1. Name: the name of the group shall be The Leazes Park Angling Association.

2. Objects: the objects of the association are: a) to promote the benefits of the inhabitants of Tyneside and surrounding areas by associating voluntary organisations, local authorities, statutory authorities and the private sector in a common effort to advance education and to improve facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and leisure time activities especially but not exclusively with and emphasis on angling. b) To support registered charity by donation.

3. Powers: in order to further the objects the association shall have the power to a) Employ and pay staff b) Acquire and dispose of property (subject to any consents required by law) c0 Invest funds in any lawful manner provided that professional investment advice is obtained whenever it is prudent to do so d) Raise funds by any lawful means except permanent trading e) Accept gifts either for the general purpose of the Association or for the specific purpose within connected with the Objects f) Do anything within the law which is necessary in carrying out the Objects.

4. Membership: a) Membership shall e open to any individual aged 17 or over who agrees with the objects of the Association and pays any subscription set by the Executive Committee b) Every member shall have a vote c) If the Executive Committee consider that a members conduct is harmful to the Association it may require the member concerned to put his, her or their case to a meeting of the Executive Committee d) Where the Executive Committee is satisfied after hearing their case put by or on behalf of the member concerned that the member should leave the association it may terminate that membership by written notice and that notice is final. E) The Executive committee may make provision for non-voting categories of membership including junior members, associate membership and honorary membership, and set the subscription payable (if any).

5. The Executive Committee a) The Association shall be managed by an Executive Committee of not less that four and not more than ten members. b) The Executive Committee’s officers shall include a Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Fisheries Officer and any other officers that the Executive Committee shall decide. c) The Executive Committee shall meet not less that four times a year and a formal record of the meetings shall be kept. d) Four members shall be a quorum e) each member shall have one vote, and if the vote is tied the Chair shall have a second casting vote. f) The Executive Committee shall have the power to co-opt up to three members on to The Executive Committee to fill vacant places until the next Annual General Meeting. Each co-opted member has a vote

6. General Meetings a) The Secretary shall give two months notice of a General Meeting to all members. b) All members shall be entitled to attend and vote at the meeting. c) Twenty members, or a quarter of the membership whichever is smaller, shall be a quorum. d) A formal record of a General Meeting shall be kept. e) The Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be held in December every year or as soon as possible afterwards, when a report of the year’s activities and accounts shall be presented. f) Nominations for Officers and Committee members shall be made at the AGM. g) Officers and Committee shall be elected on a show of hands and serve from the end of the AGM to the end of the following AGM. h) An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called at any time by the Executive Committee. If 10% of members request such a meeting in writing the Secretary must call one.

7. Finance: a) All funds belonging to the to or raised by the Association must be used in furthering the Objects b) The Treasurer shall keep an account of all income and expenditure and shall present examined accounts at the AGM. c) An Independent Examiner, who is not a member of the Association, shall be appointed to examine the accounts. d) There shall be one or more bank or building society accounts in the name of the Association. Cheques must be signed by two committee members, who must not be related. e) Executive Committee members may make reasonable out-of-pocket expenses on terms approved by the Executive committee, No other payments shall be made members of the Association.

8. Property: If the Association acquires any land, building investments or any other property of a permanent nature, the legal title to that property must be transferred to a corporate body as holding trustee (or in the case of freehold land, invested in Official Custodian for Charities)

9. Notices: a) Whenever notice has to be given to the members of the Association under the provisions of this Constitution it must be delivered either by hand or by post to the individual members of the Association. b) Whenever any notice is required to be given to the Executive Committee it must be delivered by hand or sent by post to the Secretary. c) Whenever any notice is given by post it is deemed to have been received 48 hours after posting.

10. Amendments: The Constitution may be amended by a two thirds majority pf members present and voting at a General Meeting (Annual or Extraordinary) provided that notice of the proposed amendments has been sent to all members with the notice of the meeting.

11. Dissolution: a) A resolution to dissolve the Association must be approved by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting at a General Meeting provided that 2 months notice of the proposed dissolution has been sent to all members. b) In the event of a resolution to dissolve the Association any assets remaining after the clearing of debts and liabilities shall be given to an Association or group having similar objects, or, if this cannot be done to any charitable purpose.

12. A copy of this constitution shall be made available to all members.

The above constitution was approved at an Annual General Meeting held at the Belle Grove Hotel, Spital Tongues on the 4th December 2002.

About Leazes Park Angling Association

Matches: The match angler in the club has a fairly active time. We run a series of matches starting with the annual seniors, annual pairs, and dads ‘n’ lads. The first two matches are for the club members, the dads ‘n’ lads is not an open match.

Summer series: in the summer we run an evening series which is finished on a Wednesday between 6.30pm and 9.30pm, as the light allows. These matches are restricted to members only. In a total, eleven matches are fished in the series with a 3 match disregard. The number of pegs provided will be decided on the night depending on the number of anglers fishing and whether circumstances permit.

Number of sections to be determined by anglers attending:-

i.e. Under 12 1 section

12- 23 2 sections

24+ 3 sections

Pools payout under 12 1st 1 section

12-24 1st and 2nd and 2 sections

25+ 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and 3 sections

The points are awarded as follows:- winner 12 points down to zero for a blank session. In the event of a tie of points, overall weight will decide the winner. Pools will be £2.00 main and £1.00 section.

