News and Announcements

Hi All,

You're probably sick of hearing about lockdowns and rule changes but we do need to highlight that travel to Wales is not permitted from Friday so the hut is currently closed until the lockdown rules in Wales permit the hut to be used again. We are still happy to accept bookings for the hut but whether you can go to the hut will all be subject to the prevailing rules at the time of course.

On a happier note we are currently still OK to go ahead with our Mountain Biking meet on Sunday 1st November at Cannock chase. I'm working on the risk assessment and procedures for the meet so look out for an invite email soon and remember you MUST pre-book in order to attend.

Regarding booking/registering for meets we are aware that some people are having trouble logging in to Groupspaces. This is a Groupspaces issue to do with compatibility with newer browsers. We are looking to move away from Groupspaces soon, in the meantime if you are having issues trying using the Mozilla Firefox web browser as this seems to work.

That's all for this week folks. Hope you enjoy your week/weekend. Oh and don't forget to register for the Annual dinner and slideshow if you haven't already.

Andy

Hi All,

Just a brief note to everyone that the BMC Midlands Area is holding it's AGM on Wednesday the 4th November 19:30 by Zoom. You may well have been sent an invite already directly by the BMC. But if you haven't the details of how to register for the meeting are on the BMC website

Regards

Andy Railton

Dave Unwin has kindly created yet another great article to share with the club. Dave actually sent me this back in May but I've been saving it for the right time of year. So make yourself a warm cup of tea/coffee and settle down to find out What makes a ‘good’ Snowdonia winter?

Winters in Snowdonia by Dave Unwin

NB: You find find more articles by Dave and others on the Articles pages of the club website.

Hi All,

We have good news on the meets front but before you jump down to read about that please note that there have been various changes to the lockdown rules in both England and Wales over the past week (including today). These affect who can go to the club hut as it now depends on which Tier of lockdown you live in as to whether you can travel to Wales. Tony and Anni have cancelled their planned trip to the hut on the weekend of the 24th/25th October due to being in a Tier 2 area and Zoe has cancelled her trip on the weekend of 31st Oct/1st Nov for the same reason. The hut is now available on these weekends to be booked if you are in a Tier 1 area but please be aware your tier may change and you will need to cancel if you are no longer in a Tier 1 area. The situation with the COVID-19 lockdown is likely to evolve rapidly so please keep an eye on the restrictions in your area and in Wales in terms of visiting the club hut.

Now on a more positive note we have some meets planned for next month. We have our COVID proof virtual annual dinner and slideshow starting at 6pm on Saturday 14th November. It's going to be a fun evening of food, drinks, stories, socialising and more. Checkout the event on the club website for full details and to register your attendance.

We also have our first Mountain Biking day trip to the trails at Cannock Chase on Sunday 1st November. We normally have a mountain biking weekend away around this time but we can't do that this year. So we are going to have a couple of day trips instead of which this is the first (there will be a single track day in the peak later in the autumn). This is a bit of a trial for us as we need to run this meet in compliance with COVID secure guidelines. Some details are available on the club website, early next week I will send out a full set of details and instructions on how to book and what you need to do in order attend.

Last but not least the Chairman's Walk will be going ahead this year on Sunday 29th November. As is traditional the location of this year's walk is being kept underwraps until nearer the time. We will be organising this year's walk so as to allow as many members as is permittable to gather together. However we will also ensure that the format of the walk means that as many members as possible can take part, even those who cannot not meet in person. More details on the club website.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Andy

Hi All,

After a busy AGM it's taken a little while to compile the minutes but we have got them finished now, thanks to Andy Railton, you can find the minutes in the Members Area of the club website along with the minutes of all our committee meetings. Just a reminder that on the Members Area page you can also find the new club byelaws as ratified at the AGM.

With the AGM completed the committee are turning their attention to the year ahead. It's going to be an interesting time as we continue to adapt the way the club works to the new normal we find ourselves in. In the short term we'll making plans for our usual autumn meets including the club annual dinner, chairman's walk and MTB meet. We've had some great idea's already for making these work, even if we have to return to a greater restriction on gatherings. I'm looking forward to sharing our plans with you after the next committee meeting which is being held via via Zoom on Thursday 15th October at 8pm. Remember all club members are welcome to attend club committee meetings, if you'd like to join in please contact the club secretary.

