4 Ukba Bonsai Handbook For Clubs Societies
4 Ukba Bonsai Handbook For Clubs Societies
4 Ukba Bonsai Handbook For Clubs Societies
NB: Clubs and Societies definition is interchangeable however, Clubs are associated with sports
and physical activities in the UK while Societies are based on common social interests or hobbies.
A Club or Society is defined as a group originating from interest generated in the areas of
academics, politics, recreation, culture, leisure, or other commonality.
Leader President Key representative who can lead the club and act
as a spokesperson
Chairman
Deputy Leader Vice president Supportive role that offers a back up for the
leader
Vice Chair
Example Constitution
1. Name
The Society shall be called “*********** Bonsai Society” and is hereinafter referred to as the Society.
2. Objects
The objects of the Society shall be to promote, educate and further interest in the art of Bonsai together with any
associated activity.
To hold one or more shows each year designed to encourage the aesthetic appreciation of Bonsai as an art form.
To participate in shows organised by other organisations or bodies to promote the art of Bonsai.
In furtherance of the said objectives, the Society may do all such lawful things as are necessary for the attainment of the
said objectives.
3. Officers
The Officers of the Society shall be:
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Secretary
Show Secretary
Treasurer
4. Committee
4.1. The Society shall be managed by a committee which shall comprise the officers, listed in paragraph 3 of
this constitution, and up to five other paid-up members.
4.2. The committee shall meet at least twice in each year and the proceedings at such meetings shall be recorded.
4.3. The quorum for meetings of the committee shall be 5 members.
6. Membership
6.1. Membership shall be open to any person upon completion of an application form and payment of the annual
subscription.
1. Honorary members of the Society may be appointed by the Committee.
2. Annual Subscriptions will be due for payment immediately following the Annual General Meeting each
year.
3. If a member’s annual subscription has not been paid by 30th June in any year the member will be deemed to
have resigned from the Society and their name will be removed from the Register of Members.
7. Accounts
7.1. The Society’s Financial Year shall be from 1st March until the last day of February in any year.
7.2. The Treasurer shall keep a cash book recording all receipts and payments by the Society. This cash book must
be made available to the Committee should the Committee so request.
UKBA 2024 Clubs & Societies Page 5 of 24
7.3. The Treasurer shall present a financial statement to members at every Annual General Meeting.
10. Voting
10.1. At all meetings of the Society, including the Annual General Meeting, an Extraordinary General Meeting, a
Committee and a Sub-Committee meeting, a member shall have one vote, except in the circumstances
referred to in paragraph 10.3 below. Society members present at a committee or sub-committee meeting,
apart from members of the committee or sub-committee, cannot vote.
10.2. A postal vote may be arranged at the discretion of the Committee
10.3. In the event of votes cast for a motion equalling the votes cast against a motion, the Chairman of the
meeting shall have a second or casting vote.
11. Finance
11.1. The Committee shall cause proper records of account to be kept and such accounts shall be audited or
examined by a competent person annually and over a set level by an accountant as appointed by the
Committee.
11.2. The Committee shall authorise the Treasurer to open bank or building society accounts in the name of the
Society.
11.3. The Committee shall authorise the signature of cheques by any two of the Chairman, Treasurer and any two
other members of the Society nominated by the Committee for that purpose.
13. Winding Up
13.1. In the event of a winding up of the Society, any funds remaining after the deduction of all proper liabilities and
expenses shall be donated to a nominated charity *******************.
13.2. Any non-financial assets shall be divided amongst the membership and in the event of a dispute as to the
division of such non-financial assets the Chairman be authorised to make a decision
Decide on how to market and recruit new members, this can really help boost membership:
• have an online application form
• invite the general public to events
• start a membership referral scheme
• host a bonsai club open house
• use professional networks to recruit new members
• put together a new member welcome pack
Once this is finalised set up a club bank account and get at least two signatories for the accounts.
This is useful if this is both online and has an actual bank for paying in cash or cheques.
