Britain s Walking Charity in Gloucestershire Area

Transcription

1 Britain s Walking Charity in Gloucestershire Area Gloucestershire Area Annual Report For 2015 and ACCOUNTS for the year ending 30 th September 2015 Forest of Dean Reopen Upper Forge Bridge, Lydney The Start/End Stone Marker of the Cotswold Way in Chipping Campden The Ramblers' Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no , Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no ). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TZ

2 Elected Area Officers Chairman Vice Chairman Secretary Treasurer Assistant Treasurer Footpath Secretary Countryside Secretary Area Membership Sec. Area Webmaster Area Publicity Officer Area Walks Co-ordinator GRWalks Editor News Letter Editor Ray Chaney Vacant Ray Chaney Geoff Smithdale Gwen Chaney Vacant Vacant Mike Bailey Bernard Gill Bernard Gill Susanne Zamze Mike Garner Bernard Gill Elected Group Officers Group Chair Secretary Treasurer Footpath Sec Cirencester John Bookwood Pat Beckley Alan Cook Cleeve Brian Payne Annie White Don Evans Richard Holmes Martin Thornley Forest of Dean Mike Ingleby Jackie Huck Dave Pollard John Slater* Gloucester Derek Hughes David Sanderson John Street Vacant Gloucestershire Walking Arash Noori Chris Banks North Cotswold Tony Salmon Sue Salmon Anthony Carroll Michael Borsay Paul Lowe Mary Hamilton South Cotswold Richard Davis Andrew Hawkins Brian Witcombe Bob Frewin Cheltenham Spa Walkers Point of Contact Des Smyth *Initially Sheila Constable. 2

3 Chair s Report. As I come to the end of my first year as Chair of Gloucestershire Area Ramblers I reflect on a busy year. It started with Area Council reluctantly accepting the closure of Mid- Gloucestershire Group and the creation of a walking group Cheltenham Spa Walkers. Considerable work was involved in re-allocation of members and my thanks go to Area Council, and especially Mike Bailey, (Area Membership Secretary) for undertaking it. There is further detail on this in the Membership Report. One of the chief activities of Area Council is to represent Gloucestershire Ramblers at General Council. This body oversees the whole of Ramblers - from the Board of Trustees, to Central Office, Area and Groups and thence to any Rambler led activity. As Chair I try hard to ensure that we represent our Members at General Council. Thus one of the Area meetings was primarily devoted to discussing the published motions before the Council and the election of the new members to the Board Of Trustees. At General Council I vote in accordance with the way I am advised at Area Council and only vote differently if something extraordinary happens. With today s methods of looking up information we are considerably better informed about motions and candidates than we were when Ramblers governance structure was first devised. The Board of Trustees has now decided that it will address the governance changes over a period of the next three years. These changes include the following key proposals. General Council (GC) 2016 concerns changes to the Memorandum of Articles of Association to make the existing articles gender inclusive and to introduce measures by which members may have benefits of the charity withdrawn under exceptional circumstances. GC 2017 considers the proposals issued by the Board of Trustees in January 2015 about changes to the areas and groups, GC 2018 looks at constitutional changes to General Council and the Board. During this process the Board of Trustees have decided not to accept the dissolution of Areas, and are now actively trying to restore the Area Council that was dissolved. I, on behalf of Area Council, wish to thank Bernard Gill (Area Publicity officer) for his work in publicising Ramblers and all the other tasks he does to secure continued recruitment of members. This includes his watching brief on the missing link to the A417, from Little Witcombe to Nettleton. On behalf of Ramblers, I also wish to thank all our volunteers for their dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm towards the Ramblers. Our volunteers are the Gold Dust that make the Ramblers. If it was not for our Volunteers the Ramblers Charity would not exist and the walking public would lose their champion. Finally we would like to thank Geoff our Area Treasurer as he retires from Post and Area Council. We wish him well for the future and happy Rambling. Also I would like to thank Mike Garner for producing the hard copy version of GRWalks over the years. His last edition was GRWalks February Ray Chaney - Chair Gloucestershire Ramblers Outgoing Chairs report. Ramblers reporting year runs from October to the end of September. During the period up to the December AGM, when Committee posts change hands, a number of activities came to fruition. 3