Talking of meets we also have the BMC Midlands are AGM taking place on Wednesday 4th November at 7:30pm via Zoom. As well as Chairing our wonderful club I am also chair of the BMC Midlands area so it would be great to see Bowliners joining the meeting as you are all members of the BMC. We have several club members who are also on the BMC Midlands area committee (Claudia Sarner as National Councillor and Andy Harper as East Midlands access officer) so you'll find plenty of familiar faces at the meeting. I'll send out an email with details of how to register for the meeting once the registration link is live. We're looking for a secretary to join the BMC Midlands committee as our long standing secretary has reached his maximum term in the post, if you fancy joining our team let me know an I can tell you more about it.

Just a quick note on access to the club hut. At the time of writing the situation is unchanged in North Wales meaning the hut itself can still be used (subject to the special rules for COVID-19), however travel restrictions still apply across many parts of North Wales so please bear this in mind if going to North Wales. If the situation changes regarding access to the hut we'll let you know.

And finally although we are not curently having a formal Tuesday evening bouldering club meet there is a WhatsApp group has been setup for those wanting to book into the same sessions at The Climbing Station. Contact Andy Railton to be included in the WhatsApp group.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Andy

Hi All,

We had lovely sunny weather over the weekend which was good timing as our hut secretary Ian Robinson, along with Pete Bottrill, were at the club hut to sort out the end wall where the render had fallen off. The loose render has been removed and the wall repainted. The paintwork on the front of the hut has also been tidyed up. Thanks guys!




Unfortunately the lock down situation in North Wales means that is likely that access to the club hut may become restricted again in the near future. Although currently Gwynedd county is not under lockdown, Conwy Denbighshire, and Wrexham are under lockdown. Please bear in mind the restrictions in these counties when travelling to and from the hut and also when choosing where to go our to climb/walk/etc whilst staying at the hut. For more information see this article on UKClimbing.com.

Not looking good this weekend for going out climbing I'm afraid. Hope you all have a good one whatever you get up too.

Andy

Hi All,

We were pleased to see a good turnout of 38 members for the club AGM on Tuesday night (via Zoom). A big thanks to all those who took the time to attend, it was really great to be able ratify the changes to the byelaws that the committee have been working hard to prepare over the past year. See my separate email on changes to the byelaws.

The AGM heard a report from Andy Railton on the impact of COVID-19 and the non-running of the Charnwood Hills Race. We are fortunate that the club doesn't depend on the income from the Charnwood Hills Race, although the money it raises is very useful for making improvements to the club hut. We are expecting to make a loss of perhaps around £600-£800 on the club hut due to the reduced income from hut fee's, but we will cover this from our reserves.

We hope that the situation with COVID-19 doesn’t change before we can benefit from being able to gather together again, but if it does then one of the tasks for our new committee will be to find a way to make things work in a world where restrictions are likely to continue to beyond the next AGM. We’ll need to consider how club members can still enjoy climbing and walking together without putting themselves or the wider community at unnecessary risk. And also, how we can maintain the social cohesion of the club during these difficult times.

The AGM was also our opportunity to elect a new committee for the club. We gave our thanks to outgoing committee for their hard work over the past year. There has been a lot of effort behind the scene’s both during lockdown with handling the impact on the club, and before lockdown in preparing the various byelaw changes to support bringing the clubs membership rules in line with our current practices. Particular thanks went to Simon Lofthouse for his many years service as our membership secretary.

We are pleased to announce that Zoe Pickering has taken up the role of Vice Chair, and Tony Bishopp has taken over from Simon Lofthouse as membership secretary. We also welcome Stepan Ptacek to the committee as one of our ordinary members. You can find details of who is on the committee and the contact details for the club officers on the club website.

Hope you are all staying safe and well. Make sure to get out and enjoy (maybe) the last of the good weather!

Andy

Hi Everyone,

As promised here are the AGM documents re-sent.

This is the complete set:

It includes:

AGM 2019 Minutes (PDF)
AGM Agenda (PDF + WORD)
Income & Expenditure Accounts (PDF)
The Proposed Changes to the Byelaws (Marked up in Colour) (PDF + WORD)
An explanation of the proposed changes in the Byelaws (PDF + WORD)
A brief financial assessment of the impact of Covid on the Club & also Cancellation of CHR (New) (PDF + EXCEL)

The last one is new it's a brief assessment of the financial impact on the club of Covid and also cancelling this year's CHR.

