Notts Derby Walking Group Meeting Held On Thursday 9th January 2025 At The Star Inn, Beeston

Present

Andrew Cowell in the Chair & acting Secretary, Stuart Broadhurst (Treasurer), Jonny Bramley-Maye (Member without portfolio), Gary Olds (Walks Organiser), Joanne Morris (Social Secretary), Rob Stevens (General Member).

1. Apologies

Rachael Drewery (Membership Secretary), Alistair Green (Webmaster)

2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting

No minutes of the previous meeting were available. Both minutes will need approving at the following meeting in March 2025.

3. Matters Arising from the Minutes of the Previous Meetings

None arising.

4. Officers’ Reports

4.1 Group Secretary

The group secretary position is currently vacant and unlikely to be filled. Andrew agreed to perform the duty for the time being. I mentioned that I hoped to attend the Area AGM being organised by Newark and Collingham Groups on Sunday, 2nd February 2025 at Collingham Memorial Hall.

4.2 Group Treasurer

Stuart confirmed we are in a healthy financial situation. Due to group inactivity, there hasn’t been much spending and Ramblers like to see funds being spent on the group’s objective. Noting we are planning to restart weekends we should start to see a turnover of funds. Task noted to ask Jay the annual cost of Meetup membership.

4.3 Walks Organiser

Andrew created and got leaders for a walks programme which covers us until mid-May and buys us some breathing space. Gary happy to carry on doing the walks programme with some guidance. The current programme mimics the long used pattern of a Sunday walk every week with a Saturday walk every other weekend. After the clock change Wednesday evening walks resume every fortnight. We’ve aimed to provide a mix of walk lengths from very short to challenge walks to cater to as many tastes as possible. The committee was aware tastes have changed and we need to try new ideas to keep the group fresh and attract new members. The current programme is the first time in a couple of years every walk has a leader so we will gauge how it is received and canvas feedback on walks. Some ideas we may try and incorporate into the next programme (May-August) are social walks, tea shop walks, broad horizon walks (which the group has done in the past) and scrambling. Rob Stevens has already offered to lead three photography themed walks over the summer programme which will be included.

Joanne has agreed to start posting regular monthly pub meets and monitoring numbers. Discussion whether pub meets were the best medium with fewer people drinking, but decided we needed to start somewhere and easier to organise than meals. We will start on a rotation between Beeston/Nottingham, Derby and then a Derwent Valley location.

4.5 Weekends Organiser

Weekends have been parked for the best part of a couple of years due to declining numbers. Much conversation ensued on possible locations and the format they should take. Agreement was reached to book Conwy YHA for the August Bank Holiday with a mix of four and two bed rooms. Andrew will book 10 spaces using his YHA membership and claim the money back from Stuart. Although we’d like to have something for Easter we agreed it’s probably too late and we’d rather build up membership numbers again. Several locations mooted as possibles for the May Day holidays. Hebden Bridge/Howarth, Nantlle Valley and Llangollen. Andrew agreed to go away and decide on an area. These would take the format of the group arranging walks and individuals booking their own accommodation to derisk the finances.

4.6 Membership Secretary

The membership secretary sent her apologies and could not be present due to family issues. Membership stood at 136 and all present agreed that getting a regular walks programme and a buzz going in the group is the best first step to attracting new and returning members.

4.7 Web

The webmaster sent his apologies and could not be present due to family issues. The website has been updated with the new walks programme and the group logo replaced with the official Ramblers version. Andrew to enquire with OneStep walkers whether we could use their website as a template for a comprehensive update.

5. General Chat

Discussion around setting up a WhatsApp group for walk leaders and one for the committee. Agreed to set up a committee WhatsApp but felt it was too difficult for walk leaders and there are potential data protection issues. The idea of a register of walk leaders was also raised. Andrew has agreed to look at a wider strategy for recruiting, communicating and training new and current walk leaders.

Walk risk assessments have been a Ramblers requirement for several years to meet the demands of their public liability insurance. These aren’t always being done and Jonny suggested we make the process easier by having a small suite of generic risk assessments for winter/summer White Peak/Dark Peak walks. We agreed this was a good idea and Andrew will look at implementing this. We will put an internal code on the walks programme that isn’t published to let leaders know the relevant risk assessment.

6. Date and Venue of Next Meeting

Thursday, 13th March 2025, 7.00PM at The Star, Beeston.