When you become a member, you will be following in the footsteps trodden by some of the most famous names in piping, and become part of a tradition has been active in London since 1932. You will be able to meet up with other pipers, take part in competition, and attend workshops and recitals. We welcome pipers of all backgrounds and abilities. The raw beginner will find him or herself made just as welcome as the successful open competitor. You don't even have to be a piper to join! If you have an interest in piping and want to support this Highland art in the capital, or if you just like the sound of the pipes and are looking for a place where you can come and lend a fond ear to the drone, join up and become part of the London piping community.

The SPSL is a charity that relies on it's member's subscription fee's to survive. In return for your membership fee, we work hard to bring as much high level piping to the capital as possible. You can help us even further without having to donate anything extra, except a few short minutes of your time. As the SPSL is a registered charity, we are eligible for Gift Aid. Gift Aid is tax relief on money donated to UK charities. You can find out more about Gift Aid by clicking on this link to the Government website.  It really does make a difference, and I promise you that any monies we accrue will be put to use in doing the best we can for our members.

If you have any questions please ask.

Membership can be purchased from the online shop.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

NAME

1.

The Society shall be called “The Scottish Piping Society of London".

OBJECTS

2.

The objects shall be the promotion of the playing of the Great Highland Bagpipe in London and the bringing together of all those

interested in the pipes and pipe music, whether as players or non-players.

MEMBERSHIP

3.

The Society shall consist of men and women interested in the objects of the Society. There shall be Ordinary, Life and Honorary

Life Members.

Ordinary Members shall be those who pay the annual subscription or have paid the composition fee laid down in Rule 5.

Life members shall be those who have paid a life membership fee prior to 2009. There shall be no new Life memberships after

December 31st 2008.

Honorary Life Members shall be such persons as the Committee see fit, on account of services rendered to the Society or of any other

special circumstances to elect to membership in that category, or to transfer to that category from another category of membership.

4.

Election to Membership of the Society shall in all cases be at the discretion of the Committee, who may decline to accept any

person as a member without assigning any reason.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

5.

Ordinary Members who have attained the age of 18 years shall pay a subscription. The schedule of subscriptions will be

revised or confirmed every year at the AGM. The current year’s schedule will appear on the membership form and the society

website www.scottishpipingsocietyoflondon.com

6.

Life Members existing at 31st December 2008 and Honorary Life members shall not be required to pay any subscription.

7.

Annual subscriptions shall fall due on the 1st of January in each year, payable by Standing order. The first subscription of a new

member shall fall due on his election and shall be payable by cheque for the first year and Standing Order thereafter.

8.

Any Annual Subscription not received by 1st May shall be deemed to be in arrears. No Member whose subscription is in arrears

may speak or vote at a General Meeting of the Society, nor be eligible to hold any office in the Society or to serve as an

elected member of the Committee.

CESSATION OF MEMBERSHIP

9.

The name of any member whose subscription is over two years in arrears shall be reported to the Committee, who may,

after giving the member three months' warning of their intention, order his name to be deleted from the roll of members.

10.

The Committee may order to be deleted from the roll of members the name of any member whose conduct is considered

to be detrimental to the interests of the Society. Such action shall not be taken by the Committee except at a meeting to

which the member concerned has been invited for the purpose of his being heard. A member aggrieved by a decision of

the Committee under this Rule may appeal to the Society in General Meeting to reverse it, and the Committee shall be

bound to facilitate such an appeal.

11. Any member may resign from the Society by informing the Secretary of his wish to do so.

OFFICERS

12.

The Officers of the Society shall be the President, the Vice-President, the Piping Co-ordinator, the Treasurer and the

Secretary, together with any Assistant Officer appointed under Rule 14.

13. The President, the Vice-President and the Piping Co-ordinator shall retire annually at the Annual General Meeting, but shall be

eligible for re-election.

The term of office of the Treasurer and of the Secretary shall be indefinite, but either may resign on giving one month's

notice to the President, or may be removed from office by a resolution of the Society in General Meeting.

14. The Committee may appoint such Assistant Officers as it may from time to time deem necessary for the proper conduct of the

Society's affairs: such Assistant Officers shall hold office at the discretion of the Committee.

15. The President may, when authorised to do so by a unanimous decision of the Committee, invite suitable persons to accept

office in the Society as Patrons or as Honorary Vice-President. Such persons need not be members of the Society. Patrons

and Honorary Vice-Presidents shall be entitled to participate in all the activities of the Society and to attend and speak, but

not vote, (unless they are members) at a General Meeting.

THE COMMITTEE

16. The affairs of the Society shall be conducted by a Committee consisting of the Officers of the Society and two elected members.

17. The elected members of the Committee shall retire at each Annual General Meeting, but shall be eligible for re-election.

18. Casual vacancies on the Committee may be filled by co-option. A member of the Committee co-opted under the Rule shall

retire at the next Annual General Meeting and be eligible for election in addition to the members to be elected under the

preceding Rule. If thus elected, he shall thereafter retire as if he had been elected when the member whose vacancy he

filled was elected.

