AGM Minutes 2021
Introduction
David introduced the AGM and outlined some of the history explaining that the group was founded sometime before 1987 by Jenny Kaye and at that time many of the footpaths local to Cottenham were in a poor state of repair with many styles in a poor state. The group was founded by those with an interest in walking and they also had a responsibility for the upkeep of the local footpaths.
Over this time David has been running the group for about 30 years now and feels it's now the right time to hand this over to Chris, Claire and Vanessa, with Chris as Chair and Vanessa and Clare as signatories on the financial side.
2020 Walks
Holly Walk - Vanessa / Jasper?
25th Jan - Vanessa - Broad Lane ~6 miles
15th February - Pauline & Krys - Fulbourn ~6 miles
March -> July - Cancelled
26th July - Vanessa proposed let's get walking again
1st Aug - Vanessa - Cottenham / Rampton
Summer Walks 2020
7th Sept - Chris & Claire - Kingfisher Bridge ~8 miles
8th Sept - Chris & Claire - Rampton - Longstanton - Northstowe ~7 miles
9th Sept - Chris & Claire - Clayhithe - Stow Fen - Anglesey Abbey ~6 miles
10th Sept - Chris & Claire - Histon / Girton ~6 miles
Holly Walk Cancelled for 1st time since we started running it
2021 Walks
24th April 2021 - Chris & Claire - Histon Walk (2 groups of 6) + 2 ~6 miles.
22nd May 2021 - Eileen & Vanessa - Granchester Walk ~7 miles.
19th June 2021 - Pauline Tony - Landbeach ~7 miles.
24th July - Ian & Ann - Bar Hill / Madingley ~6 miles.
Summer Walks 2021
6th Sept - Barkway / Barley (8 walkers) ~6 miles.
7th Sept - River Ouse (11 walkers) ~ 6 miles.
8th Sept - Stanwick Lakes (13 walkers) ~6 miles.
9th Sept - St Ives / Houghton (13 walkers) ~7.5 miles
Looking Forwards
Renaming the group - Suggested by WIll Heath that Fen Edge Footpath Group is possibly no longer descriptive of what we do and perhaps that leads to some confusion when trying to attract new members.
Will has already suggested renaming the group to “Fen Edge Walkers”. AGREED
Action: Chris will update the websites and mailing lists, also we will need to change the name with FECA.
We also would like to preserve the group’s history and recognise our past activities and an article will be added to the website to record those - input required
Publicity
Attracting new members, we’d like to grow the group and understand that there are several other walking groups in the area so it would be better to work with them to help walkers find a group that meets their needs.
There is a Fen Edge news due out soon (New Year 2022) and holding the AGM in September gives us an opportunity to submit an article to remind local residents that we are still here (under a new name) and we can provide some preliminary walk details for the coming year.
It was also noted that if we want to attract younger members we should consider some of this new fangled social networking and look into setting up some facebook presence
Action: Chris - look into signing up to facebook and create some fen edge walkers pages
Action: Vanessa to write an article for Fen Edge News including name change and why - also mention Holy Walk will resume this year. Refer to the website for walk details as that can be dynamically updated.
We also thought we could ask local newsletters (Cottenham, Rampton, Girton, Histon, Over, Willingham, Landbeach, Waterbeach) to include a short article on our group.
Action: Vanessa to compile a short article for the local newsletters identifying walking opportunities and circulate to the mailing list fefg@googlegroups.com so members of the group in those villages can submit it to their newsletter editors - please reply to say you’ve sent it to XXX newsletter.
Communication
The mailing list has been very useful over the recent years and allows more interactive walk organisation, however there is still some confusion about communication within the group and we have two ways of contacting the group.
Action: Chris to send an email clarifying communication in the group
Weekends away
These have been tricky to organise over the past two years, but they’re a part of our identity as a group and we’d like to resume these in some form or other.
Youth Hostels have become increasingly difficult to book, so we’d also like to consider some alternatives such as bed and breakfast but would be concerned about losing the community aspect of being in the same place.
We agreed to try a new system next year for the weekend of 15th October, and find somewhere within 2 hours drive, possibly Norfolk or Suffolk and get people to arrange their own accommodation.
Vanessa and Janet agreed to look into options.
Walking Calendar
8th Oct 2021 - Canvas date Fen Edge News
16th Oct 2021 - TBD
Action Chris: Circulate a request for walk leaders for 16th October
25th Oct 2021 - Copy due date for Fen Edge News (New Year 2022)
20th Nov 2021 - David volunteered to organise a walk for 20th
26th Dec 2021 - Vanessa - Holly Walk
Good opportunity to recruit new walkers - also a good opportunity in Fen Edge Magazine to remind local people we still exist.
15th Jan 2022 - Vanessa
4th Feb 2022 - Canvas date Fen Edge News
19th Feb 2022 - Pauline & Tony
20th Feb 2022 - Copy due date for Fen Edge News (Spring/Summer 2022)
19th March 2022 - Will & Linda
16th April 2022 - Claire & Chris
21st May 2022 - Eileen & Will & Linda
18th June 2022 - Ann & Ian
16th July 2022 - Roger ?
Vanessa? said she’d ask if Roger would be willing to organise a walk for July next year.
12th - 15th Sept 2022 - Chris & Claire - Summer Walks
16th Sept 2022 - AGM
15th Oct 2022 - Weekend away? - ???