Constitution

1. Name

1.1. Official Title

a. The Society shall be known as Edinburgh University Railway Society, hereinafter referred to as the Society.

b. The Society may also be known as RailSoc, both titles having equal validity to the title outlined in Sect 1.1(a).

2. Aims

2.1. The aims of the Society shall be

a. To discuss and promote rail travel around Edinburgh, Scotland, the UK, and beyond.

b. To provide a social forum where rail enthusiasts can engage with their hobby and meet other rail enthusiasts.

c. To conduct rail trips around Edinburgh to highlight the heritage and importance of our railways.

d. To organise and host guest lectures related to rail.

3. Membership

3.1. Forms of Membership

a. Full Membership of the Society is open to all matriculated students of Edinburgh University.

b. Membership shall be at least 75% matriculated students of Edinburgh University.

c. Full membership lists should be filed with the Activities Office at least once per semester to ensure membership databases are up to date.

d. If any dispute of membership should arise, the list registered through the Students’ Association database will be used as the official list.

3.2. Lifetime Membership

a. Members of RailSoc who are deemed to have provided exceptional service to the society during their period at university may be nominated for Lifetime Membership. Any nominee for Lifetime Membership must have served on the Society’s committee for at least one full calendar year.

b. Candidates for lifetime membership shall be unanimously nominated by the Society Committee, and elected by majority vote at General Meetings. More than one Lifetime member may be appointed at once.

c. Lifetime membership gives members who have contributed heavily to the formation of, maintenance of, and/or promotion of the Society the right to attend events after they have graduated and left the University.

3.3. Membership Entitlements

a. All members shall be entitled to attend all society events, in the event of a limited space for an event, the members allowed to attend will be decided on a first come first served basis.

b. All members shall be entitled to society privileges, as arranged by the Committee.

c. All members shall be entitled to attend society meetings and provide suggestions of events and motions they would like to be passed. 

3.4 Membership Responsibilities

a. Members must not act in a manner which brings the Society into disrepute and must act in good faith to the Society.

b. Members must not cause damage to Society property or venues for Society events.

3.5. Breach of Member Responsibilities (and Conflict Resolution)

a. The Committee may impose sanctions for misconduct on members, based on verifiable evidence collected, taking into account the seriousness of the misconduct with reference to the membership responsibilities and standard code of conduct, any previous warnings, and any mitigating circumstances. When appropriate the following sanctions may be applied:

1. Informal Warning
2. First Written Warnings will be issued for a minor offence or complaint;
3. Final Written Warnings will be issued for: a further offence or complaint or if the conduct of the member failed to improve following a previous warning, or if the actions are serious enough to warrant a Final Written Warning.
4. Removal from membership will occur if there is a further serious event of misconduct, or if the conduct of the member failed to improve following a previous written warning, or if the member committed an act of gross misconduct.
5. Edinburgh University Students’ Association (“the Students' Association”') Societies department will be notified upon removal of a member and provided with a copy of the evidence pertaining to the sanctions process and removal. All persons removed from membership may appeal to the Societies' department against such removal.

4. Management 

4.1. The General Committee

a. The business of the Society shall be managed by a Committee of Office Bearers. 

b. Any full student member of the Society shall be entitled to sit on the Committee.

c. The Office Bearers must be members of the Society.

d. All Office Bearers will complete annual online training as outlined by the Activities Team if applicable.

e. The society understands that these roles are voluntary and that office bearers are entitled to focus on their studies/personal lives.

4.2. Executive Office Bearers

a. The Committee must consist of a President, Secretary, and Treasurer (the Executive Officers) as a minimum and all must be matriculated students of Edinburgh University.

b. These Office Bearers will be elected at the Annual General Meeting.

c. No person may be elected to more than one of these posts simultaneously.

4.3. President

a. The President will chair the General Committee and Emergency General Meetings.

b. The President is responsible to the Annual General Meeting and the General Committee and is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the Society.

c. It is the President’s responsibility to ensure the Society has submitted their annual report, risk assessment and reregistration forms to the Activities Office.

d. Should the President resign a new President or Acting President will be voted in at an EGM.

4.4. Treasurer

a. The Treasurer shall be accountable to the committee and members for the finances of the society.

b. The Treasurer shall keep and prepare Accounts of the Society and provide a provisional budget, as exhaustive as possible, to be presented at the Annual General Meeting.

c. It is the Treasurer’s responsibility to ensure the annual financial report is complete and submitted along with the society’s annual report.

d. Should the Treasurer resign, a new Treasurer or Acting Treasurer will be voted in at an EGM.

