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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

           CONSTITUTION

The orchestra will be known as ‘The Solway Sinfonia’. Regular members will normally be drawn from musicians and interested parties in Dumfries and Galloway and surrounding districts including the Borders, Ayrshire and Cumbria.

The objects of the Solway Sinfonia shall be to promote, improve, develop and maintain public education in and appreciation of the art and science of orchestral music in all its aspects by the presentation of public orchestral concerts; and for the general purpose of such charitable bodies or for such other purposes as shall be exclusively charitable as the Committee may from time to time decide.

Ordinary membership will be open to participating musicians and associate membership will be open to other interested parties.

It is hoped that the orchestra will attain a relatively high standard of musicianship and young players of a suitable standard will be encouraged to participate.

The income and property of the Solway Sinfonia whencesoever derived shall be applied solely towards promoting the objects of the Solway Sinfonia as set forth above and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred either directly or indirectly to any members of the Solway Sinfonia except in payment of legitimate expenses incurred on behalf of the Solway Sinfonia.

The Committee will consist of a chairman, musical director, secretary, treasurer, orchestral manager, concerts manager, librarian and up to five others as may be required to be co-opted from time to time. The Committee will be elected each year at an Annual General Meeting and the individuals themselves shall decide specific roles within the committee.

The Committee will have full authority over issues regarding musical standards.

The chairman will be responsible for the safekeeping of any property owned by the orchestra.

There will be an annual subscription which will be reviewed annually.

Audited accounts will be presented at the Annual General Meeting. An auditor will be appointed at the Annual General Meeting.

Any change proposed to the constitution will be notified to the secretary, in writing, one month prior to the Annual General Meeting.

In the event of the Solway Sinfonia being wound up, any assets remaining upon dissolution after the payment of proper debts and liabilities shall be transferred to a charitable institution or institutions having similar objects to those of the Solway Sinfonia.

[March 2001]

Proposed change to Constitution 

to be discussed at AGM in September 2010

[ The main changes being the stipulation of two signatories to cheques and a defined quorum for committee and general meetings. ]

1. The orchestra will be known as 'The Solway Sinfonia'.  Regular members will normally be drawn from musicians and interested parties in Dumfries and Galloway and surrounding districts including the Borders, Ayrshire and Cumbria. 

2. The objects of the Solway Sinfonia shall be to promote, improve, develop and maintain public education in and appreciation of the art and science of orchestral music in all its aspects by the presentation of public orchestral concerts; and for the general purpose of such charitable bodies or for such other purposes as shall be exclusively charitable as the Committee may from time to time decide. 

3. The committee shall have the power to raise funds in order to achieve the objects of the Solway Sinfonia. This will be in the form of committee fundraising and Grant applications.

4. Ordinary membership will be open to participating musicians and associate membership will be open to other interested parties.

5. The orchestra aims to achieve a high standard of musicianship in performance and young players of a suitable standard will be actively encouraged to participate.

6. The income and property of the Solway Sinfonia whencesoever derived shall be applied solely towards promoting the objects of the Solway Sinfonia as set forth above and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred either directly or indirectly to any members of the Solway Sinfonia except in payment of legitimate expenses incurred on behalf of the Solway Sinfonia.

7. The Committee will consist of a chairman, musical director, secretary, treasurer, orchestral manager, concerts manager, librarian and up to five others as may be required to be co-opted from time to time. The quorum for committee meetings is one half of the whole committee. In the absence of the Chair, another office bearer as deemed by the committee will chair the meeting.  The Committee will be elected each year at an Annual General Meeting and the individuals themselves shall decide specific roles within the committee.  The quorum for Annual and other General Meetings is one third of the whole membership.

8. The Committee will have full authority over issues regarding musical standards.

9. The chairman will be responsible for the safekeeping of any property owned by the orchestra.

10. There will be an annual subscription which will be reviewed annually.

11. Independently examined accounts will be presented at the Annual General Meeting.  An independent examiner will be appointed at the Annual General Meeting.

12. A Bank account shall be held in the name of Solway Sinfonia. There will be three named signatories for cheques, one who must be the treasurer. All cheques will be signed by two of the named signatories. No signatory shall be connected in any way, as per the definition in the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. A full financial report shall be given by the treasurer to the committee at each meeting. 

13. Any change proposed to the constitution will be notified to the secretary, in writing, one month prior to the Annual General Meeting. Changes may also be made and agreed at a special general meeting for which members will be given 21 days notice.

14. In the event of the Solway Sinfonia being wound up, any assets remaining upon dissolution after the payment of proper debts and liabilities shall be transferred to a charitable institution or institutions having similar objects to those of the Solway Sinfonia.

