Somewhere in your club’s records, probably as a slightly faded PDF or a photocopy from the 1990s, is a document called the constitution. Most committee members never read it until something goes wrong: a contested vote, a bank that will not open an account, a grant application that asks for it, or a Swim England affiliation query. Then it suddenly matters a great deal.
A swim club constitution is the club’s governing document. It is the written rulebook that sets out what the club is for, who its members are, how the committee is chosen, how money is handled, and how decisions are made. This guide explains what a swimming club constitution is, what it should contain, and how affiliated clubs in England adopt and change one, without needing a solicitor for the everyday parts.
What a swim club constitution actually is
Think of the constitution as the club’s operating rules, agreed by its members and binding on everyone. It is not marketing copy and it is not a policy document like a safeguarding or photography policy. It sits above those: the policies say how you do things day to day, the constitution says who has the authority to decide.
For most swimming clubs the constitution is short, often ten to fifteen pages, and it rarely changes. But it is doing a lot of quiet work. It is the document that:
- Proves the club exists as an organised body, not just a group of people who happen to swim together.
- Gives the committee its authority to sign contracts, hold money and make decisions on the members’ behalf.
- Sets the rules for meetings and votes, so an AGM decision cannot easily be challenged later.
- Defines what happens to the club’s assets if it ever closes.
Why your club needs one
There is no single Act of Parliament that says every sports club must have a constitution. In practice, though, you cannot run an affiliated swimming club without one. Four groups will ask to see it:
- Swim England. Affiliated clubs are required to adopt a constitution based on the recommended Model Club Constitution, and to meet the expected standards of good club governance. It is a condition of affiliation, not an optional extra.
- Your bank. Almost no bank will open or keep a club account without a copy of the constitution and a record of the committee named in it.
- Funders. Grant bodies and the National Lottery routinely ask for the constitution before they release money. See our guide to grants and funding for swimming clubs for who asks for what.
- Insurers and, occasionally, the courts. If a decision is ever disputed, the constitution is the document everyone is measured against. Follow it and the committee is protected; ignore it and decisions can be unpicked.
If your club is affiliated and cannot lay hands on its constitution, that is the first thing to fix. It is one of the documents every new committee member should track down in their first thirty days.
Choosing a legal structure first
Before you finalise the wording, decide what kind of body the club is. The structure shapes several clauses, so get it right before adopting the document.
| Structure | What it is | Liability | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unincorporated association | The default: members bound together by the constitution, no separate legal identity | Members and committee can be personally liable for debts | Most small and medium clubs |
| Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) | An HMRC tax status, not a separate structure, sitting on top of an unincorporated or incorporated club | Depends on the underlying structure | Clubs wanting rate relief and Gift Aid without full charity regulation |
| Charity or Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) | A registered charity; a CIO also gives the club a separate legal identity | A CIO gives limited liability; a plain charitable trust may not | Larger clubs, or those owning premises |
| Company limited by guarantee | A company with no shareholders | Limited liability for members | Clubs holding significant assets or long leases |
Most swimming clubs are unincorporated associations, and many of those also register as a CASC for the tax reliefs. Registering as a CASC brings specific constitutional demands: HMRC’s guidance requires that any surplus is reinvested in the club rather than distributed to members, that the main purpose is to provide facilities for and encourage participation in an eligible sport, and that the constitution has a dissolution clause applying any net assets to approved sporting or charitable purposes. Swim England publishes a CASC version of its model constitution alongside the standard one.
What a swim club constitution should include
A good swimming club constitution covers each of the following. If your current document is missing any of these, note it for your next review.
- Name and colours. The club’s full name, and often its founding year and registered colours.
- Objects (or aims). A short statement of what the club exists to do, usually built around providing swimming and encouraging participation. This clause matters for CASC and charity status.
- Membership. The categories of member (swimmer, family, associate, life, honorary), how people join and leave, and who has voting rights. Get this right, because it decides who can vote at your AGM.
- Subscriptions. How fees are set and when they are due. Most constitutions leave the actual amounts to the committee or the AGM rather than fixing figures in the document.
- The committee and officers. The management committee and the named officer roles. Swim England expects a club to have at least a chair, secretary, treasurer, a welfare officer where the club works with children or vulnerable adults, and a coach or teacher. Set out how officers are elected, their terms, and any term limits.
- Meetings. How the AGM is called, the notice period, quorum, and how extraordinary general meetings can be triggered. The detailed rules on notice and quorum are covered in our guide to swimming club AGM legal requirements.
- Voting. Who can vote, what majority ordinary decisions need, and the higher threshold for constitutional changes.
- Finance. Who can authorise spending, the requirement for annual accounts, the financial year end, and bank signatory rules.
