Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster Ramblers Group

Minutes of the 35th Annual General Meeting held at 7pm on Tuesday 18th November at The Albion Pub, 121 Hammersmith Road, W14 0QR

Those present:

Officers: John Rogers (Chair); Sandra Exell (Secretary); Dominic Pinto (Treasurer); Ann Archbold (Membership Secretary); Sue Trenhaile (Programme Coordinator).

Committee Member: Myfanwy Roberts

Group Members: Sue Chinn; David Hayward; Tim Sai Louie

1. Apologies for Absence: Jeanette Davidson; Gordon Davidson

2. Minutes of the AGM on 30th November 2024: Approved, signed by John Rogers.

3. Matters Arising: None.

4. Reports

(a) Chairman’s Report

KCW Group’s now-regular attendance at the ‘Friends of the Brompton Cemetery’ Open Day on Sun 7th Sept was seen as a successful day.

Under gazebos in the sunny weather, this FOBC Event has become a great success, due to the hard work of its volunteers. Many visitors expressed interest in the Ramblers publicity pamphlets; pens etc that were given out. My thanks to Sandra Exell; Sue Trenhaile; Myfanwy Roberts; Stewart James and John Sudding for their help.

A new initiative this year was the attendance of representatives from Hammersmith; Fulham and Wandsworth Group. Our thanks to Lorraine and others from HFW for their help.

After some discussion as to actual arrangements on the day, it was agreed that we should attend next year’s FOBC Open Day on Sunday 6 September.

Earlier this year, KCW Committee had hosted a social event at The Albion pub. We had a good turnout and an enjoyable evening helped by a welcoming pub in the dull days of January.

KCW plan to host another visit to The Albion pub on Monday 12th January next year. Look out for this on the KCW Website for confirmation.

Approved: Ann Archbold, Seconded: Sue Chinn

(b) Secretary’s Report

Nothing to report

(c) Treasurer’s Report

1 We had omitted to appoint an Honorary Auditor at the 2024 AGM, and this error had not been noted until Sue brought it to our attention. The Group Committee, at its September meeting, thanked Sue for this and warmly accepted her offer to serve.I can report that the Group’s Annual Accounts for 2024-25 have been examined by and signed by the Honorary Auditor, former Group Treasurer Sue Chinn, to whom we are grateful for stepping in to the role.

2 It will be proposed at the AGM that this appointment be confirmed, and that Sue Chinn also be appointed as Honorary Auditor for the coming year, 2025-26.

3 Transactions during the financial year were few in number and low in scale.

The balance held in the Unity Trust current account at the financial year end was £576.88, compared to £526.62 as at September 30th 2024.

We received a credit of £60.00 from Ramblers Worldwide representing three nominations by Group Members on holidays as part of the Walking Partnership, for which we are most appreciative.

There has been no need to pay for hall hire this year as the Albion had made no charge for use of the room. A small amount of postage was reimbursed.

4 As limited spending was expected for the year, the basic allocation of funding from the Area was declined.

5 Internet Banking

The Group Committee agreed that the operation of the bank account online should be put in hand, and the process of authorising the current signatories is in progress.

Approved: Sue Trenhaile, Seconded: David Hayward

(d) Membership Secretary’s Report

During the period 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025 we gained 69 new members plus 2 reinstated after late payment of subscriptions, giving a total of 71. However, in the same period we lost 65 members, 24 whose membership lapsed because of non-payment of subscriptions (some of whom were subsequently reinstated), 30 who resigned, 10 who moved to a different group or area, and 1 deceased.

                                                    MEMBERSHIP AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2025

                                                          2024                                                2025

Life Individual                                        20                                                    20

Life Joint                                                  6                                                      6

Annual Individual                                  182                                                  200

Annual Joint                                          66                                                    66

Total                                                     272                                                   292

The figure of 292 included a number of members whose subscriptions had not yet been paid.

This year we saw a similar picture to last year, in that there were a number who joined and then resigned the following year or did not renew their subscriptions.

The discrepancy in numbers between 2024 and 2025 is accounted for by the fact that I reconciled my figures with those of Central Office, to represent a truer picture of the numbers. They still do not exactly coincide!

As of today we have 299 members, although this includes 8 whose subscriptions are still outstanding.

All in all, numbers are increasing slowly year on year, though still below pre-lockdown levels.

Approved: Dominic Pinto, Seconded: Sue Chinn

(e) Programme Coordinator’s Report

50 walks were run during this period..nearly half being joint with other groups and mostly of the moderate, 8 to 10 mile variety. The trend for walkers to cherry-pick walks from across the IL area continues and on most of our walks now less than 30% of walkers are KCW members and few if any are new members. 

Joint walks with Hampstead/HFW are now form the bulk of our published walks listings and realistically will continue to do so. Just 5 of our original KCW registered leaders are still prepared to lead at all - and only one currently on a regular basis. All three groups now have a very small and decreasingly small pool of leaders to draw on and  Ramblers walk leader requirements make recruitment of new leaders unlikely.

Approved: Sandra Exell, Seconded: Ann Archbold

5. Election of Honorary Officers and Committee for 2025/26

The following members were proposed and seconded: Group Proposal

Proposer: Sue Chinn, Seconder: Dominic Pinto

6. Appointment of Honorary Auditor for 2025/26

Sue Chinn

Proposed: Dominic Pinto, Seconded: Myfanwy Roberts

Approved

7. Appointment of Representatives to Serve on the Inner London Area Council

John Rogers and Dominic Pinto will continue to serve.                                                         

8. Any Other Business:

Question from David Hayward – would KCW consider joining up with Hammersmith, Fulham and Wandsworth Group. John Rogers will contact Lorraine Gray for ad hoc discussions. It will also be discussed at the next committee meeting.

Suggested date for next AGM: Thursday 17^th November 2026

The meeting closed at 8.02 pm.