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CHAIRMAN’S REPORT - ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
8 DECEMBER 2007
Welcome to Pilgrims Hatch Village Hall for the Brentwood Ramblers Annual General Meeting. The meeting has reverted to its regular slot in the calendar i.e. early December. Some of you will recall that our 2006 Annual General Meeting was held at the beginning of January 2007, but certainly Essex Area Ramblers prefer all Group AGMs to be concluded before Christmas to give Area time to prepare for its own AGM where Annual Reports from all the Essex Groups are pulled together for their meeting that will take place at Stock Village Hall on 2 nd February 2008. All members of the Ramblers Association in Essex are entitled to attend, but attendance is often disappointing. This is a real shame as it should be the occasion for us to turn up and give our support & thanks for the hard work undertaken by the Essex Area Executive.
Anyway, back to Brentwood Ramblers as we approach an historic milestone for the Group. In Spring 2008 we will be 40 years old. Yes – it really is that long ago. From small beginnings we have grown into one of the most successful Groups in the County. Indeed, when we were formed there were not 19 Groups as there are today – just a handful and over the years other Groups such as Havering & East London and Chelmer & Blackwater were formed, by virtue of breaking away from being part of Brentwood and so we reached the situation where every local authority area had its own Ramblers Group. That said, even today probably 50% of our membership does not live within our Borough boundaries. Indeed I see it as a testament to the strength of this Group that the popularity of the Brentwood Ramblers brand stretches far & wide. I am certainly not aware of other Groups attracting such a large % of their membership from outside their natural catchment area. It probably helps us that we were one of the early Groups to be formed and also that we occupy geographically a very central position within the county.
I do not believe we have any current members who were part of our membership way back in 1968, but I can certainly see from the membership records that a number of current active members have been involved for the best part of 30 years. On Saturday, 12 th April 2008 we are holding our 40 th Birthday Party at Blackmore Village Hall. This will represent a unique opportunity for young & older members alike to celebrate and share many happy memories of being involved with this fantastic Group.
Indeed, on a personal note I took my first tentative steps into rambling as a teenager in the mid 1970s. The Chairman at that time was Ted Pickett and as a near neighbour I can recall Ted persuading my Father to take out membership. Little did I think that some 30 years later I would be here as Group Chairman addressing the Annual General Meeting. Like many of our members today, Dad joined the Ramblers Association, not necessarily to participate in Group walks, but for the campaigning undertaken by the Ramblers Association to promote & protects rights of way. The Ramblers Association’s own history goes back to 1935 following the famous mass trespass of Kinder Scout in the Peak District. By 1952 the membership was 10,000. Come 1986 it had grown to 50,000 & following rapid expansion it reached 100,000 in 1994. The current national membership is about 142,000. The larger our membership, the more the voice of the Ramblers Association will be listened to both locally & nationally. So please encourage friends, family & work colleagues to join. If you are struggling with ideas for Christmas presents, why not buy someone a year’s membership of the Ramblers Association. Even if the recipient chooses not to walk, you will know that your additional financial contribution will help a great cause.
I first became a member in 1988 immediately after the Great Storm and the last 20 years have given me immense satisfaction & pleasure, not just walking in Brentwood & surrounding areas, but it gave me the taste for walking in so many other parts of the country & different parts of the world as well. So a huge thank you from me to the Ramblers Association. I know many of you and our wider membership as well who are not here today have relished the opportunities that belonging to a Group of like minded people has given them. The friendships & companionships and indeed even marriage in a few instances.
It is not sometimes though just about belonging to an organisation – it is the taking part that counts whether it be as a follower, a leader, a part of a Footpath Working party, a committee member, a Group Officer etc. Without all of us doing our bit, however great or small we would not have successful Groups such as ours. So a big thank you to one and all.
In two spells I have now completed some 12 years on the committee and I know some of our other members have served a lot longer than that. Over the years I have sat on many committees, but I can honestly say that on Brentwood Ramblers committee it is very rare indeed for clashes of personality or view to cause lasting friction or resentment. That is a real tribute to our membership and quite unusual for committees.
