Minutes of the AGM of the Arun-Adur Group of the Ramblers
Saturday 23rd November 2019 at 14.30 in Ferring Village Hall
Retiring Chairman Martin McKay welcomed 23 members and Roger Abel from the Sussex Area Office
Apologies for absence
Lesley Johnson, Peter Gibbs, Marion Christofani, Antonia Shepherd, Hazel Charman. Gill Agate and Peter Hood
Minutes of 2018 AGM
Copies were available for members. There were no comments on Matters Arising. The minutes were formally proposed by Martin Oborne, seconded by Michael Prior and approved as a true record of proceedings.
Chairman’s Annual Report
Martin’s valedictory report began by casting doubt on the group’s future unless and until the three vacancies on the committee, which have been prominently displayed on the website, are filled. One nomination for Walks Organiser has been received and Martin thanked Kate Melville-Brown for agreeing to stand.Three committee members are content to stay on but we would not be quorate with just four members. Martin thanked Erica Biggs for her service to the group and gave her a gift on behalf of the membership.
Erica had produced a full programme of walks for the both the summer and autumn/winter seasons, though she had to rely, as ever, on a small coterie of loyal walk leaders. Chris Cummins was warmly thanked for her innovative and much enjoyed Capital Ring series of walks. She, too, is standing down as Social Secretary and was given a gift, by Martin, from all the members. Martin encouraged everyone to consider proposing and leading walks in the next programme.
Since the last AGM, in addition to the varied walks, we have enjoyed a Christmas lunch at the Arun View, a tenpin bowling evening in Rustington, and the annual holiday in October, which, this year, took place in Whitstable. Martin also recalled the warm early summer’s day in May, when we hosted our annual visit from the London Blind Ramblers, on a walk around Chichester Harbour. There was an excellent turnout from members to assist and we had received a message of warm thanks from Val Clarke. LBR members hope and expect to receive our hospitality again in 2020
A day outing to Beaulieu in June had to be cancelled, due to insufficient numbers.
Martin then referred to his intention to stand down as Chair after three years in post. He reflected on his sometimes uneasy period in office, but the transition to a largely “paperless” regime had been very satisfactorily carried out. Only a handful of our 331 members had opted to receive communications through the mail ( chiefly, the Walks Programme and AGM notifications) There had been a significant boost to the group finances as a result (q.v Treasurer’s Report)
Martin ended his report with a reference to a very wet autumn’s walking and to the welcome that one nomination for a new Chair had been received.
Treasurer’s Report
Copies of Nigel’s financial statement were available to all those attending. He took us through the principal sources of income for both the Main and Social accounts. Capitation income from Ramblers HQ of £1,200 will be reduced to £800 this coming year, as we have built up good reserves following the decision to use the website and e mail for all routine communications. Postage and printing costs totalled just £21.96. The most significant expenditure was on recce expenses whilst the cost of the walking programm reduced from £760 in 2018 to £51.51 in this year.
There was a loss of £50 deposit for the aborted day trip to the Social Fund account but there was a credit of £180 from Ramblers Worldwide Travel. Monica Collingham reminded members formally to identify Arun -Adur Ramblers as the beneficiary when booking a Ramblers holiday so that the group benefits from the walking partnership rewards.
Both accounts are in credit in the sum of £904.17 and £263.28 respectively. These accounts had been independently certificated by Mrs D.M Fearney
Roger Abel asked a question about the efficacy of the website; Nigel responded by saying that the hosting of the website by ramblers-webs.org.uk was working very well and eliminated hosting and domain licensing costs. The site averages 27 visits per day, with four pages being typically read on each visit. The Ramblers App adds a new dimension.
The motion to approve the financial report was proposed by Martin Oborne, seconded by Mike Charman and unanimously agreed.
Election of Committee
The Secretary had previously received a nomination form for Walks Organiser from Kate Melville-Brown, dated 15/10/19.
Mike Charman expressed his willingness to stand for the post of Chair. A nomination form dated 07/11/19 was passed to the Secretary.
There were no nominations for Social Secretary, though John Hamlen and (1other?) both expressed their readiness to lend support to any special event .Members of the committee are willing to identify and organise such events.
Nigel Paris, Lesley Johnson and Neil Clark are all content to remain as committee members. The motion to approve the election of all these members was proposed by Matin Oborne and seconded by Caroline Elvy and was unanimously agreed by those present.
AOB
Nigel briefly explained that a bank mandate identifying Neil Clark and Lesley Johnson as co-signatories to the Unity Bank account should be formally put to the AGM. The name of Mike Charman would also now be added. The names of Erica Biggs and Christine Cummins would be removed, consequent to their resignations from the committee. The motion was carried unanimously.
Mike Charman addressed the meeting, expressing his disappointment that he was now standing in front of them as Chairman Elect. He could not allow the group to fold and was therefore willing to serve for a maximum of two years, in the hope and expectation that an heir could be found in that time, from a membership in excess of 300. He also echoed Martin’s remarks about our needing a greater number of walk leaders and informed members that a free training course on walk leadership was available in February 2020.
Roger Abel made a few remarks, including an observation that leading walks is a rewarding experience. He then, on behalf of the committee and all members, expressed his thanks to Martin Mackay for all his hard work and enthusiasm during his three years as group Chairman. He presented a bottle shaped gift. He asked that members chat to him over refreshments should they have any observations or queries.
The meeting closed at 15.05