THE CONSTITUTION OF THE NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY FELLWALKING SOCIETY 2025/26
Introduction
This document details the specific rules of the Newcastle University Fellwalking Society (referred to henceforth as the ‘Society’ or ‘NUFWS’), its objectives and the duties and responsibilities of its committee and ordinary members, as well as the rules dictating a democratic election procedure. This constitution serves to complement the Societies Constitution and the Constitution of the Union Society. In the event of a conflict of meaning, the latter shall have precedence, but only in relation to matters not relating to Mountaineering or Fellwalking.
This constitution also serves as the safety policy for the society and so sets out the society’s health and safety rules and guidelines. These guidelines should be followed at all times to ensure that all activities take place in as safe an environment as possible.
All members must sign to say that they have read and understood this document before they may take part in any society activities, with priority given to trips.
1 Aims and Objectives of the Society
1.1 The Primary aim of the society is to promote interest in walking in the hills, mountains and countryside amongst members of the Society. The ethic of this club is to enjoy the mountain environment in safety and without causing damage or disturbance to the environment as well as
introducing those who have not had the privilege to explore the mountains before.
1.2 Another aim is to provide opportunities for members of the Society to meet and participate in walking trips and social activities together.
1.3 As well as walking, trips may encompass scrambling, mountaineering and the like. Such activities are permissible on trips if practised safely and with respect to the environment. The Safety Officer has the final say as to whether or not such activities take place and must complete an additional risk assessment for any activities that fall outside the society’s normal remit.
1.4 To assist in the safe education and introduction of students to walking and mountaineering by passing on the knowledge of more experienced members.
1.5 NUFWS is not an instructional organisation, though it may facilitate formal training courses where there is a demand. However, it must be recognised that walk leaders are not trained professionals but just more experienced amateur walkers. Experience is to be determined by the committee members of the society.
1.6 To provide an environment where prospective fellwalkers may, if they wish, meet those who wish to climb and mountaineer both in the UK and abroad.
1.7 To act on behalf of and in the interests of the Society members, directed and administrated by the President and their committee.
1.8 To give members opportunity to travel to places otherwise inaccessible, where the society acts in a capacity to facilitate the safe transport of members to such locations.
2 Membership of the Society
2.1 Membership of the Society will be exclusively open to all registered students and staff of the Newcastle University Union Society in accordance with the Union Constitution and as per deemed by the President of the Society.
2.2 All members, upon joining the society, agree to abide by this code of conduct.
2.3 Before travelling on any society activities, members must sign to say that they agree with and will follow the rules and policies set out in this constitution and therefore, by implication, the Union Society Constitution. If such a signature has not been procured from an individual the president reserves the right to refuse participation on all activities that the society invites members on, irrespective of monies paid and by extension the society is not liable to refund said monies.
Membership form is to be filled out with members details, including but not limited to, student number, emergency contact number and address, dietary requirements and medical conditions.
2.4 Student Union members shall receive no payment from the Society, except in legitimate expenses incurred in connection with the Society business.
2.5 When members join, they must subscribe to the standard Union Societies insurance cover. However, this cover is minimal, and it is recommended that members investigate personal insurance rather than rely on the minimum Union policy.
3 The Society Management and the Committee
3.1 An Elected Committee will conduct the Society’s administration. The President and the Committee will operate in control and direction of the society; it will operate in an autonomous manner, but will strive to satisfy all members, bearing in mind that not all can be satisfied.
3.2.I The elected Committee must consist of:
- President and Safety Officer
- Secretary and Co-Deputy Safety Officer
- Treasurer and Co-Deputy Safety Officer
- Welfare Secretary and Co-Deputy Safety Officer
The above principle committee must have first aid training.
3.2.II Alongside 6.2.I the elected Committee can consist (not exclusively) of:
- Vice President
- Gear Secretary
- Social Media Secretary
- Social Secretary
- Walk leader
3.3 All of the Committee shall be registered students of Newcastle University and must meet all of the requirements set out in section 2 of this document.