4 Ramblers in Gloucestershire have had a long association with the Cotswold Way since it was first mooted some 60 years ago. We pledged support for the proposal by local rambler Ros Young to create a marker stone in Chipping Campden celebrating the route of the Cotswold way (pictured on the front cover). A very wet walk from Dovers Hill on 8th November 2014, led by the Cotswold Way Wardens but with members of many of our Groups including North Cotswold, was followed by the mayor of Chipping Campden performing the unveiling ceremony. The project allows walkers travelling the route to feel they ve reached a start or finish point and complements a similar marker at the southern end in Bath. You can find the stone with its golden acorn next to the historic Market Hall. Meanwhile over at Winchcombe, 24th November saw the official opening of an accessible path alongside the River Isbourne. At various times of the year the path used to become too muddy for even hearty walkers let alone townsfolk. We used part of a legacy, from Lilian Wise of Churchdown, to help provide an all weather surface and install new bridges and kissing gates. Other funders included Entrust, Tewkesbury Borough Council, Winchcombe Town Council, Winchcombe Welcomes Walkers and Cotswold Wardens with the work carried out by Gloucestershire County Council. Gloucester Group (Lilian s Group) and Cleeve Group along with invited members of Disabled Ramblers attended an enjoyable opening by Lady Ashcombe of Sudeley Castle and the Mayor of Tewkesbury Borough. Bernard Gill - Outgoing Chair 2014 Area Footpath Report Tale of Two Bridges The major achievements of Ramblers in Gloucestershire this year have been the construction of two new bridges. In the Forest of Dean a new bridge has been opened (see front cover), five years after an unsafe 350 year stone bridge was closed. Not only did the Forest of Dean Ramblers have to raise 4,500 to pay for the construction but also a new public right of way needed to be created. Over in the Cotswold Water Park a plank bridge has been replaced by a fully accessible metre wide footbridge. Cirencester Ramblers were instrumental in obtaining the support of numerous local organisations and disability groups in order to access a lost pot of money which funded the new bridge. 4

5 Structural Changes With the recent group changes the additional responsibilities have now been shared across the groups. This allocation means five busy Footpath Secretaries now have even more miles of footpath to monitor. However, regular Area Meetings, joint working and the sharing of responsibilities has ensured a seamless service. There have also been changes with individual Footpath Secretaries. For many years the Forest of Dean footpaths were closely monitored by Sheila Constable, unfortunately she has had to move on and a replacement is currently being sought. Routine Work Put simply the Footpath Secretaries Work includes protecting paths, promoting walking and improving access. To this end we monitor new developments and building work, follow up complaints of obstructions, poor signage, damaged and unsafe path furniture and the inevitable overgrown routes. We are notified by Gloucestershire County Council of footpath diversions and Ramblers have significant influence in this process, at times preventing landowners from inappropriate diversions of long established rights of way. We work closely with Amey the GCC rights of way contractors and back in May several Footpath Secretaries enjoyed a day at Northleach. This volunteer training day was arranged by Amey who also gave all of us a rucksack containing goodies such as high visibility vests and secateurs! The Group Footpath Secretaries are supported by footpath committees, again volunteers who share the load. We are always looking for other to help with the protection of our footpath network. So if anyone is interested in routinely surveying our paths, checking out problems, looking for historical paths not on the map, or following planning applications please get in touch. Richard Holmes - Footpath Officer Vacancies at Area Level. At Area level we are missing two key people: secretary and webmaster. The role of secretary is to assist the chair and the actual tasks undertaken should not take more than 2 hours per month. Assistance in any of the publicity roles would be much appreciated. Our Footpath Officer (see above) would also like extra volunteers. In addition we would appreciate assistance with specific short term projects. For example, Area level should be investigating those historical footpaths that are not on the Public Rights of Way (PROW) Map, but for which historical evidence exists (such as on our old maps, that should be incorporated on the PROW map). The positions that I currently have volunteers for are: Chair, Treasurer, Footpath Secretary and Membership Secretary. Please could you let me know if you would like to volunteer for a role, part of a role, or a short term project. Ray Chaney - Chair Publicity report Publicity covers the way we communicate internally between our committee teams and the way we let our members and the walking public know of our work. We all know that we run led walks every week, monitor planning applications, deal with path diversion requests and respond to maintenance issues but do we tell our friends and relatives this 5