All pools are entirely optional. Super pools will be available if required.

Annual seniors- organisation payout as above. Ticket money 100% payout.

Divided 1st- 50%, 2nd- 30% and 3rd- 20%.

Annual pairs- organisation payout as above. Note ticket money payout is on individual positions and not pairs positions.

Winter series- in winter we run a winter league match series. We meet and 10am and fish from 11am to 3.30pm (variable- contact match organiser).

Depending on the weather the fishing can be very productive, fish can be caught on a waggler and on the tip. These matches are also run on a points system.

Payout up to 10 anglers- 1st and 2nd

Over 10 anglers- 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Points down to zero, nine matches in the series with a three match disregard and there are no selections in these matches. The last match of the year is the annual.

Fur and Feather fished at the same times as the winter series.

One match only but the payout is the same as the winter series.

The tickets for club matches will be sold at the June meeting, with the remainder being sold on the bank by the match secretary.

One important point that must be stressed is please do not obstruct the pathways around the lake with holdalls and rod bags and shipped poles etc. Please keep them close to your peg and be especially careful of long poles as these can be broken by pedestrians and cyclists.

There will be a carp match held each year on the park. Details of dates and contacts will be posted in the club notice board.

Any changes to the above arrangements will be displayed on the club notice board.

Match rules as follows:-

peg cards are to be used in all matches;
scales will be allocated by the match secretary;
barbless or micro barbed hooks only to be used;
litter on pegs, the peg will not be weighed in;
no cereal based ground bait to be used;
no blood worm or jokers to be used in matches;
Carp over one kilo must not be placed in keepnets and should be weighed straight away. This does not apply to Crucians.
All other club rules apply.

Angling Rules for Leazes Park

All members must hold a current environment agency rod license.
All members must observe all regulations of the E.A.
Members must cause no damage, deposit no litter, nor light fires, and are expected to prevent such behaviour in others. Any person found leaving litter whilst fishing will be suspended immediately from the club for one year; anyone found leaving discarded line will be banned for life.
Members should not land on the island and should prevent others from doing so when possible.
No angling from water craft and no use of control boats of anytype.
No swimming is allowed in the lake.
Any member found infringing any of the association rules or jeopardising the fishing rights will be dealt with by the committee and may face expulsion.
Members must carry their membership cards and their E.A. rod license at all times when fishing the water. Anyone found fishing without the documents will be ejected.
Keepnets and landing nets must be of a minimum length of 6ft and made of knotless material. Members must not overcrowd their keepnets and must ensure the wellbeing of the fish at all times.
Inspection of nets and/or their contents by any member at ant time is permissible upon production of their membership or bailiffs document.
Members must adopt a responsible attitude to members of the public and must endeavour to avoid injury to the latter in any way.
Wading is not allowed.
Absolutely no strange fish are to be introduced or removed without the permission of the committee unless the fish in question are pike/zander or game fish, in which case they are to be removed.
All native coarse fish are to be returned at the end of the fishing session.
The use of cereal based ground baits is forbidden.
No spinning is allowed after the time of 09.00am.
Landing nets must be used to prevent injury to fish.
The lake will be closed for 2 hours prior to any authorised match and for the duration of any match.
The use of livebaiting in all forms is forbidden.
The use of all freshwater molluscs is forbidden.
No baited lines are to be left unattended at any time.
Split shot shall be a that of a non toxic or lead substitute material.
Hooks used for carp must be barbless and bent shank hooks are forbidden.
Hooks for coarse fishing must be micro-barbed or barbless.
No carp of any size are to be retained in keepnets except in official club matches and these must not exceed 2lb which must then be returned immediately after being weighed. This doesn’t apply to Crucians.
Rules relating to the fishing of matches are to be explained verbally by the match secretary before the draw.
There is to be a two rod limit between April 1st and November 1st. Three rod limits is allowed between November 1st to March 31st provided the necessary E.A. rod licences are held, and must be used in the same swim and not interfere with other anglers.
Membership is from January 1st to December 31st. Members must renew their membership before February 1st. If membership is not renewed before this date, the membership will have expired and to rejoin, there will be an entrance fee depending on the type of license applied for. Please ensure you send your ID card and a SAE to the membership secretary when renewing membership. Members wishing to use the car park must be in possession of the new car parking permit and must use the allocated parking bays.
Anglers fishing specifically for carp must use a suitable, soft unhooking mat with a recommended minimum size of 30” x 18” to prevent damage to fish. It is recommended that deep specimen landing nets are to be used. All members are encourages to carry and unhooking mat, even if they are not intending to catch carp in particular.
No baited hooks the be left unattended.
Tinned cans e.g. sweet corn, meat etc are not permitted on the bank. Such baits should be stored in an appropriate bait container.
No angling is allowed from the jetty whilst the boats are in operation. Members will be asked to vacate the area when required.
All committee to receive free membership.

Code of Conduct

The following “common sense” rules have been included to clarify the club rules.

Care must be taken the all times when casting. Look all around especially behind and be aware of boat users.
C are must be taken when using floating baits e.g. crust, dog mixers etc to prevent birds taking the bait.
I f lines are snagged, take extra care and ensure nobody around could be hit by ant flying leads.

LEAVE LITTER, LEAVE THE CLUB