MINUTES  OF  ANNUAL  GENERAL MEETING

CUMBRIA  GROUP  LDWA

 HELD  ON    27.10.13   AT  17.00  

COLEDALE  INN,  BRAITHWAITE

 

 

 

PRESENT:

Andy Armstrong, Frank Barker, Barrie Blenkinship, Roger Burgin, Joan Cave, Ann Crockett, Jim Crockett (Treasurer), Tony Deall (Group Secretary), Paul Hatcher (Chairman), Mark Hawker, Derek Heatherington (Walks Secretary), Louise Smith, Ian Whitehead.

 

APOLOGIES:

Rosemary Dooley, Clare Edgar, Mike Ryder, Martyn Smith, Dennis Walker, Shaun Williams, Una Wood, Barbara Young.

 

MINUTES OF 2012 AGM:

These were read and agreed as a true record.

 

MATTERS ARISING:

Paul noted that the tent hire for the Three Rings checkpoint had been very useful.

 

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT:

Copy Attached.

Paul welcomed all to the meeting and thanked the other Committee members for their work during the year and also all who had helped on the Three Rings including the generous prize donated by Ian. He mentioned that this was the 25^th year the Group had been in existence.

 

GROUP SECRETARY'S REPORT:

Copy Attached.

Tony reported that membership had not increased and remained nominally at 29. He announced that he would be stepping down in a year's time but would be happy to continue looking after the website. He requested that thought should be given to appointing his successor.

 

POSSIBLE MERGER OF GROUPS:

Tony reported that he had been in discussion with the Westmorland & N.Lancs Group regarding a possible merger to form a larger Group perhaps also including Morecambe Bay & Bowland . The reasons behind this suggestion were that all three Groups have an ageing and increasingly less active membership often with difficulty in organising and finding leaders for social walks and help with Challenge events.

After some discussion, which included mention of the difficulties in attracting and keeping new members, it was felt that the new area involved might be too large with problems in travelling to walks and that we should continue with the status quo at present. This would be dependent on a new Group Secretary being found who could act as an effective leader and 'rudder' for the Group.

 

WALKS SECRETARY'S REPORT:

Details of Social Walks attached.

Derek gave a brief resume of each walk and thanked all leaders including Tony who had lead his walk over Fairfield in July. He confirmed his resignation as Walks Secretary and wished his successor well. Tony gave a resume of today's AGM walk which took in Grisedale Pike, Outerside and Barrow in extremely wild and windy conditions.

 

TREASURER'S REPORT:

Copy Attached.

Jim reported a balance of £2,340 with a further increase of £380 to the Group's account from last year. He proposed that Group funds should be used again to cover the cost of the AGM dinner as a gesture of thanks to all those who have helped at the Three Rings.

 

GROUP MEMBERSHIP FEE 2013/14:

The Treasurer recommended that the membership fee should remain at £5 for the forthcoming year as a sign of commitment to the Group. This was agreed unanimously.

 

CHARITABLE DONATIONS:

It was agreed to donate £100 each to the Northern Air Ambulance Appeal and Langdale MRT.

 

QUARTERMASTER'S REPORT

Copy attached

It was agreed to investigate the possibility of producing a special certificate for the 10^th Three Rings Event.

 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS:

Louise agreed to stand as Walks Secretary in place of Derek who was thanked for his hard work over the last few years. She was proposed by Tony and seconded by Derek and elected unanimously.

All other Committee members were prepared to stand for a further year.

 

THREE RINGS OF SHAP:

Report attached.

Tony reported another successful Event and a full report is on the website. There had been a record 171 entries with 152 starters of whom all completed at least one Ring and 55 (62%) all three Rings. Next year will be the tenth Event after which the current management team is retiring. There was a request to provide a report for Strider and Tony agreed to contact the editor. It was agreed that Phil Musson be offered a complimentary entry next year as he is the only person who has completed every Event so far. Entry forms for 15.6.2014 were distributed.

 

AWAY WEEKEND 2013/2014:

Jim reported a successful walk along St. Cuthbert's Way by five members plus two who explored parts of it and Richard who acted as bag transporter and go-to man. A report is on the website and the Strider editor will be asked to publish it.

 

ANY OTHER BUSINESS:

(a) Car sharing Expenses - after discussion it was agreed that car drivers to Events could expect a donation of 10p per mile per passenger if they wished to accept it.

(b) Group Walk Details - it was suggested that walks should be graded in advance so that prospective participants would have some idea what to expect. This might also include details of the route, terrain and amount of climbing involved.

(c) Membership Fees - Jim would collect these after the meeting.

 

DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING:

It was agreed to hold the next AGM a week earlier so the date will be 5pm on Sunday 19.10.13. The venue is confirmed as Old Water View, Patterdale.

 

MEETING CLOSED AT:..18.30.........        

 

 

 

SIGNED ..A M DEALL (Group Secretary).