6 is what we re doing and that without it, would many of the paths they take for granted be open today? One of the big publicity drives this year has been the Big Path Watch, which is now coming to a close. It had several aims: one was to do a snap shot on the state of this country s paths and another was to, get the general public out walking the country s footpaths, (Gloucestershire has managed to get about half its grid squares covered) and to publicise Ramblers. As a consequence of the Big path Watch Ramblers has appeared in the newspapers, radio and TV both locally and nationally. Ramblers Central Office continues to help organise articles that appear in the national press and television. The overall effect should be shown in our membership figures and indeed over these past few years we ve seen a steady if fragile climb across the Area. However it s not to be taken for granted and the process for transfer of members from Mid Gloucestershire saw a minor hiccup.hopefully, if we keep promoting what we do, step by step the gradual increase should continue and we will have a larger pool of volunteers to draw upon and the roles can be spread round more evenly. We are after all one of fifty Areas within Britain s walking charity. Bernard Gill Publicity Officer Webmasters Report We are now on Facebook, and we now have a direct link from the website to Facebook. Bernard Gill - Webmaster Group Summary Report. Our Groups are the foundation stone of Ramblers. It is their remit to organise walks, and look after our footpaths by assisting in their maintenance (typically path clearance), and overseeing planning application concerning footpaths. 6

7 This year, our groups have organised very varied walk programs, from leading short to long walks, to cater for the varied requirements of our members. Our groups have organised over 500 walks throughout the year, and have had an annual attendance figure in excess of 11,000. We have collectively walked over 200,000 miles, or put another way, have walked more than 8 times around the World. Many thanks goes to all our walk leaders who gave up their spare time to plan, recce and lead the walks, as well as those behind the scenes who prepare and publicise them. The Forest of Dean s Walking for Health team was presented with the Ramblers Presidents award for Best Group Achievement, by the President Kate Ashbrook and accepted by local coordinator Kim Spencer and team. Find out more about Walking for Health The Cirencester Group finished their 40 th year by completing their walk program based on their first year s walk. Their final (15 th walk) was held on 28 th December was led by Bill who has been a walk leader for over 20 years. Our Groups organise, our holidays each year - usually in the UK. This year Cirencester went to Torquay and the Gower; Cleeve went to Oxwich Bay and Hope Cove; Gloucester went to Majorca; GWG went to the Gower, Southern Tirol, Austria, The Black Mountains and on some London urban walks; North Cotswold went to Haytorand Dartmoor; and South Cotswold went to Lulworth and Dunster. Cirencester Group South Cotswold At the start of the Rhossili walk. Walking in the rain. All our Groups held social events, including Strawberry Teas, Treasure Hunts, Quiz Nights Skittles and Christmas lunches. Some groups organise social events for their mature members whose mobility is not as good as it used to be. It is one of our strengths, when negotiating with the Government over rights of way, that Ramblers members alone contribute several million pounds per annum to the holiday economy as well enable improved wellbeing and health (apparently every 1 7

8 spent on walking can save 7 on the NHS). Also, thanks to Ramblers we easily demonstrate that our Public Rights of Way are used, even if some of them are only walked infrequently. This is an impressive record of achievements and enjoyment and we should be justifiably pleased with ourselves. GWG on their Banksy and Balloon Festival Day Out. Ray Chaney Area Secretary Gloucestershire Area Membership Report Membership numbers. 30 September September 2014 Active Payment Pending Active Payment Pending Gloucestershire Area Cirencester Forest of Dean South Cotswold Gloucester Cleeve Mid Gloucestershire North Cotswold Gloucestershire Walking Group Cheltenham Spa Walkers 95 0 Gloucestershire Area Membership (Not in the above) Affiliated Clubs Membership Trends. The chart at the end of this report shows the membership trends over the past few years. Dissolution of Mid Gloucestershire Group and the formation of Cheltenham Spa Walkers. The Mid-Gloucestershire Group voted to request dissolution at its AGM in Area Council accepted its dissolution in January 2015 and agreed that its territory 8