September 2010

             PROCEDURE FOR THE RESOLUTION OF PERSONNEL ISSUES

Changes in personnel will be necessary from time to time. Often this will be determined by the programme and/or the performance space with, for example, smaller string sections and varying wind sections. It is hoped that players will understand and accept they may not be invited to play in such circumstances.

However, there may be potentially sensitive or contentious instances that require an individual player's feelings and point of view to be taken into account. Such instances might occur when an individual player, or section, is experiencing difficulty in meeting the musical requirements of the repertoire, or in matching the generally desired standard.

In such circumstances the Committee will follow a procedure designed to rectify the situation. This might involve adjustment within the section or, as a last resort, replacement of an individual player. However, it is the aim of Solway Sinfonia to nurture the individual member's sense of their place and importance within the orchestra. So, before considering replacement, active support would be provided to the individual player.

The following procedure will apply:

1. The Committee will identify the nature of the problem and the options available to rectify it.

2. A member (normally the section fixer) will be delegated by the Committee to discuss the sensitive issue with the player(s) concerned and, if necessary, oversee the implementation of appropriate support.

3. In the light of the outcome of step 2 the committee will review the situation and decide whether further action is necessary.

4. If ultimately a replacement has to be made, the fixer will tactfully convey the committee's decision, explaining the reasoning behind that decision.

5. The Committee will have full authority over issues regarding musical standards (Clause 7 of the Constitution of March 2001).

[September 2005]

           CURRENT COMMITTEE

           FINANCES

Our finances are always a headache although we are very fortunate in that we continue to enjoy susbstantial support from our generous patrons and sponsors and from our loyal audiences. 

The major concern is the distance our musicians have to travel to attend rehearsals and concerts.  We are such a widely dispersed community that many members spend over £100 per concert just on petrol.  In order that we can attract the very best players and not discriminate unfairly against those who live furthest away, we try to reimburse these petrol expenses.  We have calculated that, if everyone used their own car and needed 15 pence per mile expenses, it would cost over £4000 per year - but only a small number claim this back.  We are extremely fortunate that Dumfries & Galloway Council have reliably awarded us a significant grant which helps towards this cost. 

If you might be interested in becoming a sponsor or patron, please contact us.

For a donation of £50 or more each year, patrons and sponsors receive :

public recognition of patronage / sponsorship in programmes and on this website (with their expressed permission);

priority booking of tickets;

regular information about the orchestra;

an invitation to occasional social events (such as our summer party).

 

To Members of the Solway Sinfonia - the best means of recruitment of patrons and sponsors is by direct personal contact by members of the orchestra.  If you wish to print off a leaflet to give to a potential sponsor or patron, click here and then print directly from your web-browser - it is designed to print off on one sheet of A4 paper.

           EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICY

Statement of Intent

The Solway Sinfonia acknowledges the existence of discrimination in society.  

It is our intention to eliminate discriminatory practices to the best of our ability and to treat all persons equally.  This includes discrimination along lines of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, economic status, disability, age, employment status and class.

The policy applies to all those involved with the Solway Sinfonia in whatever capacity.  They all have a responsibility to implement this policy by behaving in an anti-discriminatory way.

The committee will be responsible for resolving any issues arising in the event of a breach of this policy.

Objectives

In addition to a general ethos of awareness and avoidance of potential discrimination, we will undertake to adopt the following policies:

• to endeavour to select concert and rehearsal venues that are more accessible to those with disabilities;

• to provide our publicity material in formats appropriate to various needs when requested;

• to offer concessionary rates to financially disadvantaged groups in society;

• to encourage broad representation from different groups on the committee;

• to publicise the existence of this policy to all involved with the Solway Sinfonia;

• to adhere to all legislation relevant to potential discrimination including The Sex Discrimination Act (1975;1986), The Race Relations Act (1976), and The Disability Discrimination Act (1995);

• to monitor the implementation of this policy at regular intervals;

• to review our equal opportunities policy at regular intervals.

Action Plan

Responsibility for the implementation of the following measures lies with all members of the committee:

• discuss and publicise the Equal Opportunities Policy at the Annual General Meeting;

• consider how representative the membership of our committee is;

• consider further how we can improve our recruitment of young musicians and those from poorly represented groups in society;

• endeavour to ensure that all venues for concerts and rehearsals comply with the Disability Discrimination Act (1995);

• ensure that availability of disabled access is publicised for all events;

• respond promptly to any request for publicity material in various formats;

• offer concessionary rates for tickets to financially disadvantaged groups in society;

• review the implementation of this Action Plan after six months;

• review the Equal Opportunities Policy at three yearly intervals.

[September 2006]