1.  Apologies. None, all committee members attended.

2.  Minutes of the 2024 AGM. Approved.

3.  Matters arising from the 2024 AGM. David Gadd advised that he had been unable to make any progress on the Ramblers campaign “Don’t Lose Your Way” due to lack of time and unlikley to do so in the future.

4.  Chairman's annual report. It is with sadness that we record the passing of Joyce Gubbins, a valued member of Doncaster Ramblers from 2005. Joyce served on the committee for many years as well as leading many walks. She also loved long-distance walking and did several of these in Spain and Portugal. Poor health meant that Joyce spent the last years of her life in a care home, where she passed away on 7th August, aged eighty.

The Doncaster Group continues to function well, offering three walks a week and every walk being well-supported. Grateful thanks to the coordinators of these walks - Charlie Pratt for the Tuesday programme and Angela Gibson for the Saturday programme. There has been an issue over the early starting time of some walks, particularly on Tuesdays. The committee discussed the matter and reiterated that we would prefer the traditional 10.00 start, but acknowledged that if the leader wants to start at a different time, then that is their decision. Occasionally on a Tuesday a 10.00 start walk is offered as an alternative to the 9.30 start.

Regarding the need for leaders to be qualified we have 45 members on the Active Walk Leader list, 31 members having completed the training with a few in the pipeline. There have been a handful of members who have said that they will not lead again, but these could be considered as ‘natural wastage’. Special thanks are due to Steve Tomlinson for helping and cajoling members to complete the process.

The shortage of leaders, particularly for the Thursday programme, has been an issue but with new leaders Debs and Malc Proctor and Ian Barltrop the situation improved. However, the more recent situation, whereby three of the regular Thursday leaders have been unable to lead, prompted an urgent request for leaders from me, which was answered promptly by Debs and Malc Procter, David Horne and Tony Liversidge and the situation was resolved. There are a few potential new Thursday Walk leaders in the offing.

The walks for Doncaster Carers have continued, with monthly and twice monthly walks throughout the summer. At the start of the summer the number of carers and cared-for people walking was very low (one to two) however since the start of September numbers have increased to 5 or 6. Thanks to Steve Tomlinson and the carers team for providing the walks.

The annual coach trip this year was to Filey at the end of September. Three walks were organised, of 4.5, 7 and 12.5 miles, with 31 people doing the long walk. Thanks to all who contributed, leaders, back-markers, photographers and report writers, and to Charlie for the quizzes on the outward and return journeys. Also, to Steve for his organising of the whole day.

Stuart Twell and Pete Smith continue to link with the council Rights of Way Department and provide monthly maintenance sessions. They are supported by a team of members and non members to carry out the work. Making the maintenance photos and a report more visible on the website was an excellent decision. Many thanks to Stuart and Pete for organising these sessions.

Di Scolari continues to link with the RoW Dept and organise the members who monitor the network for the council as well as dealing with submitting our opinion regarding diversion orders, etc. Thanks to Di for carrying out this largely administrative work, including ‘reminding’ footpath wardens to complete their squares.

In January of this year, we hosted the AGM of the South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire (SYNED) Area of Ramblers. Hosting the AGM is rotated between the eight groups in Area and we last hosted the AGM in 2016. After the necessary admin the guest speaker, who was a Trustee from Ramblers central office, updated us on what was happening in Ramblers in general and then took questions. One question was about the possible solar farm in the area. He pointed out that it was a nuanced issue, with the loss of countryside balanced against the need for solar power.

In this past year we were urged to support the protests against the planned huge solar farm on Conisbrough Parks and beyond. We issued a statement pointing out the conflicting issues and saying that Doncaster Ramblers would not be taking a view in support or against the solar farm, but accepting that our members, as individuals, may wish to do so. Our Statement read:

"Ramblers recognises the need to protect the countryside. However, it also recognises that protecting the countryside is a complex matter, with short term and long term issues relating to sustainability, getting the right balance between aesthetics and the long term need for energy, between biodiversity and farming, between nature and the needs of residents. Given the complexities of these issues, and that so much depends on the details of developments, and the varied opinions of Ramblers members, Ramblers groups, areas and the whole organisation, we will not take a position. If individual members want to support or oppose a development, that is of course their choice."

Our membership figures remain very healthy, with 258 members at the end of August. This is an 11.2% increase in the last two years. I feel that our website, with photos and written reports from many walks, plus our Facebook account, are largely responsible for this success.

