About us

History

We were formed in the late 1990’s as South Wales Gay Badminton (SWGB) and after playing for several years at Cardiff Leisure centres, we moved to our current venue at Sophia Gardens in 2017. We changed our club name to Cardiff Red Kites in 2023.

Our main focus is on being a social club, and as our members have a wide range of ability levels, we have a good mix of competitive and social games.

Many people have made long lasting friendships at Red Kites. If you have any questions please get in touch using our contact page.

Committee 2025/26

Lawrence: Club chair & player development officer
Ian: Membership and welfare officer
Mike: Club secretary
Rachel: Communications officer & interim treasurer
Ryan: Tournaments officer
Lloyd: Membership officer

Club documents

Constitution

Club Name

1.1. The club name shall be Cardiff Red Kites

Aims and Objectives of Cardiff Red Kites
- To promote and enable the play of badminton for players of all abilities within the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer + (LGBTQ+) communities.
- To work to ensure that all club members are treated equally, fairly and with respect.
- To engender a friendly atmosphere.
- To promote social activities.

Club Committee

3.1 Club Committee structure3.12 The Committee of Cardiff Red Kites Badminton Club will consist of up to a maximum of 10 officers. There shall be seven principal officers as follows:

Chair
Treasurer
Membership and welfare officer
Secretary
Player development officer
Communications officer
Tournaments officer

3.13 In addition to the principal officers, up to a further three officers can be elected to the committee, if the principal officers deemed that these are required either for specific purposes or to support the general operation of committee or club activities. The titles and responsibilities of these additional officers will be determined by the principal officers as necessary.
3.2 Committee elections3.21 A new committee will be elected every year. The elections will take place over July to August and elected members will take up post on 1 September. The term of office will run until 31 August the following year.3.22 The annual election will include any committee posts that are in addition to the seven principal posts, if such posts have been deemed as needed by the committee in accordance with paragraph 3.13.3.23 Any committee members who are not elected to serve in the term of office following an election are responsible for providing a handover to their replacement. 3.24 All elections to the committee will be by electronic secret ballot. 3.25 Where there are two or more candidates for a post, the candidate receiving the most votes is elected. Where there is only one candidate for a post, the ballot form should ask whether the candidate should be elected, or whether nominations should be reopened. 3.26 Where there is one candidate for a post and the result is a tie between the candidate and reopening nominations, the election shall proceed to a second round. Additional candidates can stand in the second around, in which case a ballot will be held as set out in para 3.25. But, if the only candidate for the second round election is the same person as in the first round, then that candidate is automatically elected without a further vote. 3.27 Where the result is a tie between two or more candidates, the election shall proceed to a second round. Only those candidates that came equal first in the first round can stand in the second round. If the result of the second round election is a further tie, the existing committee shall determine the election result, unless any candidates withdraw from the election leaving only one candidate, who shall then be declared as being elected. 3.28 The committee in office at the time of committee elections will run the elections and will determine any rules and procedures relating to the elections that are not covered by this constitution. 3.29 Annual committee elections will take effect from 2026 to elect a committee to serve a term of office from 1 September 2026. Elections will be held annually thereafter. The committee in office prior to the annual 2026 election will remain in office until the new committee elected in 2026 takes office. 3.30 There is no limit to the number of terms of office that committee members can serve.
3.4 Ad hoc elections 3.41 If a committee post becomes vacant before the annual election, there shall be an ad hoc election to fill the vacancy. This should follow the same process as for the annual elections. 3.42 Any committee member elected in an ad hoc election less than six months before the date of the next annual election can continue to serve in the next committee without needing to stand for re-election at the next annual election.
3.5 Committee operation 3.51 The committee will be responsible for the running of Cardiff Red Kites including arranging court bookings, managing club finances, setting playing and membership fees and managing club members' details to enable communication with members via social media or other methods as appropriate.3.52 Each member of the committee has one vote in committee decision making except where a decision is tied, in which case the Chair has an additional casting vote.3.53 The committee should nominate one or two committee members to be deputy chair or chairs in addition to their elected role. They should support the chair and deputise for the chair in leading the committee activities.3.54 The committee can set up sub-committees as necessary to deal with specific issues. Sub-committees should be established by committee members but can comprise of committee members or club members. Sub-committees can be committee-led or member-led. For member-led sub-committees, there should be at least one committee member within the sub-committee to oversee. Membership of sub-committees is on a voluntary basis and does not require formal election. There is no limit to membership size of a sub-committee.