9 Membership Numbers Gloucestershire Ramblers Annual Report Oct 2015 and membership should be divided up amongst the surrounding groups. It was decided to formally close the Mid-Gloucestershire Group on 31 st March Circa 160 letters were sent on 17 th March to all Mid Gloucestershire members explaining that their group had been dissolved; and the new group to which they had been provisionally allocated. They were given an opportunity to select an alternative group before their new group membership was confirmed on 16 th April. At the same time as the dissolution of Mid Gloucestershire, Area agreed to the formation of a new flexigroup called Cheltenham Spa Walkers, which came into existence on 31 st March. Some 100 members transferred to CSW on 16 th April. Cumulative Variation in Membership Numbers Cirencester Mar This chart shows the trends (cumulative increase or decrease) in membership numbers (Active plus Payment Pending) since 31 st March 2013 to 30 th September 2015 for each Gloucestershire Group or grouping and the Gloucestershire Area. These figures do not include the bulk transfer of Mid Gloucestershire members to other groups in April Cheltenham Spa Walkers only came into existence in April Mike Bailey - Gloucestershire Area Membership Secretary Area Treasurer s Report May-13 Jul-13 Sep-13 Nov-13 Jan-14 Mar-14 May-14 Jul-14 Sep-14 End of Quarterly Periods Nov-14 Jan-15 Mar-15 May-15 Jul-15 Sep-15 Forest of Dean S. Cotswold Gloucester Cleeve N. Cotswold Glos Walking Grp Chelt. Spa Walkers Glos Area Memb Glos Area Totals This year we have finished with an (unplanned) surplus of over 500. This is mainly due to two factors. Firstly the demise of Mid-Gloucestershire Group meant that the budgetted 160 requested by the Group at the beginning of the year was not paid to them, whilst Area also received the balance of their funds ( ) on closure of the Group at the end of March of this money went to the expenses of dissolution of the Group, leaving a surplus of Cleeve Group, who absorbed a large proportion of the ex-mid Glos members, were offered to bid for extra funds but decided they had sufficient for the remainder of the year. The second factor was that only one member wished to attend General Council as a visitor this year, leaving 175 budgetted for a second visitor unspent. Our last year s balance of 2975 was challenged by Central Office as too high taking into account Area s expenditure of 1600 over so this year I have only requested a budget payment from Central Office of 2000 for 2015/16 which will go towards the 2014 earmarked for Group Funding. I have received confirmation that this has been approved. 9

10 Lilian s Legacy is now down to 3000 plus interest. The 500 allocated to Cirencester Group to cover the provision and installation of a kissing gate was not in the event used, but the 1000 Area Council agreed to contribute towards the improvement of a path beside the River Isbourne at Winchcombe and this has been paid. Area Council has recently agreed to contribute 500 to Gloucester Group towards refurbishment of the Glevum Way. This will be included in next year s accounts. We are still seeking new projects on which to spend the remaining 2500 of the legacy and any bids or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Geoff Smithdale - Area Treasurer ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30TH SEPTEMBER 2015 GLOUCESTERSHIRE AREA INCOME & EXPENDITURE 2014/ /14 NOTES INCOME Budget Funding from Central Office 4, , Donations Deposit interest From Mid Gloucestershire Group TOTAL 4, , EXPENDITURE Group Funding Cirencester Cleeve Forest of Dean Gloucester Mid-Gloucestershire North Cotswold South Cotswold GWG Campaigns/casework Footpath work Countryside protection Travel to meetings Newsletter/Publicity GR Walks programme Area News production Chipping Campden CW stone Memorial plaque Meetings Annual Report & AGM papers printing Annual Report & AGM papers distribution AGM room hire & peripherals Area Council room hire

11 Travel General Council visitors Admin Postage Telephone Stationery Governance Survey Dissolution of Mid-Gloucestershire TOTAL EXPENDITURE 4, , Surplus/(deficit) BALANCE SHEET Assets as at 30/09/ /09/2014 Unity Bank main account 3, , less unpresented cheques Total 3, , FINANCED BY Capital account balance b/fwd 2, , Surplus/(Deficit) for year , , LILIAN S LEGACY (RESTRICTED) ACCOUNT Brought forward 4, , Income - Deposit Interest Total 4, , LESS:Grant to Winchcombe Walkers are Welcome 1, FUNDS REMAINING CARRIED FORWARD 3, , NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS 1. Walking Partnership payments to ex-mid Glos Group members. 2. Balance of funds held by Mid Glos Group on dissolution transferred to Area. 3. No funding payments made to Mid Glos Group pending dissolution 4. Delayed expense claim for from Area Footpath Secretary 5. Reimbursement to Groups for cost of printing Area News for members not receiving copies on line. 6. Grant towards installation of Cotswold Way marker stone at Chipping Campden. 7. Cost of sponsoring one visitor to General Council. (Two in 2014). 8. Refund of expenses incurred by Cleeve Group in forwarding Governance Survey document to members. 9. Stationery and postage for dissolution letters to ex-mid Glos members and welcoming letters to those transferring to Cleeve Group. (Signed) G. C. Smithdale, Hon Treasurer 10/10/205 Independent Examiners Statement Having carried out procedures in accordance with the Area and Group Independent Examiner Guidelines, I consider the Gloucestershire Area Accounts have been properly Prepared and give a true and fair view of the Area s finances for the year from 1 st October 2014 to 30th September (Signed) W. Boyer, Independent Examiner, 20/10/

12 Map of the Gloucestershire s Rambler Groups. N M5 M50 R. Wye M48 R. Severn M5 Key Walking Groups Area Walks Cheltenham Spa Walkers Gloucestershire Walking Group 12