The Thursday walks programme continues to provide new members, as did a one-off local history walk on Sunday, 14th September - promoted to the local population - when one walker became a member of Ramblers during the course of the walk. The walks programme continues to be well-promoted, with many photos from walks, and a written report being posted on our website. Peter Rowsell, as publicity officer, then posts the photos and report on our Facebook site and sends them to many local magazines. Thanks to Peter for his sterling efforts and to Brian Unsworth for maintaining the website. Brian was involved in supporting the Area webmaster in establishing a new website for SYNED.

I end by thanking everyone who has contributed to the success of Doncaster Ramblers. I thank everybody involved in the walks programme, especially to leaders who take on the responsibility of leading the walk, to back-markers, to photographers and report writers who help to publicise the group. Also, my thanks to the vitally important walks coordinators for the Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday programmes. And finally, my thanks to the committee members, who give up their time to attend meetings and contribute to the decisions we make.

Presented by David Gadd, Chairman.

5.  Treasurer’s annual report for the year October 2024 to September 2025. Our Christmas lunch and the recent coach trip to Filey accounted by far for most of the transactions. There was a total of 89 transactions recorded in my ledger book for the year which is the highest for some considerable time. Taking into account the two refunds for the Christmas Lunch, the payment to the Wheatley Golf Club was matched exactly by the income being paid into our bank account. The coach trip produced a small profit of £9 after all the finances were finalised.

Fuel Claims were a lot higher than the last financial year, standing at £421.70. As a comparison, the financial year ending 30/09/24 registered £229.16. As reported last year, the group are encouraging members to claim for fuel costs. The “Other committee expenses” of £143.55 were for the purchase of tools by the group for the Rights of Way maintenance team. The Publicity figure of £88.60 were for costs associated with “Get Doncaster Moving” seminars attended by Peter Rowsell.

Finningley village hall was not available for a pre-arranged committee meeting in January so Finningley Parish Council refunded the group £33. The Peak & Northern Footpath Society (PNFS) continue to receive an annual subscription from the group. This is paid by annual direct debit. Doncaster Group are affiliated to the PNFS. The contribution made by the Walking Partnership was down this year at £80.00.

The bank balance as at the financial year end on 30th September stood at £707.73. Over the last few years this has gone down from an amount considerably higher. It is important to realise we have not had any SYNED area funding since 2019 as we have been able to support ourselves financially. However, when the next offer of area funding is offered, I am likely to accept it to ensure we have sufficient funds to maintain the group’s ability to pay bills and expenses.

David advised that we had received £162 from SYNED area funds in October 2025 and was expecting to receive the same amount quarterly for the remainder of this financial year.

The income and expenditure accounts for Doncaster Ramblers are presented at the end of the minutes.

Finally, my thanks to all committee members for their hard work during the last financial year.

Presented by David Horne, Treasurer.

6.   Membership Secretary’s report. Our membership has remained stable at 250 since the end of 2024 which could be viewed as disappointing. Recent membership figures are given below and we have had an excess of leavers, this is anyone’s guess why, cost of living, no automatic renewal in place, inclement weather, 9.30 starts, walk leader training, break-away groups etc.

 We however compare reasonably well when our membership figures over recent years are compared to other Groups in the SYNED AREA, see table below.

Peter reported that on the date of the 2025 AGM the membership stood at 249.

Presented by Peter Rowsell, Membership Secretary.

7.  Footpath Secretary’s report. Footpath checking 2025 has been a successful year thanks to the time and effort put in by the square wardens. So, a big thank you to them. Of the 29 squares all PROWs in 28 have been walked and reported. The remaining square David and I are going to do soon. January will soon be here when we can start again so can I just reiterate Julie Guest’s (Head of RoW department CDC) request to not send in your report on an attachment but just an email and only add photos if you really think it will help. Remember Pete and Stuart will go and check to assess materials needed for the repair. Please also send in your report as you check paths, don’t wait to complete all the paths before reporting. Again, a big thank you to you all.

During the meeting Dianne advised that she was unable to open the CDC walking maps under the Volunteers Section on the Doncaster Ramblers website. This was checked after the meeting and confirmed but the information can be accessed via Doncaster Footpath Maps under the Volunteers section. Dianne to follow up with Doncaster City Council. Dianne also advised she has secured a replacement warden for Hatfield square which was the area Dianne and David checked late in the day, see above.

