Company of Sixty Constitution
1) The name of the club is Company of Sixty Field Archers Limited
(Company Registration No: 050911768)
2) The club will be known as “Company of Sixty”.
3) AIMS
A. Company of Sixty exists to perpetuate the tradition of instinctive archery, in such a way as to maintain harmony amongst the Company members, by self competition, dedication and, subsequently to achieve spiritual satisfaction.
B. To promote wood-lore and conservation of the environment.
C. To promote instinctive archery to the public through displays and charity work etc.
D. To shoot as a Company at Open Shoots and other such events.
4. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
A. All members must fill in the Membership/Application form every time they join/rejoin the Club. Fees may change annually.
B. Junior members must join and shoot with a participating adult guardian.
C. A deposit of £10 is required for the Gate Key
D. All newcomers wishing to join the Club must first attend a club day or as a Temporary Member with an experienced Company member or complete a coaching course with a Club Coach. Membership is subject to approval by the committee, its delegates or club coach. Membership may be refused if good and sufficient cause exists in the reasonable opinion of the committee, its delegates or club coach. Refusal must be decided by a majority vote of the committee.
E. Although full members may shoot any class defined by the NFAS, PLEASE NOTE: the ‘AIMS’ of the Club are to perpetuate traditional archery.
F. All members shall contribute to the work involved in the activities of the club
G. Membership may be suspended or revoked by the committee in accordance with the Club Disciplinary Procedure but only for good and sufficient cause such as (without limitation) breach of the Club’s Rules or Policies, causing the Club to breach the terms of its license to use the woods, serious misconduct or conduct liable to bring the Club or the sport of Field Archery into disrepute.
H. If the number of members exceeds 200 in any membership year the Committee may decline to accept further membership applications or renewals in that year. The committee may decide to adopt a membership application waiting list.
I. The Annual General Meeting will be held before the end of April each year with a quorum minimum of ten members.
5) THE COMMITTEE
A. The committee of Company of Sixty will consist of more than five persons, to be elected annually, at the Annual General Meeting, Presidents excluded. Unless to fill a vacancy names of nominees to the committee shall be notified to the Club Secretary at least 7 days before the AGM. The committee has the right to co-opt a member on to the committee to fill a vacancy until the next AGM. The Committee will consist of:-
Secretary
Treasurer
Membership Secretary
Course Officer/s
Events Officer
Publicity Officer
Target Officer
B. The Committee may discuss and transact Club affairs and convene meetings by email or other electronic means and shall meet for such purpose as and when required but not less than bi-annually.
C. The Committee will be responsible for adopting new policies, codes of conduct and rules that affect the organisation of the club.
D The Committee will have power to appoint temporary sub-committees as necessary and appoint temporary advisers to the Committee as necessary to fulfil its business. If required permeant sub-committees or advisers to be put to membership at next AGM for approval
GENERAL
6) Alterations and amendments to this Constitution may only be made by majority vote of the members including postal votes, either at the AGM or a specially called meeting, apart from the ‘AIMS’, which remain inviolate.
7) All Members must abide by the Rules of Shooting, General Information, and Safety Rules, as stated in the NATIONAL FIELD ARCHERY SOCIETY Rule Book, and in this Constitution.
8) CLUB DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE
A. All complaints regarding the behaviour of members/officers should be submitted in writing to the Club Secretary who will convene a Disciplinary Committee consisting of three Committee members including the Club Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Secretary.
B. The Disciplinary Committee will meet ‘in camera’ to hear complaints within 30 days of a complaint being lodged. The committee has the power as it sees fit to undertake investigations and to take appropriate disciplinary action including the suspension or termination of membership, if the complaint is upheld.
C. The outcome of a disciplinary hearing will be notified in writing to the person who lodged the complaint and the member(s) against whom the complaint was made within 30 days of the hearing.
