1

equipment / Re: Semi-static / LSK recommendations

« Last post by mrjonathanr on Today at 08:52:03 pm »

Thanks, I will!

Gogarth, but hopefully it'll last a few years so..maybe..

2

equipment / Re: Semi-static / LSK recommendations

« Last post by Fultonius on Today at 08:48:11 pm »

Herbrides?

Much of a muchness from the ropes I've used. We destroyed one rope (that I got end of a reel from Heightec) a few years back. Sent it back and they couldn't see any issue with it. End the end we decided it must have been sharp belay devices (Petzl Reverso is known for getting quite sharp from running in guide mode a lot).

So....moral is - check your belay device.

3

get involved: access, environment, BMC / Re: BMC Resolutions shout out 📣

« Last post by remus on Today at 08:43:20 pm »

Have you done any accounting? This seems extremely unlikely from the small exposure I've had to finance and accounting.

Helping Randall to hide the McLaren on the Lattice accounts? 😂

That's a legitimate business expense right?

4

equipment / Semi-static / LSK recommendations

« Last post by mrjonathanr on Today at 08:39:05 pm »

Semi-static / LSK recommendations please, something suitable for a 100m abseil that doesn’t weigh too much, is reasonably durable and not too stiff after a bit of use.

I thought the Peztl Club 10mm looked ok: https://www.petzl.com/GB/en/Sport/Ropes/CLUB-200-10-mm

and English Braids Tutus 10.5 seems pretty good value: https://englishbraids.com/tutus-static

If any more knowledgeable folks have any suggestions and experience of use and longevity, that would be great. Thanks.

5

shootin' the shit / Re: Any National Trust members?

« Last post by mrjonathanr on Today at 08:29:24 pm »

All the more reason for re-appraisal then.

6

get involved: access, environment, BMC / Re: BMC Resolutions shout out 📣

« Last post by Offwidth on Today at 08:28:57 pm »

Also Offwidth. I find your continual attempts to shield the BMC behind the fact that it's heavily supported by volunteers extremely hard to jusify.

A small percentage of people that we meet in life are takers. That's just how it is, people realise this over time and the takers aren't widely respected as a result. The vast majority of people help or volunteer with something. Whether it's charity, clubs, schools, community, sports, politics or whatever, most of us volunteer our time in some fashion or other. The notion that volunteers should be regarded as being in anyway special or holy is nonsense. Nearly all of us are volunteers for something or other. Being a volunteer should not make you immune to criticism. It one hundred perecent should not make the organisation you are volunterring for immune to criticism. The volunteers should be as outraged as the rest of us if not more about the state of things at the BMC. If any of the organisations that I volunteer for were behaving this poorly I would be kicking up so much shit you wouldn't be able to see me for the brown cloud.

That's not what I'm saying though. I'm saying staff and volunteers just got on with things, since 2017, during several real crises. The first big one was the disruption then financial fallout of the Motion of No Confidence (when grants were stopped, despite a huge majority backing the BMC leadership). The second was covid and furlough. The third was during a cost of living crisis which was unlucky to correspond with: some seriously poor financial planning , control and oversight; and also serious stakeholder problems in GB Climbing. Six of us wrote to say this last March, got Council to back us  and have been pressuring for improvement ever since. After a year of struggle, and some senior departures, at last there is light at the end of the tunnel. However, since budgets are still tight, members leaving now because they are angry with BMC mismanagement (and encouraging others to leave) will hurt staff and key volunteers' ability to work at maximum efficiency. So since things are looking much better I'd just ask them to think carefully before doing so.

If you don't believe the 2022 statement ask questions at the open forum in a couple of weeks. Or have a quiet chat with David, Tarquin or Bill who have been Council Finance and Audit reps in the last few years... I trust all three. David was the first to warn the FAC about over ambitious membership growth targets (who then dropped put of Council for a few months) and Tarquin and Bill were part of our letter writing 6.

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get involved: access, environment, BMC / Re: BMC Resolutions shout out 📣

« Last post by teestub on Today at 07:10:50 pm »

Have you done any accounting? This seems extremely unlikely from the small exposure I've had to finance and accounting.

Helping Randall to hide the McLaren on the Lattice accounts? 😂

8

shootin' the shit / Re: Any National Trust members?

« Last post by seankenny on Today at 07:04:47 pm »

We fit the profile and want to enjoy the heritage of landscape and estates the Trust conserves. I think- without solid evidence, of course- that a lot of ‘people like us’ are actually very comfortable with a more honest and nuanced appraisal of the legacy of the past and how it was all built.

These days “people like us” will include people whose ancestors were very much on the wrong end of the arrangement that led to those lovely country houses…

9

get involved: access, environment, BMC / Re: BMC Resolutions shout out 📣

« Last post by Nails on Today at 06:54:39 pm »

I've been compiling company accounts for nearly 30 years. I may be overstating things to make a point. It might be hard to decipher if there was no accompanying documentation but I reckon I could give it a good go. Not that I suppose the BMC are likely to give me the opportunity. The main point is that it simply isn't that difficult to work out the expenditure.

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get involved: access, environment, BMC / Re: BMC Resolutions shout out 📣

« Last post by Oldmanmatt on Today at 06:42:47 pm »

I'm no accountant but give me 1 day with access to the bank records for BMC 2022 and I could give you a pretty detailed picture of where the money has gone and on what.

Have you done any accounting? This seems extremely unlikely from the small exposure I've had to finance and accounting.

I don’t believe it is as hard as has been intimidated and Nails suggestion is a good starting point. Are we to believe that all kinds of transactions occurred with no records, authorisation or direct oversight?
To be clear, the number if zeros at the end of amounts concerned is largely irrelevant. Imagine if you will, attending the district Christmas  street decoration committee, to be told that the fund which had stood at £2000, has £200 missing and unaccounted for, but not to worry because Mrs Baker (the Grocer) has done a wonderful job of the bunting and lets all pull together and forget the missing money, and anyway, Mr Sparks (local carpenter) the former treasurer, has moved away anyway, and look at the lovely lights and don’t worry that Mr Sparks left the accounts scrawled in three lines on the back of an old envelope and Mr Dodge, the former chairman, said he was sure it was all cushty, before he went to take up his new job in the Hebrides…