East Cheshire Ramblers

Monday 28 Sep 26 ECR Committee Meeting 28th September 2026

Meeting at 13.00

Location

Agenda

EAST CHESHIRE RAMBLERS COMMITTEE MEETING 28th September 2026 at 1.00pm Macclesfield Tennis Club, Learning Zone Campus Park Lane Macclesfield SK11 8LF    Meeting called by Maggie Swindells

Attendees	Maggie Swindells	Chair Chair
	Margaret Kemble	Treasurer
	Steve Hull	Secretary
	Anne Ball	Membership Secretary
	Jennefer Mellor	Social Media Secretary
	Louise Whitaker	Footpath Secretary
	Gina Thompson	Social Secretary
	Jeremy Barnett	Committee Member
	Melanie Davy	Committee Member
	Richard Higham	Committee Member
	Terry Pritchard	Committee Member

1.	Apologies and welcome
2.	Minutes of Last Meeting
3.	Matters Arising from the last meeting
4.	Walk Programme
5.	Reports from Officers
5.1	Chair
5.2	Treasurer Report
5.3	Footpath Secretary Report
5.4	Membership Secretary Report
5.5	Social Secretary Report
5.6	Social Media Report
6.	AGM 2026 What Who Actions Presentation/Awards to whom?     Certificates to whom?     Milk/tea/coffee/biscuits/sugar     Gifts – Who/How much     Cakes     Speaker ·      Intro ·      Thanks ·      Donations?     Agree CE AGM Papers     Motions     Deaths     Minute Silence
7.	Website – Booking System RH
8.	OneDrive - JB
10.	AOB
11.	Future Meeting Dates - 28th September 2026. Walk Coordinators Meeting TBC AGM 12th October 2026

To be followed by a demonstration and discussion of the latest website.

Reports

Contents

Report 1 Chair. 2

Report 2 Treasurer. 7

Report 3 Footpath Secretary. 8

Report 4 Membership. 9

Report 5 Social Secretary. 11

Report 6 Social Media. 13

 

Report 1 Chair

prepared by Maggie Swindells

1. WEBSITE

Richard has made a number of further improvements to the new ECR website.

New Features

• When Walk Leaders list a walk they are notified that the listing has been received.  They are also told when the walk has been published.  Both notifications thank the Walk leader for their contribution.
• The Walks Manager team also receive a notification to say a walk has been listed and requires publishing.  As a result of ‘tracked errors’ Richard has introduced an automatic walk length title.  This was the most frequently listed error identified by the team.
• Walk Leaders have their own section of the site which can be found on the main menu bar.  The documents we’ve produced to support walk leaders are listed in this section.
• A ‘News Blog’ has been introduced.  Richard receives local information on a regular basis which we can add to our site.  This is a time-consuming piece of work for one person to manage.  As a next step we will consider how this work, plus an increased presence on Facebook and Instagram, can be managed.  We may need to seek additional volunteers to complete these tasks.
• A new booking system for events has been created and Richard will share this process at the meeting.
• Jez is working with Melanie on a structure and protocols for an ECR OneDrive which he hopes to trial in the new year.

2. WALK LEADER RECRUITMENT

We are still extremely grateful to all our volunteer Walk Leaders without them we couldn’t run our extensive programme of walks.

Paul Higginbotham’s analysis of his walks presents a stark figure.  67% of all the medium weekend walks are led by just five walk leaders.  It would be useful to complete a deeper analysis across all walk lengths to see if there is a similar pattern.  This will be discussed at the Walk Coordinators meeting in October.

3. UPDATE FROM RAMBLERS BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The updated proposals in the governance reforms pack refine the original April 2026 plan based on member feedback. Key modifications include:

Board Composition & Recruitment

Additional Elected Trustee: The number of Great Britain-wide elected trustees increases to 7 (5 GB-wide plus 2 for Scotland and Wales), bringing total Board size to 13 (7 elected, up to 4 appointed, and 2 officers).