 

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 

Thank you to all those that have lead walks and I am sorry that I have not been able to join you on them mainly due to the commitments that Mary and myself have had being Presidents of our local bowling club, in fact we have done very little walking ourselves at all this last year, most of our time being spent at various bowling greens around the county and it shows in our walking fitness.

I did manage to lead one 20 miler, the Time for Tea walk which was well attended. Both Mary and I very much enjoyed our time with the group on St Cuthbert's way, and although we did not do the whole path with the rest, we did visit places and explore others along the route, that we did not have time for when we walked the way the year it opened 1994 .

I thank Tony for all that he does to keep us all informed and up to date with LDWA matters also for insuring the efficient running of the group.

Thanks to Jim for keeping the groups finances in order and for organising the St Cuthbert's Way long weekend.  I know that all that took part enjoyed and appreciated his efforts.

I thank Derek twisting arms to get a social walk on the programme each month, a task he has done for a number of years, we are sorry that he has had to call it a day and I know that I speak for all when I wish you well and hope that you can soon get out enjoy your walks.

Thanks to Barrie for looking after all our stock and the paraphernalia that goes with the "Three Rings" and to Barbara for organising the catering and baking that is so much part of the event.

This Years event was again a great success and it is down to the organising team getting things right and to members and friends all pulling together on the day. I hope that you all enjoy your meal after this meeting that is a small way of saying thank you. Thank you to Ian for again providing us with a voucher for the raffle at the event for a stay at "Old Water View". I believe he has also offered to host next years AGM.

Next Year will see the 10^th "Three Rings" after which Tony as main organiser and Barbara as catering manager wish to step down. Unless we can find replacements for these positions it will be the last running of the event in its present form. Making it a one day event of 25 or 30 miles is a possibility.

 

GROUP SECRETARY'S REPORT

My eighth year in office has been generally quiet with little activity out with the Three Rings organisation. There have been no new members this year and one recent resignation so membership remains nominally at 29 though four of these are not paid up members and have not been seen for some years. There are also a few paid up members who do not appear at all and several who sadly now rarely walk with us because of health reasons. This leaves a core of eight or nine who attend with any degree of regularity.

Perhaps this is therefore a good time to consider and discuss the Group's future. The possibility of merging with neighbouring Groups is the next agenda item.

I attended the Local Groups Representative meeting in Ironbridge last November when a number of relevant issues were discussed. The minutes of the meeting are available for anyone interested.

I continue to maintain our website to the best of my ability. It is now essentially the only record of our activities since I became Group Secretary in 2006. It would be very helpful if walk leaders could make a few notes after each walk so that I can upload a report shortly after together with any photographs taken.

I would like to thank Derek for all his hard work as Walks Secretary over the last few years. Similarly thanks are due to all those who gave their time and effort so as to make the Three Rings its usual success. As you know next year will be the 10^th running of the Event and I, Barrie and Barbara will then be stepping down as principal organisers. I hope the event will continue under new management and will certainly make myself available to help and support anyone willing to take on the job. There will be a separate report on this year's Event later on in the meeting.

This will be my last year as Group Secretary as I feel it is time for a new person to introduce new ideas and take the Group forward. Please give some thought over the next twelve months to the appointment of my successor. As ever any suggestions or advice regarding the Group's future development will be gratefully received.

 

WALKS SECRETARY'S REPORT

We have had a full programme of monthly walks this year as detailed below:

28.10.12 AGM WALK 13 MILES 

11.11.12 LOWESWATER FELLS 15 MILES

16.12.12 MINCE PIE WALK 18 MILES

13.1.13 A STROLL BY OLD ITOUNA 17 MILES

24.2.13 COLEDALE FELLS 13 MILES

17.3.13 RING 2 24 MILES

21.4.13 CUMBRIA WAY CIRCULAR 18 MILES

12.5.13 SOLWAY STROLL 

12.7.13 AROUND FAIRFIELD 14 MILES

18.8.13 ASKHAM STROLL 20 MILES 

22.9.13 TIME FOR TEA - MARK 9 20 MILES

 

TREASURER'S REPORT

As always we are thankful for support of members and wives, relatives and friends for assistance on the Three Rings of Shap both on the day and in the lead up to the event .This year has once again seen a healthy increase in our funds. As agreed at 2012 AGM the payments to Great North Air Ambulance and Keswick Mountain Rescue were increased from £50 to £100. We have already bought several items such as entry forms, tallies and badges in advance of next year’s event .This year we hired a tent for Ring 3 checkpoint at a cost of £180.This year we purchased most of the checkpoint food from an outside caterer with a total cost approximately the same as the previous arrangement in 2012.

After taking this expenditure into account, our bank balance has increased by £380 on last year.

The membership fee of £5, although no longer necessary I feel should be retained as a demonstration of commitment to the Group.

Finally , in view of the continuing healthy financial position of the group, the Group will cover the cost of this evening’s meal as a “thank you” to everyone who has helped at this year’s and previous year’s Three Rings of Shap event.

 

QUARTERMASTER'S REPORT