Dear group chair and group secretary,

The next ten years for the Ramblers: proposal from the board of trustees for discussion

I am emailing you about an important document I know you and members in your group will want to give us your opinion about. I am also sending you a separate email about proposals for a new governance for the Ramblers.

First, let me say how much we appreciate all the effort that you and your committees put into running your groups. Without groups the Ramblers would be a shadow of what it is now and in the future, so thank you.

Over the last 18 months we’ve been having conversations with walkers, asking what they think the Ramblers should achieve over the next ten years. This has helped to inform a proposal for a new vision for what we want to achieve over the next ten years.

Between now and the end of the year we would like feedback from groups on these proposals.

You can download the document by following this link:
www.ramblers.org.uk/v2014

I am sending the document to you, before we circulate it more widely amongst members. I will also email all the volunteer officers we have email addresses for. I know that this means some of you may get more than one copy, but I think that is better than anyone missing out.

A feature in the winter edition of Walk (arriving at the beginning of December) will update every member.

I have set up a survey so that you and the members in your group can give their feedback. You can feedback as an individual, a group committee or on behalf of members. Please do read all of the proposals before responding to the survey. This is your own personal link to the survey which will only work for you: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=kzklwUwOPMmYnIycC6B2yw_3d_3d

The survey will close on the 31st December 2014.

What to do next

Please follow the link to our website and read the document carefully. There is a letter included within the document which explains how we put these proposals together, and some suggestions to shape your feedback

Please inform group officers who don’t have email address about the document and how to respond

Please have a discussion at any group meetings about the ideas and feed the views into the survey

Please encourage everyone to respond using the survey. If anyone would like a hard copy of the document, or the survey, please ask them to get in touch with us (email addresses for queries below). We want to try to make sure that anyone who doesn’t have access to a computer is not disadvantaged

If you have any issues accessing these documents, or any questions please email us at vision@ramblersceo.zendesk.com

I would like to stress that these are only proposals, and not set in stone. After we have received all the feedback, then the final proposals will be submitted to the Board of Trustees early next year, and then we will present these to General Council.

Best wishes,

Benedict Southworth
Chief executive

FAQs about vision proposals:

Can you provide us with some draft text for my group or area email newsletter?

Here is some draft text to use:

The Board of Trustees, who are responsible for running the Ramblers across Great Britain, have put together a proposal for a new vision of what we want to achieve over the next ten years. This is based on conversations with walkers, which you may have read about in Walk magazine.

You can find the proposals for a new vision for the Ramblers, which contains the link to the survey, on our website www.ramblers.org.uk/goallout.

If you can’t access this document or the survey please email vision@ramblersceo.zendesk.com.

What if people are anxious about the proposals?

Please reassure them that these are ideas for discussion and feedback only. The Board of Trustees are very keen to get feedback that will shape their final proposals. If something really concerns a member the best thing they can do is respond to the survey, so the trustees can consider their views.

Who else has this been sent to?

The proposals were emailed to all area chairs and secretaries for their initial consideration. The proposals and survey were then emailed to group chairs and secretaries, and then to all other volunteer officers with a registered email address. The proposals and survey is available on the website and there will be a feature about them in Walk magazine in December.

When do I need to complete my feedback?

The survey will close at midnight on the 31st December 2014.

Where can I find a link to the survey?

Volunteers have been sent a personalised link to the survey. Everyone else can find a link to the survey in the proposal document.

Should I circulate this to my colleagues / group members / area members

Yes please do, the more feedback we get the better. Please use the draft email text above and send the links to the proposals, which contains the link to the survey.

I/ my colleagues don’t have access to a computer

Please email us at vision@ramblersceo.zendesk.com. We will make sure hard copies are sent to them. We will transcribe any posted surveys we receive in the post into the online system. Alternatively they can call the Ramblers on 020 7339 8500.

What will happen to the responses?

Every response will be read by a human being! Once all the responses are received staff will analyse them and create a summary of the text based answers. The Board of Trustees will get this information and have access to the survey so they can digest the feedback at their will.

I would like to contact the Board of Trustees directly

Unfortunately they don’t have the capacity to talk to everyone individually. The best way that people can shape the proposal is to feedback using the survey. It’s very important that you and members of your group or area respond using the survey.