3.4 Each Committee shall serve one complete academic year. The Committee for the following year shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
3.5 The elected Committee will assume control of the society after the relevant handover meetings have taken place, correct documents forwarded to the Activities Office and the date of the 1st of August has passed.
3.6 The President, Secretary, Treasurer and Welfare Secretary make up the Principal Committee as detailed in the Union Society rules for societies.
3.7 The President and Gear Secretary hold keys to the society store which can be loaned to other committee members as required.
4 Duties of Society Officials
4.1 The President and Safety Officer are responsible for:
4.1.I Chairing committee meetings. This includes producing an agenda before the meeting.
4.1.II Providing direction and leadership for the rest of the committee.
4.1.III Ensuring the Committee contains officers named in 6.2.I and that all committee members are able to perform their duties to the required standard.
4.1.IV Maintaining the Society Safety Policy and ensuring that all members on trips have read the policy and signed to confirm this.
4.1.V Ensuring that Society policies are adhered to.
4.1.VI The President is the Safety Officer and is to have the final say in all matters relating to safety. Activities will only proceed at his or her discretion.
4.1.VII A Safety officer for a walk retains the right to prevent any member from undertaking a specific walk provided an adequate reason is given.
4.1.VIII The President reserves the right to create temporary roles, with any implicit conditions of such temporary roles also dictated by the President.
4.2 The Secretary is responsible for:
4.2.I Administration of the Society.
4.2.II The maintenance of the mailing list and sending weekly emails of society news and events to members.
4.2.III Providing secretarial support to the Society’s Committee and issuing the minutes of meetings to Society members.
4.2.IV The booking of accommodation for weekend trips.
4.3 The Treasurer is responsible for:
4.3.I Administering the Society’s finances in accordance with the Constitution, Laws and byelaws of the Union Society.
4.3.II The production of the Society’s annual financial report to be presented at the AGM.
4.3.III Booking transport for daytrips and weekends.
4.3.IV Organisation of tickets and prices on the Students Union website for society trips and events.
4.4 The welfare secretary is responsible for:
4.4.I Maintaining and ensuring the general welfare of society members, both physical and mental while on society trips and events or on issues relating to the society.
4.4.II Writing and checking risk assessments and presenting these risk assessments to the Committee.
4.4.III Checking first aid kits and updating when necessary, advising the gear secretary of any changes.
4.4.IV Supporting the social secretaries in their existing capacities where necessary.
4.5 The Vice President and Training Officer is responsible for:
4.5.I Supporting the President in the day to day running of the society.
4.5.II Providing and chairing training sessions for society members.
4.5.III In the absence of the President the Vice-President will become acting President & Safety Officer. The Acting President will take on all associated roles and responsibilities.
4.5.IV Assisting other members of the committee with their roles where necessary.
4.5.V In the event that no Vice-President was elected for the current academic year, the responsibilities of the President in their absence will pass to the next highest role as ascribed in Section 6.2.I.
4.6 The Gear Secretary is responsible for:
4.6.I Producing an annual inventory of the Society equipment and filing a copy of this document with the Activities Office.
4.6.II Storing and maintaining all equipment in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines and how it is ascribed in the society’s health and safety document, to ensure it is safe to use.
4.6.III Keeping accurate records of all safety checks in an Inventory List.
4.6.IV Recording the whereabouts of all equipment in the Inventory List and ensuring that returned equipment, intended for further use, has been returned in a satisfactory condition.
4.6.V Ensuring that society equipment is returned promptly to its place of storage.
4.6.VI Preventing the use of deemed unsafe equipment and arranging the disposal of such equipment.
4.6.VII Organising the production of society merchandise.
4.7 Social Secretaries are responsible for:
4.7.I Overall organisation of all social events.
4.7.II Planning and booking of the Annual Society Ball.
4.8 Social Media Secretary is responsible for:
4.8.I The maintenance and development of the web page and TikTok/Instagram/Facebook group.
