeting.

g) The Chairman shall have only a casting vote at meetings, whether executive or general.

a) The annual subscription shall be fixed at the Annual General Meeting. Renewal of subscription becomes due by the end of February.

b) The initial subscription of a new member joining the Club between 1st November and the end of February, inclusive, shall be valid until the end of the following year.

An adult partnership shall only count as one vote at meetings and cannot hold more than one office. This excludes exhibiting partnerships, the partners of which are individual adult members.

Junior members (who shall be members who have not attained their sixteenth birthday when their annual subscription is paid) shall enjoy all the privileges of the Club but they shall not be entitled to vote at the Annual General Meeting, or any Special meeting, and shall not be entitled to hold any office. Junior members shall be at least six years old.

The conduct of any member may be considered at a Special Committee Meeting, duly convened for such purpose, and the Committee may take such action as they may see fit, including suspension or expulsion. Fourteen days notice of such meeting must be given to the member together with a written statement of the grounds of the complaint. The member shall have a right of appeal to an Extraordinary General Meeting on notifying the Hon. Secretary in writing within seven days of the Special Committee Meeting and in these circumstances rule 11 shall not apply.

a) The Annual General Meeting shall be held in February of each year to:

b) At least twenty-eight days notice in writing must be given to all members.

c) Any proposals must be submitted in writing to the Hon. Secretary not later than twenty-one days before the meeting.

d) Proxy votes will not be accepted.

e) The quorum for the meeting shall be one fifth of the membership. In the event of a quorum not being present by the start of the meeting then the meeting shall stand adjourned and shall be reconvened as soon as is reasonably practicable, all members being given reasonable notice of such meeting. If the quorum is then not present or maintained the meeting shall proceed and all business transacted shall be deemed valid notwithstanding the absence of a quorum.

a) An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called by eight members by giving at least twenty-eight days notice in writing to the Secretary and Chairman.

b) The Secretary shall notify all members in writing, giving at least fourteen days notice and stating the object of the meeting at which no other matters may be discussed.

c) The quorum (and conditions relating to the absence of such quorum) shall be the same as for the Annual General Meeting.

The members of the Club shall hold themselves jointly responsible to honourably discharge all liabilities of the Club provided that same have been properly incurred and sanctioned by the Committee.

The Minutes, Register of Members, Accounts shall be open to inspection by members at all reasonable times.

a) The Hon. Secretary and Treasurer shall cause proper accounts to be kept and prepare balance sheets, which shall be duly audited by an auditor, appointed only by a General Meeting, who shall certify as to same and report to the Annual General Meeting.

b) The Hon. Secretary shall also prepare a written report of the Club's workings for the preceding year which shall be read and confirmed at the Annual General Meeting aforesaid.

Life members may be nominated and elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Club.

The Club may at any time be dissolved by a resolution passed by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting of which at least twenty-one days notice of such meeting shall have been sent to all members of the Club. Such resolution may give instructions for the disposal of any assets held by, or in the name of, the Club, provided that, if any assets remain after the satisfaction of all debts and liabilities such assets shall be given or transferred to such other organisation or organisations having objects similar to some, or all, of the objects of the Club as the meeting may determine.

Entries shall be made to the relevant Show Secretary. Entries shall be deemed to have been made - in writing when the entries are posted, and by telephone, at the completion of the telephone call. Once made, entries may not be cancelled, or altered, other than in the case of entries made in writing where it can be shown conclusively that the Show Secretary has made an error. The foregoing does not preclude the making of additional entries prior to the stated closing date. All entries shall be paid for at the appropriate rate whether or not the exhibits are present at the show.

Points shall be given at all table shows, to count towards cups and special prizes to be given at the end of the year.

Points shall be awarded as follows:

for all the classes on the schedule.

Upon application being made to the Show Secretary, a LSCMRC Championship Certificate will be issued free of charge to a member owning a mouse or rat which has fulfilled the following conditions:

a) Club judges for the ensuing year to be appointed at the Annual General Meeting, but additional judges may from time to time be appointed at a Committee Meeting. Mouse Judges (exhibiting members) will be awarded fifty points for the points competition and sixteen points for the Jubilee Cup (two nominated varieties) Competition. Rat Judges (exhibiting members) will be awarded twenty-five points for the Rat points competition.

b) An appointed judge may exhibit in section(s) in which he is not judging but is not allowed to exhibit in the Grand Challenges or any other similar classes (e.g. "Supporters").

A rosette and special card shall be awarded at each show for Best in Show and Best Opposite Age mouse and rat.

The term "Novice" is intended to apply to any exhibitor who has not won a Best in Section at an Open show.

a) No member can compete at the Annual Cup Show unless he/she has exhibited (or judged) at a minimum of two club table shows during the current year previous to and excluding the Annual Show itself.

b) Members who do not meet the above requirements will not be allowed to exhibit at the Annual Cup Show.

c) The above requirements shall be deemed to have been met if a member has exhibited (or judged) either mice OR rats OR a combination of mice and rats.

Winners of cups at the Annual Show to receive a cup card as memorandum of win. The exhibitors of Best in Show mouse and rat shall be given a suitably inscribed memento.

Any member lodging an objection against a specimen at a show shall deposit the sum of £5 with the Show Secretary. Should the objection prove to be groundless the deposit will be forfeit. The Committee's decision is final.

The foregoing rules can only be added to, altered, or deleted, by the members of the Club at an Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting provided that such alterations are notified in accordance with the rules for the submission of matters at such a meeting.

Rules correct at 6.3.96

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