The Ramblers Association, East Surrey Walkers Group
39th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MINUTES
2PM Saturday 6th November 2021 at St Andrew’s Church Hall, Limpsfield Chart
- Chair’s Welcome: Ruth Bradbury welcomed 42 members (plus Committee members) to the AGM.
- Apologies for absence: Steve Hanks, Brian Smith, Rosie Blythe
- Minutes of the 2020 AGM held on the 7th November 2020 (via Zoom).
The minutes were available on the ESW website and so were not read. The minutes were approved by a show of hands. - Matters arising: There were no matters arising.
- Chair’s Report
Ruth Bradbury said that the last year had been overshadowed by the pandemic. There had been many and rapid changes to government restrictions and changing advice from Ramblers Association on group walks which the Committee and Officers had had to respond to.
ESW will publish a 2023 calendar to mark 40 years since the formation of the East Surrey Group. John Nathan and Barbara Witherington have provided excellent photographs to showcase the beauty of nature in the south east.
During Covid members walked with friends and some have continued this practice rather than re-joining group walks. Ramblers have introduced a requirement for walk leaders to undertake risk assessments before every walk.
Despite Covid Christine organised two very welcome social events during the summer.
Most footpath maintenance work was suspended by Surrey CC until 1st August 2021 but Ken’s Krew have been as active as permitted.
Steve Hanks coordinated a recruitment stall for ESW at the Warlingham activities fair.
Stacey Morris who has been posting ESW items on Facebook is stepping back. We are looking for volunteer(s) to take on the role.
Three Committee posts are becoming vacant at the AGM. We have volunteers for Chair and Treasurer. The role of Social Secretary will change (see under Social Secretary below).
Ruth thanked the ESW officers for the past year including Sue Halsey, Keith Towers, Robert Coupland, Nigel Poulter, and Helen McDonnell.
Ruth wished that the new Committee appointees enjoy the role. - Treasurer’s Report
Robert Coupland pointed out that his full report was on the website.
He said that Covid had meant spending had been lower than predicted and there was a surplus for 2020-21 of £800 which the Committee had agreed to transfer to the kissing gate fund. This fund now stands at £4252. Ken’s Krew are keen to spend all this on purchasing and installing gates.
Robert reminded members that if they book holidays with Ramblers Worldwide Holidays Ltd they should, on booking, sign up to the Walking Partnership and register themselves as members of ESW. This way a useful rebate on the cost of the holiday will be passed to ESW.
Adoption of the Treasurer’s Report and Accounts was proposed by Barbara Bulman and seconded by Deb Skinner and passed on a show of hands.
The re-appointment of Keith Towers as the Independent Examiner was proposed by Moyna Bridge and seconded by Deb Skinner and passed on a show of hands. - Officers’ Reports
Membership Secretary
Janette Ruiz reported that during the pandemic the membership numbers for ESW had been static, whereas nationally they had dipped 5%. Since the pandemic membership numbers nationally had picked up slightly whereas ESW numbers had continued static, with leavers being balanced by new members.
In the last year, 3 members of ESW had sadly died. This included Stuart Pickford who had been a constant attendee and speaker at our AGMs.
The age distribution of ESW is slightly different from the Ramblers average with fewer 60-70 year olds and more 70+ members. ESW is fortunate in that 1 in 4 members volunteer, whereas nationally the average is about 15%.
Amanda Whiteley asked how many members ESW had? Janette replied that there were 471 plus 22 with payment pending. In 2020 the corresponding figures were 474 and 14. Members who leave are being replaced by new members so the total has hardly changed. Janette reported that it had not been possible to find out how new members heard of ESW and whether the recruitment event at Warlingham had resulted in new members.
Walks co-ordinator
Helen McDonnell reported that it had been a difficult year with walks, and numbers on walks, not yet quite back to normal. The Wednesday morning walks, the fast fitness walks, and the ambles were all proving popular, whereas the weekend walks were less popular. Some members who had led before the pandemic were no longer leading. There is a need for “younger” members to lead.
Amanda Whiteley asked why previous leaders were not leading? Helen replied some gave health reasons (including Covid concerns) and some said they had other commitments.
Tony Pearson said that he thought some of the averages in the walk statistics were wrong. Nigel Poulter replied that he would check them. [Post meeting note: Revised Walk Statistics have been posted on the website.]
Social Secretary
Christine Scott said that she had completed her three year term but is also organising the Autumn Social. Christine explained that as there had not been a volunteer to take on the Social Secretary role the Committee had decided to adopt a new system with a different volunteer organising each event during the year. To reduce the work involved in running an event it had also been decided to outsource the catering.
