The Board of Trustees met at Central Office on Saturday 24th July. We welcomed our youngest-ever attendee - two-month old Danny Montgomery, the new son of trustee Eleanor Harris. Unlike others present, he was permitted to sleep quietly through most of the meeting.
Announcements
The Board noted with sadness the death of Geoff Stevenson, who was a member of the Ramblers for over 50 years. He was an active member of the former Southern Area of the Ramblers and joined the Inner London Area committee when it was set up over 20 years ago.
Chief Executive’s Report
The Chief Executive reported that the Ramblers has been shortlisted for Third Sector Magazine’s Excellence Awards, in the category of ‘brand development’. We will find out in the Autumn if we have won.
He reported on the launch of our ‘Dead End for Walkers?’ campaign, highlighting the risks to public paths from threatened cuts in local authority spending. This is part of our major campaigning theme for the coming year, and we are highlighting 20 local authorities where there are threatened budget cuts or massive backlogs in clearing paths. He reported on the intensive lobbying which was taking place around both rights of way funding, and funding for coastal access.
The Chief Executive reported that Get Walking Day took place in May, with about 50% more walks than last year. About 6,000 special ‘£1 membership forms’ were sent to participating groups, of which 2,000 were handed out, and about 700 returned. All of these have signed up by direct debit, and we hope they will renew next year. In 2011, Get Walking Day will be on 15th May, and Groups are being urged to start organising walks so that it will be the biggest ever.
He said that more than 32,000 ‘Get Walking, Keep Walking’ packs have been distributed to people new to walking (beating our target for the project), and that we’ll soon be producing an on-line version. This project is paid for by the Big Lottery Fund and the Ramblers Holidays Charitable Trust.
He reported that the Senior Management Team had, during July, been telephoning Groups that are reporting either membership growth or membership shrinkage, to ask why they thought this was happening. He reported that the Groups were generally pleased to receive the calls, and to share information. Whilst there was no ‘single issue’ which he could say to groups, “if you do this, you will grow”, he did detect some themes. Groups which are growing tend to:
- ‘hug the newcomer’
- emphasise the social
- put on easy walks as well as all the others
- use electronic communication (either website, email or social networking)
- do publicity
- constantly recruit new volunteers
- have a positive frame of mind
- try new things
- have a couple of ‘stars’ who get things going.
Groups that are shrinking often:
- have lots of volunteer vacancies
- have no new blood on the committee
- feel a bit tired, lacking new ideas
- have stopped doing publicity
- aren’t going out of their way to recruit new members.
Finances
The Board received a forecast to the end of the financial year (end of September) as well as the latest monthly accounts. They show a forecast surplus to the end of the year of c£650k. This is largely due to: additional legacy income of c£370k (one-off); the claiming of c£150k previously unclaimed gift aid stretching back to 2003 (one-off – made possible by the new CRM software); membership income being c£100k higher than forecast. The Honorary Treasurer welcomed the positive forecast, however he pointed out that apart from additional membership income, the rest of it was one-off and thus could not be relied on in future years.
Key Performance Indicators
The Board reviewed the latest monthly Key Performance Indicators. These are 16 key indicators – covering finance, membership, campaigns, and organisation – which give a snap-shot of how we’re are performing against the Business Plan Target. Of the 16, we are on track with 14, and behind with two.
Budgets and Targets for 2010/11
The Board reviewed the Business Plan for 2010/11 (starting from October), and approved the budget and targets. The Board approved a base budget for 2010/11 which balanced, plus additional spending of £314k (taken from this year’s surplus). It also agreed to put £250k aside into a specially designated fund for the possibility of having to make good a pensions shortfall in the future. As part of the budget, it was agreed to put £130k aside into a specially designated legal fund, to pay for national legal walking environment casework; to fund a modest investment in our website; to increase the amount spent on marketing to help achieve our target of membership growth; and to increase the total budget for Areas and Groups from £340k to £400k. It was also agreed to expand the ‘Information and Inspiration’ booklet for new members, which would be pocket-sized, and taken out on walks, with useful information on what to do about footpath problems, basic legal rights, etc.
The Board also approved the targets, linked to our four priorities for the coming year:
- To end the year with more members than we started
- More charitable income
- Protecting and improving the path network
- More efficiency and effectiveness in the way the charity works
The Board agreed membership rates for the coming year, based on an inflation increase. Individual annual rates will be £31, and joint rates will be £41. Following an original proposal from Surrey Area for a direct debit incentive, it was agreed that new members signing up by direct debit could be offered a discount of up to 50% for the first year (the details are yet to be worked out and will be communicated to Areas and Groups over the next few months). The Board also agreed a new monthly payment option to be introduced from April 2011 at £3 per month (single membership) and £4 per month (joint membership).
The Business Plan, as well as a four page summary, will be published in September for Areas and Groups, and will be discussed at the Special National and Regional meetings taking place around Britain with the Chair and Chief Executive, this Autumn.
The Chief Executive emphasised that the Business Plan was for the whole charity – not just central office. We needed all parts of the charity, including Areas and Groups, to help achieve our targets such as growing our membership.
Sub-Committees
The Board agreed that Jonathan Kipling, the Honorary Treasurer, would chair the Finance and Audit Sub-committee; Gus Halfhide would chair the Strategy and Governance Sub-committee; and Kate Ashbrook would chair the Campaigns and Marketing Sub-committee.
Governance Review – Terms of Reference
The Board agreed the Terms of Reference for the proposed review of Governance, as agreed at General Council, looking into the relationship of General Council with the Board of Trustees – where responsibility for governance lies. The review will look at whether charitable status impacts on this, and whether the work of protecting public paths was enough to satisfy the ‘public benefit’ test for charities. The review will be undertaken by James Thorne, a former senior partner of Farrier and Co.
September Away Weekend
The Board, with the Senior Management Team, will be meeting in Neath, Wales in September for its annual weekend to review strategy. The Board agreed that the weekend will focus on gaining a greater understanding of Wales issues, and on the key issue of how the Ramblers expands its membership after many years of it declining.
Reference from East Yorkshire and Derwent Area
The Board received a reference from East Yorkshire and Derwent Area regarding our policy for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. As a redrafted policy is currently the subject of consultation with Areas and Groups, and will be reviewed at the Board meeting in September, it was agreed to reply fully to the letter after this.
Devolution Working Party
The Chair reported on the first meeting of the Devolution Working Party, set up as a result of the Board motion at General Council, which had held its first meeting the previous day. It had been a very constructive meeting with useful papers submitted by both Scotland and Wales. Wales did not believe that independence was financially viable but had several suggestions for better relationships with the two ‘constituent parts’. Scotland, whilst aspiring towards independence, believed it would be unable to fund important legal cases from its ‘independent’ income and consequently wished to see what greater autonomy could be achieved short of independence. The Honorary Treasurer had agreed to draft the new protocol governing relationships with the constituent parts which would be discussed at the next working party meeting on September 13th.
