Newsletter March 2019

Serious Matters

Some of you will have already heard rumours of this. We recently received an email from Monmouthshire County Council announcing the end of the Fit4Life scheme from 31 March. Here are the edited highlights.

….. some bad, albeit expected news that Let’s Walk Cymru via Welsh Government will no longer be funding the Fit4Life Walking Groups in Monmouthshire and from midnight on March 31^st 2019 the Insurance will stop. Sadly Monmouthshire County Council cannot …... renew the insurance for the four Walking groups either. …... however if you do wish to continue as social walking groups …..

The insurance mentioned covered us against third party liabilities, eg crop damage, but not against personal injury. If we wanted to take out insurance than we would have to constitute ourselves into a formal club, with officers, subscriptions, AGMs and so on. This would be a significant amount of work for very little benefit. Other local walking groups don’t feel the need for insurance, and we feel that neither should we.

Please read this disclaimer on the website which sets out the terms on which you join walks - in essence as a group of friends walking together.

We will also outline any risks which we are aware of when we meet for each walk, eg road walking, stiles, particularly slippery or rough conditions, so that you can decide if it’s not for you.

What’s in a name?

One other effect of the cessation of support from Let’s Walk Cymru is that we should change our name from Abergavenny Fit4Life - but to what? Answers on a postcard please (or email) to christinecouling@outlook.com . Chris has agreed to consider all entries and select the winner.

Numbers

Whether you’re a recently joined member or you’ve been with us for years you can’t have helped noticing that there are more and more of us walking together. We now have nearly forty members, with close to thirty of us turning out each week.

This does introduce a few problems. We have to select walks with plenty of parking spaces - there were fourteen cars this week! Getting us all over stiles takes time, so we need to avoid walks with too many of them. We also have to be aware of other road users when we walk on lanes, and thirty people is a lot to get past.

So …

1. Please don’t invite anyone else to join us at the moment. If they are keen then let the walk leaders know and we will add them to a waiting list. This doesn’t mean that you can’t bring a visitor, children or grandchildren along, but just as a one-off.
2. We need to allow space for deliveries, council trucks and so on at Pen-y-Pound stadium, so if you are leaving your car there, please park towards the town end of the car park.
3. We must do better at car-sharing. We are aware that this isn’t always ideal for some people, but even if you want to go straight home, have your dog with you or want to sample the delights of a local pub, please try to cram as many people as you can into your car. If we can’t do this then the number of walks we do will be severely restricted.

Bring some money!

This isn’t a plea for alms, but a thought for those who sometimes loan us their car parks. When we use a pub or cafe car park the owners - quite rightly - expect to get some custom from us. It’s embarrassing if very few us us avail ourselves of their services and makes it less likely that they’ll loan us the car park next time. So bring some money for a cup of tea and a cake - or a pie and a pint.

Challenge Walk

Our 2019 Challenge Walk is in the planning stage at the moment. We need to choose whether we do it in June or late September - anywhere in between conflicts with too many holiday plans or child care requirements.

Meeting on 14 March

After our walk next week we will hold a meeting in Llandewi Skirrid village hall. I’m afraid we can’t promise cake as on our Coffee Morning visits there, but you will have the chance to discuss all the above.

Sue, Angie & John