Thank you to everyone who came along to the Ripon Together CIC AGM on 12th November 2019, kindly hosted by Ripon Grammar School, with refreshments provided by their Friends Group. We had a good turnout and during the formal part of the meeting the Chair and Finance Directors gave their reports on the past year (1st April 2018 to 31st March 2019).
Chair Dean John Dobson spoke of the work undertaken to support the Ripon Remembers programme of events and activities in 2018, and the similar approach taken in 2019 to involve the local community in getting Ripon Cycling Together. Helping to ensure that there is really good partnership working and co-ordination is a key part of the role of Ripon Together.
Finance Director Stuart Baldwin thanked Ripon City Council for their annual partnership grant, which supports the CIC to cover basic operating costs, and explained that looking ahead it will be important for Ripon Together events and activities to break even or ideally generate a surplus which can then be re-invested in further projects and initiatives.
Two new directors were elected to the board – Tim Jones and Annette Lyons, replacing Robyn Harrison who stood down during the year and Karen Weaver who finished as a director at the AGM after completing a three year term. The 2019/20 board of directors is:
| Director | Representing |
| Stuart Baldwin | Ripon Chamber of Trade/Business Improvement District |
| Dean John Dobson | Ripon Cathedral |
| Stuart Gill | Discover Ripon |
| Simon Hewitt | Community |
| Tim Jones | Community |
| Annette Lyons | Business/retail |
| Helen Mackenzie | Sport |
| Pauline McHardy | Ripon City Council |
| Mick Stanley | Ripon Civic Society |
| Sara Trewhitt | Ripon City of Sanctuary and Plastic Free Ripon |
| Lindy Webb | Community |
After the formal part of the AGM there was an open forum session, which started with short contributions from:
- Mark Lancaster of Colour It In, who explained how the new website will work and the plans to set up a volunteer website admin team which he will train up and support (if you are interested in getting involved in this please let us know)
- Mick Stanley (Ripon Civic Society and RT director) who spoke about the proposed redevelopment of the Ripon Barracks site and concerns about substantial changes to the plans being put forward (including more houses and less employment land). Ripon Together shares these concerns and is keen to support efforts to challenge the proposals.
- Ian Kendall, who gave a presentation on the Ripon Cycleways Sustainable Connectivity project, which proposes a number of ways in which more safe cycling could be facilitated in and around the city. See his slides via this link.
The new board met in December and will continue to meet monthly throughout 2020. At the first meeting on Tuesday 7th January directors will be finalising plans for projects to be supported this year, based on feedback from the AGM and members generally.