Doncaster Ramblers

Minutes of Committee meeting 05/24

DONCASTER RAMBLERS

Minutes of committee meeting held on 2 May 2024
Finningley Village Hall

Committee members present: Stephen Tomlinson, David Gadd, Angela Gibson, Dave Binnington, David Horne, Peter Rowsell, Stuart Twell, Brian Milne, Dianne Scolari, Brian Unsworth and Peter Gravestock

Members present: Kim Binnington.

David Gadd commenced the meeting by welcoming three new committee members, Stuart Twell footpath maintenance, Diane Scolari footpath monitoring and Brian Unsworth webmaster.

1.   Apologies. Tony Marsh, Advised Stuart Twell would deputise for him at this meeting

2.   Review of the minutes of the meeting on 17.07.23. These were accepted as accurate.

3.   Matters arising from the minutes of 17.07.23. None.

4.   Financial report. Given by David Horne. David reported that the balance in the bank was £1640.64. Recent payments to Finningley Parish Council (FPC) for the hall hire in January (£22) and £66 for this meeting and the other two in 2024. David advised that we are waiting a refund of £22 from FPC as they have agreed to reimburse the hall hire for tonight due to a problem with double booking. Also paid £65.88 of expenses to the Chair for the Flickr account for photos on our website. David explained we have very limited expenditure as we no longer provide a printed programme post Covid. All walks are solely promoted via our web page.

5.   Walks programme.

•   Tuesday walks. All Tuesdays are full up to 18 June 2024 apart from 11 June. Charlie Pratt maintains close control of this programme though he is concerned it is a limited number of people leading walks and new walk leaders are not coming forward.
•   Thursday walks. David Gadd reported the programme is full with every Thursday covered to 20 June 2024. David reported a similar problem with shortage of walk leaders. David advised he was getting substantial numbers on Thursday walks, 31 attended on 02 May 2024, and expressed a concern about car parking at start points if numbers continue to increase. Discussed possibility of setting up a WhatsApp group for car share on a Thursday but concern was expressed over safety as the walkers tend be individuals rather than friendship groups.
•   Saturday walks. Angela Gibson reported that the programme is full to the 20 June 2024 with the exception of 25 May 2024 and 1 June 2024.
•   Carer’s walks. Steve Tomlinson confirmed the first two Carer's walks of 2024 had taken place. Five carers walked at Nostell Priory and 9 at Rufford Abbey. The programme has been agreed with Alyssa Mills and there will be a further 6 walks in 2024. The longer (6 miles) more difficult walk will take place on 10 July 2025 from Redmires to Fox House Inn taking in Stanage and Burbage Edges. We have a group of 6 members who help out on these walks which is ample to cover holidays etc.

 

6.   Membership. Brian Milne reported on membership. Current membership is 238 which is a reduction of 5 since the last meeting. Over the last 3 months we have had 7 resignations. Membership levels are generally steady and the general trend is a slight increase. The issue of Boundless Plus for members who work or are retired from the public sector or civil service was discussed. For a financial contribution to Ramblers those who pay for Boundless plus will get Ramblers membership included. This may or may not increase our active membership.

7.   Publicity. See report below presented by Peter Rowsell. Discussions on Peter’s report as follows.

•    It was agreed that we would not place an advert in the Free Press Special Supplement if Doncaster Rovers are successful in reaching the League 2 playoff final at Wembley. We gained no new members from the advert we placed in the Free Press in 2023 and it is likely it would be the same result again. It was agreed that our success in attracting new members and keeping our membership numbers stable is down to the effort Peter puts into publicity via our website and Facebook.
•    It was agreed we should retitle the Walk Report section on the website to Walk and Maintenance Reports. Brian Unsworth to liaise with Peter on this. The maintenance reports have been sent out to members via Mailchimp but Peter is concerned he is not receiving this information for wider publicity, such as the local press. It was agreed in future that Stephen Tomlinson would send a copy of the maintenance reports as Word document to Peter so they are available for external publicity.
•    David Gadd and Peter Rowsell have produced a guidance document on photography during walks and the preparation of walk reports with the aim of getting more members involved in the taking and preparation of these valuable records which are used extensively to promote Doncaster Ramblers. The general feeling of the meeting was that many members are reluctant to carry out these tasks as they think they do not have the skills or, if they are the walk leader, feel they have already significantly contributed. This issue was discussed with Charlie Pratt during the walk on the Tuesday before the meeting and his opinion was that we are struggling to persuade people to take up a role as walk leader so we are unlikely to get people to write reports etc. This matter to be discussed further with David and Peter.
•    See comment sent by Martin Wyman following the meeting with an update from the Developer on the proposed footpath diversion at Fenwick for the construction of a proposed solar farm. This is provided below the Publicity report appended to the minutes.

 

8.   Rights of Way Maintenance. Report presented by Stuart Twell. We have had two maintenance sessions in 2024 with a total of 24 manhours. The next session is Wednesday 8 May 2024, the work scheduled includes replacement of a horse stile at Rossington and the replacement of two finger posts at Rossington. We are generally carrying out 4 to 5 jobs per work session. City of Doncaster Council (CDC) have praised our team’s workmanship indicating that marker posts installed by our team, 75% last for anticipated 8 years whereas those installed by others only 25% survive for 8 years. Stuart has an upcoming meeting with CDC at Norton and Moss to look at future work, this has been delayed due to the wet ground conditions and distance from vehicle access. Stuart advised that the work carried out by our team is non urgent, problems reported which are considered to be hazardous would be dealt with immediately by CDC. Stuart also advised that CDC are purchasing more galvanized kissing gates. Two people who are not members of Ramblers have attended the maintenance sessions, Tony Marsh has advised CO and they have been added to the insurance policy. The work carried out during each session is notified to the membership by Mailchimp. This is so footpath checkers can see that problems they have identified are actioned.

