OUR CONSTITUTION

1. Our Group Name

Mina Road Park Group Committee organising Friends of Mina Road Park.

2. Our Group Aims

The aim of the group is to ensure & develop the continued accessibility, quality, enjoyment, & diversity of wildlife of Mina Road Park, St Werburghs, Bristol.

To fulfill this aim the group will:

  • Provide a friendly & welcoming community focus for residents of St Werburghs & its surroundings neighbourhoods, & visitors to Mina Road Park.

  • Liaise with Bristol City Council to contribute to the maintenance, development, & improvement of The Park.

  • Create & maintain a publicly available Environment Management Plan, in liaison with BCC & other national & local environment & wildlife agencies, to develop & sustain the planned planting, & wildlife in the park.

  • Work to expand & support the diversity of wildlife existing in the park, & ensure group & visitors’ activities & practices respect & support all existing & future wildlife.

  • Contribute to make Mina Road Park a safe & inviting location to visit & enjoy. 

  • Advise & inform visitors & users of Mina Road Park of best practices & activities to minimise negative impact on the landscape & inhabitants of the park, & promote behaviour that has a positive impact on the park & its wildlife.

  • Research, collect & display (wherever possible) historical, pictorial, & wildlife information.

  • Work with BCC & other agencies, companies & bodies to ensure that any planned changes or developments in St Werburghs & surrounding areas consider, & avoid or mitigate any & all potential effects on Mina Road Park.

3. Our Group Membership

3.1 Membership

Membership of Friends of Mina Road Park is open to anyone & everyone who visits & enjoys & has an interest in the continued availability & quality of Mina Road Park.

Mina Road Park Group Committee will try to make sure this is a reality by attempting to promote & publicise Friends of Mina Road Park as widely as possible within St Werburghs & its surrounding neighbourhoods.

Membership begins as soon as a request email is received to FriendsOfMinaRoadPark@gmail.com & acknowledged by our Membership Secretary.

Membership of Friends of Mina Road Park has two options:

A MEMBER/Werberneer is someone on the eMailing List who participates in WorkParty Activity Days & attends Community Events.

A FRIEND/PATRON of Friends of Mina Road Park is someone who may or may not be on our eMailing List, who cannot/chooses not to attend WorkParty Activity Days &/or Community Events but who may choose to support Friends of Mina Road Park financially remotely through our website &/or PayPal account.

Membership as a Werberneer or Patron is FREE to all members. There is no obligatory Annual Membership Fee.

Donations made by Werberneers &/or Patrons to fund Friends Of Mina Road Park planting, events & activities are gratefully received & appreciated, but are not compelled.

Our Membership Secretary will manage all Werberneers’ & Patrons’ email addresses  securely held in our eMailing List, and we will only record & store email addresses. No phone numbers or postal/residential addresses will be sought, nor recorded, nor stored by Mina Road Park Group managing Friends of Mina Road Park.
Mina Road Park Group will discourage the use of Social Media to arrange, organise or coordinate Friends of Mina Road Park WorkParty Events or Community Events, especially but not exclusively FaceBook & WhatsApp, as these platforms open the Membership to too many opportunities for mistakes & breaches of data security & individuals’ confidentiality.

3.2 Ceasing to be a member

Members may resign at any time in writing (physically or via email) to the Secretary or Membership Secretary.

Any Member may be asked to leave or not attend any Activity, Event or Meeting at any time if the Committee & Membership deem any Member’s conduct, behaviour, language or remarks discriminatory, insulting, inflammatory or offensive (see 4).

4. Our Equal Opportunities, Conduct, & Dispute Resolution policies

4.1 Equal Opportunities

Mina Road Park Group & Friends of Mina Road Park will not discriminate on the grounds of sex, ethnicity (including colour, ethnic or national origin), sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, sex reassignment, religious, or political belief, pregnancy, maternity or paternity, marital status or age. The Committee will advise & decide at all times on any & all instances of discrimination within the Committee or group.

4.2 Conduct, & Dispute Resolution

  • Any offensive behaviour including racist, ableist, sexist, or discriminatory remarks (whether in person, in writing, or on social-media), will not be tolerated. 

  • Any reports to the Committee of such behaviour will be taken seriously. 

  • Anyone behaving in an offensive way or breaking the Equal Opportunities Policy will be asked to publicly apologise in person & in writing & not repeat any discriminatory or anti-social behaviour. They will then be required not to attend further meetings or to resign from the group or be removed from the group if an apology is not given or the behaviour is repeated. The individuals concerned shall have the right to arbitration by the management committee, accompanied by a friend, before a final decision is made.

5. Our Officers and Committee Organisation

The business of the group will be carried out by a Committee who is self-appointed for the first year & will be elected at the Annual General Meeting thereafter. The Committee will meet as necessary, preferably 6 times, and not less than 4 times, per year.

