The Ramblers HAMPSHIRE AREA www.hampshireramblers.hampshire.org.uk Annual Report to 30 September 2014 Annual General Meeting: Saturday 7 February 2015 2.00pm to 5:00pm Jubilee Hall, Bishops Waltham SO32 1ED AGM hosted by Waltham group Contents 1. AGM Agenda 2. The Annual Report The report addresses the Ramblers basic objectives and seeks to show what has been achieved during the year, and tasks for the future. It is addressed to the Board of Trustees, Central Office and Members of Hampshire Area. It has been prepared from inputs provided by Area Officers and Groups. The report contains the following sections. Chairman’s introduction Statement of Hampshire Area and Membership Area Administration and Organisation Audited Income and Expenditure Treasurer’s report Membership Footpaths Access and Walking Environment National Parks in our Area Publicity Group Reports Tables of the names, telephone numbers and email addresses of current Area and Group officers Notes: This report is not intended for distribution outside the Ramblers’ Association, although extracts may be used for publicity. Copies are distributed to Ramblers Central Office, Hampshire Area Officers and Groups. Copies will be available for individuals at the AGM, or may be obtained post-free from the Area Secretary – see Hampshire Rambler for details. A copy will be posted on the Hampshire Area website. 1 RAMBLERS (HAMPSHIRE AREA) AREA AGM Saturday 7 February 2015 2:00pm Jubilee Hall, Bishops Waltham Guest speaker: Jane Cecil General Manager for the National Trust in the South Downs. AGENDA 1. Welcome by Chairman 2. Apologies for absence 3. Approval of Minutes of AGM held on 8 February 2014 4. Matters arising 5. Appointment of 2 Tellers (Waltham group) 6. Acceptance of Annual Report 7. Acceptance of Annual Accounts (see following page) 8. Election of Officers and Members of Area Council Chairman (Owen Plunkett – standing down) Vice-Chairman (Alan Marlow – willing to continue if elected) Secretary (David Nixon - willing to continue if elected) Treasurer (Rachel Norris - willing to continue if elected) Membership Secretary (David Nichols - willing to continue if elected) Walking Environment (Phil Wood - willing to continue if elected) Access Officer (Alan Marlow – willing to continue if elected) Footpath Secretariat (Peter Sollars - willing to continue if elected) (Alan Marlow – willing to continue if elected) (Stuart Shurlock - willing to continue if elected) (Margaret Mathieson - willing to continue if elected) (Phil Wood - willing to continue if elected) Publicity Officer (Owen Plunkett - willing to continue if elected) Editor, Hampshire Rambler (Alan Mather – willing to continue if elected) Individual members (Ruth Croker – willing to continue if elected) Affiliated groups VACANCY - volunteer required 9. Appointment of:Webmaster (Mark Austin) 10. Appointment of Independent Examiner (Clive Thompsett) 11. Motions for General Council 12. Election of 3 Delegates to Ramblers GC 2015 (28-29 March, Cambridge) 13. Any other business 14. 2016 Area AGM to be hosted by NE Hants group 2 3 HAMPSHIRE RAMBLERS - AREA ANNUAL REPORT 1 October 2013 to 30 September 2014 OBJECTIVES The objectives of this report are to provide groups with encouragement to review each year their contribution to the achievement of the Ramblers constitutional aims to enable Area Council to exercise its role as manager of Ramblers activity in Hampshire to report to the Ramblers Chief Executive, as required by the Ramblers Constitution CHAIRPERSON’S INTRODUCTION Owen Plunkett A very warm welcome to the Area AGM, which is kindly hosted by the Waltham group. I would also like to extend a special welcome to our guest speakers, Jane Cecil, who is a General Manager for the National Trust in the South Downs and to Paul Strong, sent as an observer from Central Office. Jane Cecil previously worked for the Countryside Agency and was very much involved with the setting up of the South Downs National Park. We will be celebrating the 5th Anniversary of SDNP on Saturday 4 April with an event at the South Downs Centre in Midhurst. Kate Ashbrook and Margaret Paren have already agreed to attend and give short presentations. These will be followed with a short walk, after which we will return to the Centre, with the option of a tour of the premises (well worthwhile) and finishing with tea. We hope to see many of you there. We will be celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the formation of our organisation this year. Hopefully, the Area Council and all the Hampshire groups will put on at least one event to mark the occasion and to highlight our great achievements. As I write this in early January, I fear the Ramblers are involved in another crisis. Proposals have been put forward by a panel for what I consider are quite unacceptable Governance changes. All members were