NEC MEETING 22 October 2016


Dear Member

NEC MEETING 22 OCTOBER 2016 – CHAIR’S UPDATE

Here is the update of NEC members’ progress and key items discussed at the most recent NEC meeting held on the 22 October. With a full house and a long agenda we did well to finish by my (self-imposed) mid-afternoon deadline.

GENERAL UPDATES

  • Sandy (Treasurer) is working on the 2016 accounts for approval at the January NEC meeting. A budget surplus is being forecast.
  • Phil (Gen. Sec) busy with arrangements for the coming elections at the next AGM.  He confirmed the Walking Man Logo has now been registered (to prevent unauthorised use).
  • Adam (IT) organised an inaugural meeting of the Internet Sub-Committee by teleconference. It worked well and saved money. There is a developing programme of IT projects and current projects include:
    • Improving robustness/disaster recovery of web site, harmonisation work under way.  
    • Web site of the future? Considering options.
    • Web site now has new server with considerably improved storage/memory and processing power.
    • Setting up a new system for electronic voting at next NEC election.
    • Developing PACER (Participant Activity Control for Events and Results), incorporating improvements following trial events.
  • Steph (Membership) reported that the number of voting members now exceeded 10,000 for the first time. Splitting family memberships was successfully completed and family members will now receive 2 membership cards.
  • Julie W, our Strider editor (and Sports Journalist), described the recent walk she led for London Group entitled ‘The Spurs Way’, a circular tour of historic sites associated with Tottenham Hotspur FC! Julie suggested there might be scope for further themed walks! 
  • Neil (LDPs).Some more volunteers recruited to work on updating the data base but long term solution needed. To be discussed at Local Groups meeting.
  • David H (Publicity) is recovering from his back op and starting on catch up. Dave and Jane Williams will be working on the promotional video (thanks to those who have offered their help) and David is organising the production of large (A0) posters to add to the stock of materials he already distributes. Also developing guidance for Local Groups on publicity.
  • Julie C (Local Groups)was concerned that some of her e mail communications to Local Groups are not being received. Adam will investigate.
  • Dave M (100s) announced that the South Wales Group will host the 2020 100. It will be based on Abergavenny and called 'Y 100 Sir Fynwy’ (translation The Monmouthshire 100). Dave F-H to be the NEC rep.  Dave M also gave an update on the current 100s, all proceeding to schedule although the Hadrian 100 were encountering some difficulties in obtaining agreements on access to National Parks on the route.
  • Christopher (Data Protection/Risk) has produced Briefing Notes on Data Protection for Local Groups. He is also updating the LDWAs risk register.
  • David F-H (Challenge Events) listed 52 Challenge Events for December to April against 54 for the same period in 2015. Are we losing more events than we are gaining? He also reported attempts by National Park Authorities and National Trust to charge for access. Any event organisers experiencing similar problems please let Dave know.

(Gail is also co-ordinating information on access problems so please let us know of any other similar problems, particularly involving National Parks, National Trust and similar organisations that you encounter).

  • Jane Williams (Social Media) confirmed in a written report that as well as Facebook and Twitter, we now have a presence on Pinterest. Instagram and Flickr are also options as well as using Hootsuite. The latter helps to manage multiple social media networks.
  • Tim Glenn (Merchandise) also in a written report confirmed sales as average and that 2 new lines will be added in April.

ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST.

 

The  AGM Agenda. Two proposals from the NEC will require AGM approval viz:

  1. An increase in membership fee for international members. The current fee payable by international members is higher than that payable by UK members but does not now cover the cost of posting Strider outside the UK. If International members wish to continue to receive paper Strider their fee will be increased. Those willing to receive only e Strider will pay the UK equivalent membership fee.
  2. A change to the terms and conditions for members of the LDWA National Committee. All NEC members currently are subject to annual re-election. The proposal allows for members to serve fixed terms of 5 years (3 years for the Chair). Full details of the proposal will be published approx. six weeks before the AGM.

Local Groups Weekend. Stratford YH (18-20 November) 

Julie reported 34 bookings from 21 Local Groups and 5 NEC members. The agenda was being finalised but agenda items identified during this meeting included the following from the NEC: LDPs, Rules for 100s etc, Social Media update, Rights of Way and the Business Plan.

Honorarium

A honorarium has been awarded to Janet Chapman in recognition of her hard work, particularly on the distribution side, as part of the LDWA Membership Team. 

Rules for 100s, the establishment of a Disciplinary Panel and outsourcing of 100s 

  • It appears that local groups are not currently volunteering to consider organising future 100's, and the association may need to consider an alternative approach to ensuring the longevity of the event. One possibility would be the outsourcing of the organisation of the event to a professional outdoor event company. We recognise that this will be controversial but without volunteers our association needs to consider alternative methods. We will be considering this issue further.
  • The 100 rules have been standardised but the NEC recognises that with different groups organising the annual event, consistency towards how members who breach the rules of the event and / or bring the association into disrepute needs to be dealt with centrally. This would provide a corporate memory of how reported incidents pertinent to the event have been addressed. David M will be presenting his thoughts on how this might work at the Local Groups weekend.

Definitive Map of Rights of Way and 2026 cut-off for registration

Christopher (Environment) has been investigating how the LDWA might best be involved in the work currently being undertaken by the Open Spaces Society and the Ramblers to ensure that paths not listed on definitive maps of rights of way should be listed before the cut-off date of 2026.

LDWA Business Plan

Gail (Chair) presented a draft of the LDWA Business Plan, a summary of which will be presented to the Local Groups meeting. The preliminary sections of the paper, covering the need for a Plan, Setting the Scene (history, how we manage ourselves etc) and an analysis of what we do well, not so well etc.) have all been written. The focus now needs to be on confirming the suggested plans for the future and developing action plans.

All for now folks. Keep the comments coming and happy walking. 

Next NEC meeting 28 January.

 

Gail Elrick

Chair@LDWA.org.uk