- Safeguarding. A commitment to Swim England’s safeguarding framework and to appointing a welfare officer.
- Discipline and complaints. How the club handles disputes and disciplinary matters, and the right of appeal.
- Amendments. How the constitution itself can be changed, including the majority required.
- Dissolution. What happens to any remaining assets if the club closes. For a CASC or charity this clause must send net assets to another sporting or charitable body, not to members.
Using the Swim England model constitution
Do not write a constitution from a blank page. Swim England has published a recommended Model Club Constitution for its affiliated clubs, together with a CASC version, in its clubs resources library. Starting from the model does two useful things: it makes sure your document meets the affiliation standard, and it means your region is already familiar with the wording, which speeds up approval.
Take the template, work through it clause by clause with your committee, and adapt the parts that are genuinely specific to your club (name, colours, membership categories, committee roles). Resist the urge to rewrite the standard governance clauses in your own words. They are drafted carefully, and changing them for style tends to create problems later.
How to adopt or change your constitution
Adopting a new constitution, or amending an existing one, follows a set order. The step people most often miss is the first one.
- Draft the exact wording. Not the general idea, the precise text that will replace the old text.
- Get regional approval first. Changes to an affiliated club’s constitution have to be approved by your Swim England region before members vote on them. Sending it to your region early avoids adopting something at the AGM that then has to be redone.
- Give proper notice. Circulate the proposed change to members with the notice your current constitution requires, usually 21 or 28 days, clearly flagged rather than buried under “any other business”.
- Vote at a general meeting. Most constitutions require a two-thirds or 75 per cent majority to amend the document. Ordinary business only needs a simple majority; constitutional change is deliberately harder.
- Adopt, file and notify. Once passed, date the new version, store it where the whole committee can find it, tell your region, and update your bank if signatory rules changed.
If your constitution is decades old and still assumes postal votes and typed notices, an update to allow email communication and online or hybrid meetings is one of the most useful changes a committee can make. Plan it as part of your committee handover so the new document survives the next change of officers.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Nobody knows where it is. Keep the current, dated version in shared club storage, not on one person’s laptop.
- Two versions in circulation. After any amendment, delete or clearly mark the old file so there is a single source of truth.
- Fixing fee amounts in the constitution. Leave subscription figures to the committee or AGM; otherwise every price change becomes a constitutional amendment.
- Skipping regional approval. Adopting a change at the AGM before your region has seen it means doing it twice.
- A weak dissolution clause. If you are a CASC or charity, the wrong dissolution wording can put your tax status at risk.
Frequently asked questions
What is a swim club constitution?
A swim club constitution is the club’s governing document. It is the written set of rules that says what the club exists to do, who its members are, how the committee is elected, how money is handled, how meetings and votes work, and how the club can be wound up. For a Swim England affiliated club it is a condition of affiliation, and it is the document Swim England, banks, funders and insurers will ask to see.
Does a swimming club legally need a constitution?
There is no single law that forces every club to have one, but in practice you cannot run an affiliated swimming club without it. Swim England requires affiliated clubs to adopt a constitution based on its recommended Model Club Constitution, most banks will not open a club account without a copy, and grant funders almost always ask for it. It is also what protects the committee if a decision is ever challenged.
What should a swim club constitution include?
At a minimum: the club name, its objects or aims, membership categories and subscriptions, the committee and its officer roles, how the AGM and any extraordinary meetings are called and run, quorum and voting rules, how finances are managed, a safeguarding commitment, how the constitution can be amended, and a dissolution clause setting out where any remaining assets go if the club closes.
Where can I get a swim club constitution template?
Swim England publishes a recommended Model Club Constitution for affiliated clubs, along with a Community Amateur Sports Club version, in its clubs resources library. Start from that template rather than writing one from scratch, then adapt it to your club. Changes to the wording need approval from your Swim England region before members adopt them at a general meeting.
How do you change a swim club constitution?
Constitutional changes are a higher bar than ordinary business. Draft the exact new wording, get it approved by your Swim England region first, then put it to members with proper notice at an AGM or extraordinary general meeting. Most constitutions require a two-thirds or 75 per cent majority to pass an amendment. Once adopted, update the document, tell your region, and store the dated version.
What is the difference between an unincorporated club, a CASC and a charity?
An unincorporated association is the simplest and most common structure for a small club, but members can be personally liable for its debts. A Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) is an HMRC tax status that gives rate relief and Gift Aid but locks the club into non-profit rules. A charity or Charitable Incorporated Organisation offers wider tax benefits and, for a CIO, limited liability, but comes with more regulation. Each needs specific wording in the constitution.
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