4.5. Secretary

a. The Secretary shall be responsible for the administration of the society.

b. The Secretary shall also be responsible for any correspondence within or on behalf of the Society and prepare the agendas and the minutes of every committee meeting, AGM and EGM.

c. Should the Secretary resign, a new Secretary or Acting Secretary will be voted in at an EGM.

4.6. Welfare Officer

a. The Welfare Officer will be responsible for the promotion of safeguarding, diversity and inclusion in the Society, events held, and in committee meetings, all in compliance with the EUSA and venue standards. 

b. They will also be responsible for the promotion of the Society’s code of conduct(s), and any reporting of procedures to the executive committee and EUSA.

c. For the matters outlined in clauses 4.7.a and 4.7.b the Welfare Officer will be primarily responsible, but not solely responsible: the entire Committee, as a collective, will be responsible for upholding the standards of welfare outlined in 6.4. If the Welfare Officer themselves is involved in a complaint, raises one themselves, or is deemed unable to carry out their duties due to problems of bias, physical or mental health issues, or other issues, then each member of the Executive Committee will be obliged to mobilise to act as Secondary or Interim Welfare Officers to ensure that any issues are dealt with swiftly, respectfully to the involved party/ies, and in accordance with both EUSA and venue standards and the Society’s code of conduct.

d. Should the Welfare Officer resign, a new Welfare Officer or Acting Welfare Officer will be voted in at an EGM.

4.7. Social Secretary

a. The Social Secretary shall primarily be responsible for the planning and organisation of social events of the society.

b. Should the Social Secretary resign, a new Social Secretary or Acting Social Secretary will be voted in at an EGM.

4.8. Model Railway Tsar

a. The Model Railway Tsar shall be responsible for the organisation of the society’s model railway equipment.

b. The Model Railway Tsar is also responsible for planning and organising model railway sessions for the society

c. Should the Model Railway Tsar resign, a new Model Railway Tsar or Acting Model Railway Tsar will be voted in at an EGM.

4.9. Archivist

a. The Archivist shall be responsible for documenting the history of the Railway society. This can include (but is not limited to):

• Dates and places of trips/ social events
• Speakers hosted and organisations worked with
• Members serving on committee

b. Should the Archivist resign, a new Archivist or Acting Archivist will be voted in at an EGM.

4.10. General committee

a. General committee members shall help in the running of the society and to assist other committee members.

4.11. Mascot

a. The Mascot shall be responsible for being the public face of, and be involved in the marketing of the society.

b. Should the Mascot resign, a new Mascot will be voted in at an EGM.

4.12. Conduct

a. All Office Bearers shall act in good faith towards the Society in all actions they undertake on its behalf.

b. The Committee will at all times uphold their commitment to providing a safe community space for all Society participants, in line with the EUSA Equal Opportunity Policy.

c. The Committee will take note of, and always take steps to oppose in the Society, the normalisation in our university spaces of sexual violence, transphobia, racism, misogyny, ableism, homophobia and xenophobia. These will be denounced by the Committee if they threaten the security of the Society, the welfare of both its members and non-members, and of those connected to the wider scope of the Society as a community. The Committee are responsible for the protection of the community they are elected to safeguard and advocate for, ensuring it is a queer-supportive, neurodivergence-acceptive space.

4.13. Recall

a. The members shall have the right at an Extraordinary General Meeting to seek the recall of any or all the Office Bearers by a special resolution (i.e.: a 75% vote in favour of the resolution).

b. For such a vote to be binding on the Society the Meeting must be quorate. 

c. The quorum shall be 25% of the membership of the Society.

d. Grounds for recall may be founded on the failure of any office holder or member of the General Committee to comply with the terms of the constitution, or for any other reason deemed legitimate by the General Meeting.

4.14. Annual General Meeting 

a. All members of the Society are entitled to attend Annual General Meetings (hereinafter referred to as the AGM).

b. It is the responsibility of the Secretary to ensure that members receive at least 14 days written/email notification of the AGM and of elections not held at the AGM.

c. Motions to be discussed should be presented to the Secretary in advance of the AGM. 

d. Only fully matriculated students are entitled to vote at the AGM. 

e. All Office Bearer roles shall be subject to election annually at the AGM.

f. All members who are matriculated students at the University of Edinburgh shall be entitled to stand and to vote in elections.

g. Motions carried by the necessary majority (i.e., a 50% vote in favour of the motion) at quorate AGMs are binding on the Society. 

h. The quorum shall be 15% of the membership of the Society.

i. It is the responsibility of the outgoing Treasurer to present the final reports for the previous year and a complete account of the current state of finances. They must present an accurate breakdown of the definite commitment for which the Society has been engaged in the current year, henceforth to be known as the Budget. Emphasis must be placed on comparing this Budget with current income. 

j. The Secretary shall report on the administrative affairs of the society.