I would like to thank the committee who have served you for the past 12 months – Secretary, Mick Dodge – who as well as being very active with our Group is a keen participant with the Long Distance Walkers Association and indeed after much training managed to complete their 100 mile walk within 40 hours. Congratulations, but I cannot see many of us joining you next time!!; Treasurer & Minutes Secretary, Pat Woods. Pat has done a fantastic job this year, particularly in a year when she was devoting much time travelling to and from Staffordshire. I really don’t know how Pat had time to fit everything in. Margaret Norman continues to keep her postman busy with large bundles of cheques, particularly after a newsletter has been issued. Colin Jacob, one of the longest serving members of the Group works tirelessly for the Association whether it be on our committee, organising and leading holidays for both us and Countrywide Holidays, the UK arm of Ramblers Holidays or at Essex Area. Colin will soon be adding the role of Essex Area Membership Secretary to his portfolio. Colin has been at the forefront of redesigning the newsletter, but not I hasten to add without the help of Paul Gardiner our technology guru. Paul has taken over the running of our website and has plans for a few modifications in the New Year. Please accept our apologies that the website was out of action for a week or so recently. Then last summer Paul branched off into merchandising. Through Paul’s negotiations we now have access to a range of branded clothing that can be ordered online. Matthew Jasper produces advertising material for various sites to advertise & promote our walks. Now onto those key people – the Rambles Secretaries. Les Cox, Val Hoffman, Chris Lomas & Brian Scroggs who every 4 months can be seen with their clipboards persuading and arm-twisting us into giving them a date for a walk. Between them they persuade you to contribute nearly 250 walks a year. This is a huge achievement, particularly bearing in mind that Val, Chris & Brian have all joined our committee within the last 12 months. Dianne Ingram as Leaders leader has the role of encouraging and giving guidance to new leaders, potential leaders and existing leaders. Finally, thank you to our Footpath Secretary, Gordon Fairgrieve. Gordon is appointed by Essex Area Ramblers and works closely with Brentwood Borough Council & others to ensure our rights of way are in excellent condition. When I first started walking regularly with the group, there was rarely a day when we were not scrambling up and down ditches or having to force our way through hedgerow. Thanks to Gordon and of course his predecessors, I think we have some of the best footpaths in the County.
During the year, George Dove who served on this committee for about 8 years as Saturdays Rambles Secretary stepped down following some ill health. I am delighted that George is now walking on Saturdays once more. Brian Scroggs, a regular Saturday walker stepped forward to fill the vacant position and was co-opted onto the committee.
Now to reflect on our activities over the past 12 months :-
Membership numbers currently stand at about 630. This figure has been fairly constant over the last year, but we need to be regularly recruiting new members to stand still as there is always a turnover of members with some moving, resigning and sadly a few dying. In this regard, can we remember the passing of members during the past 12 months, including Tom Green & Doug Willis. More & more of our new members are joining the Ramblers Association via their website. I am advised that the Ramblers Association are introducing a new membership database in January 2008. I understand it then may be possible for me as a Membership Secretary to download the latest membership list directly from their system. I am told they will also be able to supply us with members’ e-mails addresses. This may enable us at some stage in the future to contact you directly apart from via our newsletter that is produced 3 times a year.
Since the launch of our restyled newsletter in July 2007, I have been heartened by the positive feedback. One of the reasons we changed the design after 6 years was to make life easier when handling the distribution via the Royal Mail as you will recall they changed their pricing structure which would have made it cost prohibitive to continue to issue correspondence to you in C4 size envelopes.
Our most recent newsletter shows our new distinctive logo. The design was produced by Dee Rampling-Lee as part of a competition we held about 2 years ago. However, it has taken longer than we had hoped for in getting it into production. As a result of Paul’s efforts, you can now order polo shirts, tee shirts, hats and other products showing our logo and hopefully many of you will start to wear this attractive range of clothing in the coming months.