Independent Member Involvement: Recruitment processes for Appointed Trustees, the Chair, and the Treasurer will formally involve an independent Ramblers member (who is neither a trustee nor a staff member) to boost transparency.

Member Forums & Decision-Making

Formal Member Proposals: Introduces a standardised Member Proposal template for Forums to debate and vote on policy, campaigning, volunteering, and governance issues.

Voting & Reporting: Forum Chairs may call votes on proposals. Supported proposals will be formally submitted to the Board, which must consider them and publish a written response outlining its decision and actions.

Planning Structures: Forum planning will rely on existing cluster arrangements in England, and national committees in Scotland and Wales, ensuring local Area input.

Implementation Timeline

Phased Rollout: The first cycle of Member Forums is set for autumn 2027, followed by the first National Forum in 2028.

No change to Area and Group structure

A FURTHER UPDATE WAS SHARED AT THE MEETING ON THE 18^TH SEPTEMBER HOSTED BY NORTH AND MID CHESHIRE:

Email exchanges with Simon Kellas, Head of Governance, has suggested some relevant points:

• The proposal to eliminate Areas has been abandoned, as HO has concluded it could not cope with having to deal directly with 500+ Groups without extra paid staff - for which there is no money.  Once the current Governance review is completed, the Board of Trustees has said it intends to return to reviewing the Area and Group organisation - which could start next year.
• The proposals for Regional Forums have not been thought through so far. 
• As currently envisaged, most of the organisation for the Forums would be undertaken by volunteers, i.e. Area officers. This would constitute a major transfer of work from Central Office (CO), as most of the organisation for General Council (GC) is currently undertaken by CO staff.
• There would need to be a Regional convener/chair leading an organising committee for the Forums a few months beforehand. It appears that a new Regional layer of organisation could effectively emerge. 
• Separately, on the Member Proposals at the Regional Forums, as currently envisaged, there would be a guarantee that proposals would be discussed but no guarantee of a vote. No equivalent of the Motions Review Committee at GC to improve motions is envisaged. Rather, it seems the intention is that proposals which are poorly worded or otherwise not suitable would be weeded out and not put to a vote.
• All this could change, as the Board of Trustees are only now starting to consider how the Regional Forums would operate, this has been prompted by questions from Areas.

4. MEETING 16^TH SEPTEMBER WITH CHESHIRE EAST CHAIR AND SECRETARY

There was no formal agenda, the following items were discussed;

1. Governance: see above
2. Footpath maintenance training: New requirement for Footpath Maintenance Volunteers to undertake training. New training module will be introduced in early October.
3. Recent scam emails and messages: Agreed that we would share any instances and remain vigilant.
4. Date for AGM: Proposed 23rd November 7pm at Macclesfield Tennis Club. (Maggie to confirm) It was agreed that Trevor Park (South Cheshire) will take over from John Peck (Congleton) as chair.
5. Possible items for inclusion on the agenda:

• • Training programme
  • Look back at 2026 walks programme, revue and quick analysis.
  • Look forward to 2027 walks programmes and holidays
  • Report on the regional hub
  • Report on the Ramblers annual meeting (General Council) April 2026.

6. Any other business:

• The effectiveness of the East Cheshire Ramblers new website.

We also agreed that we wished to maintain our current working relationship. There was no support for the creation of a ‘Cheshire Wide’ hub at this stage. This will be shared with the members of the meeting on the 18^th September.

5. MEETING 18^TH SEPTEMBER HOSTED BY NORTH AND MID CHESHIRE

The following areas, groups were represented: North and Mid Cheshire Area, Cestrian (Chester), South Cheshire, East Cheshire, West Cheshire and Merseyside Area

The following points were discussed and strategies were shared

• 1. Supporting Existing Leaders – suggestions for consideration

• Requirement of Leaders in leading – procedures / walk leadership / reporting
• Retaining / acknowledging contribution
• Co-ordination – role of Walk Co-ordinators and others
• Mentoring / Buddying / Co-Leaders and Back Markers
• Skills development – Formal Training / Bespoke support / In-field / Ramblers
• Communication with Leaders