4.9 The Walk Leader is responsible for:
4.9.I Leading the planning of walks and the production of route cards for trips and presenting these to committee and walk leaders prior to the trip.
4.10 In addition to their individual roles all committee members are responsible for:
4.10.I Assisting with the planning and leading of walks on both daytrips and weekends.
4.10.II The planning of the year’s itinerary.
4.10.III Organising places on trips, society clothing and social events.
4.10.IV The recruitment of new members in Freshers’ Week and at other times of the year as required.
4.10.V Passing on experience to new members regarding outdoor skills, suitable equipment and leadership.
4.10.VI The Wider advertisement and image upkeep of the Society.
5 Annual General Meetings
5.1 The President shall give at least 14 days notice of a General Meeting. The President may call an Extraordinary General Meeting at his or her discretion without reference to the committee or society.
5.2 If reasonably practicable, the date of a General Meeting will be set to accommodate all those who wish to run for elected committee positions.
5.3 The quorum at a General Meeting shall be 25% of the members of the Society or 10 members, whichever is the most. If this requirement is not met, then the President may suspend or postpone the AGM until the required amount of people are able to vote.
5.4 The President may call another General Meeting if the voting requirements are not met during the originally scheduled AGM.
5.5 The Meeting shall be chaired by the President. If the President in unable to attend then the Vice-President shall chair the meeting.
5.6 The first items of the meeting shall be brief reports from the President and Treasurer on the status of the society and its finances.
5.7 The next item will be the election of next years committee, starting with the President. The procedure is described as follows in ‘6 Election Voting Procedures’.
6 Election Voting Procedures
6.1 The chronological order of proceedings for the election of candidates to their respective committee roles within the AGM:
6.1.I Any student members for the next academic year are eligible to run for committee. Candidates will, ahead of the AGM, submit a maximum of two role manifestos that they will run for – a preferred role and a reserve role (this ranking need not be declared).
6.1.II The election of each role will be in the order ascribed in section 6.2.
6.1.III Each candidate will give their speech for their chosen roles.
6.1.IV All speeches for all the roles will be heard, with voting at the end of each roles set of candidate’s speeches. Voting is to be done at the conclusion of all speeches for that role. All of the results will be revealed simultaneously in the order ascribed in section 6.2. The voting will be a ranked format, where members put all the candidates on the ballot in an order (1 best). The winner is the candidate with the lowest score.
6.2 In all cases, it will be possible to vote for each of the nominated candidates or to Re-Open Nominations (hereafter referred to as “RON”).
6.3 Should RON receive most votes for any position the position shall be opened up for election once more at a later date and a contingency plan put forward in case no suitable candidate is found.
6.4 All current paid up members of the society are entitled to a single vote on each committee position.
6.5 Voting will be on an online form submission platform as to facilitate member’s voting in absentia.The outgoing President will officiate over the proceedings, if the outgoing President is running for re-election, the role of officiating for that period of voting within the AGM will pass to the next highest role present at the AGM as per the hierarchical structure of committee roles ascribed in 6.2.I or to any other committee member previously agreed upon.
7 Amendments to the Society Constitution
7.1 The Constitution may be amended by ½ the members present at a General Meeting and notice of any amendment must be delivered to the Secretary and announced at the next AGM.
7.2 The elected committee may amend the constitution upon a majority vote to each amendment proposed. If a majority vote is not achieved, the President maintains the deciding vote. The amended constitution must be re-signed by all committee and submitted to the Students Union.
7.3 Members will be made aware of any changes to the constitution and informed the date they take effect. Members reserve the right to withdraw their agreement to the constitution but understand they forfeit their rights to attend society trips if they choose to do so as detailed in Section 2.3.
8 Declaration
8.1 As a Society Official I agree to abide by and enforce the rules of the Constitution and policies as set out in the Safety Policy Documents.
Newcastle University Fellwalking Society 