The Handshake

When a member has something to offer, you can pledge for it. A pledge is a promise, not a purchase. You may add a private word about why you'd like it, and a line describing what you're offering in return — "£20", say, or "two jars of honey". Type it as you'd say it across a gate.

The club never takes that money, never holds it and never moves it. Whatever you write is a description of what you intend to hand over yourself.

Your note and your figure are seen by one person only: the member who made the card. No other member ever sees what you offered.

A creator says how many they have. They read the pledges — the note, the figure, the name — and they accept up to that number. The moment they accept, that's a handshake, and it binds both of you.

The member who pledged turns up when they said, brings what they said, and does it without being chased.

The creator holds the thing back for them, hands it over as described, and doesn't quietly give it to somebody else in the meantime.

When it's done, either of you can mark it honoured. It costs nothing and it's a decent thing to do.

If the other party breaks a handshake — either party, both are held to the same standard — you can report it. That earns them a strike. You may report a handshake once; so may they.

Three live strikes and a member is suspended from placing pledges and from accepting them. They keep every other part of their membership; they simply can't shake on anything until their record clears.

Report a break because it happened, not because you changed your mind. A pledge you've thought better of can be withdrawn any time before it's accepted — that costs nobody anything.

A strike counts for a year and a day less — 365 days from the moment it was earned — and then it stops counting, on its own. Nobody has to appeal, nobody has to ask, and no one at the club has to be persuaded.

A bad season shouldn't follow anyone about forever. Put a good year behind you and the record clears itself.