The appointment of an elected member of the Committee as an Assistant Officer under Rule 14 shall not be

deemed to cause a casual vacancy on the Committee.

19. The Committee may appoint sub-committees for any purpose and shall have power to make bye-laws for the conduct of

the Society's activities.

20. The Committee shall not proceed to business at any meeting unless four members of the Committee are present.

21. The President shall take the Chair at meetings of the Committee, but he may, at his discretion, delegate this duty to another

member of the Committee. If neither the President nor his delegate is present, the Committee may elect a Chairman for the

meeting.

22. All reasonable expenses incurred by a committee member or co-optee thereof in the execution of authorised

Society business, shall be re-imbursed by the Society upon the submission of a claim, in-writing, accompanied

by appropriate receipts, to the Society’s treasurer.

Any expense claims which do not appear to be reasonable or are not accompanied by appropriate receipts

shall be explained to the Officers of the Society at a full committee meeting and any agreement to pay these

claims shall be minuted together with the explanation thereof. The decision of the Committee in such

instances is final.

The Treasurer shall keep a record of all claims paid as part of normal Society accounts.

23

Occasionally, and as per Charity Commission guidelines, it might be appropriate for the payment of an

honorarium to an Officer of the Society for the provision of services provided that it is clearly in the best

interests of the Society to do so. Such a payment shall not be made to cover the Officer’s normal duty but

shall be clearly shown to be due to exceptional commitment of the Officer to the Society.

For the SPSL this shall translate to clear and specific service provision for a period of not less than three years

where the provision of such services would have cost the Society more than the honorarium.

The award of an honorarium shall first be proposed to the Committee at a committee meeting with the

proposed recipient excluded. For the award to be made, the Committee shall be unanimous in its approval at

that meeting.

Where an award is made, it shall be accompanied by a citation document clearly detailing the specific

reason(s) for the award, a copy of which shall be signed by all of the remaining Society Officers, approving the

award and shall be kept on-record by the Society Secretary. A copy of the citation shall accompany the award

on presentation.

Honoraria awards shall not exceed £1000

ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT

24.

The Treasurer shall prepare accounts annually, to a date to be determined by the Committee. The accounts shall be

assessed by a competent person who is independent from the Society, certified as a full and complete

record of the Society’s fiscal activities for the period in question, and submitted to the Society at the Annua1

General Meeting.

25. At every Annual General Meeting the competent person mentioned above shall be identified and empowered to execute that

role until the next Annual General Meeting.

GENERAL MEETINGS OF THE SOCIETY

26.

The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held, on a date to be fixed by the Committee, for the following purposes:

(a) To receive the Annual Report of the Committee;

(b) To receive the audited Accounts for the preceding year;

(c) To elect Officers;

(d) To elect two members to serve on the Committee, and to elect, if thought fit, any member co-opted to the Committee since the

previous Annual General Meeting under Rule 18;

(e) To appoint a ‘competent person’ for accounting purposes.

(f) To discuss any special business of which due notice has been given;

(g) To discuss the general business of the Society.

27. Any member may nominate any other member, after obtaining his consent, to serve as an Officer of the Society or as an

elected member of the Committee. Nominations must be lodged with the Secretary at least forty-eight hours before the

Annual General Meeting. If no or insufficient such nominations have been received, the President may at his discretion

receive other nominations at the Meeting.

28. Any member wishing to raise a matter as special business at an Annual General Meeting shall give notice of his intention to

the Secretary at least one week before the meeting, stating the nature of the business and the terms of any motion or

resolution he intends to move.

29. A Special General Meeting shall be called if the Committee so decide or if any ten members of the Society request that

one be called. Such a request must be made in writing to the President and must specify the purpose of the proposed

meeting.

No business shall be taken at a Special General Meeting, other than that specified in the Notice thereof.

30. Notice of every General Meeting shall be sent to each member at least fourteen days before the meeting.

31. The President shall take the Chair at General Meetings, or in his absence the Vice-President; in the absence of both the

President and the Vice-President, the meeting shall elect a Chairman from among the members of the Committee present. If

no member of the Committee be present within fifteen minutes of the time for which the meeting was called, the meeting

may elect a Chairman from among those present.

32. Voting at General Meetings shall be by show of hands. The President or other Chairman shall have an additional or casting

vote as well as his deliberative vote. Members under the age of eighteen shall not vote at General Meetings.

The President may, at his discretion, either before or after a vote has been taken on show of hands, direct that a question be

settled by a postal ballot of all members entitled to vote. Upon the President's announcing his ruling to this effect the

meeting shall proceed forthwith to appoint a committee of three members to assist the Secretary in the conduct of the

ballot.

ALTERATION OF RULES

33.

These Rules may be altered by deletion, amendment or addition at a Special General Meeting or at the AGM. A Resolution

for the alteration of the Rules shall not be deemed to have been passed unless at least three out of every four members

voting on the resolution vote in favour of it.

The current SPSL committee is: 

If you wish to contact a member of the committee, please use the 'Contact Us' Form.