The number of walkers attending our full-day walks on Tuesdays & Sundays; morning walks on Saturdays & Thursday & during the summer months, Wednesday evening walks continues to grow. We had a massive 70 people turn up for a Saturday morning walk last March from Childerditch Common. Quite a shock for first time leaders, Ruth Hannon & Sue Roberts. They coped well, but it does highlight that our leaders have to be ready on occasions to manage quite large numbers of people crossing roads, level crossings and other potentially hazardous situations. It is important leaders remember to appoint back-markers and that high visibility clothing is worn by people at the front & back of a party when on narrow country lanes etc. The Group has purchased several first-aid kits and we aim to always have them available on weeks & weekends away as well as coach rambles. Hopefully they will also be carried on the majority of half-day and day walks.
A number of us hold first-aid qualifications and some of you may want to consider taking a course as such expertise can be invaluable for those few occasions in the year when emergency assistance needs to be given.
In October 2006 Les Cox & Mick Dodge took a party for a successful weekend of walking in the Chilterns. This was a very short journey for a weekend away, but it enabled a full programme of walks to be offered.
In January 2007, Mick organised our post-Christmas walk & lunch at The White Hart, Pleshey attended by over 60 members. It was the first time I had been able to attend this event and it was a delight to meet up with many of our older members who are no longer able to walk, but who still feel an integral part of our Group. This year’s event is being organised by Linda Jenkins and will be held on Tuesday 8 th January. There are still a few places available and if you would like to book, please have a word with Linda at the end of this meeting.
In April 2007 I took a party of 34 members to Grasmere in the Lake District for a week’s walking. The accommodation was excellent, but the Gods did not look down kindly on us at all as much rain fell. This made walking conditions quite difficult at times and the team of leaders were regularly having to adapt the next day’s walks programme to suit the conditions.
In June 2007 Gordon & Kath Fairgrieve and Eric Lingard took a party by coach & ferry to Reims in France for the 2 nd successive year for several days walking. It is quite challenging planning such trips abroad as the walks are not as easy to plan and the organisers have to take great care in ensuring the coach will be able to pick-up walkers from sometimes fairly obscure locations.
In October 2007 Dianne Ingram took a party for a circumnavigation of Gloucester on the Glevum Way. It was quite an eye-opener walking close to the River Severn so soon after their devastating floods of last summer. We stayed at an excellent hotel in Bidlip.
Our regular coach rambles involved us completing the 110 mile Greensand Way through Surrey & Kent, finishing recently at Ham Street. Unfortunately, it has not proved to be as popular with our members – so often coaches were leaving Brentwood with numerous empty seats. As a result after 13 years of Theme walks, we are changing direction in 2008 and are having 4 or 5 coach rambles, including an opportunity for those who do not want to walk all day to do some sightseeing or perhaps just a half-day walk. We hope this will enable us to fill the coaches and again give an opportunity for those members not wishing to walk all day, to still have an enjoyable day out with the Group. Our first trip will be finishing in Canterbury on 31 st March. Please get your bookings in early. Other ideas include the Cookham and Marlow area of the Thames Valley; St Albans and somewhere with a coastal flavour in the summer.
Other events planned for 2008 include our April Week based at Sidmouth in Devon and a trip to Jersey in June.
Looking to the future, under the terms of the constitution, my 3 year term as Chairman has to end this time next year. I continue to enjoy every minute of this role and have tried on occasions to attend Tuesday walks. This is not easy when I work full-time. At the moment, we have not identified my successor. So if you would like to consider having the opportunity to become Brentwood Ramblers Chairman, please contact me or any of our other committee members.
Thank you once again for attending this afternoon’s meeting when a Christmas shopping trip may have been more tempting.
Happy Christmas on behalf of Brentwood Ramblers to you and all your families.
Please remember to support the Ramblers Association’s Festival of Winter Walks. We have a daily programme of walks from 22 nd December to 2 nd January – so there are many opportunities for you to walk off any Christmas excesses. This is a big recruitment time of the year for the RA – so please also encourage or bring along friends, neighbours and family members.
Happy Rambling in 2008.
Roy Carpenter
Chairman
8 December 2007