THE PORTSMOUTH RAMBLERS GROUP
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Held on Tuesday, 21st November 2017
at The City Scout Hut, 70 The Ridings, Gatcombe Park, Portsmouth
The AGM commenced at 8.00 pm with 26 members present.
Apologies for absence were received from Suzanne and Euan Thomas, Lesley Bement, Jennifer Meagan, Trish Byng, Mike Lloyd and Sue Rugg
Minutes of the AGM held on 15th November, 2016 were agreed to be an accurate record. Proposed: Paul Harvey. Seconded by Ann O’Neil. Carried
Matters Arising:
Dave Nichols informed us Joe Noon’s gate has arrived at QECP. The rangers have suggested the installation of the gate should take place in January/ February during the week. They will supervise the installation but 4 or 5 helpers are needed to dismantle the existing stile, dig holes for the posts and set up the gate. All tools required will be provided. If any Portsmouth members are able to help David will pass their names on to David Nixon.
Map reading courses were unfortunately oversubscribed so nothing could be arranged on this occasion but we will look out for new courses becoming available.
David Nichols in addition informed us that the date for next year’s London walk had been altered to 23rd June to accommodate those wishing to do the South Downs walk and 42 people are booked for the Christmas meal. The annual meal is booked for 25th March next year. Thanks was also given to Nigel and Bernie for organising the skittles and Malcolm for maintaining the website so well.
ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL REPORTS
Officers’ Annual Reports were circulated in advance with the Agenda so members had a chance to study them.
ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL ACCOUNTS
Members were presented with a copy of the Annual Accounts, which show that the status of the main fund has decreased from £873.67 to £781.17 over the year. This is a decrease of £92.50. No funding was taken from central office last year but this was offset by £330 donation received from Ramblers Worldwide. We are trying to reduce the surplus cash we have at the end of each year in line with the ramblers guidelines of only holding 40-80% in reserve. The reserve currently stands at 131% which is down from last year’s 155%. We have requested the basic allocation for funding for the coming year but as things are working out it seems this may not be needed as we have already received £140 from Ramblers holidays. On the self-funded side there is a slight increase of £22.50. Overall our balance for the funds is £1089.70 a decrease of £70 from last year.
The annual reports and accounts were adopted. Proposed: John Buckle. Seconded: Ann O’Neil. Carried
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Les Bailey has informed David that he no longer wishes to remain on the committee.
The other Committee members agreed to continue to serve in their posts and were re-elected en-block. Proposed: Malcolm Harrigan. Seconded: Marion Hayley. Carried
Details of elected Officers are:
Chair :David Nichols
Vice Chair : Paul Harvey
Secretary: Susan Chilton
Treasurer: David Farrow
Footpaths\Access & Walking Environment Officer: Mark Page
Programme Co-ordinator: Chris MacArthur
Programme Distribution Secretary: Ann O’Neil
Membership & Publicity Secretary: David Nichols
Area Representative: David Nichols
Social Secretary: Post vacant
Web Master: Malcolm Hagan
Committee Members: Roy O’Neil
Peter Chilton volunteered to come on the committee to replace Les. Proposed: Crispin Russell. Seconded: Mark Page. Carried
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Email communications
David informed us that he is sent many communications from the Chief Executive. He circulates these to committee members but only forwards it further if he feels there is anything that might be of particular interest to the group.
Area AGM 2019
We are hosting the Area AGM in 2019 and will need to find a suitable venue for this. It will need to be able to accommodate around 60 people, have parking and be near transport links. Previously we have used Admiral Lord Nelson School and other possible venues suggested were Trafalgar School, Cosham Community Centre and Goals at the end of Eastern Road.
Walk Leaders
More people are required to lead walks. Anyone interested is welcome to try leading under supervision. In addition to leading the walks leaders need to ensure the footpaths are safe and everyone is together. Map reading skills may not even be required if someone knows a walk well from memory.
Chris highlighted the difficulties some leaders have in committing themselves to leading walks a long way in advance. He suggested there needs to be a move towards a more rolling programme with greater emphasis on consulting the online walk finder so walks can be added nearer the walk date. Younger leaders in particular find it hard to plan so far in advance around work commitments. A more frequent programme covering shorter periods of time was also suggested as a possibility
Shared Access to Footpaths
This is in consultation at national level. In general The Ramblers does not believe this would be a good thing due to damage that can be caused to footpaths by users other than walkers.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8:50 pm.
Susan Chilton
November 2017
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Officers reports distributed in advance
Chair’s report for the Portsmouth Group
Year ending 30th September 2017
Once again the many varied walks put on by our walks leaders have provided interest from our regular members with especial interest in the “Five and under” walks put on by Roy. Always well researched and well led and my thanks to the leaders for their contribution, There have been many changes required where train walks are concerned over the past months. Mainly due to Strikes etc on Southern rail but including engineering work at Waterloo station have resulted in amendments to our plans. They have emphasised the need to check the web site and or Walksfinder on the national one as these changes, can be last minute. Of course weather problems can also mean a walk is substantially amended so please do check. The London walks have been very well supported, The Summer one being especially memorable because of the heat. A stroll along the Thames from Putney to Richmond was enjoyed and thankfully the shade from the trees provided relief. The Autumn one was a walk through the Royal Parks so the feeling of London was much felt. The three social events, through the year, The Christmas Dinner, The Annual Meal and the Skittles were all well supported and again thank you for attending enjoyable events. Again my thanks are in particular due to the hard working committee, who have a vital role to play in the organisation with their different tasks, and once again my special thanks are due to Chris MacArthur. The printer at the university provides an excellent product and is extremely reasonable by way of cost. Also my thanks go to Malcolm Hagan who has been maintaining the new website and do have a look to check walks if necessary should the weather or transport turn against us. It is possible that as time goes on and we all increase our years that leaders are always needed and if ANYONE can volunteer in this regard any of the committee would be most pleased to hear from you. Training is always available from any existing leader on the walks. Finally my thanks to all of you for your support of both walks and social events.
