CONSTITUTION AND RULES OF THE NORTHERN CAVY FANCIERS

(as from May 2004)

  1.   The Club shall be called "Northern Cavy Fanciers", membership will be open to any interested person.

  2. The aims of the Club shall be to encourage the breeding and exhibition of cavies within its boundaries, by holding shows, by awarding Certificates of Merit, Juvenile Diplomas, and Championships to eligible exhibits owned by members and by granting support to other suitable qualified organisations.

  3.  The Club's boundaries shall be as follows:-  Southern boundary to be a line drawn horizontally east to west through the centre of Lincoln; Northern boundary to be the Scottish Border; and the area served by the Club shall be the North of England lying between these boundaries.

  4. The Executive Officers of the Club shall be a President, Chairman, Secretary/Treasurer, and Assistant Secretary, who will be assisted by a Committee of eight members.  These officials, elected in a Biennial Postal Ballot held before the 31st December every other year, will be responsible for the smooth running of the Club and all its affairs.  A Panel of twelve judges elected in the same ballot (together with those of the National C.C, Scottish National C.C., Midlands C.C., or Southern C.C. panels) will be the total Judging Panel recognised by the Club for Championship purposes.  All Officials and Judges must reside within the Club's boundaries, be fully paid up members. Proposed Judges should have been a member of the club for the previous two consecutive years prior to being nominated.  Nominations for these positions must be in writing and must be accompanied by a written indication of the nominee's willingness to be elected. All existing Officials and Judges will be included on the ballot paper unless they inform the Secretary to the contrary.  Any vacancy occurring among Officials or Judges may be filled at the Committee's discretion until a Ballot or Annual General Meeting can confirm any such appointments made under this Rule. Northern Cavy Fanciers Life judges are in addition to the elected judging panel

  5. An Annual General Meeting will be held during the first six months of each year, at a date and venue to be determined by the Executive.  At this meeting the Secretary's Annual Report, Treasurer's Report and Balance Sheet, and Show Report will be submitted to the membership.

  6. The Annual General Meeting will have the authority to decide such matters as Membership Fees and Entry Fees for the Club's Shows, and the Ratification of Appointments.  All other items are to be included at the Executive's discretion, except revision of Club Rules, which will be placed on the Agenda only if a written proposal is received by the Secretary at least two weeks prior to the scheduled annual meeting.

  7. Club Rules may only be altered if two thirds of the members present at an Annual General Meeting vote in favour of the change, except in the case of suggested changes to the Rules, Constitution or Boundaries directly resulting from a proposed incorporation with any other organisation, such proposals must be put to a full ballot of the membership.  All matters are to be decided by a clear majority vote. Only fully paid up members  are entitled to vote at an AGM.

  8. A Quorum for an Annual General Meeting will be five.  The placing of a statement detailing the time and venue of such a meeting in the pages of "CAVIES" shall be considered as sufficient notification to all relevant parties.

  9.  An Extra-Ordinary Meeting may be called at any time by twenty Members who must send a written request, duly signed, to the Secretary stating the nature of the matter in question.  The Secretary will arrange for the details to be circulated in the membership and fix a date for a meeting to discuss the matter within six weeks from the date of the request.  Only the original subject matter may be dealt with at such a meeting.

  10. The Club will hold four shows each year within its boundaries on a quarterly basis, i.e. WINTER SHOW - 1st Quarter to include January, February, March; SPRING SHOW - 2nd Quarter to include April, May June; SUMMER SHOW - 3rd Quarter - July, August, September;  AUTUMN SHOW - 4th Quarter - October, November, December; but the Committee shall be empowered to stage further shows of a SPECIAL or EXTRA nature should the need arise.

  11. The Judging Standard for breeds will be those approved by the British Cavy Council and N.C.F. Shows are open shows held under National Cavy Club Show Rules and must be advertised as such in any schedule.

  12. Club Support offered to other organisations will be at the discretion of the Executive, but will normally be granted to Open shows advertised in "CAVIES" where the Judge is on either the National C.C., Scottish National C.C., N.C.F., Midlands C.C., or Southern C.C. Judging Panels.  This support shall be in the form of pen cards to be awarded to the Best Self, Best Non Self and Best Juvenile at the show and shall be sent to the club staging the show.  The pen card can then be redeemed by N.C.F. members for Certificates of Merit or Juvenile Diplomas, but where the exhibitor is a non-member the award will be issued only if the pen card is accompanied by a membership subscription.  Juvenile Diplomas, however, may be awarded by any judge.