Think about methods of payment and whether to invest in a card payment system or PayPal
account to take fees and make payments more easily.
Decide on a reserve fund to build up in case of any eventualities and draft out what this would be
for.
Organise the relevant insurance for the club activities to ensure it covers the members. Current
bonsai club insurance is available from the Royal Horticultural Society by becoming an Affiliated
member which also brings additional benefits. It can also be bought by joining the Federation of
British Bonsai (FoBBS) or directly from an insurance broker like the NFU Mutual.
If you do decide on a website or internet presence you can have a wide range of different types of
websites as per Table 3. It would be worth getting e-mail set up from the website as well.
Table 3: Website and social media options
Here are a few FAQs to include on your website or in a new member handout tailored to your
bonsai club:
What is bonsai?
Bonsai is the art of keeping trees in pots whether inside or outside depending on the tree species.
Don’t forget to provide some time to mingle, the faster new members get to know each other, the
easier it’ll be to keep them coming back to your next meetings.
As you wrap up the meeting, you should also let members know what they can expect from the
club going forward. For example, will you hold weekly meetings, or limit it to once a month? Will the
meeting location change? Setting out clear expectations will ensure members can feel comfortable
coming back.
Time Activity
1930 Arrive and set up the tables and chairs in the hall and cover tables with plastic or cloth to
protect them, set up tea, coffee and biscuits and bring in bonsai trees and working trays
and tools etc
1940 Introduction by Chairman to the evening and welcome to any new members
1945 Start workshop session - individual members working on their trees and able to circulate to
chat to others throughout the evening
1945- 2115 Voting for tree of the month competition throughout the evening
2030 Tea/ coffee break but depending on facilities as to whether this is available all the time
2145 Start to clear up your bonsai gear and take trees back out to cars.
Start to pack up tables and chairs, tidy away tea and coffee making facilities, wash up any
cups etc and clean room to ensure no debris left behind
2200 Close up the hall or hand over keys to the Caretaker
Defoliation May Club members to bring trees in need of Practical session / Talk
defoliation in to work on
Defoliation general May Talk
Defoliation of Acers May Club members to bring Acers in need of Practical session / Talk
defoliation in to work on
General pruning techniques May Talk
General Pruning May Club members to bring trees in to work on Workshop
Japanese Black pines candle May Japanese Black Pine examples to Talk
pinching & techniques demonstrate on if needed
Maples May Different examples of Maples as bonsai Talk with examples
Grafting May Scalpel, grafting material - scion and Practical session
stock, grafting tape
Flowering bonsai May Bring in examples of different types of Talk with examples
flowering trees
What are the Who might be What are you already doing? What further
hazards? harmed and actions are
how? necessary
(controls)
Slips, trips and Users of the ■ Car park surface maintained to be as even ■ Surface to be
falls hall and car as possible. inspected
Eg uneven surface park may ■ Parking spaces for visitors with regularly and
of car park, cleaning suffer injuries disabilities available next to hall repaired as
floors, drain covers such as entrance. necessary.
etc. fractures or ■ Good lighting in car park and all rooms
bruising if they and corridors in hall.
slip, eg on ■ Users know to clear up spillages ■ Check that hall
spillages or trip immediately and know where cleaner knows
over objects. equipment for this is kept. which products to
■ Mats at entrances to stop rain water being use on which type
carried in. of floor.
■ No storage in corridors.
■ Drain covers secured. ■ Salt / grit bin to
■ Crawler board areas of roof identified and be purchased
access to roof space strictly controlled via and placed in the
keys. car park for use.
■ Signs and notices posted.
■ No trailing electrical leads/cables.
■ Keep kitchen free from clutter.
■ Personal supervision of elderly /
vulnerable up paths or steps
■ Emergency access routes clear of
obstructions, operable and maintained.
■ Essential paths and roads included in ice
and snow clearance plans.