Look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday night.

Regards

Andy Railton

Dear All,

Just a quick reminder that it is our Club AGM next Tuesday. We would urge all of you to attend the AGM, it is your club so it is your opportunity to have your say.

We do also need to be quorate for this to be a valid AGM, so please do attend. A proxy vote doesn't count towards the quorate total unfortunately.

Because we are holding the Meeting by Zoom it is important that you REGISTER  that you are coming and let us know by which method you intend to Vote 1) Using the Zoom Applicatiion (The preferred method) or 2) Voting by Email.

A big thank you to all of you who have done this already.

We have sent out all the documents for the AGM so you should have all the documents that you need for the AGM.  Just in case you missed this I will send out the AGM documents again this Thursday.

Because we are holding the AGM by Zoom it is important that you read the AGM documents prior to the meeting, I would strongly recommend that you have printed set of the documents or a very good computer screen on which to view all the documents.

We will be sending out the Zoom invite this Thursday by Email. For those of you who will be dialing into the meeting the invite will include a number which you can use to dial into the meeting.

If it is really not possible to attend the meeting and we realise not everyone will be able to attend, then you can EITHER register your PROXY vote on the motions FOR or AGAINST each motion or you can nominate a PROXY to vote for you in your place. To do this you will need to fill in the PROXY voting SLIP which is attached to the end of the AGM AGENDA and return it to the Club Secretary (i.e. me). The proxy voting slip needs to be returned to the Club Secretary no later than 48 hours before the AGM starts, that is by 19:30 this Sunday. 

At: clubsecretary@bowlineclimbingclub.co.uk

You can post your Proxy Voting Slip if you wish to:
Andrew Railton
8, Harrier Close,
Broughton Astley,
Leicester
LE9 6RU
 
Regards

Andy Railton (Club Secretary)

Hi Folks,

We are having a practice run through for the AGM this coming Monday at 8 P.M by Zoom.

This is to allow people who might be new to Zoom to get some familarity and for us to iron out nay last minute bugs.

The details for the Zoom Meeting are below

Mike Jones is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Practice AGM

Time: Sep 14, 2020 08:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/91319564893?pwd=VWVjTERnYUUweUlFZFFTOFJFSDBKdz09

Meeting ID: 913 1956 4893

Passcode: 920142

One tap mobile

+16699009128,,91319564893#,,,,,,0#,,920142# US (San Jose)

+12532158782,,91319564893#,,,,,,0#,,920142# US (Tacoma)

Dial by your location

        +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)

        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

        +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)

        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

        +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)

Meeting ID: 913 1956 4893

Passcode: 920142

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aemWyt4pXa

Hi All,

We're a little late again with this weeks news but that's because we've been pouring over the latest guidance released by the British Mountaineering Council regarding restarting club meets. The good news is that (local lockdocs permitting) we can return to at least single day club meets. The catch is that there are various requirements we need to comply with including having details of those attending the meets, having risk assessments in place, complying with social distancing, etc. However our initial take on the guidance is that these things are manageable for us.

The club committee will be meeting on Monday evening to discuss how to use the new guidance to get club meets going again. This is likely to start with a few trial meets to see how the process works, probably a local meet and a day trip to the peak. Looking slightly further ahead we are planning to hold a couple of day trips for Mountain Biking in October in lieu of our normal MTB weekend. One of these day trips will be to a trail centre and the other will be a day out riding probably in the Peak District. Dates to be announced soon.

The Chairman's walk will also be going ahead and the date for this will be Sunday 29th November. We aren't expecting to have a post walk meal this year and the walk is likely to be fairly local although as always the location won't be announced until nearer the time.

It's good to see the hut is getting booked up by club members with most weekends now booked until end of October. Much more availability in November and December, there is always some great fun and adventures to be had at the hut no matter what the time of year so grab yourself and weekend and enjoy!

Looking forward to giving you more news on meets next week and hopefully seeing you on a meet soon.

Andy

Good evening,

I'm sorry I have not been in touch sooner, but I now have something to talk about.

There is a whatsapp group been set-up for climbing at the station. This is so members can align their session with other members, if they wish to do so.

