Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the
Arun-Adur Group of the Ramblers Association
Saturday 9th November 2024 - Ferring Village
Hall, Ferring Street, Ferring – 2.30pm to 4.30pm
25 members and seven officeholders were present. Stuart Clarkson, the Chairman,
welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for their attendance.
Apologies for absence
The Secretary, Neil Clark, gave formal apologies from a total of 14 members, whose
names were read out to the membership.
Minutes of last AGM, held on November 4 th , 2023.
These had been available to members on the website. They were agreed to be an
accurate record of proceedings and were formally adopted.
There were no Matters Arising.
Chairman’s Annual Report
Stuart’s report had previously been published and he briefly summarised its contents.
His first reference was to the shortage of members willing to lead walks, which, of
course, was putting an added strain on those who were so willing. He assured anyone
volunteering to lead that they would receive every support and, where necessary,
training for the role.
The inclement weather had had quite an impact in 2023-24, in sharp contrast to the
previous year when potential heatstroke had been the concern. Nevertheless, from our
total membership of c.400, most walks had been supported by 20+ ramblers and several
by considerably more. Most walkers were drawn from a group of 50 or so active
members. Stuart observed that ,over the year, perhaps 80-100 members had joined at
least one walk. He warmly thanked Kate Melville-Brown for her hard work and
enthusiasm put into organising the Walks Programme
A full programme of social events had been organised by our secretary, Joanne
Clarkson, which had been warmly appreciated and very well supported. These had
ranged from lunches, to butterfly and archaeology themed walks, to quizzes ,comedy
evenings and cream teas!
In February, a Walks Leader special event had been held; its success encouraged the
committee to plan another in early 2025. Stuart wished to encourage walk leaders to
begin some of their walks at local train stations, to enable more of our non car owners to
participate more easily.
He also referred to our group’s participation in an “Ageing Well” event held recently at
Worthing Library. He reminded us of the benefits to physical and mental health of
regular rambling, referring, as well, to our organisation’s key role in being custodians of
the countryside.
Stuart then paid tribute to the entire committee , paying particular respect to Martin
Oborne, our Treasurer, who was standing down after two long stints serving Arun Adur
Ramblers. Joanne Clarkson would also be standing down at the end of the year.
Fortunately, these roles would be taken up by others who had put their names forward
(q.v)
There were no queries from the floor about the report.
Treasurer’s Report and adoption of accounts for year ended 30th September 2021
Martin’s report had been previously published; the financial statement was also available
in hard copy to the members in attendance. Martin summarised the principal items of
income and expenditure on the Main Account, on which there was a small balance of
£185.69. The Social account had had lots of activity; one event had contributed
significantly to a deficit this year of £88.25. Nonetheless, the account has a healthy
balance of £786.63. The group thus has total cash assets of £972.32.
Martin reported that the accounts had been independently reviewed and audited, up to
30 th September, 2024.
There were no questions to Martin from the floor. Gavin Faulkner proposed the motion to
adopt the financial statement and Martin MacKay seconded. It was passed nem.con.
Election of Committee
Marin Oborne bade an emotional farewell to the committee and to the wider
membership. The motion to appoint Tim Baldwin as his successor was formally
proposed, seconded and voted nem con as was a motion to appoint Min Morgan as
Social Secretary with effect from 01/01/2025.
The rest of the committee membership, including Karyn Prowen and John Barnes who
had been co-opted since the last AGM, all agreed to serve for a further year and were
duly re-elected until November 2025.
Members of the Committee
Chair Stuart Clarkson
Secretary Neil Clark
Membership Secretary Lesley Johnston
Publicity Secretary Neil Clark
Webmaster Gavin Faulkner
Walks Organiser Kate Melville-Brown
Ex Officio Karyn Prowen
John Barnes
Any Other Business
Neil Clark has agreed to organise next year’s holiday, following the success of
October’s visit to the Isle of Wight, where we stayed at a Daish’s hotel.
In canvassing opinion as to location and whether or not to book through Daish’s again,
Neil had concluded that we consider doing so, with three potential locations within
reasonable travelling distance from West Sussex. He reminded the meeting that coach
travel from W.S is included in the cost and that single rooms, or double rooms for single
occupancy, are available at reasonable cost and quantity. These locations are
Weymouth, Torquay and Llandudno. He invited potential participants to contact him in
person or by e mail after this meeting, to express their preferences.
Martin reminded us that our group receives a donation from Ramblers’ Holidays
booked by our members.
There are still eight places available for our Christmas lunch at the Arun View in
December.
Stuart reminded the meeting of the date for the next AGM November 8 th , 2025 in
Ferring.
Stuart then invited David Purcell from the Sussex Area committee to address the
meeting. At the end of his remarks, David asked for a volunteer to undertake the
key role of Treasurer to the area committee. Without someone to fulfil this role,
the committee cannot legally operate.
The Chair then gave a gift to Marin Oborne, as a small token of our appreciation.
The Meeting closed at 15.10 for refreshments, provided by the committee,
followed by a talk on “Smuggling and Folklore in West Sussex by Chris Hare
which was well received by the members.