Board of Trustees Meeting 20th September 2009

Board of Trustees Meeting 20th September 2009

The board meeting took place on the Sunday, at Losehill Hall in Hope, Derbyshire, following a weekend of reviewing the strategy, Fresh Air, Firm Ground, with the Senior Management Team (SMT). On the Saturday evening, we were joined at dinner by Graham Rothery, Staffordshire Area Chair, Terry Perkins, Greater Manchester and High Peak Area Chair, and Salle Dare, Greater Manchester and High Peak Area Secretary. We were also joined by Katherine Hudson from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, who gave a presentation on the challenges faced by membership organisations.

Following the weekend, where many important decisions were taken, a letter was sent to Area Chairs and Secretaries, with the request that it be cascaded to other volunteers.

Business Plan and Budget for 2009/10

• We gave broad approval to the Business Plan for the coming financial year (which begins on 1st October). The plan sets out how we intend to raise income, and what we will spend it on. Targets for the year include: 500 paths unblocked, saved, or newly recorded; influencing the implementation of coastal access and responding to Natural England’s four national pilot schemes; developing a Ramblers strategy for the review of access land; and the production of a Manifesto for the Walking Environment. The full business plan will be published shortly.
• We approved a balanced budget for the coming year. This is the first time in many years that a balanced budget has been set. The Board also agreed a specific additional investment of £50,000, to be spent on extra staffing capacity to make improvements to the CRM system. This will iron out the biggest problems which volunteers have faced, and will help to generate additional income from fundraising.

Announcements

• We noted with sadness the deaths of Gordon Edwards, Member Ivel Valley Group (Bedfordshire). A long time member of the Ramblers, he devised, created and way-marked the Bunyan Trail. He was an enthusiastic and very committed member of the footpath committee. We also noted with sadness the death of Brian Healey, footpath officer for Ceredigion.

Chief Executive’s report

• We received an update on the CRM system. Individual subscription problems have now broadly been dealt with, gift aid claims are now submitted to HM Treasury on a monthly basis (important for cash flow), people who join via the website now have their details automatically uploaded into the CRM (saving staff time to focus on answering enquiries). Most importantly, the oldest membership application was now just one week old. Progress is still needed on improving the membership reports for membership secretaries, and fixing problems with label runs.
• The Chief Executive reported on a number of campaigns successes, national and local, over the past months. Our coastal access campaign is on the verge of a significant milestone, with the Marine and Coastal Access Bill about to become law. A path has been added to the map in Shiplake, Oxfordshire, with clear benefits for local people. This was a local campaign supported from central office, with advice given over the years. Our Rights of Way Improvement campaign, focussing on funding, has got off to an excellent start. We already have the support of Natural England, and the Local Government Association (LGA) – they are each helping us to build a broad coalition of supporters. The first local authority to sign up in support is Lake District National Park Authority, and three others have now signed up. Our petition on the No.10 website, calling for the repeal of the 2026 cut-off date to record public paths, had attracted 6,431 signatures by the time it closed in July. The Government responded, referring to the work of the Stakeholder Working Group (SWG) - on which we have a representative. It is hoped the SWG will agree a set of proposals soon. Somerset Ramblers held a useful meeting with the Cabinet Member for the Environment in August. The council promised closer partnership working, as well as commitments to involve the Ramblers in discussions on budgets for rights of way and access. The Somerset campaign was originally set up with the help of central office staff. During July and August our profile was raised in the media via coverage on the 'cows issue'. We have successfully worked with the National Farmers Union (NFU) to produce a joint news release on cows and walkers, with further joint initiatives in the pipeline.
• Other successes include 800 people signing up at three Get Walking, Keep Walking events in Manchester, Birmingham, and Whitechapel; meetings with Olympic chiefs to discuss encouraging walking to Olympic events; completion of a family walking project in Barrow in Furness involving 120 adults and children, and the start of a small project to encourage people in cities to go to the countryside to walk.

Trustee/Area Communications

• We agreed that the Area Communication scheme – linking individual trustees with Areas had gone well and this would be continued. Rodney Whittaker (Chair) and Tom Franklin (Chief Executive) would be setting up a series of regional meetings with volunteers, to listen to concerns and to explain the background to the difficult decisions on spending.

Office accommodation

• We agreed to extend the lease on Camelford House, London, which is due for renewal early next year, and that we would look for suitable tenants to sub-let spare space, to help reduce costs. We also agreed we were minded to move the central office of the Ramblers out of London when there is a break clause in the lease, in five years time. This could save money, and also put us closer to the centre of Britain. Senior managers were asked to explore options and report back to us.

Scotland and Wales

• We received and considered reports from both the Welsh Council Executive Committee (WCEC) and the Scottish Council Executive Committee (SCEC), expressing deep concern about the reductions in spending for Wales and Scotland which we had agreed at our meeting in May, including the closure of the physical offices. We discussed the views of some members that separate organisations should be established in Scotland and Wales.
• We heard from SMT that the physical offices in Scotland and Wales would remain open for the coming year because of lease commitments, and a new project fundraising staff post had been created for Scotland and Wales, to help raise funds from trusts and statutory sources. Both of these changes had been budgeted for.
• The unanimous view of the Board was that it is in the best interests of walkers in Scotland, Wales and England for the Ramblers to operate across the whole of Great Britain as one organisation, and we pledged to work with members in Scotland, Wales and England to achieve this. However, we also recognised that members in Scotland and Wales have the right, were they to wish to move to separate sister organisations, to be able to do so. We would, in this event, work amicably with them to make this possible.

Countryside protection

• Following widespread consultation, we agreed that our work on countryside protection be refocused onto issues specifically relevant to those who walk, and the walking environment. The topics of countryside work we will take forward will include: transport, the ‘walkability’ of places, national and regional planning and development, and nationally designated landscapes.

Action taken on motions to GC

• The Board considered a report on actions taken to implement motions passed at General Council, and agreed that the report should be circulated to GC delegates and Areas.

Area letters

• We received and noted a number of letters from Areas, including Surrey, Kent, Derbyshire, and Glamorgan.

Agenda Committee

• The Board agreed that, in addition to Harry Mycock, Len Banister would the second Board representative on the Agenda Committee.