The Committee will consist of 7 members, and be composed of 4 Officers and 3 Committee Members. Up to 2 additional Members may be co-opted onto the Committee at the discretion of the Membership.

The Officers’ roles are as follows:

  • Chair-Person: Acts as primary contact & spokesperson for Friends of Mina Road Park, & organises & leads Committee Officers’ roles/activities, WorkParty Activities, Community Events, & also Committee & General Meetings.

  • Vice Chair-Person: Coordinates communications, activities, events, publicity, promotions & meetings with the Chair & Secretary, & securely maintains the Membership list/contact details.


  • Secretary: Ensures agendas, communications, meetings & minutes are publicly promoted, available & maintained. 


  • Treasurer: Ensures all funding, fundraisers, & funds are publicly maintained & available.


  • ALL Officers are responsible for ensuring fairness, equality, impartiality & punctuality across the Committee & Group.

In the event of an officer standing down during the year a replacement will be elected by an Extraordinary General Meeting of Committee & members.

Any Committee member not attending a meeting without apology for three meetings will be contacted by the Committee and asked if they wish to resign.

The Mina Road Park Group Committee meetings will be public & open to any member of Friends of Mina Road Park Group wishing to attend, who may speak but not vote.

6. Our Meetings

6.1. Annual General Meetings

An Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held within fifteen (15) months of the previous AGM.

All Members will be notified in writing at least 3 weeks before the date of the meeting, giving the venue, date and time.

Nominations for the Committee Officers may be made to the Secretary before the meeting.

The quorum for the AGM will be 10% of the membership or 10 members, whichever is the greater number.

At the AGM:-

  • The Committee will present a report of the work of Mina Road Park Group & Friends of Mina Road Park over the previous year/15 months.

  • The Committee will present the accounts of Friends of Mina Road Park for the previous year.

  • The Officers and Committee for the next year will be proposed & elected.

  • Any proposals for Officers must be given to the Secretary at least 7 days in advance of the meeting will be discussed by all attending Officers & Members.

6.2 Special General Meetings

The Secretary will call a Special General Meeting (SGM) at the request of the majority of the Committee or at least seven (7) other Members giving a written request to the Chair, Vice-Chair or Secretary stating the reason for their request.

The meeting will take place within twenty-one days of the request.

All members will be given two weeks notice of such a meeting, giving the venue, date, time and agenda, and notice will be by email, leaflet & poster.

The quorum for the Special General Meeting will be 10% of the membership or 10 members, whichever is the greater number.

6.3 General Meetings

General Meetings (GM) are open to all members and will be held at least once every 3 months or more often if necessary.

All members will be given two weeks’ notice of such a meeting, giving the venue, date, time and agenda, and notice may be by email, calendar, leaflet &/or poster.

The quorum for a General Meeting shall be 10% of the membership or 5 members, whichever is the greater number.

6.4 Committee Meetings

Committee Meetings (CM) may be called by the Chair, Vice-Chair or Secretary. Committee members must receive notice of meetings at least 7 days before the meeting.

The quorum for Committee meetings is three Committee members.

7. Our Rules of Procedure for meetings

All questions that arise at any meeting will be discussed openly and the meeting will seek to find general agreement that everyone present can agree to.

If a consensus cannot be reached a vote will be taken and a decision will be made by a simple majority of Members present. If the number of votes cast on each side is equal, the Chair of the meeting shall have an additional casting vote.

8. Our Finances

An account will be maintained on behalf of the Association at a bank agreed by the Committee. Three cheque signatories will be nominated by the Committee (one to be the Treasurer).  The signatories must not be related nor members of the same household.

All payments will be signed/authorised by any two of the Committee.

Records of income and expenditure will be maintained by the Treasurer and a financial statement given at each meeting.

All money raised by or on behalf of Friends Of Mina Road Park is only to be used to further the aims of the Group, as specified in item 2 of this Constitution.

9. Amendments to the Constitution

Amendments to the Constitution may only be made at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) or a Special General Meeting (SGM) or ExtraOrdinary General Meeting (EGM).

Any proposal to amend the Constitution must be given to the Secretary in writing. The proposal must then be circulated with the notice of meeting.

Any proposal to amend the Constitution will require a two thirds majority of those present and entitled to vote.

10. Our Dissolution

If a meeting, by simple majority, decides that it is necessary to close down the group it may call a Special General Meeting to do so. The sole business of this meeting will be to dissolve the group.

If it is agreed to dissolve the group, all remaining money and other assets, once outstanding debts have been paid, will be donated to a local charitable organisation. The organisation will be agreed at the meeting which agrees the dissolution.

11. Our Agreement

This Constitution was agreed at the Inaugural General Meeting of the Mina Road Park Group on:-

Date 07/04/2021

https://www.resourcecentre.org.uk/information/constitutions/#sample