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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]

             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 this year (2005) much less so following the donation of £300 by an extremely generous, anonymous benefactor).  The major concern is the distance our musicians have to travel to attend rehearsals and concerts.  We are such a dispersed community that many members spend around £100 per concert just for 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 are extremely fortunate that Dumfries & Galloway Council have reliably awarded us a grant which substantially covers this cost given that only a small number claim this back.  Otherwise we have received no other support apart from sponsorship from local businesses and generous patronage from interested individuals.  If you might be interested in becoming a sponsor or patron, please contact us.

We are always looking for sponsors and patrons and the best means of recruitment 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.

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).

Although we have never received any financial support from agencies such as the Arts Council, Lottery Funding or Making Music Scotland, we remain affliated to the latter in order to simplify Performing Rights payments and insurance.

           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]