November 2010

Hi there

It’s that time of month when I contact you with the SURG monthly newsletter. For those interested, it seems all the frogs in the pond have gone. I had a look at the weekend and could see no more tadpoles or froglets. Most of the early hatchlings have gone although I’ve found a few when out in the garden. The rest have gone elsewhere and hopefully they’ll come back next year when the weather warms again. It’s kind of fitting as this will be my last email to you all as I move on to other things.

AGM, Saturday 20 November

The SURG AGM will be held on Saturday 20th November at 4:00 pm in the Garland pub, Redhill. Come along and see how the group is run and show your support for the new Committee

Web Officer:

However, we still need volunteers who can help with running the website. Ideally it would be better to have more than one person who can update the site so if you have any web-site know-how and maybe work in I.T. (there are quite a few of you out there) please contact Colin Towers on surg.web@surreyyoungwalkers.org.uk. Colin is thinking of taking over from me and would really appreciate knowing that someone will carry on updating the website and carry on building it to give our members and other people information on the group in a user friendly way.

Walks and Social planning evenings

Now is definitely the time to submit walks and socials for the Winter months. We are putting on two planning evenings this month to try and ensure we get enough walks and socials for people to come on. If you’ve never been to a planning evening it’s really good way to talk to walk leaders to get ideas for walks and socials and to ask for help if you’re not confident to go it alone first time. We particularly need people who can host our “Pub nights for all” where we provide potential new members with a chance to meet us before they come on a walk, remember it can be scary to turn up to a walk for the first time. Having hosted a number of these it can be quite fun meeting new people and answering their questions about the group. It’s an opportunity for them to see we’re normal folk who enjoy walking and meeting people with the same interest.

1. Post AGM Planning Evening, Saturday 20 November

There will be a walk and social planning evening afterward the AGM so come along and put some walks and socials on for the Winter months.

2. Walk planning evening, The Sun pub, Carshalton, Tuesday 9 November

SURG Publicity Officer, Paul Reynolds, will be hosting a Walk and Social Planning evening on Tuesday 9th November, meeting in ‘The Sun’ pub, North Street, Carshalton from 7:00pm.

He says:
“Hi, I’m Paul,

“If you’d like to put a social or walk on the SURG program, or have never put a walk on before and would like to speak to someone about how to go about organizing a walk, then come along to the Planning Evening. Experienced walk leaders or complete novices, all are welcome. I’m an experienced walk leader and can offer help and advice about organizing a walk or social. So what are you waiting for, come along and say hello.”
Paul Reynolds

Bowling night, Purley, Friday 19 November

There is a 10-pin bowling night in Purley Bowling Alley starting at 7:45 pm. See website for more details.

Surrey Area celebrates the Ramblers 75th Anniversary

Some of you may have noticed that it is 75 years since the Ramblers came into being. They campaign to ensure that the rights of way in the countryside taken for granted by many remain to provide access on foot to parts of the country that would otherwise be private property and walking on would be trespass. The Ramblers also encourages everyone to take up walking as a past time that is available to all. To celebrate this, in Surrey there are a number of walks along the Greensand Way every day this week (it started on Sunday 31 October) until this Sunday coming, 7 November. Please see the Walks page on the website for more information: http://www.surreyyoungwalkers.org.uk/walks.html

Cotswold re-opening discount event, Covent Garden branch, 3 November

I have been contacted by Cotswold’s with the following information:
“The Covent Garden branch of Cotswold Outdoors has just finished an extensive refit and is now trading again as normal. To celebrate this, we are hosting a special discount evening event on November 3rd. As members of the Ramblers Association, which enjoys a healthy relationship with Cotswold Outdoors, I would be delighted if you and your members could attend.
“This event will start at 5pm and run until 8pm, during which time you will be able to enjoy a 20% discount on all purchases*. Also, I am pleased to announce that the famous climber Neil Gresham will also be attending.”
*Excluding Sale, Special Offer and Special Order Items

Final thoughts

And now the time has come for me to be sending out this, my final email newsletter, to all of you as Chair of SURG. It has been an interesting tenure that I’ve had this year and the group has changed from when I took the reins last October. We’ve worked with the defined age policy to specify exactly the age group we are aimed at. This was brought in to ensure the group maintains its ethos of encouraging younger adults to discover that it is an enjoyable pastime where you can see how much variety there is in the countryside and meet other people of similar age but from all backgrounds who share that enjoyment.

We’ve also moved from a purely seasonal to a more fluid programme of walks and socials. How well all this will works remains to be seen but I sincerely hope that you, the members, will help maintain the numbers of walks and socials that we need to keep the group running. If you enjoy being a member of the group, please put on a walk or social. Without you the group will cease to function. You may not have much time to give but it doesn’t have to be too onerous a task, if every single member put on a walk once a year we would be able to put on more than 4 walks a weekend, the simple fact that we are struggling to put on more than one walk a weekend and, barring a very small number who have put on their first walks this year, it is the same names who put on walks. The group is in constant flux as we lose members through people moving, some not renewing their membership for various reasons and others moving onto other groups. We need new people to take on the voluntary spirit to help take the group forward.

The group is entirely reliant upon volunteers who give up their time to “recce” walks, lead those walks, put on socials, organise the programme and ensure that it is accessible to all. Behind the scenes others are others involved in publicising the group (the ads in the local papers don’t just appear), answer queries from prospective members (many current members were emailed if they asked about the group or after they had their first walk to give them the details of the group), manage the group finances (we receive a small amount for the running of the group and have to ensure that our weekends away deposits are paid for), advise local authorities when paths are blocked or provide SURG’s views on developments in the countryside. To that effect I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who contributed this year and to those who have helped me to provide the leadership to try to guide the group into a new era. I hope that the good work will continue for many years to come.

Hopefully see you on a walk soon
Chris