asked to complete a badly constructed survey, which gives little chance to put forward opposing views. Not surprisingly, just 0.7% of the membership responded! A recent Area Council meeting condemned the proposals with no dissent and I am not sure I have spoken to a single member who is in favour. My hope is that by the time you read this the board of Trustees will have rejected the proposals. If not, it will be up to General Council to do so. Of course our delegates to the General Council should have the opportunity to comment on whatever proposals are put forward. Another issue which has been discussed by both Area Council and local groups is the future of the Hampshire Rambler. This has been a very successful publication, particularly so under our present editor, Alan Mather and I very much hope we will continue to produce it. The cost for 3 issues works out at approximately 40p per member per year- a very modest sum! I won’t say more as our secretary, David Nixon, has given more details in a separate article. I am expecting this to be the last time that I write this column as a new Chairperson should be elected at this AGM. I have enjoyed my role, but it is now high time someone else took over. So I would like to thank the officers and group delegates for their support and hard work during the last 8 years. Best wishes for a successful year in your campaigning. Happy walking! THE EXTENT OF HAMPSHIRE AREA AND MEMBERSHIP Hampshire Area consists of the County of Hampshire and the Unitary Authorities of Portsmouth and Southampton. Area comprises 15 groups and had a total membership of 4408 on 30 September 2014. 14 organisations are affiliated to Hampshire Area. 4 AREA ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANISATION Area Council has held four meetings during the year. Area Council comprises the Area Officers and representatives from groups. Each Area Council meeting receives a financial report from the Treasurer, also regular updates on Membership, Footpaths, Access, Walking Environment, Publicity and the Hampshire Rambler. Area Council prepares an annual budget and discusses and agrees the allocation of money from Central Office to the Area groups. TREASURER’S REPORT Rachel Norris Hampshire Area has ended the financial year with reserves of £3,849.06. This represents a decrease of about 30% since last year. The decrease is the result of a decision to reduce Area reserves in line with guidance from Central Office. Area received income of £7,402 from Central Office of which £5,891 was passed on to the groups leaving an Area income of £1511. We also received a donation of £50 towards practical footpath work. The main items of expenditure this year were:- £1520 costs for printing Hampshire Rambler. This figure is lower than the 2012-2013 figure because only 2 editions were produced this year. We received £459 in advertising revenue to offset against this expenditure. £397 to purchase a new kissing gate which was installed on the Allan King Way. £395 towards a new boardwalk on the Brenda Parker Way at the request of Hartley Wespall Parish Council. £500 for the purchase of a GPS with maps by the North Hampshire Downs group. It should be noted that the group returned £500 of their funding to Area last year. The funding requests for 2014-2105 have been submitted and approved. The total funding requested by the groups was £6,215 which was slightly higher than last year. Three groups did not request any funding, seven accepted their default allocations and three requested figures only slightly above the default allocation. Two groups requested significantly higher amounts, one in order to undertake practical work, the other to cover printing costs for walks programmes. The Area funding request for 2014-2015 is £2,635 which is estimated to be sufficient to cover costs and maintain the current reserves. We will consider reducing reserves further by undertaking practical work if the need arises. MEMBERSHIP David Nichols At the year-end, 30th September 2014, the membership total for Hampshire Area was 4408. This represents a loss of members on the year of 18, a much reduced loss compared with the previous loss of 231. Costs are still playing a part in Ramblers but the monthly payment of subscriptions seems to have helped. The “No Group” section has slowed and has shown only an increase of 15 net during the year. It is possible the benefits of belonging to a group are being felt. My thanks, as always, are to the valiant membership secretaries throughout the county who, have made my job so much easier. To those who have stepped down this year, my especial thanks for all they have done over the years. Welcome to the new secretaries who have taken their place, thank you for volunteering. 5 GROUP MEMBERSHIP - 01 OCTOBER 2014 GROUP TOTAL ALTON 240 ANDOVER 192 MEON 340 NEW FOREST 492 N.E.