  13.  The Annual Certificate of Merit and Juvenile Diploma Competitions shall be decided by the number of pen cards submitted by members before the closing date of 31st December  each year.  Pen cards received by the Secretary after that date will be included in the current year's total.  In addition to the trophies, cash bonuses of£20 (£10 - 1st ; £6 - 2nd; £4 - 3rd) for the C.I.M. Competition and £10 (£5 - 1st; £3 - 2nd; £2 - 3rd) for the Juvenile Diploma Competition will be awarded.  If a tied result should prevent the award of a trophy, the cash bonus will be divided equally among the joint winners.

  14. The Annual Breed Points Competition for the President's Trophy will be won by the member achieving the highest running total of points in breed classes after the Club's four shows each year.  Points are awarded on a scale of - First 3 points; Second 2 points; Third 1 point

  15. The Annual Breed Points Competition for the Agouti Points Shield shall be on the same basis, but restricted to Agouti breed classes.  (The same formula will be applied to any other specific breed competitions which might be introduced at a later date should a trophy be donated for the purpose)

  16. The Juvenile Points Competition and the Pet Challenge will be on the same scale of points.

  17. The Perpetual Cups and Trophies are the property of the Club and shall be competed for annually by fully paid up members of the Club.  They shall be returned in good condition when required.

  18. A Championship Certificate will be granted to a cavy owned by a member that has won five first prizes in breed classes at Open shows advertised in "CAVIES" under at least three different N.C.C., S.N.C.C., N.C.F., Midlands C.C., or Southern C.C. judges.  Double Championships can be granted for ten wins under six separate judges; Treble Championships for fifteen wins under nine separate judges; and so on.  Prize money need not be guaranteed.  Only one of the wins may be in under five months classes. A win in a breed class qualifies providing there are at least five exhibits in the class.  If there are less than five in the breed class then a win in one of the following will qualify providing there are at least ten exhibits in the class; any Self or Non Self Challenge, R.V. Challenge, Grand Challenge.  In the event there being less than ten in the Challenge class the claim may be supported by a Best Self or Best Non Self C.O.M.  or Diploma.  Championship claims should be forwarded to the Secretary accompanied by a fee of £1.00 plus 50p post and packing charge.  The breeders name must be declared.

  19. A Juvenile Championship Certificate will be granted to a cavy owned by a juvenile member that has won five first prizes in the breed classes of the Juvenile section of shows advertised in "CAVIES" under at least three different Area or Specialist club panel judges. Breed Class to be defined as the initial class the cavy is entered into (ie ‘Juvenile Coated Adult’ or ‘Juvenile Self Adult’ would apply). Double Championships can be granted for ten wins under six separate judges; Treble Championships for fifteen wins under nine separate judges; and so on.  Prize money need not be guaranteed. Only one of the wins per champion may be in under five months classes. A win in a breed class qualifies providing there are at least three exhibits in the class.  If there are less than three in the breed class then a win in one of the following will qualify providing there are at least 6 exhibits in the class; Juvenile Non Self AA, Juvenile Self AA, Juvenile AVAA.  In the event that there are less than six in these classes the claim may be supported by a Best Juvenile Certificate of Merit.  Championship claims should be forwarded to the Secretary accompanied by a fee of £1.00 plus 50p post and packing charge.  The breeders name must be declared

  20. The Executive reserves the right to refuse or disqualify from membership

  21. Subscriptions for membership will be:

  • Family                                          £6.00

  • Partnerships (two people)            £5.00

  • Adults                                           £3.00

  • Juveniles (7 - 16 years)                 £1.50

  • Senior Citizens                             £1.50

 22. All Subscriptions fall due on the 1st January, but in the case of new members only a subscription paid during October, November or December will be accepted as valid for the whole of the following year.  Any Member, Official or Judge who has not paid his or her subscriptions by the 31st January of the current year will be deemed to have resigned membership of the Club and may no longer retain any position held. It is a condition of membership that any member agrees to abide by the rules of the club. Any matter not covered in the foregoing Rules will be decided by the Officials and Committee.

23 The Secretary shall receive an Honorarium of £100 p.a.