Have you ever wondered what exactly it is that the BW committee does? Well you need wonder no longer. This (and subsequent) blogs will give you an idea of what goes on in committee meetings and behind the scenes for those of you who are interested.
The first thing to say, is that the committee is made up of individuals who are passionate about walking, socials and their respective roles, which makes my job as chair so much easier! The committee are committed to delivering a fantastic programme of events for the Berkshire Walkers and that includes both walks and socials.
Sam is our walk coordinator, and she takes all the information submitted via the walks webpage and populates the walk finder and our BW calendar with this information. Sarah then also gets a copy of this information for those who want to advertise on Meetup and makes sure that it is posted there.
Daisy is responsible for our social calendar. She has put on a fantastic variety of social events over the last couple of years including meals, drinks, escape rooms, climbing the O2 and the latest idea of a BW exclusive London Eye Pod! Both Daisy and Sam can’t do this alone however, and they need support from all of us within the BWs (both on the committee and not!) to lead walks and organise socials. If you have an idea, please do get in touch!
Zak works behind the scenes with all the membership stats. He is the one that you are likely to find taking a register on walks (along with Sam and Jason), and analysing the data to see how many people have walked, and over what distance in the last few months! He also manages the membership database and keeps us updated on how many members we have and what age bracket they fit into! He also responds to enquires via the website from potential new members. Although as a committee we take it in turn to write the weekly emails, it is Zak who takes this information, formats it all and makes sure that it arrives in your inbox on time!
Jason does some excellent work with publicity, and it seems that he is well known at a national level, which is excellent. The things that we do get publicised far and wide, and we are often asked to be involved in publicity events such as the recent photo shoot for the ‘Finding Your Way’ campaign launch. Jason and Zak are also both on the area committee, and Sam is our rep at Area. All three of them are off to the General Council in a few months time to represent Berkshire and the wider area.
Jack
is our treasurer. He keeps us honest
with all things financial and makes sure that we are in a position to meet our
regular financial outgoings. He also
facilitates the payment for trips – we often use the BW account to collect
payments from members and then use this to pay for accommodation when we go
away.
Cherry is our ordinary member. This
means that she doesn’t have a specific remit, but is free to help out wherever
she see’s fit. Most recently she has
been taking the minutes for the committee meetings and writing a blog on
footwear! Just as an aside, we would
normally also have someone who fills the role of secretary but this post is
currently empty. If you are interested,
please do get in touch.
Last but not least, that leaves me, your chair. It is my job to encourage all of the others on the committee and help them to make their fantastic ideas a reality! I also have a passion for looking for equipping people, and am shortly to start leading some walk leader training sessions. I am looking into how we can enable those that would like to, to attend mountain leader training so that we are better placed to lead holidays in the fantastic mountainous regions in the UK. I also am keen to facilitate communication between the committee and everyone else in the group, and hence this blog! I plan to do something similar every 2-3 months to update you with what goes on behind the scenes. If you want to find out more, our committee meetings are always open and advertised in the calendar, so do feel free to come along and join us!
Just before I sign off, I want to remind you, that this year is the 20th year of the BW’s and we plan to celebrate! At the moment we have a clothing order open, with the opportunity to buy items branded with the BW 2020 logo. Do make sure that you send any orders in by the 29th February to Daisy. We will also have a weekend in the summer to celebrate our 20th birthday! Our calendar is packed this year with events so do check out the various trips on offer as well as the regular walks and socials.