ENDURANCE GB
WESSEX COMMITTEE
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on Thursday 19th June 2014 at The Red House, Dorchester
Road, Yeovil.
1.
APOLOGIES:
No apologies were received. Wessex Member Jane Perrett was in attendance.
2.
MINUTES OF COMMITTEE MEETING 7.05.14:
The Minutes were read and corrected as follows:
2.1. Under “ Pink Rides”, line 4, change National Trust to owner of Bonham venue.
2.2. Treasurer’s Report, Monies Out, £294.84 paid to Perryfields
2.3. Under Teams, line 8, replace Carol with Sam
Proposed: Claire Richards
Seconded: Carol Legg
3.
MATTERS ARISING:
There were no Matters arising.
4.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Claire reported the following balances,
Main Account £1,818.83
Young Riders
£ 385
Total
£2,203.83
Monies In: £10 from Training Day
£ 4 for Web advert from Rachael Claridge
Monies Out: £155.76 to Perryfields for trophies
£118.65 to Perryfields for merchandise
£3.98 for batteries for the internet banking card reader (Carol commented
that you get free ones on the internet) Sam said that she still received notification of
internet banking activity and the contact need to be changed to Claire’s number.
£100 had been gifted to St Margaret’s Hospice in memory of Olive Linge but this had not yet
been cashed and the £40 from EGB for Associate Members should have been received
today..
5.
RIDES & EVENTS:
Cerne Giant- had been very poorly attended and all agreed this was largely due to the
impact of Berkshire Downs running on the same day. Anthony Sargent has said that he will
not run the ride again. Claire Richards had been to Berkshire Downs and said it had been
superb. Lisa Langrish commented on the lack of gates at Berkshire compared to Cerne.
There was a lengthy discussion about clashing dates combined with the issues with gates
and fencing at some Wessex Rides and the problems generated when the TRF are not
allowed to mark routes. Janthea said that a large percentage of entries at our rides were
non Wessex Members and date clashes were always a potential loss of income for us.
Bonham clashed with WEG and she felt this could become a problem. She also felt that the
pressure from EGB to make a profit was an issue. Some other Groups have much fewer
competitive rides and Geraldine said that perhaps we should try and run more training rides
instead. Debbie suggested surveying the Members to see what they want from the Group
and Sam said that we should use Survey Monkey but we need to make sure the questions
asked were straightforward. Lisa Langrish commented that this year we had been extremely
unlucky with our pre season training rides due to the bad weather. Ultimately, Cerne had
made a loss as there were only about 60 entries and 4 Vets!
Piddle - Sam said she had had about 70 paid up entries which was about 20 down on last
year but she expected to break even. Jane Hudson had taken a tumble but was ok and
otherwise everything had gone well.
Barbury - Sam said that Linda Kidd had broken her arm and she knew that more helpers
were needed.
Bonham / Pink Ride - Claire said that she had sorted out a Pink 16k route and Janthea said
that she was hoping to get two separate routes for her Pleasure Ride classes. She was also
wondering about a field for camping and corralling and Sam suggested she ask David
Yeoman. Sam also said she had heard nothing further from Less Bounce and Claire said she
could endeavour to make contact and ask for Rosette sponsorship. Lisa said we had masses
of pleasure ride rosettes, and all the old Lulworth ones had been re-tailed. Sam said she
would email Less Bounce and copy Claire in. Janthea said she would ask Jenny Gilbert to
promote the Pink Event on the national website and Sam said we could ask John Hudson to
email a sample poster to all Wessex Members. She said we also need to decide which
Cancer Charity and Janthea said it should be Breast Cancer.
Sam said that she had received an email from Nesta Oliver who had done a ride from
Rushmore , near Tollard saying it was a fabulous route and the person running the ride
might be prepared to help us run something. Geraldine said that this area adjoined Mid
South and would there be any point in involving them. Sam said she would drop them an
email.
6.
TEAMS:
Carol reported that she now had several names but she still needed more, particularly for
the 80 CER, 65 GER on Saturday and the 31 GER on Sunday. She said she posted on
Facebook and Website and emailed Liz Hinings. She also said that there might be a problem
on the Sunday as it was likely she would have to go to a Race Meeting and the Novices
particularly would need help. Janthea said it was even more difficult as Wessex would be
providing helpers. Carol said she would ask John Hudson to send out a blanket email to all
Members asking if anyone could give the Team some support on the days. We also need to
look out for some cheap polo shirts in bright hi-viz colours.
