Doncaster Ramblers

Minutes of Committee meeting 07/24

DONCASTER RAMBLERS

Minutes of committee meeting held on 22 July 2024
Finningley Village Hall

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

Members present: Kim Binnington.

1.   Apologies. David Gadd, Angela Gibson, Brian Milne and Peter Rowsell.

2.   Review of the minutes of the meeting on 02.05.24. These were accepted as accurate.

3.   Matters arising from the minutes of 02.05.24. None.

4.   Financial report. Given by David Horne. David reported that the balance in the bank was £2616.24. Refund of £22 received from FPC for hall hire. Also, received a credit of £80 from the Ramblers Walking Partnership. Income of £1067 received from participants in the coach trip in September of which £21 is to be refunded due to the trip being oversubscribed. Fuel costs of £99.85 for carrying out walk recces has been paid. A deposit of £50 has been paid to Buckleys for the coach trip and £21 returned to one member for the same. Membership fees of £22.50 has been paid to the Peak and Northern Footpath Society. The question of whether we should pay Walk Leaders fuel costs on the day of a walk was raised, it was agreed this was not practical or required. It was however agreed that a reminder would be issued to all members reminding them they can claim fuel expenses for carrying out a prewalk.

5.   Walks programme.

•   Tuesday walks. The walks programme is full up to and including 20.08.24, after that only one other walk listed for the 17.09.24. Charlie is concerned about the number of walk leaders coming forward and has issued an email plea for walks and raised the issue during the induction on the Tuesday walks.
•   Thursday walks. The walks programme is full up to and including 29.08.24, after this nothing on the programme. Concern has been expressed about the limited number of Thursday Walk leaders. Many of the walkers on Thursday are female who walk for the social aspect as much as the exercise and many do not want the responsibility of leading walks. As a group we have to accept that not all members want to lead walks and we need to cater for those and adapt to this.
•   Saturday walks. The walks programme is full up to and including the 28.09.24 with the exception of Saturday 07.09.24
•   Carer’s walks. Steve Tomlinson confirmed that Carers Walks in 2024 have taken place at Nostell Priory, Rufford Abbey, Ripley Castle, and Potteric Carr. The longer (6 miles) more difficult walk took place on 10 July 2025 from Redmires to Fox House Inn taking in Stanage and Burbage Edges. Remaining walks in 2024 are at Harewood House in July, and Brodsworth Hall and Lotherton Hall in Septemeber.
•   Coach trip. The trip is full with all 49 places taken. Prewalks still to be done but Steve Tomlinson will sort this with Neil Thornton and Gareth Cade. Neil has agreed to lead the medium walk, Steve Tomlinson the long walk. Gareth Cade will act as cover in case of sickness on the day. Charlie Pratt is leading the short walk and he will sort out his own prewalk. Subsequent to the meeting the prewalk will be done on Friday 16 August 2024.
•   MIND Walk. We have been asked to provide a presence on this walk from the Boat Inn on 28.08.24 to talk to participants on what Ramblers can offer. Several of the members who help on the Carers Walks have agreed to come along. See publicity report for further details on this walk.

 

6.   Membership. Current membership is 243 which is an increase of 5 since the last meeting. Membership levels are generally steady and the general trend is a slight increase.

7.   Publicity. See report below presented by Peter Rowsell.

8.   Rights of Way Maintenance. Report presented by Stuart Twell. The latest maintenance works session took place on the 17.07.24 in the Askern area and included the replacement of marker post and clearance work, see below.

•   Footpath Norton 18 finger post installed at junction with footpath Norton 19.

•   Footpath Norton 19 finger post installed where footpath joins Rings Lane.

•   Footpath Owston 15 finger post fitted at junction with footpath Askern 1. Also, metal steps cleaned, and vegetation cleared from bridge. Further clearance work was carried out where the footpath meets the A19.

Also considered was installing a fingerpost on footpath Askern 7 at its intersection with Norton 20 but it was concluded this area was susceptible to vandalism and a new post would probably not last long. Stuart advised the DCC have a list of areas subject to vandalism and have a policy of not replacing footpath signs etc. in these areas.

A Total of 10-man hours were spent on these tasks.

Stuart advised the next work session is around Moss and it will be complicated because many of the footpaths are some distance from vehicle access and are spread out. Stuart and Pete Smith are going to carry out a preliminary site visit to assess the work.

The work carried out during each session is notified to the membership by Mailchimp and a report and photos posted on Doncaster Ramblers website. This is so footpath checkers can see that problems they have identified are actioned. Stuart believes this is important as many members were not aware of the work the group does in maintaining the footpath network in our area. Stuart advised that he is looking at a 6 or 12 month report summarising the work carried out, again to update square walkers.

