Rules, Policies and Etiquette

The Committee

The club is run by a committee which is elected at the Annual General Meeting in June. The committee is made up of President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary and four committee members, including Walks Coordinator, Newsletter Editor, Social Secretary and an Ordinary Member. The committee meets two weeks prior to the club night.

Our Aims

As stated in the attached Club Rules our aims are:

• 1. To provide opportunities for members to enjoy the bush and mountains
• 2. To promote walking trips and to foster allied outdoor activities
• 3. To encourage a wider appreciation and better understanding of nature and natural assets and to assist in their preservation.
• 4. To affiliate, co-operate or associate with any other body or organisation for the furtherance of understanding and preservation of nature and natural assets.

Privacy

Koonung Bushwalking Club is committed to protecting your personal information. This policy provides information about how the Club collects, holds and use your personal information.

Club Etiquette

We all love to walk, so those who lead our walks and run our bushwalking club are pretty important people, as they enable us to do what we love. The club is dependent on walk leaders for the preparation and organisation of the walks and to ensure that things go smoothly on the walk day. But walkers are important, too. They can contribute to the success of a walk by supporting walk leaders in many ways.

Travel Arrangements

The Club tries hard to keep walkers’ costs down by asking leaders to arrange car pooling. However, this is dependent on walkers being prepared to offer lifts to other walkers, at least some of the time. You can help out by offering to drive too. If you have arranged to drive with a friend, please tell the leader early, before car pooling arrangements are worked out. Some leaders like to stop for afternoon tea at a local café after the walk. If you need to get back home early let the leader know so you can car pool appropriately or take your own car and travel alone.
Remember to take appropriate cash so you can give the driver the exact amount for your fuel contribution.

Cancel Early

If you are unable to walk, please cancel as early as possible. If you do have to cancel or change your walk plans at the last minute, make sure you ring the leader.

Phone Calls

Leaders have to make a lot of phone calls. If you can’t get hold of a leader and need to leave a message, please don’t expect them to ring you back. Leave your Mobile number where possible with a brief message, so the Leader can SMS you back. Leaders have all members contact details, so they may choose to email you back.

After the Walk

When the walk has finished, don’t forget to thank the leader before you leave, and let them know how much you enjoyed the walk. It’s little things like this that make the leader’s job worthwhile. People like to read about walks in the KBC News, so volunteer to write a report for the leader.

Booking Etiquette

Examples of poor etiquette may be those people who sign for a walk then forget to attend, or attend but leave early and don’t tell the leader.  Please give consideration to the Leader for their time and effort invested in arranging and leading the walk. If you have a time constraint let the leader know at the beginning of the walk.

Comfort Breaks

Let the whip know if you are going off track for a comfort break. Leave your pack on track at the location where you left.

The Moral

The KBC is a club of people with a common interest – walking – and it is essential that members support members, whether walking, leading or managing the club. The KBC is a voluntary organisation, and all the work leaders do for the club is in their own time. The best way to ensure that the club works for you is to support the leaders who make our walks possible.