7.
NEWSLETTER:
Sam said there was a draft edition that would be out very soon. It looked really good and
had loads about Horseshoe.
8.
BAM/AWARDS DINNER:
Geraldine reported that Donyatt Village Hall had quoted £80. Sam said it had been £45 last
time and if it was £80 we would have to look elsewhere. Geraldine had approached Protexin
to give a talk and was waiting to hear.
Geraldine had circulated an email from The Shrubbery with sample menu and price for the
Awards Dinner. They had quoted £18.25 per head. Sam said we had been charged £17.50
last time and had sold tickets at £18.00, however they were charging 50p less for under 10’s
this year. There was no mention of mince pies and Geraldine said she would follow this up.
Sam had looked up previous winners of the Unsung Hero trophy and there was a brief
discussion. Janthea confirmed that Sally Toye was booked to present the prizes and said
that we need to advertise and promote both events.
9.
WEBSITE/FACEBOOK:
Sam reported that there was a new template for the Main Website but the one for Groups
was still unfinished. However she thought it looked pretty good and as it was FOC that was
even better. She said we would need to speak to Heather Giles and Martin Stanley as soon
as we knew a little more.
Carol reported that Facebook was very busy with 128 Likes and the Group had gone from
140 in February to 173 now. People don’t need to be Members but hopefully this would
encourage them to join. Jane Perratt said would it be possible to advertise Rides on
Facebook and Sam said we need to publicise Pleasure Rides on the new Website with a link
to the schedule.
10. MERCHANDISE:
Lisa said there was nothing to report. Carol thought it might be an idea to put merchandise
on Facebook. However we cannot afford to commit money for stock that might not sell.
Lisa Brown had carried quite a range in the past and it had failed to sell. Janthea wondered
if it might be worth incorporating a question in the survey about what Members would like.
11. TROPHIES:
Nothing to report. Claire wondered about a Performance Formula trophy for Novices. Olive
Linge had always wanted to encourage Novices and Geraldine said she would speak to
Bernard.
12. PR & MARKETING:
Debbie Tinklinfelt she did not have enough time to take this on and it was agreed that we
should put an ad in the Newsletter and on the Website.
13. MEMBERSHIP:
Janthea reported 1 more new Member and 43 lapsed. No one had rejoined from Portland
nor any of Jenny Jackson’s group. She said that she had sent personal emails to anyone new
in 2013 who had not rejoined, also advertising that the cost of joining for a half year from
July had gone down.
14. YOUNG RIDERS:
An advert had been placed in the Newsletter and would go on the Website.
15. EQUIPMENT:
Sam said that all the signs were now in her garage but storage space was a major issue. She
said we needed new “Horses Crossing” and had found some small slot in signs on a metal
stick on the internet for £8. She had also purchased a sample stand with a push in foot spike
for £9.57. She suggested we purchase 6 new crossing signs. There followed a lengthy
discussion about the most suitable type of signs, taking into account the needs of the TRF if
they had to carry signs. We had inherited a large number of coloured arrows from Tally Ho
Ride and the needs of colour blind riders was discussed. Janthe thanked Sam for all the hard
work she had put into sorting the equipment out. Lisa Langrish wondered if we could use
the unclaimed Bursary money that they donated for the purchase of some signs and she also
suggested that we investigate sponsorship. Sam thanked her. It was eventually agreed to
purchase 10 of the small slot in type and continue investigating flags and posts. Sam said we
had a large number of surplus fluorescent jackets and Claire suggested we could try selling
some on Ebay. There was a further discussion about bibs and Sam said some new lidded
plastic boxes were required to store them. It was also suggested that all Rides should have
to pay a charge for washing and repairs to bibs, a lot of which Sam had done. Janthea felt
nothing could be done this year and it was agreed to discuss further.
16. ANY OTHER BUSINESS:
16.1. Sam handed over some Safeguarding paperwork to Debbie.
16.2. Claire suggested we email all Members asking at which Ride they would be
prepared to help and Lisa thought February would be a good time when they had just
received their Handbooks. Janthea enquired if we were reverting to compulsory help to
qualify for trophies. For further discussion.
17. DATE & TIME OF NEXT MEETING:
Thursday 31st July at The Red House.