Scroll down to the form below to express an interest in getting involved with the Committee.

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Constitution

The club is legally a Company Limited by Guarantee and a Registered Charity, it is governed by two documents:

• The Articles of Association (updated 2023) which define how the club is run.
• A Code of Conduct which all members or guests participating in any activity within GOC are required to abide by

Recent Annual Reports & Accounts are available at Annual Reports & Accounts.

We also provide guidelines for members who are organising anything for GOC in our Information page.

Groups

The groups which make up GOC organise all of the events, each one has a person who co-ordinates their events and acts as a contact for the group. To find out more about any group and how to contact them, look under our Groups page.

Click on the role title to read see role description:

• Group Co-ordinator – [vacancies] please contact Groups Liaison to get involved.
• Event Leader – [vacancies] please contact the relevant group co-ordinator to get involved.

Committee (Board)

The club has up to 12 Trustees, who are referred to as the Committee and/or as the Board of Directors – see Board Member role description. They are assisted by a number of other members who together manage the club nationally. Additional roles and teams may be agreed from time to time, including assistant or deputy roles to support the current role holder – please let us know if you may be interested to get involved in any area of the committee’s work.

To contact the Committee go to Contact Us, or to contact a particular member click on their name below. Please scroll down to the form below to express an interest in getting involved with the Committee.

Click on the role title to see the particular role description. Members can click on the name to see the member’s profile:

Trustees

1. Chair: Anne Coombes – leads the committee, chairs committee meetings and AGM and represents the club
2. Group Liaison: David Ledsham – contact for GOC Group Coordinators
3. Web & IT Manager: Martin Gilbraith – Manages the website and IT resources of the club with the support of our Web Developer, Owen Morris
4. Secretary: Robert Minikin – liaison with Companies House and the Charity Commission, general correspondence, support for committee meetings, policies and procedures, risk and insurance
5. Treasurer: Ian Widdowson – Manages the club’s finances including membership payments and expense claims.
6. Women’s Representative: Al Evans – Promotes the participation of women in the activities of the club.
7. Membership Secretary: David Willis – Manages membership subscriptions and magazine delivery problems.
8. Inclusion and Diversity Officer: Gabby Giuffre – Responsible for promoting Inclusion and Diversity.
9. Marketing Officer: [vacant] – Chairs the Marketing committee.
10. Partnership Officer: Shaun Waller – manages relationships with national partners and promotes & supports partnership working across the club.
11. National Events Officer: Ben McQuillan – Group Co-ordinator for the AOG specialist group, providing strategic oversight and support for all involved in the organising the AOG from year to year.
12. Details tbc: [vacant] – responsible for member engagement, communications & publications, including oversight of Outdoors magazine and the archives

Assistants to the Committee

1. Vice Chair: Martin Gilbraith, interim [vacancy] – supports the Chair in leading the committee and representing the club
2. Assistant Secretary: Andy Russell – supports the Secretary with general correspondence, support for committee meetings, policies and procedures, risk and insurance
3. Assistant Treasurer: Gavin Hose – supports the Treasurer with bookkeeping and financial management
4. Membership Engagement Officer: David Millar – engages with the membership regularly, encourages and supports members to engage with each other and take up volunteer roles with the club
5. Magazine Editor: Peter Blackburn [vacancy] – Edits GOC’s magazine, Outdoors, dealing with all articles and event reports
6. Magazine Proof Reader: Alexander Barr – Proof reads the magazine prior to printing.
7. Magazine Cover Designer: Peter Van Der Walt – designs the outside and inside covers of GOC’s magazine, Outdoors.
8. Archivist: Simon Ball – Maintains the club’s archive of magazines, articles and photos
9. Returning Officer: David White – Organises the ballot at a general meeting, independent of the committee.

Membership Engagement volunteers

1. David Millar (Membership Engagement Officer)
2. Carl Davies
3. Michael Goodrum

2026 Annual Outdoor Gathering (AOG) Committee

Advises on and helps to organise the Annual Outdoor Gathering:

1. Ben McQuillan (National Events Officer)
2. Anne Coombes (Chair)
3. Peter Blackburn (Magazine Editor)
4. Ian Widdowson (Treasurer)
5. Gavin Hose, Assistant Treasurer/AOG Registrar
6. Al Evans (Women’s Representative)
7. Gabby Giuffre (Inclusion and Diversity Officer)
8. Martin Gilbraith (Web & IT Manager)
9. David Ledsham (Group Liaison)
10. [vacancies] please contact Ben McQuillan to get involved.

Marketing Committee

Terms of reference approved by the Board, October 2022.

The marketing committee comprises up to 12 members, including at least one Committee member and one Group Co-ordinatator. It’s role is to create and implement a realistic annual marketing plan and budget approved by the Board – see MC Terms of Reference.

Members can click on the the name to see the member’s profile:

1. Edward (Ned) Voelcker (Pride & Marketing Events Group Co-ordinator)
2. Martin Gilbraith (Web Manager & Online Group Co-ordinator)
3. David Millar (Membership Engagement Officer)
4. Shaun Waller (Partnership Officer)
5. Martyn Lane
6. Sugianto Wijaya
7. Daniel Atkinson
8. Brenden Bourne
9. [vacancies] please contact Edward (Ned) Voelcker to get involved.

Website User Group

Terms of reference approved by the Board, October 2022

The Website User Group supports the Website & IT manager in consulting with members/users and supporting them in using the website & IT, and by advising on and supporting delivery of website & IT updates & development projects. It comprises 6-12 members with a diversity of experience and perspectives and meets only occasionally as needed.

Members can click on the the name to see the member’s profile:

1. Al Evans – West Wales Group Co-ordinator
2. Julian Donald – former Secretary
3. Andy Fisher – London Group Co-ordinator
4. Bill Pilcher – former Group Co-ordinator
5. Chris Thomas – former Western Midlands Group Co-ordinator
6. David Willis – Norfolk Group Co-ordinator
7. [vacancies] please contact Martin Gilbraith (Web Manager) to get involved.