2. Recruiting New Leaders – suggestions for consideration

• Personal approach / workshops / social events / promotion / arm twisting
• Level of guidance given – procedures / walk leadership / reporting / formal training
• Process and time to undertaking first lead
• Support given – Walk Co-ordinator / Mentor / Walk Buddy / Peer support / Co-Leader
• Where do new leaders come from

3. Footpaths – suggestions for consideration

• What level of activity do Groups undertake
• How do we see our role – purely walking / reporting issues / consultees / lobbying
• What level of active maintenance should we and can we undertake
• What is the Local Authority Policy / relationship with PROW Officers
• What level of liaison between – LA’s / Rangers / Groups / FP Groups / PNFS / PC’s
• What are the considerations for engaging in maintenance / Rambler requirements
• How do we respond to Ramblers push to strategic LA alignment – Mayoral Area

4. Update on Ramblers Governance review and local input

5. Cheshire Hub

• Consider process to take forward if support in principle – informal arrangement
• Seek to influence Ramblers Review or hold formalising until outcome of Review
• Detailed considerations will require more complex process within Areas / Groups
• Will need to take account of current commitment to Area /Group meetings

8. AOB if time permits

The meeting was recorded and minutes will be circulated. In short, we shared what happens in each of the represented groups. ECR was by far the most active group and, I would suggest, well organised!  A number of useful points are worth considering; the use of WhatsApp rather than email between walk coordinators and walk leaders, whether we do enough to record who attends our walks – should we take registers, Pub Walks might be a better title for evening walks.  There was a long discussion about whether there was a role for ‘Co-leaders’ on walks and whether they would be covered by insurance.  Brian Holmes will take this up with Ramblers CO. 

6. TRAINING PROGRAMME 2027

Suggested draft training programme for next year; First Aid, Basic Map Reading, Advanced Map Reading Training, OS App Workshop, Walk Leader Training, Walk Leader ‘Thank you’ Event. Ideas for additional training would be welcome. 

7. ECR WALK LEADERSHIP ‘Thank You’ DAY

The Training Team have agreed to hold this event on the evening of 13^th November.  James Ellson has agreed to present ‘Five Hours Up, Five Hours Down: Soloing the Matterhorn – the story of James Ellson's repeated attempts to climb it, his ascent and the terrible postscript’ and we will provide a light supper.  We hope this will allow Walk Leaders who are working an opportunity to come along. There will be no charge for the event.

A huge thank you to everyone involved in running the training programme. It wouldn’t happen without you.

My thanks, as always, to all the committee for everything you do for ECR.

 

Report 2 Treasurer

prepared by Margaret Kemble

Overview

The balance of the ECR Unity bank ac on 16.09.26 was £8227.07 Cr

This includes £980.00 being held for the Llanberis coach trip and £140.00 being held for the rearranged music night.

We have received our 4th quarterly budget payment of £325.00 from RA .

In May we received a commission payment of £60 from Ramblers holidays.

Budget

In July 2026 I submitted a budget request to RA of £1300 for the year Oct 26/27. This is mainly to cover the admin costs of further walk leader training, ongoing 1^st aid training and Web/IT costs.   No questions have been raised by RA.

Any costs for the proposed Walk Leaders social event will come from the ECR self -funded balance which stands at £2,724.76.cr

Socials

We made a surplus of £38.65 on the Llangollen coach trip and £50.36 on the 3 peaks trip

7 members requested a refund for the rearranged music night and 14 members still intend to attend.

Payments

I have made two payments of £25 for our annual peppercorn rents in relation to the Charles Head FP.

For our annual charity donation of £100 can I suggest the Canal & Rivers trust this year as many of our walks take advantage of the many towpaths in the area.

