The Ramblers
Bromley Group
Annual Report & Accounts
2013/2014
The Ramblers:Registered Charity No 1093577
Agenda for Bromley Ramblers 2014 AGM
to be held at 4.30pm on Saturday8th November 2014
atFarnborough Village Hall, BR6 7BX
- Welcome
- Apologies for absence
- Minutes of the previousAGM held on 9 November 2013
- Matters arising
- Chairman’s report
- 2013/2014 Accounts
- Printed walks programme/voluntary walks donations
- Election of officers and committee members for 2014/2015
- Approval of honorary auditor for 2014/2015
- Nomination of a representative to Bromley Countryside Consultative Panel
- Any other business
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of The Ramblers – Bromley Groupheld on Saturday 9 November 2013 at Farnborough Village Hall
52 members attended the meeting
1. Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Susan & David Wroe, Philip Wall, James Davis.
2. Minutes of the 2012 AGM
The minutes were approved without amendment.
3. Matters arising
Public lavatories in Farnborough Village: the closure had been raised with the Council, but without success.
Kiss gate purchase: the need to spend Reserves was no longer an issue; to be considered for the future as and when necessary.
Producing list of people willing to car share: the committee had looked at the issue and decided that this might raise expectations, lead to disappointment and was best done on a ‘get to know you basis’; which was them agreed by the meeting.
4. Chairman’s Report
Lawrie welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for their support during the year.
He referred to the fact that Bromley Ramblers’ membership had fallen in the last year by around 7% to 575. He pointed out that, although we appear to be still quite successful at recruiting new members, and the number of people on our walks is testament to that fact, we are losing members at a faster rate. It was noted that Kent Area has been looking at the problem and decided to pay for each Ramblers’ member in Kent to receive the quarterly publication – ‘South East Walker’– with editions of ‘Walk Magazine’. Kent also plans to set up an Area email membership database. By these means the plan is to reach as many members as possible – walkers and non-walkers – and as vehicles to express the virtues and benefits of being a member. And, The Ramblers Central Office has employed a company to phone lapsed members (over the last year) to enquire if they would consider re-joining. This is a one off project that could, possibly be extended if found to be financially viable. Lawrie went on to say that many people join The Ramblers because it is the only organisation that plays a pivotal role in helping to secure and maintain the footpath network in England and Wales, and literally helps put our rights of way on the map. He expressed confidence that many Bromley members do too. But, he was also aware that probably the majority join us because we provide an extremely interesting and varied programme of walks throughout the year. Unfortunately, there have been the odd gaps in the programme in the last 12 months; not many, but enough to cause some concern. New walk leaders are coming forward, but more are needed to help us maintain the programme that so many people appreciate. He was happy to confirm that The Ramblers’ Board of Trustees has considered the motion moved by Inner London Area at General Council in April 2011 and concluded that a re-appraisal of Area structures within the geographical area covered by the Greater London Authority is unnecessary. That means we remain a member of Kent Area.
He concluded by referring to the variety of walks Bromley Ramblers had organised over the last 12 months, the success of albeit a small number of social events, the walking holidays held in the UK and abroad and organised by our members, and to the income received through our membership of ‘The Walking Partnership’ with Ramblers Worldwide Holidays – and thanking everyone for helping to make 2012/2013 another successful year for Bromley Ramblers.
5. Treasurer’s Report and presentation of the Annual Accounts
Anne Clark presented the accounts for the year ending 30 September 2013 and reported that we had a deficit for 2012/2013 of £199.00 compared to a surplus the previous year of £89.00 – which was due mainly to a fairly large decrease in walk donations and an increase in the cost of distributing the walks programme booklet. However, this had had the positive effect of reducing our reserves to around 81% of income. The general fund carried forward amounted to £2,581.00.
