AOAC Newsletter
 

Message from the Chair 
I hope you have been able to get out and enjoy the recent heatwave without melting.  Great to see such a variety of events happening, and being able to get away for longer overnight trips now – thanks as always to everyone who has been involved both directly and indirectly in organising/leading/coaching activities. As you will know, we can now meet/stay indoors so these events are starting to appear on the calendar including 2 new members weekends.

There are lots of activities on the calendar and more being added all time so keep an eye out, or volunteer to lead/organise your own event – there are lots of people who can help you if you’re not sure about where to start.

Numbers for outdoor/indoor social gatherings, car sharing, shuttles and social distancing guidelines continue to vary between England, Wales and Scotland.  Please follow the guidelines in the area you are doing your activity, and continue to be mindful/respectful of those who are still choosing to wear a mask/social distance even when this is not a legal requirement.

There have been some changes on the committee – Lee has stepped down as Equipment Officer and Steve has taken over – many thanks to Lee for all your hard work, and to Steve for taking on the role. Steve is looking for someone to help with the admin side of things so please let him know if you would like to help – [email protected]. Joshua has also offered to help Irene with all things web-related which is great news. Many thanks to all the committee for your hard work behind the scenes to keep the Club running.

Hope to meet lots of you on an event soon.  Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me or any of the committee if you have any ideas/comments/suggestions about Club-related matters.
Katie 
AOAC Chair

2021-22 Winter Paddling Planning Meeting - Tuesday 17 August 2021
This is the chance for you to have your say about what you'd like to see on the calendar this winter, whichever of the disciplines you are interested in. Please go along and share your thoughts, and maybe offer to organise a trip or an event. We have some fabulous leaders, but it is a bit much to expect them to organise all the events and also sort the on-land logistics, so please offer your help....this is a club run by its members for its members after all. And whatever help you give will always be very gratefully received.

New Members
So great to see even more lovely people joining. There is a new members walk on the calendar:

New Members Frenchay Valley walk - Friday 13 August 2021
Join Tracy and Russell on this unusual delight of a walk starting at 6pm in Hambrook , with a mix of urban, hidden beneath road level woods, quirky country lanes, an old common and a beautiful pub garden to finish it all off. An easy going 5 miles taking 2-2.5 hrs.

Places are reserved initially for new members but longer-standing members can sign on nearer the date.

https://aoac.co.uk/content/new-members-frenchay-valley-walk

There are also two new members weekends on the calendar. Places are reserved for new members so if you would like to go on either trip please email Kath at [email protected]; she will then release a place for you. The remainder of the places will be released nearer the time to longer-standing members. Again express your interest to Kath and she will put you on the list.

New Members' Weekend - 24-26 September 2021
Staying at Brecon Bunkhouse in the Brecon National Park (http://www.brecon-bunkhouse.co.uk/ ) with organised walks led by approved walk leaders; the plan being to have an easy/moderate walk and a more advanced walk each day.

For a bargain price of £34 this event includes Friday and Saturday night accommodation and group food on both evenings.

https://aoac.co.uk/content/new-members-weekend-6

New Members' Weekend - 22-24 October 2021
The second weekend takes us to Exmoor, staying at Exmoor Bunkhouse in Bridgetown https://independenthostels.co.uk/members/exmoorbunkbarn. Again there will be an easy and a more challenging walk each day and a group meal each evening. And again a bargain at £45 for the weekend's accommodation and food. This is a particularly lovely bunkhouse with a huge table we can all gather around. Last time we stayed here we had a fabulous weekend. 

Full details: https://aoac.co.uk/content/new-members-weekend-5

New Member Experience
Having only recently discovered the AOAC after living in and around Bristol for 20 years, I’m still wondering how I didn’t get here sooner. Alongside life’s more pressing issues like 'can I pay the mortgage this month?' and more profound preoccupations such as ‘will I leave this world a better place than I found it?’, as far as I’m concerned the more time spent having fun adventures in cool places with interesting people, the better. For me this means rock climbing, walking in the hills and mountains, and riding bikes of all varieties. Since joining the AOAC in the Spring, I’ve joined a walk, done a couple of climbing sessions indoors, and out in the Wye Valley, and joined a road bike ride that involved some local roads I’d never visited before plus a wide choice of surprisingly large milkshakes. The road bike ride was led by Matt, who also climbs, as I found out when down at Redpoint with Sarah a few days later. I love this cross-over of activities and the fact, unlike most clubs which only focus on one sport, the AOAC is a broad church with a wide range of complementary pursuits. I’m really keen to improve my climbing and to get out into the mountains; looking at the club calendar, I think it’s only a matter of time before I start getting involved in paddle sports too.

Tom 

Wow! That says it all, doesn't it!

Equipment
As Katie has mentioned, Lee is standing down, thanks Lee, for your hard work and for being a valued member of the committee, and Steve, who has quickly become a valued member of the committee, has stood up to the role. Thank you Steve, this is very much appreciated.

Steve will be writing something for the next newsletter but I have been asked to let you know that we do have an event shelter for hire. It is a Coleman  event shelter 15 x 15 feet with a full walls kit and is currrently only £7.50 per week to hire. This isn't just for club events; it's available for private hire also. So, if you have any BBQs planned and are worried about the good old British weather, please take a look on the website.

https://aoac.co.uk/content/event-shelter-15-x-15-feet-full-walls-kit-coleman

Equipment Abroad
This is just a reminder that whilst AOAC equipment is insured for use in this country, it is not covered abroad. So, if anyone hires equipment to take overseas they will be individually liable for any damage or loss. It is therefore recommended that adequate insurance cover is obtained for the duration of your trip.

New AOAC Website Update
Things have been really busy lately with the new website coming together.  The public and member views are just about finished with some new images to be added and text to be updated.  We are currently having individual meetings with Committee members to make sure we have all their requirements in place and making any changes requested.

We also have a copy of the database from our current site and are mapping the data we need to keep to the new site.

There will be a short time when you will see one of those annoying ‘Under Construction’ notices as we do one final data import from the old to the new site and have to switch the old site off to prevent any changes being made.  You will be given plenty of notice to this happening and it will hopefully only be for a couple of days.  

I can’t tell you how excited I am now and for you to all to see the new fresh look we have.  Closer to the ‘go live’ date we will arrange an online meeting to demo the public and member views to all club members.

Irene - Web Officer

AOAC Sales and Wants
Has anyone joined this group since the last newsletter? At the moment the number of members is 133. How many more can we add to the group before the next newsletter? ....the more members, the more items for sale and bargains to be had.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/721089714757173

If you have any interesting news/funny stories/free videos/tales of your favourite trips/tips that may help club members, in fact, anything that might be of interest/entertaining, to brighten up the next newsletter, please let me know at [email protected] . Thank you.

See you sometime soon.

Cathy x

Events