Minutes of the Committee Meeting of Newark Ramblers held at South Muskham Village Hall on Thursday 19 September 2024

Present            Joyce Pedersen       Chair

                          Brigid Murphy            Secretary

                          Margaret Shaw         Treasurer

                          Chris Small               Membership Secretary

                          James McGill Area Representative

                          Judy Price                 Maps Secretary

                          Peter Robinson        Committee Member

                          Ken Martin                 Committee Member

1 Introduction and apologies

Apologies from Caroline Lee, Dave Johnson, and Jacqui Anderson.

2 Minutes of last meeting – matters arising not covered elsewhere on the agenda

The sports day event was a great success, and it is to be hoped it will be repeated next year.

Jacqui has had difficulty in trying to arrange a social event at the games café, and has mentioned that she is considering arranging a games night elsewhere.

3 Reports from Officers

Individual reports from officers had been circulated in advance and gave rise to the following points. [Note: Brigid holds the reports and will supply copies on request.]

Joyce will include some of Newark group’s walk stats in her annual Chair’s report for the AGM and also celebrate the walker with the “most miles”.

Newark wellbeing walks are going to be put on hold over the winter because they are not well-attended. The intention is to start them up again in the Spring. Whisby wellbeing walks will be added to Newark group’s published programme in their place. Lincoln Ramblers group has no involvement in the Whisby walks so there is no danger of duplication. Whisby wellbeing walks generally have 20 - 30 people attending, Collingham about 15, and Winthorpe 8 - 10.

Margaret hasn’t heard back from Area as to whether or not her bid for funds for next year has been accepted. There is a surplus from the summer ceilidh to be added to the total shown in the Treasurer’s report.

Payments for expenses can now be made by direct payment to claimants’ bank accounts.

The meeting agreed to the creation of a new post of Assistant Walks Coordinator to find and help with Wednesday walks.

James has received an invitation to start on the next round of ploughing and cropping surveys – members should contact James if they can help with these.

4 Correspondence

Ramblers Supporter Care Manager contacted Brigid in August with some lovely feedback about Newark group and its walk leaders.

5 Newark AGM 13 November 2024

A room in Newark library has been booked, Carol Wilkinson has agreed to put on a “figure of 8” walk before the meeting, and Joyce will arrange coffee and biscuits - she still has some supplies from previous events.

Proposed deadline dates were agreed for submitting reports, issuing formal notice of meeting to members, and submission of written nominations for committee. In-person nominations can be made at the meeting itself, as long as they have proposers and seconders.

The draft agenda and the proposed format for nomination forms were agreed.

Joyce will check the constitution to see if there is a maximum number for members of committee. [Note: it would appear that there is no maximum stipulated https://newarkramblers.org.uk/about-us/our-constitution.html ]

6 Nottinghamshire Area AGM 2 February - update

Collingham Memorial Hall has been booked, and some volunteers have come forward to help, although more are sought.

Collingham group have offered two walks. Joyce will check the length of those walks and let Peter and Margaret know, so that they can decide the length the third should be. The approximate routes of all three walks need to have been decided by the end of November.

Costs to cake-makers will be refunded on the day, out of takings, and any surplus will be added to Newark group funds. Maximum charge allowed is 50p per slice.

Joyce has asked Area for deadline dates and made suggestions for keynote speakers, but has yet to receive a response.

7 Christmas lunch

Judy is happy to lead on the organisation, and will try for The Chequers in Elston on a Wednesday in December.

 8 Brainstorm ideas for encouraging greater participation from members

It does now seem likely that there will be enough volunteers to fill the vital officer positions next year, but we do still need to encourage new walk leaders to come forward.

Committee wished to make the point that Newark Ramblers continues to be a very active group, and that we put on a commendably full programme of walks and social events.

9 AOB

The London walk went well, with 16 people attending.

It is to be hoped that winter committee meetings (post-AGM, January and March) can be held by Zoom, but this cannot be decided finally until the new committee is in place. The group should have sufficient funds to cover one Zoom subscription if this is a permitted use of funds.

Judy will be arranging a visit to the Palace Theatre in March to see Shrek the Musical. Tickets will be £21 per person.

A walker became ill on a Newark Ramblers walk this week. An incident report has been submitted.

Action point: Brigid to check with Central Office and Area if the cost of a Zoom subscription can be reclaimed from group funds

BM

20 Sep. 24