 

Report 3 Footpath Secretary

prepared by Louise Whittaker

FP Inspections 2026	Completion date for FP Inspections to be completed for this year was 27th September 2026. Tony Battilana is following up on any not yet completed/reported.
FP Committee	Tony Battilana is stepping down from the FP Inspection Co-ordinator role. Gillian Kay has volunteered to step into the role. Tony will support Gillian through the transition. Tony is also stepping down from the FP Committee.
Resources	FP Committee is seeking to recruit new members to FP Committee ideally from FP Inspector pool.
PROW Recruitment	Previously reported that only 2 PROW Network Management Officers currently [Peter Atkinson & Richard Ankers] – reduction from 4. PROW have recently announced recruitment of a new Officer [Millie Hall].
A54 Crossing	Discussions continue with PROW to improve safety of Gritstone Trail crossing A54.
Diversion Prestbury FP5	A diversion order [public interest] has been raised for Prestbury FP 5 to divert the PROW away from river path where eroded [River Bollin]. Maggie [FP Inspector], Gillian & Louise made an on-site visit on 10th August 2026. PROW has been informed ECR agree with the proposal. It has been noted that there is another portion of this footpath that does not follow the PROW because of a landslip into the river. This has been highlighted to PROW. It would be good to raise a diversion order to address this point.
Adlington FP5	CEC invited Neil/Louise to meet in situ [22nd June]. The diversion to Adlington FP 5 has been signed off but the path [in part] is impassable in wet weather. Solutions were discussed and CEC is costing them. [Still pending]
Charles Head Permissive Path	Colin Finlayson & Louise made annual visit to the two landowners involved in Charles Head permissive footpath on 20th August 2026. It is about 8 years since this path was created and one landowner took us on trip to show us path furniture now needing maintenance. Landowner also wants to manage livestock grazing more closely requiring a new gate to avoid path being blocked. Louise to meet with John Goodman to understand more about initial creation of path before taking this forward.
Meetings Pending	·         PROW Consultative Group Meeting 7th October 2026 [on-line]. ·         FP Committee 3rd November 2026

 

Report 4 Membership

prepared by Anne Ball

Membership Numbers

At 19 September 2026 we have 590 members and 25 affiliate members, a total of 615 on the ECR membership list. 

Volunteer Numbers  

We currently have 152 members who fill 226 volunteer roles with East Cheshire Ramblers. These include leading walks, compiling walk programmes, footpath inspection, footpath maintenance and website work.

Walk Leaders

We now have 108 validated walk leaders. (Only leaders who have completed the Walk Leader leadership requirements are covered by Ramblers insurance and are certified to lead Ramblers groups walk).

The change in the method of posting walks on our website – moving to using Walks Manager, has gone fairly smoothly and most leaders are managing to post their walks with few problems. One thing that is still sometimes being missed, is completion of Contact Preferences.  It would be particularly appreciated if leaders could give permission for their name to be included with their posting – names will only be shown as first name and surname initial e.g. Anne B.  Permission for phone number and email can also be given if wished.  If leaders posting a walk have missed this step, they are now sent an email reminder.

Training Events

Two training events have been provided by our ECR Training Team for members to have the opportunity to improve their navigation skills: one on Map Reading and the other on using the OS Maps App.  Whilst these are not specifically for walk leaders, the hope is that both sessions increase confidence in navigation and may encourage participants to lead walks in the future.  Participants have expressed enthusiasm for both events, saying they had been very informative and useful.

ECR Stall at Rainow Church Fete

We accepted an invitation to have a stall at the 2026 Rainow Church Fete, and on Saturday 11 July a group of volunteers set up a Ramblers table under a gazebo decorated with balloons in Ramblers green and orange.  We had leaflets and posters about Ramblers and ECR in particular, including one of our upcoming walks.

The weather was fine and the fete was well attended.  Volunteers took shifts to be on hand to talk with visitors and provide information about ECR, and about our walks in particular. A large number of people passed our stall, and some stopped to ask questions. The venture was successful in raising awareness of our Ramblers Group, though after this one trial we don’t yet have evidence that such an event increases membership, as only a few visitors seemed genuinely interested in joining a walking group.  

 

Report 5 Social Secretary

prepared by Gina Thompson

The Manchester Guided History Walk with Jonathon Schofield. 