Simularly I will be setting up a 'Slawston Bridge' and 'Cademan Woods' Whatsapp for the same reason. These are wholly OP-IN so if you would like to be included please reply with which group and your number.

Take care and look out for the chairmans email very soon.

Mike

To Club Members,

There have been a few minor changes to the AGM documents plus I also forgot to attach the 2019 AGM Minutes to the formal notice of the AGM, the changed documents and 2019 AGM Minutes are attached:

In Brief the Changes Are:
The AGM Agenda (PDF and WORD) - Changes to Item 9 Proposition 3 - This has been changed to "Modify Rule 5.1" rather then "Delete".

The explanation of the Changes in the Byelaws (PDF and WORD) - Primarily this has been changed so that the order of propositions is exactly the same on the Agenda and there were a couple of minor changes to eliminate some typo errors that had crept in on numbering.

The colour coded Byelaws (PDF and WORD) has had one slight change, but only on the colour coding  - the text has NOT changed, to better illustrate a change for Proposition 7 (Item 9).

2019 AGM Minutes (2019) Revised (PDF)

Everyone Should Now Have the Following Files for the AGM
2019 Bowline Income & Expenditure [signed] (PDF)
AGM 2019 MINUTES - Revised (PDF)
bcc-byelaws-2020-jan-all-changes-colourcode_V3 (PDF & WORD)
Bowline CC - 2020 AGM Agenda Draft V5 (PDF & WORD)
Byelaw Motions Explanation_V4 (PDF & WORD)

Can we request that everyone who is going to attend registers for the AGM, this would be enormously helpful to the Club. If you can't make it please also do indicate that via the registration process. There is also the option of voting by Proxy if you can't attend the AGM, which is explained on the AGM Agenda document, but you must send back your Proxy Voting Slips within 48 hours of the AGM.

Also if you are intending to dial in and not use the Zoom App/Website and are going to Email your votes in or if there are two people using a single device and so one of you is going to Email your votes in then the Club needs to know this in advance, you indicate this as an option during the registration process.

We will be holding a Zoom Practice for those of you who are new to Zoom in the Week before the AGM. Andy Potter will send an invite to the Zoom practice.

Just a reminder that we are also looking to fill the Vice Chair position so if you think that you would like to do this please do let us know.

Any communications should go to clubsecretary@bowlineclimbingclub.co.uk

Regards

Andy Railton (Secretary) 
 

Hi Folks,

I've had a request from a member who wants to purchase all the remaining buffs. Before I sell them all to one body, does anyone else wamt a club Buff?

Regards

Andy Railton

Hi All,

So the Climbing Station is now open again at Loughborough. Having canvassed some of the folks who were regular climbers there some of you would like to go back on a Tuesday night.

Essentially accessing the Station is by a booked pre-paid time slot only which lasts for a period of 90 minutes. To control numbers there is a 15 minute entry slot during which is limited to 6 people entering during this time slot. The maximum numbers permitted in the Climbing Station are limited to 36. The Climbing Station will ask for your contact details for tracing purposes of course. The BOOKING PAGE explains payment and membership, and payment if your membership has lapsed. 

Rather than run this as a 'formal' meet I'm going to set up a What's App group and invite the regulars to join the group. Then you can organise amongst yourselves if you want to book a particular time slot. I'm currently working away from Leicester so can't make Tuesdays, but I'm happy to administer the group. If you don't get an invite to the group and would like an invite please send me an Email and I'll invite you to the group.

So the Key Rules that the Station are imposing are as follows

• DO NOT attend the Climbing Station if you or anyone from your household displays any symptoms of Covid-19 until you have tested negatively
• If you live in an Area where the local restictions do not permit indoor climbing in that area then you should NOT come to the wall. Currently if you live in the Leicester City Area this applies to YOU.
• Your temperature will be taken on entry and if it's over 37.5 degC you won't be permitted to enter
• Entry to the climbing wall is by booked pre-payment only
• Arrive ready to climb and avoid changing on the premises
• Sanitize/ wash your hands before and after climbing and regularly during your visit. The Climbing Station will provide hand sanitizing stations
• Climbers must use liquid chalk to help sanitize their hands while climbing
• Use cashless payments
• Maintain 2 m social distancing, this also applies to those in a social bubble
• If you are a Novice climber and all climbers under 14 Please read the Climbing Station rules as they currently apply

Please note that these are the KEY rules, you should check ALL THE RULES on the Climbing Station Website prior to turning up.

