NDWG Committee Meeting 2022-07-19

Present: Dave H, Rosanna R, Claire T, Su G, Gary O, Helen P, Alistair G, Stuart B, Fiona W, Andrew C

Introduction

Recap of previous minutes and current reflections on the group.

Previous minutes

Weekend socials are having a good turnout with the Lake District holiday in June a success. The Yorkshire Dales holiday in July is not full and would need to be filled quickly if anyone would like to come along. Gary has been updating the walks programme and varying the walks on offer to accommodate the availability of leaders. There are still a good number of people on walks and a varied programme on offer. Walks are being promoted on Facebook and Meetup which seem to be attracting more people. The communications role is still in progress as we work towards expanding the scope of what this will involve moving forwards.

Walks Programme

The navigation course for walk leaders has been advertised on Facebook with a date of 23rd July but it may be useful to advertise on other social media such as Meetup. It may be possible to organise a walk specifically for the navigation event to practice skills developed from the course and a suitable walk option could be around Carsington Water.

Eventbrite is no longer being used for walks. Meetup seems to be doing well and new people are coming onto walks. There are a mix of places to walk with both the White and Dark Peak considered and still good turnout even with the current fuel prices. It is important to promote and encourage car sharing to reduce fuel costs but also assist in parking spaces being available for everyone. Gary is not arranging too many walks on bank holidays in very popular places within the Peak District, mainly due to the parking arrangements.

There has been a lot of interesting mid-week walks available and these are proving to be popular. Concerns over the Peak District access land being closed due to wildfires were discussed but it is hoped this will not cause too much of a problem with any walks planned in late August onwards. These walks can be changed to accommodate this if restrictions are still in place. The start time for some of the longer walks and those in popular places would like to be changed to 10am instead of the usual start time of 10:30am. This change may help with parking arrangements in popular areas and those walks with socials at the end.

It would be useful to have phone numbers of walk leaders so that people can contact them if they are arriving later than the start time of a walk. However, GDPR would need to be considered and it may not be something that we can pursue.

One way to address this problem may be to ensure walk information states clearly the start time when the group will leave for the walk or how long they will wait for others arriving late. It would be at the discretion of the walk leader and needs to consider Autumn and Winter daylight hours. Currently, walks contain detailed information such as grid references and parking to make finding the location easier.

Discussions on the group’s website suggested people may not be using the website and it is difficult to know how many people go on here to find information. There is already a link to the website on the Facebook page, but it may be worth amalgamating information from the website onto other social platforms such as Facebook and Meetup.

• AP – We need to promote the navigation course and find ways to encourage more walk leaders
• AP – Information from the website needs to filter into the Facebook and Meetup page
• AP – Look at changing the start time of some walks

Weekends

We were able to receive a refund from a pre booked trip in 2019 which the group was unable to attend with only the deposit being kept by the accommodation provider. There are a few spaces available on the Yorkshire weekend and ideally it would be beneficial to have these filled as soon as possible.

It may be worth looking into how a more active membership can be maintained. This includes considering new members who may find it off putting if there are mountain or faster walks. Andrew has done an excellent job but there needs to be a specific committee member for weekends planning and delivery.

Helen is going to have a look at creating a Google form for organising a survey to ask members what activities or socials they are interested in and how they see the group moving forward. Christmas walks and socials are being considered in popular areas such as Castleton.

• AP – Finding a committee member for the weekend planning and delivery.

Socials

Some walks already have a social element including pub stops but socials in general are trying to be improved due to the lack of turnout on some events.

Pub meet ups are still going ahead and relatively popular.

Social meals were cancelled due to lack of demand.

It may be useful to vary the socials on a Thursday or Friday night. Weekend socials may clash with weekend walks unless they could be combined.

Trying to find socials with good transport links is important and varying social activities would be beneficial with rounders in Sheffield Park being a potential option.

Different pubs would be ideal to arrange quiz nights and vary the location, but these need to be planned to avoid busy pub nights.

Socials may be a good introduction into the group for new members and it may be useful to offer shorter walks with a social as a new member option. This would help to ease people into the group who may not be experienced walkers.

The Facebook page is active with the group posting pictures of walks, special points of interest and social activities.

Christmas socials could be combined with a walk around popular places like Chatsworth. Christmas meals or Christmas markets may also be popular depending on cost and demand.

• AP – Look into varying the socials on offer and ask current members for their views.
• AP – Consider Christmas socials and cost.

Finances

Finances are stable at £4618.46 with some recent costs including the weekend holidays. There are also reserves which could be used for the benefit of the group including paying for incentives to attract walk leaders. Ramblers have sent an email with funding opportunities that may be available, but this will need looking into further so that we can understand exactly what is on offer.

Membership

Currently stands at 177 which is stable with six new members.

IT

The walks programme is available and new walk leaders are being added to this.

The group is located on Google as a business address which needs updating.

The socials page on the website is out of date.

Group walks are not appearing on Ramblers Association walks finder.

• AP – Continue to work on improving the groups page on Ramblers website.

Communications

The communications role needs to be expanded and Dave is currently covering this role until a replacement can be found.

Ramblers Area Council Meeting was not attended in April, and it is worth discussing the location to see if this could be arranged more locally.

A date needs to be arranged for the AGM.

Secretary

Nothing much to report.

AOB

Health and Safety aspects need to be considered including risk assessments and procedures in place for dealing with any accidents.

Next meeting

TBC.