Organised by Benita Kassas was a great success, it sold out (20 people) almost immediately, on the day the weather was kind to us and Jonathon was an excellent guide, taking us to bits of Manchester we should know but didn’t!

He combined good solid knowledge with great anecdotes.  We will definitely organise another Jonathon walk. Thanks to Benita for organising.

Susan Mayes Music and Quiz Night 4th September. 

Unfortunately did not go ahead, there were a number of members who were on holiday, so we have rescheduled the event for Friday 12th March and look forward to getting a full house.

Coming up.

Llanberis Coach Trip 3rd October.

Organised by Steve Hull, we are offering a good range of walks: Long led by Richard Higham

Strenuous Medium led by Anne Ball

Medium led by Steve Hull

Short Moderate/strenuous led by Maggie Swindells and Gina Thompson

For Strollers there are self-guided walks, or a castle visit, or a train ride. Thanks to Steve for organising this event.

Whitby Weekend Away 16th-19th October. 

Organised by Ann Thompson 

There are three grades of walk on offer.  Whitby has beautiful cliff top views, and sandy beaches a great place to ramble and blow the cobwebs away. Many thanks Ann for your continued commitment to weekends away.

Walk Leaders “Thank You” Day. 

Organised by Maggie Swindells.

Starts at 10.am Macclesfield Tennis Club. A day to celebrate walk leader contributions, as well as lunch with plenty of cake!  We will share Walks Manager, a new way of posting walks and adding walk details.  Plus a time for us to get together and share.

Christmas Lunch Saturday 12th December. 

Organised by Gina Thompson at Davenport Golf Club, this will be our 3rd year here, which should tell you how good everything is here, especially the food.  The menu choices and prices will be coming out shortly. Everyone is welcome including partners.

Christmas Lunch Thursday 17th December.  

Organised by Melanie Davy at The Legh Arms Adlington, again this is the 3rd year here, a popular event with people. Menu choices and prices will be out shortly.

 

Report 6 Social Media

prepared by Jennie Mellor

1 - Social Media Report – for the period ending 15th September 2026 2 - Ramblers East Cheshire Website Update – August 2026

Facebook stats show an increase in performance this quarter. Followers in the previous period were 1165 – a small increase to 1254 this quarter.

 

2 - Ramblers East Cheshire Website Update – August 2026



Measure	August 2026
Visitors (users)	1,288
Visits (sessions)	4,146
New visitors	2,055
Page views	34,974
Engagement rate	88.3%
Average visit length	7m 59s

What this means: People are not only finding the site, they are spending time on it and moving through a good number of pages.

How people found us

• Direct: 1,855 visits
• Organic search: 1,778 visits
• Organic social: 290 visits
• Referral: 199 visits

What this means: Direct visits and search remained the main ways people reached the site, making up almost nine in ten visits between them.

Most popular pages

• Guided Walks in Cheshire, Peak District & Beyond — 8,572 views
• Welcome to East Cheshire Ramblers — 6,229 views
• Walks Programme Upcoming Guided Walks — 4,915 views
• Our Walks Programme — 1,901 views
• August — 1,834 views

What this means: The walk pages and home page continue to be the main draw, which is encouraging and suggests members and visitors are finding the information they need.

Devices used

• Mobile: 51.4%
• Desktop: 42.5%
• Tablet: 6.2%

What this means: More than half of visits were on phones, so it remains important that key pages are easy to read and use on a small screen.

Committee Summary

August was a strong month for the website. The figures suggest steady interest in walks, good visibility in search, and healthy engagement once people arrive. We will keep monitoring which pages attract the most attention and whether there are opportunities to make the walk programme even easier to find.