4.15. Emergency General Meeting

a. The President may call an Extraordinary General Meeting for matters arising over the year which require consideration by members.

b. Following the receipt of such a request by the Secretary the General Committee shall have twenty-eight (28) days to implement the request and must take reasonable measures to notify the members of the time and place of the Extraordinary General Meeting.

c. The EGM shall follow the procedure of the AGM outlined in 4.10 above.

d. All members must receive at least 14 days written/email notification of the EGM.

e. In the event of an Executive position becoming vacant, President will call an EGM to elect a replacement.

f. Any newly elected Office Bearers will be communicated to the Societies Team after the election has taken place.

5. Finance

5.1. Finance Policy

a. The Treasurer must endeavour to ensure that the ordinary expenditure of any given year is not more than the ordinary income of that year. 

b. The financial year shall run from 1st April to 31st March.

c. The definition of ordinary and extraordinary expenditure is the responsibility of the General Committee.

5.2. General Finance

a. The Society shall be non-profit making. The Office Bearers and members may only receive payment, direct or indirect, as reimbursement for legitimate expenses.

b. Core income shall be defined as income arising from membership fees and any other source as agreed by the General Committee. 

c. Membership for the society shall be set to the initial price of £0.00 and shall rise every year in line with inflation, RPI, or 3% - whichever is highest

d. Any reserves at the end of the Financial Year shall be carried over into reserves for the following Financial Year.

e. A loss carried forward into the following financial year must be notified and explained at the Annual General Meeting.

6. Policy

6.1. Re-registration, Annual Reports and Financial Reports

a. Re-registration of the society must be submitted in accordance with the deadlines set by the Activities Team.

b. Annual and Financial Reports must be completed and submitted as part of the re-registration process following the AGM in the second semester.

6.2. Society Status

c. A Society may not register to obtain any legal status, including a limited company or a charitable status.

6.3. Equal Opportunities Policy

d. The Society shall uphold and maintain its policy on the equality of opportunity as defined in the Equal Opportunities Policy. 

e. The Society will take all necessary steps to ensure that their meetings, events and socials are accessible to all.

f. The Society will ensure that it complies with any relevant data protection legislation.

g. The Society believes that discrimination or harassment, direct or indirect, based on a person’s gender, age (except where it relates to licensing laws), race, skin colour, nationality, religious belief, socio-economic background, disability, HIV status, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, family situation, domestic responsibilities, or any other irrelevant distinction, is detrimental to the society, the university and wider society, and will not be tolerated.

h. The Students’ Association has a Zero Tolerance policy for sexual harassment and violence. This means that any case of sexual harassment or violence will be escalated to the final disciplinary stage (removal). Appeals will go through the formal complaints process of the Students’ Association.

i. The Students’ Association understands harassment to include all forms, whether expressed orally, in writing, or on any cyber or digital platform.

j. The Society shall abide by any applicable laws, byelaws and guidelines of the Edinburgh University Students’ Association in relation to recognised Societies.

6.4. The Chocolate Finger Precedent

a. The committee shall supply refreshments (i.e. biscuits) at every Annual General and Emergency General Meeting, as a goodwill gesture.

b. These refreshments shall be free for attendees to consume.

c. It is expected that the refreshments will be acquired, as is equitable, without excessive expenditure on the part of the purchaser. 

d. None of that Maryland shite.

7. Dissolution

7.1. Dissolution of the Society

a. The Society shall not be wound up except by a resolution of three quarters of those present at an Extraordinary General Meeting called for that purpose.

b. For the society to be dissolved, such a meeting must have a quorum of at least 50%.

c. All funds remaining after the satisfaction of all debts and liabilities following such a resolution shall be passed on to a charitable organisation having objects like those of the Society as the General Committee.

8. Alteration of the Constitution

8.1. Alteration

a. Any motion to alter the Constitution will have to be supported by two-thirds of the members present at the AGM or EGM, 14 days’ notice of which shall be given.

b. The Students’ Association considers the ruling society constitution to be that which is displayed on the Society Profile.

9. History

This constitution was accepted at an AGM held on 27/03/2025.