From this week, advance sign-up is no longer required for most of our walks, with the exception of the occasional walk which still has a limit on numbers (which will be clearly stated near the top of the walk description, and sign-up for these will now open immediately rather than waiting until a few days before the walk). For all other walks, you can just turn up on the day.
However, we also list our walks on Meetup, which has been one of our most effective ways of recruiting new members, and we would very much encourage you to indicate there if you’re planning to attend one of our walks. This is in no way compulsory, but if regular members engage with the platform then new people will see that there’s a good number of others are going and be more inclined to join.
Why are we changing this?
This is how we (and most other Ramblers groups) always worked in the past, until post-lockdown Covid rules required a way of managing numbers on our walks and supporting contact tracing if necessary (although we never had a case where it was). Now that these rules have been gone for some time, and most walk leaders no longer put a limit on their walks, like many other groups we have decided to simplify things again.
We’re aware that for some walk leaders, especially if you’re new to leading and not yet confident leading a large group, the option to limit numbers is still important – which is why this option is still available as a leader, even though it’s not been the default for a while.
Final notes
Because we won’t have statistics on walk attendance from the sign-up forms, we’ll be resuming taking registers on our walks as we were doing before Covid. To make this easier, if you’re already a member of the Berkshire Walkers or another Ramblers group, please bring your membership card along if you can (although we can manage without if you forget it). The digital version in the Ramblers app will also work, as will a copy of the QR code in one of those apps for managing loyalty cards and the like. (If you’re a walk leader, don’t worry – there will be guidance on this and usually committee members or others who can help on the day.)
Without advance booking, the walk leader won’t know you’re coming, so don’t expect them to wait if you arrive late unless you contact them to let them know – but don’t expect the group to wait more than a few minutes from the listed start time, except in the case where the suggested public transport option is delayed which is likely to affect many participants.
— Zak, Walks Coordinator