Minutes

Present
Maggie Swindells	MS	Chair
Margaret Kemble	MK	Treasurer
Anne Ball	AB	Membership Secretary
Gina Thompson	GT	Social Secretary
Louise Whittaker	LW	Footpath Secretary
Jennefer Mellor	JM	Social Media
Terry Pritchard	TP	Committee Member
Melanie Davy	MD	Committee Member
Jeremy Barnett	JB	Committee Member

1.	Apologies	Actions
	Steve Hull (SH) Secretary Richard Higham (RH) Committee Member
2	Minutes of Last Meeting - approved
2.1	No comments received
3	Matters arising from last meeting
3.1	Tennis club still £15/hour.	Note
3.2	£500 in budget for footpaths.  Might need this for permissive footpath.  See 5.3.1	Note
3.3	LW has written to Cheshire Council about speaker for AGM. Also encouraging Pete Atkinson to come. Response received during meeting. See 5.2.2	LW
3.4	“Thank you to Walk Leaders” on 13th November will be an evening event and we have a motivational speaker. MS to publish. Will include offer of help publish walks on Walks Manager.	MS
3.5	Footpath maintenance training should be going online in October.	Note
4	Walk Programme
4.1	Paul H’s report will be raised at the Walk Coordinators’ meeting (2.00 12th October).  Request for JM to be informed if a walk leader changes. Invite JM and JB to future meetings	MD
5	Reports from Officers
5.1	Chair – Refer report
5.1.1	Trustees: Rambler Members not happy that Board nominates all the Trustees. Board places have been increased so members can have greater involvement. Ramblers also introducing one member, one vote, for motions raised through new Forums. No change to Areas and Groups structure.	Note
5.1.2	Other Cheshire groups do not have the resources we have and only put on walks: no inspections, no training etc, but appreciate that they can attend our training sessions	Note
5.2	Treasurer - Refer Report
5.2.1	Ramblers Central Office had queried cost of First Aid Training. MK provided necessary information.	Note
5.2.2	Annual charity donation was discussed.  Canal and Rivers Trust were proposed with a suggestion that they spoke at the AGM, but during the meeting, LW got a message suggesting the Moorland Trust for AGM speaker.  GT and LW will liaise over best speaker and advise MK on recipient of £100 donation.	LW/GT
5.3	Footpath Secretary - Refer report
5.3.1	Charles Head permissive path landowner has requested ECR funding for the installation of a gate. Agreed.	LW
5.4	Membership Secretary - Refer Report
5.4.1	Agreed to enquire about cost of a stall at Treacle Market to advertise Ramblers	AB
5.5	Social Secretary - Refer Report
5.5.1	Manchester Guided History Walk was a great success.  GT has asked Benita to organise a Didsbury one. Jonathan Schofield was not prepared to do a coach trip.	GT
5.5.2	Music night was cancelled as there were only 20 bookings which doesn’t cover costs.  Moved to 12th March.	Note
5.5.3	Upcoming events: Llanberis coach trip and Whitby weekend
5.5.4	Ideas for 2027: Trip to Saltaire
5.6	Social Media - Refer Report
6	AGM 2026
6.1	Committee asked to note that reports need to be sent to Secretary (SH) by 7/11/26
6.2	JB is standing for new position as Vice Chair. Proposed by MS and seconded by AB
6.3	There was a discussion about presentations/certificates, catering arrangements, speakers and acknowledgement of deaths of ECR Ramblers over the past year. AB to provide MS with list.	AB
7	WEBSITE – Booking System RH
7.1	RH not available.  MS gave overview of booking system to GT and MD after meeting
8.	One Drive - JB
8.1	JB updated the Committee on progress to date: set up of Rambler emails for committee and proposed structure for Sharepoint on the website to access centralised documents in Onedrive. JB assured that old documents could be held in a legacy folder so re-naming would not be required. Ease of use would be essential. JB and MD would look at the structure, naming protocols and areas needed and propose the new model for document storage at January Committee meeting with full roll out anticipated by April 2027.	JB/MD
10.	AOB
10.1	Macclesfield to Whaley Bridge Road to be closed again following an accident. Will post information on ECR website.	Note
10.2	TP requested published instructions on the website for people sending in photos:  Date, category (short, medium, long), location and leader.	RH
11	Meeting Dates
11.1	The next meeting is scheduled for Friday 15th January 2027 at 2.00 pm. GT to book room.	GT

Demonstration of website was postponed

Meeting Ended: 3.05pm

Group: East Cheshire Group