The names of the current Friends of Harmers Wood Trust committee elected on July 31st 2025 at the AGM are now on site under Governance/Committee.
The Friends of Harmers Wood Trust held an annual general meeting in the main hall. It was very well attended showing the interest which the public have in maintaining this delightful little wood.
The current trustees explained why they wanted to retire and the meeting proceeded to elect new trustees proposed and seconded by people in attendance. Eight new people in addition to the existing four were elected. In accordance with the constitution, they were elected as both trustees of the registered charity and directors of the limited company.
After that a new chair, vice chair, treasurer and minuting secretary were appointed and arrangements for a handover were made.
There was a discussion at the end of the meeting about the status of “members”. In the constitution, which governs the running of the wood, it describes the role of Trustees, Directors and Members. Members can attend meetings of the Trustees if they wish and they can vote at the Annual General meeting and at Trustee meetings. They can also submit motions to be considered at meetings. At the meeting I encouraged the people present to become members and many signed up at the end of the meeting. There is no limit to the number of members we can have.
The issue of volunteers arose. Currently we have two regular volunteers who walk around the wood noting any issues (dangerous trees, fence repairs, fly tipping) which need to be sorted. They then report to the committee suggesting a course of action. We will set up some sort of liaison so that anyone wanting to become involved as a volunteer will know what is expected and how they can help.
As it stands after this AGM, the new committee comprises twelve members, three of whom wish to retire after the handover period. The constitution specifies minimum quorum numbers for committee and AGM meetings but it does not specify a maximum number. There is still scope for adding trustees to the committee particularly if they have skills which will help us manage the wood in accordance with the objectives in the constitution.
The outgoing committee were thanked by the meeting for their work since 2017 running the wood on our behalf and for their persistence in the face of significant difficulties before that.
Finally, a big thank you to all those who attended the AGM. The numbers present showed how much we all value this public asset and we hope to be able to continue and even improve the wood for public use in the coming years.
The Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Harmers Wood Trust will take place at 19.30 on Thursday 31st July 2025 in the Main Hall at the Helsby Community Centre. Recently published notices stated that the general public is not invited but our current Trustee chair has decided that members of the public will be welcome to attend. Refreshments will be available.
The good news is that several people have put their names forward to become Trustees of the Friends of Harmers Wood Trust and assuming all goes according to plan and they are proposed and seconded, they should be officially appointed at the Annual General Meeting.
After that there will be a handover period where the Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Minuting secretary consult with the existing officers and are briefed prior to a first meeting of the new committee. After the July 31st meeting I will give a brief account of the outcomes both on this Facebook page and on the website: Harmers Wood
There were 12 people at yesterday evening's informal meeting. At the end of it, several people said they were interested in becoming Friends of Harmers Wood Trustees. We probably need more than that but it is an encouraging start. The next meeting is at Helsby Community centre at 19.30 on Wednesday July 31st which will take the form of an Annual General meeeting. It will be possible to appoint new trustees at that meeting.
Reminder: to those who expressed an interest in becoming trustees of The Friends of Harmers Wood Trust aa few weeks ago when the situation was first publicised, there will be an informal meeting on Wednesday July 2nd 2025 at Helsby Community Centre at 19.30 in the meeting room. No decisions will be taken but questions about the typical tasks that trustees undertake in a year can be answered. If you are one of those who has expressed an interest or has only recently found out about the situation, this meeting could be useful to you.
Before the current trustees regained control of the trust 2017, the previous incumbents had set up website which was live for a few years. Recently the domain name they used harmerswood.org became available again. This has been purchased for a year in the first instance and a new site with the same name went live today.
The url is Harmers Wood
News will usually be posted here as well as on the Helsby facebook page.
The main hall at Helsby Community Centre has been booked for 19.30 on Thursday July 31st 2025 in the Main Hall for a meeting of anyone concerned about the future of Harmers Wood. It is hoped that decisions concerning new management committee of trustees can be made at this meeting.
To answer questions, some of which have already been posted on Facebook, and to give a better understanding of the nature of the trustee's work and the time commitment, an informal meeting has also been arranged for Wednesday July 2nd 2025 at Helsby Community Centre at 19.30 in the meeting room. Some people will inevitably be away but can send questions for the current trustees via the email above. Answers/minutes can be posted here.
An email dedicated to Harmers Wood matters has been set up: 
The situation has been described on three Facebook pages: Helsby, Helsby & Frodsham group and Frodsham/Helsby Dog Walking Community. In the comments or by private communication several people expressed interest.
After managing Harmers Wood since 2017, the current trustee management committee arranged for a meeting of "Friends of Harmers Wood Trust" to meet at Alvanley Village Hall at 19.00 on June 5th 2025. The purpose of the meeting was to inform everyone that three of the trustee management committee, now only totalling four in number, wished to retire from their posts.
Since these three trustee members were chair, treasurer and secretary, this effectively meant that there would be no management of the wood and it could eventually have to be closed to public access.
The meeting was asked if anyone was interested in becoming a trustee but only one person volunteered. Discussion then centred on how to inform users of the wood that Harmers Wood needed new trustees.
One suggestion was that a message be placed on various Facebook pages outlining the situation and asking if anyone who currently valued or used the wood might be interested in becoming a trustee. A member of the "Friends of Harmers Wood" who was familiar with Facebook volunteered to do this.
Another suggestion, which was accepted, was to hold a further meeting on July 31st at Helsby Community Centre at 19.30 where some of the people who expressed and interest in becoming trustees could be formally voted onto the committee, allowing three to retire.
P Llewellyn 12 06 25