Chairman’s Notes - an introduction to the Spring 2011 programme

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Welcome to yet another programme; where have the last six months gone to? The minutes of our AGM, held back in November are now available on our website. The AGM went well; we have a full Executive Committee and will be meeting every other month to ensure that the Group runs smoothly and that we are able to keep up to date with Ramblers’ matters.  Our Footpath Committee will also be active in dealing with Rights of Way issues. After the business part of the meeting we were entertained by Suffolk’s own, Charlie Haylock who educated us on the Suffolk dialect, told stories and gave the odd sketch, which kept most people amused.

If you are new to the Ipswich area or not particularly familiar with the outlaying areas, you will find a short article on page 5 which may assist you in finding the starting place for our walks. If in doubt, never hesitate to ask.

Whilst it will still be winter when you receive this programme, as you read through it you will see that we have regular evening walks arranged for the summer evenings, some of which include a cream tea mid-walk to raise funds for the Group.  I hope as many of you as possible will support these walks in particular, as the leaders put a lot of effort into not only working out the route but preparing the food and drink as well.

As you may know, one of the Ramblers main priorities for this financial year [starting 1st October] and incidentally our 75th anniversary year, is to increase our membership, after several years of decline. With walking more popular than ever in this country, we are looking for ideas to help grow our numbers. Over the next few months we will be hearing about initiatives developed by Central Council but the more members who think about this subject, the wider the range of ideas which will be put forward.  This is where we as individual members come into the equation; do you have any suggestions which we could try out as a group and, if they work for us, we can pass them onto other groups so that overall the Ramblers will benefit.  If so, please email me details or, if you prefer, discuss it on the telephone or on a walk.

Finally, if you have visited our Group website, (if you have not, why not!) you will see that we have a page devoted to a Photo Gallery.  If you have taken any photographs of places or subjects in Suffolk which can be related to walks we have done, then why not email them to our Webmaster so that he can add them to the gallery and anyone visiting our website can see what a lovely county we live in and the areas our walks cover.

Good walking

Gareth Evans

Chairman