DRAFT
Ramblers: Bromley Group
Registered Charity No. 1093577
Minutes of a meeting of the Committee
held on 1 October 2013
at the Ripley Arts Centre at 7.30 pm
Present
Nicky Ashley, Roy Bareham, Anne Clark, Chris Dee-Crowne and Lawrie Smith (in the
Chair)
Apologies
Richard Bickell, Annie Brough and Philip Wall
Minutes of the last meeting held on 4 June 2013
Agreed without amendment.
Matters arising
Lawrie has now spoken to Ramblers Worlwide Holidays. The company has confirmed
that as part of The Walking Partnership they would be willing to advertise (full page) in
our programme booklet for a fee of £50 per edition – subject to seeing proof of
publication. It was agreed to pursue this and for the income to be placed in the social
fund (LS).
Treasurer’s report
Anne presented the income & expenditure account to date, effectively the year end with
some minor adjustments to make. Noted that walk donations were significantly down on
last year, with programme sales up slightly. Programme expenses are down, with a
slight rise in distribution costs. Overall, a deficit of around £200 was noted with reserves
standing currently at some 81%. Anne proposed to hand a copy of the final accounts to
the auditor in a few days time.
Secretary’s report
Annie had provided an email report stating that telephone enquiries were now minimal
and volunteering to help with AGM catering and any other organisation required.
Group’s 2013 AGM
Noted that Farnborough Village Hall had been booked for the afternoon/early evening of
Saturday 9 November and that Annie had kindly volunteered to arrange the catering and
Sylvia Say the walk before the meeting.
Lawrie would arrange for an email reminder to be sent out (LS).
Kent Area 2014 AGM
Being held on Saturday 1 February at Keston Village Hall. Noted that Annie/Nicky had
volunteered to arrange the catering – Lawrie confirmed that tea/coffee on arrival would
be needed, with a ploughman’s lunch for 120.
A small team would also be needed to marshal the car parking and ensure attendees
sign in.
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Lawrie will confirm details such as catering budget, timings and kitchen facilities (urns,
tea pots, etc.) (LS)
Walks & programme matters
Noted that there was little to report on this occasion; that there was not, at present, a
walk on Boxing day, but Rosemary Fordyce had agreed to lead a walk on New Year’s
Day.
Roy mentioned the formatting of the information provided for the walks programme
booklet and agreed to discuss it with Richard (RBa)
Countryside matters
Both Jenny McCarthy and Philip Wall had attended a recent meeting of the Countryside
Consultative Panel, with no particular matters affecting Bromley Ramblers being raised.
Footpath matters
No significant matters reported.
Membership matters
No significant matters reported other than our walking membership appears to be fairly
steady.
Social events
Noted that a number of people had commented on how successful and enjoyable the
petanque afternoon had been.
Lawrie confirmed that the Christmas lunch organising team did have forms to hand
out/email that contained menu choices and method of payment. He agreed to check on
how things were going; arrange for additional information to be provided by email; and
ensure that all walk co-ordinators has supplies of the application form (LS).
Noted that a Christmas lunch form was available on the website.
Website matters
Roy reported that our website software is now getting old and has not been supported
by Microsoft for some three years. This had led to a few problems recently, which he
was hoping to fix. Two permanent solutions might be to use a different software and to
link ourselves to The Ramblers own website. Roy will keep an eye on things and
recommend what action needs taking at some stage. It was also agreed that funds were
available if necessary and as required.
Bromley’s walks had ‘disappeared’ for a while from The Ramblers website, but the
problem seems to have resolved itself.
Roy mentioned that The Ramblers might suggest at some time in the future that all
walks on its walks finder should be accompanied by a map and detailed route
instructions. It was felt by the committee that, if implemented, this would lead to less
people leading walks and difficulty with recruiting new walk leaders.
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Kent Area News
The following was reported from the Kent Area Council meeting held on 27 September.
1.No figures were given, but national membership continues to decline slowly.
2.Because of the need to communicate with non-walking members, it was agreed that
Kent Area would set up its own email database. Email addresses would come first from
the list held by Central Office. Each Group would then be asked to pass on its own
database. Individuals would be told in the first email from Kent Area that they had been
put on the list and given an opportunity to unsubscribe.
Agreed that we would not want to release email addresses without the consent of our
members – Lawrie to inform Kent Area (LS).
3.In addition, and as another way of reaching more members, funding will be made
available from the Area to pay for each Group member in Kent to receive the quarterly
publication – South East Walker – with Walk Magazine. Each Group in Kent will, from
time to time, be asked to contribute and article/photo(s).
4.Each Group is being encouraged to get its Member(s) of Parliament out on a walk to
talk about the benefits of walking and the need to keep public rights of way open and the
work on them funded.
Agreed that we should invite our MPs to take part in one of our walks (LS).
5.The Deal walking festival had been a success with well over 600 people taking part,
with sufficient funding found from sponsors that Kent Area funding was not needed.
6.It was suggested that Kent Area – working with Sussex – could organise a High Weald
walking festival by May 2105 at the latest. Volunteers from Groups are being sought to
form a team of organisers.
Agreed that the opportunity to support such a project should be put to our members
(LS).
7.Central Office has employed a company to phone lapsed members (over the last year)
to enquire if they would consider re-joining. This is a one off project that could, possibly
be extended if found to be financially viable. Groups have been asked not to change any
of their own procedures relating to lapsed members.
8.The Ramblers CEX is in the process of considering a vision for the organisation over
the coming 5 to 10 years. Each Group has been asked to consider getting together a
discussion group (Ramblers or non-members) to discuss their views on what that vision
might be. A Discussion Kit was handed out to help facilitate any discussion.
Any other business
None
Date of next meeting
5 December
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