NMC Committee Minutes Tuesday 14th February 2017 Attending Andrew Shanks (AS), Felix Larieu(FL), Radoslaw Florczak(RF), Adrian Wilson (AW), John Dalrymple (JD), Ian Birtwistle (IB), Joe Rudin (JR), John Spencer(JS), Steve Blake (SB), Megan Denman-Cleaver(MDC), Emma Smith(ES), Claire Robertson(CR), Eva Diran(ED)
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Apologies Joe McCarty(JMcC), Keira Barrett(KB), Camilla Mapstone(CM), Craig Harrison (CH)
Approval of Minutes of last meeting Minutes approved – SB & AW
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Action Points and Matters Arising •
RF reported that production on the t-shirts is due to begin and he will be visiting the manufacturer in the week following this meeting
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CR was accepted onto the committee
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ED reported that the completion of the club accounts for this financial year is in transition ◦
The tax return needs to be redone
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FL needs to be made a signatory for the club's bank account
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Any claims are to be sent to both ED and FL until the handover is fully complete.
Handbook Issues •
AW reminded the committee that the handbook needs to be completed in a couple of weeks to allow for distribution along with the membership cards
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The meets schedule needs filling out
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At the time of the meeting, the Google sheets list has the Wednesday meets, the Galloway meet, the two Langdale meets
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AB has volunteered to run another Peak meet in July or August
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RF volunteered to lead a Pembroke meet in August
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FL volunteered to lead a Yorkshire meet towards the end of the season
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ES volunteered to lead an Arran meet in May or June
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JR volunteered to lead a Lake District camping meet in August
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AW asked the committee if the NMC should be running a learn to lead course in conjunction with the new members' meet ◦
JR will explore the interest in such a course among the membership
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The possibility of having two huts for the new members' meet was raised and dismissed in favour of a single hut and the option for people to camp
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ED explained the process for paying for huts for meets– either to book with their own money and claim a refund, or to pass the hut details onto the treasurer to book on their behalf, stressing the need for an email to provide a record of the purpose of the transaction
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StB will contact the shops offering discounts to renew the discounts
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The hotel that hosted the President's dinner last year have voiced their enthusiasm to host again and offered an unspecified deal
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ED will book the huts for winter meets this year and prepare a set of handover notes for next year.
Website Issues •
CR will investigate traffic analysis on the website
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StB proposed encouraging more trip reports on the NMC's Facebook channels
Correspondence •
MDC volunteered to represent the NMC at the BMC North East meeting
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The Cleveland Mountaineering Club will be hosting the 2018 Festival of Walking and Climbing
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AW reported that the BMC have released a new member clubs portal that allows membership details to be provided to the BMC immediately, rather than at intervals.
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AW proposed to reduce the use of prospective membership
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The committee unanimously decided that the membership secretary should have discretion to offer prospective or full membership
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AW asked the committee if it would be beneficial for him to automatically forward the correspondence he receives from commercial organisations. The general consensus was that such would not benefit the club
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JS reports receiving correspondence from Tony Moulam, who had been active in the development of Northumberland climbing in the 40's, about Basil Butcher's obituary, and Tony has agreed to write an article for the County Climber
Guidebook Issues •
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StB raised the issue of a guidebook subcommittee, proposing putting an invite out via Facebook and email for volunteers to form a working group to decide the future of the NMC's involvement in guidebook production ◦
The working group is to include those climbing at the cutting edge of Northumberland climbing and current users of the guide, including those outside the club
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Non-guidebook options for promoting the Northumbrian climbing ethos are to be considered
JS reminded the committee that the 75th anniversary of the NMC's founding was coming up in 2020
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StB asked for a number of copies of the existing guides to assist the photography team
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The Titlington guide is finished and StB wants to weave in the Hunterheugh guide
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StB will determine the photographer's travel expenses and reimburse him
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ED asked if there was a more appropriate channel for committee communication than messenger
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ES suggested a private Facebook group for the committee to allow separate discussion threads
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Next Meeting •
TBC