Deb Skinner commented that the proposed figure of £8 for Cream Tea was too expensive. Christine explained that another factor in the proposed change to outsourcing was that ESW had built up a substantial amount of catering kit which occupied about 2cubic metres. She could not continue to store it after her term finished and asked whether any member at the meeting could? If no one would store it, then it would have to be disposed of.
There then followed a lively debate about the proposal to outsource the catering. Helen Whiteley commented that it was easier to volunteer to organise an event if there wasn’t a requirement to store and/or transport around a large quantity of kit. Lisa suggested members could take their own plate, glass etc to self catered events. Judy Brua said another alternative for a self catered Cream Tea was paper plates. Barbara Bulman said that the old self-catering system had worked well and she was disappointed that no one seemed prepared to carry it forward.
It was recognised that the Cream Tea and Summer Buffet were easier to self-cater than other events. Maybe only some items such as teapots needed to be retained? Robert pointed out that the kit had been built up at substantial cost to ESW and if disposed of, and there was then a move back to self-catering, it would be very expensive to buy again. He considered that the kit should be kept for a year while outsourced catering was tried.
Helen Whiteley said that the cost of the 2022 Autumn Social which she and Amanda are organising, will probably be £20. Ruth asked who would attend at that price. 15 people put their hand up. On the more general question of whether members would pay more to outsource catering about two thirds indicated yes.
Ruth summarised that we should try to keep the kit for a year and it would be up to the event organiser to choose whether their event was self catering or outsourced. Anne Simmons volunteered to store some of the kit. A Notice Board would be sent out looking for a member able and willing to store kit.
Christine reminded members that a volunteer is required to organise the 2022 summer buffet for which she was prepared to make her garden available.
Publicity Officer
Steve Hanks had sent his apologies, but his report had been published on the ESW website.
Local Footpath Secretaries
Tony Pearson reminded members that there are 5 local footpath secretaries plus volunteer path wardens. New volunteers would we welcome to assist in the task.
The over-riding problem of the past year had been the unresponsiveness of Surrey CC. However it is hoped that SCC will enable the kissing gate fund to be used in the coming year. By contrast Limpsfield Parish Council had funded the purchase and installation by contractors of 9 kissing gates. The Vanguard Way Association have funded the purchase of gates in place of stiles in the Woldingham sector of the Vanguard Way and some of these will be installed by Ken’s Krew.
The Footpath Secretaries have worked on the Ramblers “Don’t Lose Your Way” Project but have not identified any routes to reclaim in Tandridge District.
Ken’s Krew
Barbara Bulman reported that ESW have keen volunteers but that Surrey CC had not been giving much support so KK had been frustrated and only been able to do very limited tasks.
The Surrey CC Defect Reporting System for footpaths is being upgraded but apparently won’t use the What3words location system.
Nigel Poulter asked what was the cost of a kissing gate. Barbara replied that prices ranged from £408 to £579 depending on the supplier. - Report on Surrey Area
Ruth Bradbury said that both Barbara Bulman and herself were ESW representatives on Surrey Area Council. Deb Skinner is webmaster for Surrey Area.
There are 16 Groups within the Surrey Area. During the past year a Walks Library has been created. Groups have been encouraged to submit more articles for publication in South East Walker. There has been a decrease in the number of people on Ramblers walks since Covid. The decision about whether to continue with a booking system for walks had been left up to individual group leaders.
Ramblers nationally would be rebranding in the New Year. - Golden Boot Awards
Ruth said that the award would go to two ladies who have contributed a very great deal to ESW:- organising 10 holidays, organising social events, leading walks, and being Committee members. To general applause Ruth made awards to Helen and Amanda Whiteley. - Election of Officers
Ruth, Robert, and Christine were standing down. Candidates for the new Committee were as follows, and all were elected unopposed:-
Role Candidate Proposer Seconder Chair Deb Skinner Barbara Bulman Janette Ruiz Treasurer Karen Holdsworth Judy Brua Amanda Whiteley Secretary Arthur Darby * Pat Thorne Deb Skinner Membership Secretary Janette Ruiz * * continuing members re-elected en bloc Walks Co-ordinator Helen McDonnell * Publicity Officer Steve Hanks * - New Chair
After discussion it was decided that the social events organisers did not need to be elected as they would not have Committee roles. However the appointment of Angie Horrigan for the NY lunch, Sue Halsey for the Cream Tea and refreshments after the AGM, and Helen and Amanda Whiteley for the Autumn Social was endorsed by the meeting. - Any other business
Presentations were made to the retiring Committee members Ruth, Robert, and Christine.
Judy Brua thanked the Committee for their work during the past year.