Over 570 path successes. Thanks to thousands of volunteers (10/12)

Between October 2009 and September 2010, Ramblers volunteers
unblocked, saved, or succeeded in getting recorded over 570 paths.

They break down into these four categories:

• 256 paths cleared through practical path work.
• 50 paths added to the definitive map.
• 29 paths saved from damaging diversion, extinguishment, gating or
planning application.
• 239 paths reopened through Ramblers surveys and problem reports
leading to council action.

The three Ramblers areas that have achieved the most successes are:

• North East Lancashire have cleared 71 paths through reporting them
to the highway authority.
• Ramblers groups in South and East Cheshire have achieved 62 path
successes on behalf of the Ramblers.
• The North Wales Area have through DMMO claims, path clearance work
and reporting problems to the highway authority, achieved 56 successes.

Some of these successes will have been achieved relatively quickly.
Others will have been achieved after years of work.

Not all Ramblers Areas have been reporting their successes so the
total number of successes is likely to be even higher. By knowing
about successes, we can publicise them for campaigning, fundraising
and membership recruitment.

Next year is European Year of the Volunteer. Every single one of
those path successes is due to the work of Ramblers volunteers.

To see the full breakdown of path successes by Area, follow this link
to the volunteer section of the Ramblers website: http://www.ramblers.org.uk/Volunteer/News/path-success-2010


Tom Franklin

Ramblers - at the heart of walking for 75 years
Please visit www.ramblers75.org.uk to find out more
The Ramblers' Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.
Visit our website at www.ramblers.org.uk

Ramblers membership figures for December (7/12/10)

Congratulations to Oxfordshire, Lake District, Lincolnshire, Greater Gwent, Highlands and Islands, Shropshire, South West Scotland, Herefordshire, Mid Lancashire, and Ceredigion.  Between them, these Areas have grown by 96 members since the start of the financial year (1^st October).  Overall membership is down, however, over these two months in most Areas.  The full breakdown is available on the volunteers section of the website: http://www.ramblers.org.uk/Volunteer/News/Membership+by+Area+-+November+2010

Our target is to finish this financial year with more members than we started.  To do so, we estimate we need to retain at least 85% of existing members, and recruit 18,000 new members.  Two months in, our retention rate is above our target at 87%.  But we’ve recruited just 1,605 new members so far.

With walking more popular than ever in this country, it is possible for the Ramblers to begin to grow again.  But it will require all parts of the Ramblers to be focused on this.  If your Area or Group hasn’t done so already, could you make sure that ‘membership growth’ is regularly discussed at meetings.  Over the next few months, be will be developing various initiatives to help increase membership.  I would also like Areas and Groups to experiment with ideas, and to let us know what works – so that we can tell other Areas too. There are already lots of ideas on our website from Groups and Areas: http://www.ramblers.org.uk/Volunteer/VolunteerFeatures/Top+Tips+for+Increasing+Group+Membership+More+Ideas

PS – One question that we’re asked about the Area membership figures is, “Why don’t you put the % increase or decrease, rather than the actual number of members?”  The reason we’re using the real number of members per Area rather than a percentage is because our aim this year is to finish with more members than we started.  We’d like as many Areas to aim for the same goal.  We think it makes more sense to talk about real members.

Tom Franklin

Chief Executive

Follow my log at http://twitter.com/RamblersTom

 

Ramblers - at the heart of walking for 75 years Please visit www.ramblers75.org.uk  to find out more.

The Ramblers’ Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at www.ramblers.org.uk

Getting Inactive People Walking (6/12/10)

This morning the Ramblers launched the independent evaluation findings from our Get Walking Keep Walking scheme. The event took place at Boris's headquarters in London and is one of four similar events across England (the others being in Birmingham, Sheffield and Manchester).  We had lots of people from local councils and the NHS there, and it was great to see Peter Skipp and Mavis Rear too, in their role as trustees of Ramblers Holidays Charitable Trust (which part-funds the scheme along with the Big Lottery Fund). 

For those who don't know, Get Walking Keep Walking is a 12-week 'walking course' aimed at people who currently do little physical activity. The idea is to encourage them to get the 'walking bug' and to carry on walking independently after the course finishes. We're now three years through the four years of funding.  600 volunteers have been involved in either leading the walks or designing the walking routes. 

The evaluation shows that, three months after finishing the course, participants maintain a significantly higher level of walking. A very high proportion report a greater feeling of well-being as a result. None of this will be a shock to us regular walkers, because we already know the benefits of walking.  But it does highlight the impact of this scheme.  

This work is not in competition with our work to safeguard and extend footpaths and access. The two go hand-in-hand.  Both are covered in our charitable objectives (see the one below on promoting walking).  

One thing that strikes me is how many Ramblers walks leaders also lead 'health walks' in their local areas.  There are sometimes tie-ups locally between the Ramblers and these health walks. But often there isn't - even when they have the same walk leader. Shouldn't this be more common?  There may be people from

the health walks who go on to join the Ramblers. And there's no reason why the Ramblers shouldn't directly organise more health walks, or at least help to promote all the different local walking opportunities.   

[Here's our charitable objective on 'promoting walking', written in slightly flowery language:  "To promote, encourage or assist in...the provision of facilities for the organising of open-air recreational activities and in particular rambling and mountaineering with the object of improving the conditions of life for the persons for whom the facilities are intended, namely the public at large, and in the interests of social welfare (including health)"]

Tom Franklin

Sent from my iPhone

 

Ramblers - at the heart of walking for 75 years Please visit www.ramblers75.org.uk  to find out more.