Grievance and Discipline

4.1 All complaints must be raised with a member of the Committee. Any sanctions proposed against a member following a complaint must have the approval of a majority of the membership.

Membership

5.1 Membership is open to all members of the LGBTQ+ community, supporters and others who are positive in their attitude towards the community. Members will be required to submit a membership application form, which will feature a disclaimer against personal injury claims. The signing of this form will be a requirement of membership.5.2 The Annual Membership year will run from July 1st to June 30th. Membership of Cardiff Red Kites will be effective on submission of the signed membership application form. 5.3 Members will pay a weekly ‘club’ session fee for each club night they attend. The Session Fee is only paid on attendance and will be reviewed as and when needed by the Committee based on court and club running costs. There will be a membership fee set by the Club Committee. Prospective new members do not have to pay the weekly fee when attending their first club night.5.4 On joining Cardiff Red Kites members will agree to the following:

To support and abide by the constitution of Cardiff Red Kites;
That their name, mobile telephone number and email address will be used by Cardiff Red Kites and will be shared with other Cardiff Red Kites members, or other guest players/prospective Cardiff Red Kites members who have provided their contact details to Cardiff Red Kites for the purpose of Cardiff Red Kites communications.
That they will not release any details of Cardiff Red Kites members or guest players/prospective members, to any non-Cardiff Red Kites members;
That Cardiff Red Kites is not liable for any injuries sustained during playing badminton or any other activities associated with Cardiff Red Kites;
That the Cardiff Red Kites committee will retain the completed membership form and the details provided on the membership form for the duration of their membership of the club.

5.5 Existing members will need to renew their membership at the start of the membership year every July, to retain membership of Cardiff Red Kites social media groups. However, the Cardiff Red Kites Committee reserves the right to retain individual’s details within social media groups where agreement has been made that individuals who have not been able to return their membership form will do so at the earliest opportunity.

Club Meetings

6.1 The location and times of club nights will be notified/confirmed to members via e-mail and/or social media and any other means deemed appropriate by the Committee.6.2 Playing teams will be informally organised between the members. However, the Committee has the right to use a peg board selection criteria system. The Committee will determine the rules of the Board and publish them accordingly. Alternatively a Committee member will organise playing teams to ensure an appropriate balance between competitive and social games if this is necessary.

Guests

7.1 Any member has the right to bring guests to an event, unless the guest has been refused membership or the event is for members only. Guests will pay the same weekly match fee as members.

Intellectual Property

8.1 All rights, property, website, advertising and other material used for the management and promotion of Cardiff Red Kites belongs to the Club and no one individual and that in the event of a member leaving Cardiff Red Kites they agree to surrender any such material to the club.

Constitutional Changes

9.1 This constitution can be changed only by agreement of the majority of members who vote.

Dissolution of Cardiff Red Kites

10.1 Cardiff Red Kites Badminton Club can only be dissolved by agreement of at least two thirds of members who vote. In the event of the dissolution of the club, the assets of the club will be distributed equally across the membership at the time of the dissolution.

Version history

Adopted as the South Wales Gay Badminton Club constitution on 1 July 2017

Updated: September 2019

Updated; May 2023 including club name change to Cardiff Red Kites

Updated: July 2023 to increase the committee to 3 members

Updated: March 2024 to increase committee to up to a maximum of 10 members

Updated: January 2026 to reflect new roles and election process

Policies

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