6. Election of Officers and Committee members
Committee members were elected as follows:
Lawrie SmithGroup Chairman
Annie BroughGroup Secretary
Anne ClarkGroup Treasurer
Nicky Ashley, Roy Bareham, Richard Bickell,Christine Dee-CrownePhilip Wall
It was noted that Sandra Whichello was happy to continue as Membership Secretary, but not as a member of the committee.
7. Approval of Hon. Auditor for 2013/2014
Rosamund Sykes’ nomination was approved.
8. Nomination of a representative to Bromley Countryside Consultative Panel
Jenny McCarthy had agreed to continue as our representative and her nomination was approved.
9. Any other business
No formal business had been notified.It was mentioned that tickets for the Christmas lunch were available at the meeting.
There followed a discussion about 2014 being Bromley Ramblers 25th anniversary and the need to decide how best to celebrate the occasion. A number of ideas were suggested and it was agreed that any anniversary event should be walk-related, with the possibility of a hog roast as a key feature. Diane Linford kindly volunteered to take the lead in looking for a suitable location.
The Chairman closed the meeting by thanking everyone who has made the year a success for Bromley Ramblers, particularly all walk leaders, walk-co-ordinators, Group officers and members of the committee for their time and effort on everyone’s behalf.
Chairman’s Report
The last 12 months has seen a number of challenges for Bromley Ramblers with a number of significant issues dealt with. Maybe the biggest challenge was how to celebrate our 25th anniversary in style. But, I never doubted the ability of the small organising ‘committee’ to pull it off and to organise a most splendid event in September at Salomons Estate, near Tunbridge Wells. Not only did our walk leaders do us proud by organising 5 very different walks on the day - with a total of 88 members taking part, we had 101 people at the hog roast after the walks had been completed. And, what a marvellous celebration cake – such a pity we had to eat it!
Bromley Ramblers was also up to the challenge of organising Kent Area’s AGM in February. Many people that attended praised our organisation, and particularly the quality of the food.
And, talking of food, the change of venue for our Christmas lunch proved to be a hit with all those that attended, with many going back for a second helping from the carvery.
We had been planning for some time to arrange for Bromley Ramblers to do some footpath clearance and, with that in mind, contact was made with Bromley Council’s Public Rights of Way Officer earlier in the year – who was delighted to accept our offer of help. As a result, a working party of 14 has recently cleared 4 footpaths in the Chelsfield area of overhanging trees and shrubs and waist high nettles and brambles. Not only did those concerned help to keep the footpaths open, they had a thoroughly enjoyable time as well. We plan to do something similar at least twice in 2015.
Our membership numbers have held up fairly well over the last year, with a small decline to report – but nothing significant. Our turnover of membership is around 15% with plenty of ‘new faces’ out on walks.
During 2014 there has been a review of Ramblers Group boundaries in Kent and across the Country. This is because boundaries previously followed postcode sectors, but the new geographical software being used by Central Office is based onadministrative boundaries (down to a Ward or Parish level). Kent Area has therefore had to define the Area and its Groups by reference to London Boroughs (Bromley & Bexley), District Councils (Sevenoaks and Maidstone for example) and Unitary Authorities (Medway). As part of the exercise it was noted that Bromley was divided between Bromley, North West Kent, Sevenoaks and Blackheath Groups. Some new members living in Bromley were also allocated to Surrey based Groups. On top of that, there was a large area of the borough that had not been allocated to any specific Group. It was a ‘dog’s dinner’! Bromley’s committee put together a proposal that attempted to rationalise and make sense of the situation. This recommended that Bromley should be ‘shared’ for membership purposes between just Bromley and North West Kent Groups. After some discussion and a little gentle persuasion, our proposal was accepted and has since been formally approved.
As in previous years, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Committee members, walk co-ordinators, walk leaders and social event organisers for their time and effort, and for helping to make 2013/2014 another successful year for Bromley Ramblers.
Lawrie
Lawrie Smith
Bromley Ramblers Group Chairman
November 2014