D. There will be the right of appeal following disciplinary action being notified. The appeal must be lodged with the Club Secretary within 7 days of initial outcome being notified. The appeal panel of the committee will consider the appeal within 30 days of the Club Secretary receiving the appeal.
E. The appeal hearing shall be chaired by the President (or in default another long-standing/Senior Committee Member) and shall include at least three committee members and may at the request of the Disciplinary Panel or the Member include up to three more non-committee members of not less than three years standing. Members of the Disciplinary Committee involved in the initial decision shall not participate in the decision of the appeal panel. The decision of the appeal panel is final.
F. Procedures adopted shall seek to ensure fairness to all parties but shall be at the discretion of the Disciplinary Panel and appeal panel as appropriate.
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY RULES OF SHOOTING
A Safety
A bow and arrow is a lethal weapon. All members are individually responsible for the safety of themselves, those for whom they are directly responsible, and other users of the woods.
A member is expected to intervene and take constructive action where unsafe conditions are caused by another archer or the course. If you have a safety concern about the course don’t alter the course: if necessary close the target butt by removing the face and placing crossed logs across the butt and report it straight away to a committee member.
Shooting alone in the woods is discouraged. Always let someone know where you are if you are alone. Carry a mobile phone (silent ring) and a whistle in case you find yourself alone: if you have an accident when you are alone and need to call the emergency services, they will find you more easily in the woods by following the sound of a whistle than mobile phone directions.
Never:
shoot under the influence of alcohol or any drug or medication which could impair your ability to shoot safely;
point a bow – whether loaded or unloaded – or an arrow at any person or shoot to the side of a person;
move between targets with an arrow nocked on the string;
knowingly shoot a damaged arrow: check each arrow for damage before shooting it;
draw a bow in a manner where an accidental release could be dangerous (e.g. a high draw);
distract an archer during his shot other than to stop the shot in a case of immediate danger;
stand forward of any archer during shooting (spotting);
take a shot unless you are sure it is safe to do so, (e.g: there is no-one behind the boss);
backtrack around the course, or walk anywhere unless you have satisfied yourself that it is safe.
Foliage must NOT be cleared by any archer in order to make the shot easier, nor should pegs be moved.
If you need to search for a lost arrow, always leave one person on view between the peg and boss whilst others in the group search in case other archers following arrive at the peg and do not realize there are still archers behind the boss. ALWAYS if you are on your own, leave your bow/quiver lying across the front of the boss if you are looking for arrows behind the boss to alert any archer coming up to the peg. Do not shoot if you arrive at a peg and cannot be sure the area behind the boss is clear: do not shoot if there is any kit in front of the boss.
All members, under the age of 18, must be supervised by an adult at all times and MUST shoot with a participating parent or guardian.
At NFAS Open Shoots:
Every adult archer must carry a whistle:
In the event of an emergency or accident, only one capable person shall use a whistle to give the emergency signal of three blasts followed by a pause.
On hearing the emergency signal, all archers must stop shooting immediately.
The emergency signal shall be repeated only by one of the group originating the signal until the shoot organiser or a marshal arrives at the scene.
On hearing the emergency signal any other persons on the shoot site (such as caterers, trade stalls etc) should stay where they are until told otherwise by the shoot organiser or a marshal.
The shoot organiser and marshals, on hearing the emergency whistle signal, shall immediately sound the shoot’s ‘stop shooting’ signal, which should also be three blasts. The source of this signal (eg an air horn) must be announced to archers in the shoot organiser’s pre-shoot safety briefing.
Only the shoot organiser can restart the shoot. The restart signal is normally one blast of the same source (e.g. an air horn) used to stop the shoot which should also be highlighted at the pre shoot safety briefing. A whistle must not be used to restart a shoot.
The number of persons shooting at any one butt must not exceed six.
B General
Temporary Membership
A) A non-member of Co of 60 visiting the club to shoot or accompany someone who is shooting can be a temporary member for the day at a cost of £5.
