THE PORTSMOUTH RAMBLERS GROUP

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Held on Tuesday, 19th November 2019

at The City Scout Hut, 70 The Ridings, Gatcombe Park, Portsmouth

The AGM commenced at 8.00 pm with 22 members present.

Apologies were received from Angie Blowman and Marion Hayley

Minutes of the AGM held on 20^th November, 2018 were agreed to be an accurate record. Proposed: Roy O’Neil. Seconded: Paul Harvey. Carried.

Matters Arising: There were no matters arising from the minutes.

ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL REPORTS

Officers’ Annual Reports were circulated in advance with the Agenda so members had a chance to study them.

The reports were adopted. Proposed: Roy O’Neil. Seconded: Nigel Tulk. Carried

ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL ACCOUNTS

The committee has been keen to try and obtain additional funding from the Ramblers Association to enable investment in the installation of kissing gates. This had been difficult while the main fund remained fairly buoyant. In previous years The Ramblers Association had insisted that money earned through Ramblers Worldwide holidays should be put into the main account but this year the rules changed and David was allowed to put this money into the self- funded account. The result of this has been lower funds in the main account so he could request a budget for 2019/2020 rather than the basic allocation. David put in a request for £690 instead of the usual basic £344. £300 of this must be used on the purchase of kissing gates. We now have a big surplus in the self-funded account which can also be used towards a second kissing gate. The main account reserves now stand at an appropriate level of just under 60%.

David Nixon gave us a short account of the work involved in fitting the gates which is organised by South East Hants. They have fitted 11 gates so far with the possibility of three more at Finchdean and three around the Bird in the Hand at Lovedean. The fitting of the gates is actually the easiest part of the exercise as administration is required first in finding out who the landowner is and contacting them to get their agreement to the work. It must then be decided what type of gate is most suitable for the site and how best to fit it within the restrictions of the site.

The annual accounts were adopted. Proposed: Linda Prior. Seconded: Paul Harvey. Carried.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

David Farrow informed Dave Nichols that he no longer wishes to remain as Treasurer and Peter Chilton has volunteered to take on the role. Peter Rush has also volunteered to become the Membership Secretary and Angie Blowman has been approached and is happy to join the committee.

These changes to the committee were proposed by David Farrow and seconded by Sue Gibson. Carried

The other Committee members agreed to continue to serve in their posts and were re-elected en-block. Proposed: Nigel Tulk. Seconded: David Farrow. Carried

Thanks were given to David Farrow for his work as Treasurer for 8 years.

Details of elected Officers are:

7. Future Walks

Peter Rush informed us that he is aware that we are always short of walk leaders and that encouraging new leaders might be easier if they could see walks that had been put on the programme in the past. New leaders would then have tried and tested routes to start out and learn from. Malcolm has found a way to put up routes of walks on the Portsmouth ramblers web site. These would only be visible to Ramblers members. He is still working on the fine details of adding these to the website but Peter wanted to encourage leaders to think about adding their walks where possible to a library in this way. This would also ensure that walks leaders have led in the past do not become lost to the group when they are no longer able to lead. Peter and Malcolm would be happy to teach people how to add their walks to the website once the details have been sorted out.

Peter Rush also wanted to find out how people felt about adding some variety to the programme with a series of linear walks on Saturdays. He was looking at the possibility of putting on the Shipwrights way in the summer. It would run about once a month in a series of 5 sections. Peter would be happy to work on the logistics if people were interested. The main problem section is the first one Bentley to Whitehill. Using 2 cars might be clunky and bus hire can be expensive if large numbers are not involved. Feedback was positive and Peter is happy to carry on working on the logistics.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Janis suggested we may have a better attendance at our AGMs if it was held during the day at lunch time with a walk beforehand. South East Hants holds their AGM on a Sunday afternoon at Denmead Village Hall serving soup and cakes. Other venues suggested were Portchester Community Centre, Wallington Village Hall, Liss Community Centre, Soberton Village Hall and Steep Village Hall. Linda Prior suggested the meeting would be best on a Saturday to preserve a long Sunday walk. It was agreed the committee would look into the possibility of this f format.

The meeting finished with a presentation to David Nichols of a Ramblers Volunteer Recognition Certificate. Thanks was given to David for his notable contribution to the work of the ramblers.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9 pm.

Susan Chilton

November 2019