KEY INFO
APP TO CHECK LOCKDOWN AREAS
THE CLIMBING STATION
THE CLIMBING STATION COVID 19 POLICIES

Regards

Andy Railton

Dear Club Member,

This is to give formal notice of the Bowline Climbing Cub AGM that is to be held on Tuesday 22nd of September at 19:30. Due to the Covid situation the AGM will be held on-line by Zoom. This is the AGM that was postponed in March.

We have successfully been using the Zoom Application to hold Committee Meetings and it has proved to be successful. Zoom allows for on-line voting so we intend to carry out the voting on-line during the AGM meeting. 

If you have access to a PC, Laptop, Tablet or Smart Phone then you can use Zoom on these devices. If you don't have access to one of these devices than it is still possible to dial into the Zoom Meeting, but we will ask you to vote by Email during the Meeting.

Zoom only allows one vote per device, so if you are a couple then you will EITHER need to each use a separate device OR one of you will have to Email in your vote separately. If you are Emailing in your vote then you will need to make it clear who is voting, what you are voting for and if your vote is for or against the Motion or Proposal. We will be running a trial Zoom session for anyone that hasn't used Zoom and we will send out a date and invite shortly to let people know when that is. We will also hold a trial voting session at the AGM so people know how the voting mechanism works.

IF YOU ARE INTENDING TO VOTE BY EMAIL THEN WE WOULD ASK THAT PEOPLE LET US KNOW IN ADVANCE THAT THIS IS WHAT THEY INTEND TO DO BY EMAILING THE CLUB SECRETARY AT: clubsecretary@bowlineclimbingclub.co.uk

As per the postponed AGM in March there a number of Motions to change the Club Byelaws that we need to ratify at the AGM. We have attached the Byelaws as changed by the Motions and explanation of the changes.

The following files are attached
The minutes of the 2019 AGM
The Agenda for the 2020 AGM
The income and expenditure accounts for the year ending 31st December 2019
The proposed changes to the Club Byelaws
An explanation of the reason for changing the club Byelaws

Currently the HMRC accounts for year ending 2019, somewhat delayed, have been submitted for preparation by the Club's accountants. If these are available in the Statutory period before the Club AGM then these will be circulated as well.

We would urge all club members to attend the AGM, it is your opportunity to put your views forward and influence how the Club operates in the future. The COVID situation has also significantly affected the running of the club and so we have a specific agenda item devoted to this.

If you are unable to attend then you may EITHER appoint a PROXY to vote in your place OR send in a PROXY Vote.  If you send in a PROXY vote, as opposed to appointing a PROXY to vote for you then you can only Vote on the 7 Motions on the Agenda. The rules for proxy voting are appended to the AGM Agenda as is the Proxy Voting Slip. One key requirement is that if you are sending in a Proxy Vote or appointing a Proxy to vote for you then the completed Proxy Voting Slip must be sent to the Club Secretary at least 48 hours before the date of the AGM; i.e. before 19:30 on Sunday 20th September.

We look forward to seeing on the 22nd September.

Regards

Andy Railton (Club Secretary)

Hello to you all,

It seems like an age since I last mailed. I hope you are all well and keeping busy.

There are a few updates on huts, meets and movies.

In no particular order; we were destined to have a Lake district meet at the Bowderstone hut on 28-31/08/20 but due to currently legislation it is not possible to run this meet in the traditional way. 

The club would like to offer this booking out to members. So essentially one of you could take this booking on. Ideally 2 households as that is within current rules and gives the best value for money.

The hut sleeps 12 and is £300 for 3 nights. Please get in touch if interested.

Our hut; as you know it is back open and bookings can be taken. Can you please direct all future booking to myself at hutbooking@bowlineclimbingclub.co.uk.

Movie Night; there will be a Zoom gathering next week. watch this space for a date.

Mini-Meets; maybe the most exciting news. Under current UK ruling it will be possible for us to run (maximum 6) small club meets. Hopefully I will see some of you soon for trips up-to the peaks and local Leicestershire outings. Details to follow

Take care all,

Mike