B) The supervising member must ensure that all temporary members fill in a temporary members form (visitors slip) which they counter sign. All temporary members must keep the slip on their person at all times while at the club. This slip must be deposited in the post box on the left container with the fee at the end of the visit. A visitors parking permit must be displayed if the temporary member arrives in their own car.
C) Members must ask visitors to read the rule displayed by the club hut before going onto the butts or round the courses.
D) The member who invites the non-member must take responsibility for their safety and conduct at all times while on the butts and the courses. No member shall sign in or be responsible for more than three Temporary Members at any time.
E) Temporary Members who are under 18 years old must be accompanied at all times by their own parent or legal guardian.
F) The Club shall ensure that details on the Register of Temporary Members are maintained for a minimum period of three years
Members and visitors are allowed to shoot bows corresponding to all NFAS classes including sighted classes.
All members and visitors must have read and understand these Rules and the NFAS shooting and safety Rules before shooting or walking in the woods.
Shooting position - the archer must be in bodily contact with the shooting peg, which must be between the archer and the butt.
All arrows in the target area are scored, including those that bounce or ricochet but were independently witnessed as having hit the scoring area. The lowest score for an arrow shot from that peg is awarded.
All arrows shot on course must have field or target points. NO BODKINS OR BROADHEADS
Do not shoot at ANY animal. IT IS ILLEGAL.
GENERAL INFORMATION AND RISK MANAGEMENT
The Company of Sixty woods belong to the Crown Estates. They are situated at Woodlands Park, Oxshott off the A244 Leatherhead Road, near Junction 9 of the M25. Nearest Post Code KT22 0ET. Grid Ref TQ15195 59550 Lat:- 51.323401 Long:- 0.3489365
The maximum speed limit for vehicles is 5 MPH. Always park to the right hand side of the track. Park with care avoiding waterlogged ground and ditches which may be obscured by grass/bracken overgrowth. Never block Emergency vehicle access via the road/track to the woods.
The gate from the road must be locked behind you at all times (except on shoot days) even during practice times.
All cars must display the Company of Sixty parking permit while in woods.
The woods are open to all full members seven days a week (except organized shoot events) during daylight hours.
All members MUST carry Club and NFAS cards at all times when in the woods. Temporary Members must be accompanied by their sponsoring archer member and must carry Temporary Membership passes at all times. All of the above must produce their cards/passes when requested to do so by any Crown Estate personnel or the Club’s Woodland Marshals. Any person without the respective cards is trespassing. If they are in possession of a bow or knife Crown Estates personnel or the Club Woodland Marshals or any Club member may report them to the police if they do not leave the grounds or produce a valid card when asked to do so.
You must not, under any circumstances, take anyone into the woods who is not a Company of Sixty member or in possession of a completed Temporary Membership Form (see temporary members rule section B General), any member doing so may have their membership suspended or cancelled.
Dogs are not allowed on the course during any organized shoot event. During events: (i) while shooting is in progress dogs must be kept in the owner's car (and proper care taken for their welfare) (ii) while no shooting is in progress dogs may be exercised only on a lead and on the main track. Outside of organized events full members may bring a dog but must keep it on a short lead at all times and secure it while shooting. All persons bringing dogs must remove all mess and are solely responsible for the safety and conduct of the animal. No more than one dog per supervising member.
No Fires are allowed in the woods.
Smoking is not permitted except on the track opposite the hut.
Please do not drop litter in the woods. If you find litter or broken arrow parts please pick it up throw them in bins at the hut or dispose of them at home.
Respect the wildlife and flora in the woods. There are many rare flowers please do not trample them, pick them or dig them up.
If you have a safety concern please don’t alter the course. If necessary close the target butt by removing the face and placing crossed logs across the butt. Report it straight away to the Course Officer, Course layers Woods Marshal or a committee member. If none are present write a note in the Course Book which is found on the bench in the club hut porch.
Version 5 - updated April 2022