The Ramblers' Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at www.ramblers.org.uk

Board of Trustees meeting (4/12/10)

I'm heading home after a Ramblers Board of Trustees meeting today.

[For those who don't know, the Board meets about seven times a year
(usually either on a Saturday or Friday and Saturday). The trustees
are mostly elected at our General Council, together with two places
for cooptions, to fill gaps in knowledge or experience. I attend the
Board, together with some or all of my senior management team
(depending on the issues being discussed). There are also three
subcommittees of the Board, which often discuss issues before they
come to the Board meetings.]

Items for discussion today included: feedback from the special
national and regional volunteer meetings with Rodney (chair) and
myself; an update on the current campaiging against cuts to local
authority spending on rights of way budgets; the regular review of our
finances and performance targets (including membership); planning for
next year's General Council; and possible trial schemes to help boost
membership.

We always do a bulletin following the Board meeting, for volunteers,
with more details of discussions and decisions - this will be
available within the next week or so on the news page of the
volunteers section of the website.

Tom Franklin
Sent from my iPhone

Ramblers - at the heart of walking for 75 years
Please visit www.ramblers75.org.uk to find out more
The Ramblers? Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.
Visit our website at www.ramblers.org.uk

Bayham Abbey Footpath Inquiry starts next Monday (3/12/10)

Monday sees the start of the public inquiry into the footpaths around the ruins of the old Bayham Abbey.  The well-used paths were closed off and ‘keep out’ signs appeared following the sale of the estate by the previous Marquis of Camden in the mid-1970s.  Tunbridge Wells Ramblers Group has been campaigning for over 30 years to have two of the historic paths recognised as public footpaths and ensure that this beauty spot is reopened to the public.

Last year the Secretary of State ruled that there was enough evidence to suggest that the footpaths existed, having been used by the public for many years, and that they should therefore be added to the ‘definitive map’ - a legal record of all public footpaths. However, objections from some of the landowners has led to the public inquiry.

It’s been a brilliant effort by Tunbridge Wells Ramblers, who have been working on and off for this since the mid-1970s and who redoubled their efforts in the 1990s by collecting evidence from a great many older local residents of their use of the paths in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. It was thanks to this that we got to where we are now.

I hope the inquiry goes well next week.

Tom Franklin

Follow my log at http://twitter.com/RamblersTom

 

Ramblers - at the heart of walking for 75 years Please visit www.ramblers75.org.uk  to find out more.

The Ramblers’ Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at www.ramblers.org.uk

Sheffield Ramblers discuss local walking issues their MP, Nick Clegg (2/12/10)

Well done to Sheffield Ramblers for securing a meeting recently with one of their MPs who had signed the Ramblers manifesto in the run-up to the General Election - Nick Clegg.  The meeting, which took place at his Sheffield Hallam constituency surgery, covered a range of issues relating to walking in Sheffield.  These included: the potential impact of local authority budget cuts on walking, the operation of the CRoW Act, and Local Access Forums.  The Ramblers delegation was  Terry Howard, Judy Gathercole, Jackie Dauris and Gordon Pursglove.  The meeting lasted for about half an hour, and was very positive and friendly.  I'd like to see more Ramblers Areas and Groups follow this example - by meeting with their constituency MPs, or by inviting their MP on a walk.  It can really help with building a rapport - which can be very useful whenever we need to speak to them about an issue in the future.


Tom Franklin

Showcasing Get Walking Keep Walking (1/11/10)

Despite demonstrating students outside Manchester Town Hall and lots of snow, the first event to showcase the success of Get Walking Keep Walking was held in the Mayor’s Parlour at Manchester City Hall yesterday, attended by over 50 people, many from health and local authorities.

Get Walking Keep Walking is a Ramblers project, funded by the Big Lottery Fund and the Ramblers Holidays Charitable Trust, to introduce people to walking and thereby help them to improve their physical and mental health. [This fits in with one of our four charitable objectives, namely, to “promote, encourage or assist in

the provision of facilities for the organising of open-air recreational activities and in particular rambling and mountaineering with the object of improving the conditions of life for the persons for whom the facilities are intended, namely the public at large, and in the interests of social welfare (including health)” – quite a mouthful, and written in rather archaic language, but it still makes sense.]

There was good understanding that in this time of austerity there is an opportunity to have more joined-up delivery of walking schemes.  Presenters included Manchester NHS, existing and new volunteers, the independent evaluators of the project, the Lord Mayor and a variety of project staff.  Salle Dare, from the new Manchester and Salford Group (that was set up as a result of Get Walking Keep Walking, and is mainly run by people who got involved with the Ramblers through Get Walking Keep Walking), demonstrated how grant funded projects and local Groups can complement each other.

With her Area hat on, Salle is helping to set up meetings with Groups to see how some of the principles of GWKW can be taken on by Groups.

The event provided a good opportunity to show how the Ramblers is evolving and developing new activities alongside the ones we are traditionally known for, and how traditional and new can complement each other.

Feedback forms suggest everyone went away inspired and enthused, having learnt something new.  Thanks to everyone involved, particularly the Manchester Get Walking Keep Walking volunteers.  Other such events are taking place in Birmingham, Sheffield and London.

Tom Franklin

 

Ramblers - at the heart of walking for 75 years Please visit www.ramblers75.org.uk  to find out more.

The Ramblers’ Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577, Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.

Visit our website at www.ramblers.org.uk