9.   Rights of Way Monitoring. Report presented by Dianne Scolari. Dianne advised she had taken over the role of coordinating the footpath monitoring from Tony Marsh at the beginning of 2024. At this time 4 to 5 squares were unallocated but currently all squares have checkers, some squares with a significant number of footpaths have more than one checker. Dianne advised that one checker is not a Rambler member and they have been added to the insurance by CO. Diane has had a meeting with CDC to confirm the checkers have the up-to-date footpath information, one square is outstanding but will be resolved shortly. CDC also want limited information on footpath problems, photos not necessary, a short description of the work required plus a grid reference from the OS Locate App. Square checkers have been advised of this requirement. Dianne, Stuart and Pete Smith are looking into whether it is worth developing a spreadsheet of footpaths in CDC. This is still under discussion but advised that if it goes ahead, they will need help from somebody experienced. Stuart Twell advised he is claiming a Right of Way in Fishlake. David Gadd advised that on 21 September 2024, in Leeds, he is attending a course ‘Restoring the Record’ reclaiming the lost RoW. Others members welcome to attend. Another member might be interested!

10.   Any Other Business.

•    Update on Central Office draft document about “Safety on Group Walks”. On April 17 2024 members received an email with the new Walk Leaders Handbook and various other documents such as the revised risk assessment, signing in sheet etc. Some committee members had not reviewed this documentation and it was suggested that they do, so a meaningful discussion could be held at a later date. David Gadd advised that he would produce a short note, to be passed to Walk Leaders, to advise them on the online training available. This will be circulated to the committee members before distribution. The documentation was emailed to all committee members the day after the meeting in case anyone had deleted this email.
•    Due to a change in management of Finningley Village Hall there has been some confusion over the dates of the remaining meetings for 2024. The meeting dates are confirmed as Monday 22 July 2024 and for the AGM 21 October 2024.
•    Coach trip 2024. It was agreed there was a demand for such a trip this year. Stephen Tomlinson agreed have look into it. A request was made for the HF and Pathfinders weekend walk dates so that a clash could be avoided.
•    Angela Gibson confirmed that Bob Carlisle had requested a date for the Twixmass walk so he could look at booking the Bennetthorpe Sports and Social Club. It was agreed either Friday 27 December 2024 or Monday 30 December would be suitable as this would avoid the busy Xmas and New Year celebrations.
•    David Gadd confirmed he has booked Tickhill Pavilion for the Ramblers AGM in 2025.
•    Brian Unsworth confirmed the only recent change to the website was changing the logo for Ramblers Holidays to Ramble Worldwide.

 

The meeting closed at 2045
S J Tomlinson 25.02.24.

Publicity Officers Report.

Following an item on the national news regarding the number of blocked PRoW in England, I was disappointed that we did not take up the chance of having a BBC Look North film crew observe our maintenance team at work, here in Doncaster.

Do we now have regular updates with photos and commentary, of maintenance activity? If so, the photos will easily upload to Flickr, the text is more difficult to place and I suggest a new tab “Maintenance report” alongside the walk report, or it could appear (text and photos, or text alone) under the volunteer tab.

With photos and reports in mind, how can we encourage more walker to have a go at photography and script writing? These photos and scripts are an important record and shouldn’t be left for one or two people to do. David and I have come up with a few ideas for those who want to give it a go.

David and I attended “Get Doncaster Moving” seminar held this year at the Ivanhoe Centre Conisbrough in March. Much of what was discussed had little value for us other than giving us the chance to meet council staff with whom we liaise from time to time. More recently the Council “Get Doncaster Moving” team have asked us to produce a blog which will be used in their “Walking month May” campaign. The Blog can be viewed by clicking on the following link https://getdoncastermoving.org/news-listing/2024/05/blog-a-short-history-of-doncaster-ramblers

Doncaster Rovers DFP Supplement

Question, how much money has been spent on PR/Marketing in the past few years?

How much money is in the bank?

Having our brand linked to the town’s football team can only be positive

Facebook reviews Last 28 days

Followers: 4,126
Post reach 88,969
Post engagement 13,868
New Page likes 14
New followers 29

I have stopped acknowledging every new “like” with a “thanks for liking….” even though some have resulted in promises of joining, because there are simply too many. One recent post attracted 49 thumbs up!

Also on FB’ I’ve noticed more and more small walking groups being set up, usually location based, offering weekend or evening short walks. Their pages may include a walk description and pictures.

Campaign against solar farm in Moss / Fenwick. One of our members Sharon Wilson Walton is looking for help to prevent this going ahead. I assume all we can do is discover what impact this might have on local footpaths?

Peter Rowsell 02.05.24

Information from Martin Wyman re Fenwick Solar Farm submitted after the meeting.

Information extracted from the Developers latest documentation.

WILL PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY BE AFFECTED?

No Public Rights of Way (PRoW) will be permanently closed up as a result of our works on the Scheme. The footpath Public Right of Way Sykehouse 29, which runs immediately south of Bunfold Shaw, will however be permanently diverted. The diversion will run approximately 50 m south of the existing PRoW, through the same field during the construction and operation and maintenance phases. The permanent diversion will follow the path that we understand residents typically use. Consultation carried out with local residents during the previous round of consultation, as well as engagement carried out with the council, confirmed that most users of the PRoW do not currently follow the existing mapped route, and instead follow the route which is designed as the permanent diversion for the Scheme. The routes of some PRoW may be slightly altered for a short time while we install cables across these paths, however no PRoW will be permanently closed.