David Nichols
Programme Co-ordinator’s Report 2016-2017
This has been another successful year with a broad range of walks both on Saturdays and Sundays. Many Saturdays had both a short (5 to 6 miles) and long (8 to 9 miles) walk thus giving participants a choice of walk suited to their abilities. The Sunday Group, whose walks are normally between 12 and 14 miles, made a number visits to the Isle of Wight, Wiltshire, Dorset, Surrey and East Sussex as well as the more usual local locations.
Although the majority of members of the Sunday Group lead walks the number of leaders has been reduced of late mainly due to family and work commitments. This has resulted in the dedicated stalwarts of the group leading more walks than is ideal in order to cover the gaps. If this situation continues, serious problems could arise if one of these dedicated leaders has an injury or a sudden family commitment. This is a problem replicated on Saturdays. To find a replacement for one or two walks might be possible but not for five or six. The shortage of leaders affects both Saturday and Sunday Groups and the only answer is for more leaders to come forward.
As in other years lifts from Cosham Station have been problematical at times. This has been a particular problem on Sundays as many regular walkers no longer live in Portsmouth. One solution has been to start walks from places that can be reached by public transport and to alter start times slightly to meet trains and buses. In the case of bus travel those with senior citizen bus passes pay absolutely nothing.
Again as in other years a number of alterations have had to be made to the programme after it has been printed. Reasons for changes and cancellations have been car park closures (as happened at Chalton), changes of leaders, route and length alterations caused by blocked footpaths and of course engineering works. Another cause of concern is the growing number of events taking place which can affect a walk. Particular problems this year were caused by the Wickham Festival and the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The latter was particularly problematic as the date of the event was changed after the programme went to press in order not to clash with the European Grand Prix. When submitting walks, often six months in advance, it is very difficult to predict such problems. Unfortunately these events are increasing every year and can cause major disruption especially in the summer months. It is therefore essential that people check the Portsmouth Ramblers website or contact the leader before setting out on a walk.
Another change that is happening, probably brought about by the ease of adding walks to Walks Finder and the general availability of internet access, is adding extra walks after the programme is printed. Reasons for this are many but can result from a request to a leader to repeat a walk which some missed or filling a gap when a leader can confirm his/her availability. On a more general note the gradual reduction in Ramblers Association membership nationwide can also be linked to the large number of Meet-up Groups now offering walks. These are not only mainly free but are also organised on a short-term basis so fitting the lifestyle of people on zero hours contracts/ shift work where they may only know their availability to lead a walk a few days ahead. Indeed a number of former and current Portsmouth Group leaders are known to lead such walks as it fits in with their lifestyle. I think over the coming years serious questions need to be asked about how we deal with this threat and whether we should be more flexible in how we create our walking programme.
The number of leaders adding their walks directly onto Walks Finder has again grown over the last year. This also means they can amend their own walk if they need to make changes or add more detail once a recce has been done near the walk date, for example wearing long trousers because of an abundance of nettles on some of the paths. An updated walk will show as new on the Portsmouth Ramblers website. To help people add walks I have created a number of videos, available on the Portsmouth Ramblers website, showing how to log on, add a walk, copy an earlier walk and some more advanced options which can make adding a walk even easier. The big advantage of adding walks to Walks Finder is that it can automatically produce the walks section in the printed programme. In addition other Ramblers members can view our walks and this has certainly attracted a number of walkers on Sundays.
Chris MacArthur
Membership and Publicity Secretary’s report (1st September 2017)
The members in the group as at the above date of 246 reflects that whilst some members have resigned or not renewed, others have joined who in the most part walk regularly with us. Walksfinder is now an important tool in attracting new members with maps and full details available to any member of the public enquiring about our walks. Often they refer to our own Portsmouth website which has now nearly finished being revamped, and should prove an attraction for any potential new members.
David Nichols
Social Secretary’s Report
(As there is no official officer the Chair’s reflections on Social events over the year)
The Christmas dinner was once again held at the Royal Albert Yacht Club and was well attended. We have decided to continue with that venue again this year as set out in my chair’s report and I hope that many of you will support the location once more. A further skittles evening was organised by Nigel and Bernie Tulk at the Croften at Stubbington and attracted a good attendance once again my thanks to them for as always organising a good event. Once again the Annual meal was held at the Half Moon at Sheet attracting good numbers of walkers and friends and other halves, and good food at reasonable cost was enjoyed.
David Nichols
Programme Distribution Secretary’s Report
With the ever increasing cost of postage our post people are more important than ever. Thank you one and all.
Ann O'Neil
Footpath Secretary’s Report 2017
This year a route for our section of the coastal path between Old Portsmouth and Havant has been decided. New sign posts and information will be installed along the way. Eastney to Milton Locks will be kept the same as English Nature are keen to keep the natural features. As far as path changes are concerned hardly any came to me this year for Portsmouth City. Some large developments are now where a footpath was changed last year near the town station. If any one wishes to do work on rights of way, be it path clearance, surveys or putting up kissing gates let me know as I can contact the team or group and pass on your details.
Mark Page