9.   Rights of Way Monitoring. Report presented by Dianne Scolari. Dianne has reminded square walkers of the need to get squares walked and reported early in the year and not leave everything to the end of the year. Numbers of RoW checked in 2024 has improved in the last month but still a lot left to do. On the walk the day after the meeting Stuart Twell made a plea for all square walkers to get on with the checking. Dianne has advised that if the work is done earlier in the year, it gives CDD time to clear footpaths blocked by vegetation. Dianne also advised that DCC are behind in clearing footpaths due to the wet weather earlier in the year.

10.   Any Other Business.

•    Prior to the meeting Peter Gravestock produced and emailed to all committee members adocument he had prepared on the Ramblers New Walk Leader Guidance. This document formed the basis of the discussion that followed. The following was agreed.
o    Walk leaders to be advised of the new guidance. This will be done by a group MailChimp email and by placing information on the Doncaster Ramblers website. Steve Tomlinson will prepare the MailChimp document and liaise with Brian Unsworth regarding what will be uploaded onto the website. Peter Gravestock to provide a list of the email addresses for all Doncaster Ramblers who are authorized Walk Leaders.
o    The above will include copies of the Walk Leaders Checklist and the new Risk Assessments. It will also include advice on back and middle markers
o    The MailChimp document will include a request for all walkers to respect the decisions made by the Walk Leader and to follow these instructions, and a request that all back and middle markers are issued with a route map and contact telephone numbers for the walk leader and the other markers.
o    It was agreed we do not want a walk booking system nor limit the numbers on a walk, though the latter can be set by the Walk leader if they so wish.
o    An additional paragraph will be included on our advertised walks regarding walkers having the appropriate equipment etc. Peter Gravestock will draft some words and include them; they can be amended at a later date if required.
o    Walkers’ details and emergency contact details to be managed by ICE cards supplied by Ramblers. Walk Leaders on each walk to check, by a show of hands,if all walkers carry them. Committee members and Walk Leaders to carry spare ICE cards. This was done by Stuart Twell on the walk the day after the meeting and about 50% of walkers had ICE cards in their rucksacks.
o    It was agreed to buy 6 first aid kits. Peter Gravestock to purchase. These to be distributed to Walk Leaders and committee members who are usually on the walks. It was also agreed at the start of each walk to check how many were carrying first aid kits, this was done on the walk the following day and 6 to 7 participants were carrying first aid kits which was sufficient.

 

The meeting closed at 2100
S J Tomlinson 22.07.24.

Publicity Officer's Report.

It has been a quiet time for PR engagements, so reliance on our “walking adventures” is even more important. Big thanks again to everyone sending in scripts, photos and videos of our walk. Remember this is not just a record of our walking / maintenance history, but an advert of Doncaster Ramblers

On Wednesday 26th June I attended GDM Networking event at the Bentley Pavilion. The format consisted of delegates (75 in total) choosing by way of coloured stickers as many as nine topics of interest. It was then a question of “hunting” among the delegates to find a match. The event has yielded two new contacts

Jenni Hall
Wellbeing Groups Coordinator
Doncaster Mind | Exchange Buildings | Second Floor |35 Market Place | Doncaster | DN1 1NE
T: 01302 812190
M: 07760 562448
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
See below

Lisa Hughes
Flourish
Lisa.hughes38@nhs-net
She was interested in doing a project in Tickhill but no further information forthcoming yet.

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Doncaster Mind

On Wednesday 28th August from 10am - 12pm (ish), Doncaster Mind are running a walking group, meeting at the Boat Inn in Sprotbrough past the Sprotbrough Flash and up to Conisbrough Viaduct - approximately 4 miles in total. It would be an absolute privilege if any of our members were able to join their group for the day, to tell people about the Ramblers to reduce the anxiety participants might feel about joining a group on their own. Steve Tomlinson has graciously agreed to take over this project.

Peter Rowsell July 2024

Peter Gavestock Comments on Ramblers New Walk Leaders Guidance.

Guidance for Walk Leaders

According to the updated guidance issued by Central Office, the role of Groups is to share knowledge and spread best practice. In order to fulfil this role, and taking account of the key issues raised in the guidance, I suggest we consider doing the following:

1 Email Walk leaders to inform them of the Walk Leaders Handbook and associated resources;

2 Give printed copies of the walk leaders checklist and risk assessment document to walk leaders but remind them that a written risk assessment is no longer required;

3 State that management of group size is at the walk leader's discretion, taking account of the nature of the walk and the experience of the group. However, our advice is to appoint a back marker for groups over 10 and a middle marker for groups over 30;

4 Decide our policy regarding walkers' contact details. In order to minimise administration and the burden on walk leaders, my suggestion would be to reiterate our previous requests for all walkers to carry an ICE card and to obtain more cards for distribution by leaders/committee members at the start of walks;

5 Consider putting a standard statement in the Additional Details section of all our advertised walks saying that it is the responsibility of everyone coming on the walk to ensure they have appropriate clothing, adequate food and drink and carry an ICE card (or equivalent);

6 Consider buying 6 first aid kits to be carried by volunteer committee members of other regular walkers. The aim would be to distribute them such that there would be at least two on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday walks. We should stress that the carrier is not expected to be first aid trained.