Presented by Dianne Scolari, Footpath Secretary

8.  Footpath maintenance. Footpath Maintenance Team Annual Report.

March: Hatfield area. Six marker posts and markers sited.
May: Fishlake area. Repairing a gate fitting, 1 post and markers sited and some minor path clearance.
June: Norton area. Posts and markers sited, fitted under testing conditions due to distance from road to areas for siting and hard ground making digging challenging.
July: session 1Thorne area. Seven posts and markers sited in tough terrain
July: Session 2 Tickhill area 4 posts and markers sited in a wide demographic area, combine with rough working terrain
September: Austerfield area. Two posts sited and some clearance work on the bridle path well used by horses
October: Brodsworth area. 900 metres of path clearance giving everybody a good upper body workout
An average of 12-man hours were provided on each session, therefore approximately 84 hours of voluntary work was carried out within the Doncaster area, ensuring the footpaths are in a fit state for everybody to access. A job well done.

Stuart confirmed during the meeting he and Peter have sufficient volunteers to carry out the maintenance work required. He also advised that with the City of Doncaster Council he is putting together a spreadsheet with footpath faults which will be able to be viewed by the council on a map. Stuart also advised that the council have some footpaths which are classified as red and should not be inspected or accessed. The City of Doncaster Council senior staff member in charge of RoWs wants to meet our maintenance team, this meeting will take place at lunchtime late January early February 2026.

Report presented by Stuart Twell, Footpath Maintenance Coordinator.

9.  Publicity Officer's report.

Save Our Green Belt
The year began, as the last ended, with numerous requests for us to back a campaign against the building of a solar farm on Conisbrough Parks. A few well-chosen words explaining our position, stopped any further pleas for support. For anyone interested, back in the 1990’s Doncaster Ramblers campaigned against a proposed open cast mine in the same area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk_k8kQMnMM

Face Book
Fewer and fewer people engage with us on FB these days, but those that do continue to give us positive feedback. Some FaceBook 28 day insights include
84,839 views
674 interactions
4,486 Followers

Get Doncaster Moving
This year we attended four Get Doncaster Moving Seminars. Apart from being the only walking group present, and a chance to meet council staff again, I see little value taking part. However, the council are planning a number of events next year as part of “Walking month of May” in which we will be able to participate. See comment on “Walking in May” at the end of this report.

I was also invited to take part in an initial session of Get Doncaster Moving Active Travel subgroup https://getdoncastermoving.org/active-travel which centred on safety issues, for those with disabilities. With this in mind I am trying to discover how many PRoW in the area, are tarmacked? After all our president Amar Latif, is blind.

On-line Press
One of our loyalist on-line media outlets The Doncaster Gazette ceased trading, plus for the first time in maybe ten years Today Magazine failed to include us in their November edition. In an effort to find new outlets I approached a publication called “About Town” who were aware of The Ramblers having published stuff from Rotherham Metro, and Dearne Valley. Rather than poach from our neighbours I passed the lead to SYNED. Notwithstanding this example we all need to look out for every opportunity to get some publicity.

Which leads me nicely to
Late breaking news
Friday Men’s Club
David Clayton
07752 106266
The group meets every Friday from 10:00 to 12;00 at the Peacehaven Communal Hall, Barnby Dun, DN3 1AF
Invite us to come along give a talk about The Ramblers
They have between 16-20 regular retirees


Trans Pennine Trail
The Trans Pennine Trail Xmas Carol will be performed by Doncaster Ramblers Tuesday Choir with empresario Stephen Tomlinson. The video has been sent to the TPT officers at Barnsley Council.

During the meeting Peter advised the Doncaster City Council are putting on “Walking in May” and it has been suggested that during this month we only put on walks local to Doncaster. This message has been forwarded to all three walk Coordinators.

Report presented by Peter Rowsell, Publicity Officer

10. Election and re-election of officers. All the following were re-elected.

David Gadd Chairman

David Horne Treasurer

Stephen Tomlinson Secretary

Publicity Officer Peter Rowsell

Webmaster Brian Unsworth

Footpath Secretary Dianne Scolari

Footpath Maintenance Coordinators Stuart Twell and Pete Smith

Membership Secretary Peter Rowsell

General Member Angela Gibson

Walks Coordinator Tuesday Charlie Pratt

Walks Coordinator Thursday David Gadd

Walks Coordinator Saturday Angela Gibson

During the meeting Ian Baltrop was voted onto the committee as a General Member

11. Any other business.