Thanks to all of you who turned out for the Group AGM on 6^th November. The Committee is continuing broadly as it was, though Roy Batty and Colin Honeybone have decided to perform the roles of Programme Secretary and Training Officer respectively without being full committee members. Gill Kedgley has joined the Committee to help out Lesley Webb who, as well as dealing with publicity, has taken over the responsibilities of Social Secretary from Fred Carter.

The minutes of the meeting and the reports that were presented at it are all available on the Chairman’s Jottings page of the Group’s website – Fred Carter will be happy to supply printed copies to anyone who doesn’t have the means to obtain them from the internet.

We need to remind everyone that, while The Ramblers holds insurance to cover walk leaders against claims for negligence, it is important to remember that it is a member’s own responsibility to take out insurance against potential losses that they cannot cover from their own resources – this applies particularly to those booking holidays. It is outside the scope of The Ramblers’ charitable purposes to reimburse members’ personal losses and anyone who chooses not to take out insurance has to be regarded as carrying the risk themselves.

If you are a member of West Berks Ramblers you will have received with this programme a copy of An Invitation to Sixteen Led Walks in Beautiful Berkshire, a booklet of walks produced by the Berkshire Area Committee to celebrate the Ramblers 75^th Anniversary, 1935 – 2010. Each of the eight groups in Berkshire have agreed to host and lead two walks between March and October 2010 which all RA members and non-members are invited to join in. Each walk will feature local "treasures" or places and objects of interest. The majority of walks are relatively short and will be taken at a leisurely pace. Guidelines for taking part are given on the inside cover and the walk’s statistics, the items of interest to be seen on the walk plus an illustration of one of them, a brief description of the walk and the directions to the start point are given in the one page write-up of each walk.

An Invitation to Sixteen Led Walks in Beautiful Berkshire will be Berkshire Area’s major recruitment activity in 2010. It is hoped, therefore, that the walks will encourage non-members to give walking as a recreational activity a try, whether for health reasons; because it is an activity that does not necessitate expensive equipment to get started; because they have an interest in the local countryside; because they like the idea of meeting new friends in a healthy outdoor activity or for whatever reason.

We hope that as many Group members as possible will join one or more walks during the year but if, for any reason, you are unable to make use of the booklet we would encourage you to pass it on to someone who perhaps would. This might be a relation, a neighbour, a friend, a work colleague or a fellow club member of another activity you are involved with. There is a Ramblers Application Form and Special Offer inside the booklet. Please see the booklet as your recruitment opportunity and your chance to help swell the numbers of the Ramblers, Britain’s biggest walking charity and the main voice for walkers and the protection of our wonderful rights of way heritage.

Graham Smith December 2009