Vehicle movement Pedestrians ■ Entrance/exit to car park clearly marked. ■ Apply 5 mph
could suffer ■ For large events, parking controlled speed limit
serious injury by marshals wearing high-visibility in car park
if struck by vests. and put up
cars entering/ ■ Car park well lit. signs.
leaving car ■ Skip/recycling collection takes place at
park or
■ Advise users of
times when hall not in use.
moving in it. hall, through
■ Emergency access routes clear of
hire agreement,
obstructions, operable and maintained.
to consider
■ Essential paths and roads included in ice
whether they
and snow clearance plans.
need to control
■ Speed limit imposed in car park of 5mph.
car parking.
Manual handling Users may ■ Trolleys available to move heavy ■ No further action
(injuries from moving suffer back equipment and users know where they needed
or lifting chairs / pain if they try are kept.
tables/. Kitchen to lift objects ■ Do not stack chains more than 5 high.
equipment etc) that are too
heavy or ■ Adopt recommended safe lifting /
awkward. manual handling techniques.
■ Items stored appropriately and in stable
way and not too high.
■ Hall caretaker to monitor the situation
regularly.
Welcome pack
Think about building a new club members welcome pack and use any of the guidance within this
handbook to aid with that. To get the most out of club members it is worth setting out some
guidance on what they can do to help if they want to.
This could include becoming a committee member, taking on an informal role, running tree of the
month, taking photographs for the club website or newsletter, making teas and coffees etc.
Also, add in that photographs taken on the club nights will be used on the website so it is important
to let everyone know this in case they do not want their photo used for marketing purposes.
This should be a short pack that contains relevant and useful information about costs, times, the
programme, regular events or workshops, contact details, etc.
Fees / Charges
There are different ways to charge for a club night and the costs should be based on ensuring that
the club expenditure for any hire of a hall for the evening should be covered by the overall
membership costs or in addition to the cost charged on the door. An example of charges for joining
and attending a bonsai club is set out in Table 8.
Table 8: Annual costs of joining a bonsai club
Hire of hall (Once a month) 360.00 Essential but costs can vary
Bank account (charges and fees 0.00 Optional and some banks do not
may apply) charge clubs and societies
Total 550.00
Transparency
At club nights it is hard to remember everyone's name and therefore it may be worth supplying club
members with name Tags for improved communication. They can be printed cards put into a
plastic sleeve on a lanyard and handed out at the start of the evening and collected at the end to
avoid them being lost.
Resources
Most bonsai clubs and societies rent their hall space on a monthly or weekly basis and most halls
do not come with storage facilities or these are extra to hire. Therefore for the majority, all items
needed for a bonsai club night need to be brought to each club night by club members.
If any club member is interested they can bring in books and other resources to club nights but it is
unlikely many will now offer library facilities like they used to.
Traders
Bonsai traders can be invited to attend bonsai club meetings to sell soil, tools, pots, and
sometimes trees. They are more likely to attend full-day workshops where they are providing
training as well as supplies. Not all vendors accept credit cards though so cash may be
appropriate. There is a list of bonsai traders on the UKBA website.
ukbonsaiassoc.org/traders-suppliers.html
Speakers
To provide your club members with a diversity of information and club nights you can hire bonsai
speakers to attend and talk on a wide range of subjects. There is a speakers list available on the
UKBA website. ukbonsaiassoc.org/speaks-demonstrators.html
Club Merchandise
Not all clubs will have sufficient funds to purchase club merchandise on behalf of their club
members. However, each club member can individually fund their own items and this can be co-
ordinated into a pre-order once they have sufficient numbers to make the minimum order on logo
T-shirts, caps and other merchandise with the club logo. Not all members will want club
merchandise but for those who want to join in this can be a great way of building on the community
spirit of the club and looks great at events when the club members are present as a club.
Raffle
To aid with raising club funds, clubs could hold a raffle at their monthly meetings. All proceeds
would go to the club treasury and donations would be welcome.
Auctions
Another way to interact with club members is to run an auction, this is a good way to move on
bonsai trees as well within the bonsai community as well as a fun social event. Auctions can be
quite time-consuming to organise though and payment methods need to be considered upfront.