Friends of the South Downs AGM

A little over a year ago, I joined the Friends of the South Downs. I can’t quite remember what triggered the decision. I know I love the Downs, and really wish I had more time to spend in them. But I also liked the idea that there was an organisation devoted to celebrating and protecting them that had lasted for nearly a century.

But, it’s one thing to throw some money at an organisation, and hope they do good things with it. It’s another to keep and eye on what they’re doing, and get involved, even if it’s in a very low-level way. For the big NGOs, like The RSPB, there's not much an individual member can do. But for smaller, local ones? There most assuredly is.

So, on Saturday morning, I took myself off to Pulborough village hall, to attend the 2025 AGM.

AGM ambiguity

In my recent experience, AGMs can be a very mixed bag. The AGMs of the management company for the housing development we live in are awful. There’s a small cabal of landlords with a significant holding in the development, and their acolytes, who behave like bullies. The AGMs are, frankly, an embarrassment. On the other hand, the AGM of the Shoreham Beach Resident’s Association is generally very constructive, and actually quite fun.

How would this turn out to be?

As it turned out, very calm indeed. All the motions put before the meeting were passed with virtually no dissent. The chair noted that there were single proxy votes against one motion, and some of the trustees, but that was it. It was a quiet, efficient meeting, that both updated the members, and got what they needed to done.

There were only two things that stood out to me. The first was the idea of adding free membership for under-30s. This seemed not so much a good idea, as an absolute necessity. I'm in my early 50s, and I had the very strong sense of being one of the younger people in attendance. It's inevitable that much of the work of running volunteer organisations tends to fall to those in later life, because they have the time. But an organisation needs a supply of young blood to survive.

Towards the end of the AGM, a couple of retiring trustees were celebrated – a reminder that there's always a need for a new generation to carry the work forwards.

Family friends of the South Downs?

One member raised the idea of child memberships, and apparently that had been considered but discounted due to the safeguarding issues that would need addressing. Fair enough, but I do wonder if a family membership would be a way around that. A mini-version of The Downsman for the children? Certainly something I think they should explore, once the free membership idea has bedded in. Given how passionate Gen Alpha tend to be about the environment, let's get them involved sooner rather than later.

Respinning the web

The other issue that I'm at least a little interested in – partially because I can see the potential for problems – is a website rebuild they have planned. After all, this is my area of professional interest…

The current website is a mixed bag; it's functional and does the job, but its information architecture needs a complete overhaul. And it badly needs to be more mobile-friendly. On the other hand, it's built on WordPress, which is a solid underpinning for a site like this.

To my mind, we essentially need a design and content strategy job, not a root-and-branch rebuild. (And, please God, no bespoke or minor, marketing-focused CMS.) Still, very much not my problem; this is under the aegis of one of the new trustees. Fingers-crossed for a good outcome – and one that's not unnecessarily expensive.

And now a word from the National Park

The South Downs is one of the UK's national parks – and is under the control of the South Downs National Parks Authority. The authority is about 85 years younger than the Friends. So, it's good that the new CEO of the authority came to talk to the elder, wiser, but less powerful, body about his experiences taking on the role…

Siôn McGeever is not a man to throw his predecessor under the bus, complementing him on how well the authority was running whenever he took it over. But the dominant message was a degree of uncertainty. With a new Labour government in power, Sussex has been a particular focus of devolution.

McGeever told a straightforward tale of an authority trying its best to clarify and focus its efforts, while waiting to see what opportunities or challenges the political restructuring of the area would create.

Worth it?

So, was it worth my time, and a pleasant half hour drive through the Sussex countryside on a sunny spring morning? Yes. I would, perhaps, have valued a little more time for discussion of some of the issues. But I'm also keenly aware that, as a newbie, I probably wouldn't have joined in.

But I do think that this organisation matters. The national park authority has the power – but it needs a critical friend, to make sure its priorities align with those of the people in the area, and the long-term protection of the downs. And, in a week where we've been reminded how easily things can get abused, we need people like these.