Agenda for the Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 25^th FEBRUARY 2025, Start time: 09:00 am BST (time zone: London, Dublin), entrance opens 30 mins earlier
Assembly format: virtual video meeting (ZOOM software) with electronic polls and elections;

• TOP 1 Welcome and formalities; determination of whether a quorum is present
• TOP 2 Acceptance or correction of last AGM’s minutes (from year 2024)
• TOP 3 Report by the Board
• TOP 4 Report by the Arbitration Board
• TOP 5 Report by the Cash Auditor
• TOP 6 Discharge of the Board of Directors
• TOP 7a Election of members of the Executive Board (Positions: President + 3rd Member of the Executive Board)
• TOP 8 If necessary: Elections of the cash auditor, deputy cash auditor or members of the Arbitration Board if someone may resign
• TOP 9 Motions (see the proposed wording here: erca.bytemine.net/s/ipPxnpxSpcjSX8x
  • 9.1. Change the count of entitled voters for the foundation of the quorum
  • 9.2. Change the election procedure for Sector Representatives
  • 9.3. Implement an option to vote by proxy
  • 9.4. The board to explain their view on not having a secret in-advance voting opportunity
  • 9.5. Complete the listing of sectors in the bylaws
  • 9.6. Add terms of payment (charges for delayed payments) to the annex 'Membership Fee Regulations'
  • If requested: Motion and voting for approval of Honorary Members
• TOP 7b Introduction of the ERCA ''Junior Board''
• TOP 7c Election of the Sector Representatives (see note at the bottom)
• TOP 10 Miscellaneous

Nominations for the Board Elections

Nomination for the position as:	Name	Self-Introduction
Executive Board: President This position is due to vote on in the regular period.	Nick Moriarty   (UK + DE)	Nick Moriarty has over 35 years’ experience in the outdoor industry. He retired six years ago as a Director of Zip World. As a founder of Zip World he was instrumental in building the business from a small "start-up" with five employees to a business worth over £45,000,000 and 500 employees in less than six years. The business has continued to grow and was sold this year for circa £100,000,000. Founder and former managing director of Ropes Course Developments Ltd (RCD). RCD constructed over 1000 ropes courses in 33 countries. Over 25 years’ experience as a ropes course builder, designer, inspector and trainer. Owner and operator of recreational and educational ropes courses in the UK – including Tree Top Trek in the Lake District. Former President of the European Ropes Course Association (ERCA). Wire rope examiner. Convenor of the European Ropes Course Standard: EN15567. Expert witness. Co-author of UK Ropes Course Guide.
Third Member of the Executive Board This position is due to vote on in the regular period.	Paul de Gast   (NL)	My Name is Paul de Gast and I’m the owner of Ropes Course Solutions. I’m in the Ropes Course industry since 2008 and an ERCA member since 2009. The company is specialized in Inspection and Training, and we are an ERCA certified Training Body and Inspection body and working in this filed for more then 10 years. In the several years we have developed new courses for ERCA and are developing training for inspectors. Which we like to continue. My personal passion is hiking and Via Ferrata. Climbing the mountains in Europe relax me for the busy business. I hope that my contribution to the ERCA Board will help the association.
Representative: "Inclusion" This position is due to vote on in the regular period	Thomas Woesthoff   (DE)	Thomas is a social worker (MA) and elementary school teacher from his first profession. Thomas has been active with groups in rope courses for more than 15 years and has played a key role in the conception of 3 inclusive rope courses over the past 10 years. According to the mission of the ERCA working group 'Inclusion', it is also very important to him that every group is welcome in rope courses. His additional qualifications (case manager DGCC, experiential pedagogue, ERCA trainer for low ropes course constructors, adventure-based counseling trainer, ropes course instructor & rescuer) provide the necessary pedagogical tools to realize the projects on an equal footing with the groups.
Representative: "Inspection" This position is due to vote on in the regular period	Craig Palmer   (UK)	I have been involved with ropes courses for over 15 years now. Having set up Technical Outdoor Solutions back in 2009 this has grown to be one of the leading Construction, Inspection and Training companies in the UK. We have achieved ERCA Training body and Inspection body status as well as ADIPs certified inspection body. We have had our training courses audited by ROSPA and are a certified training centre. I am personally a certified inspector and trainer, hold a professional trainers certificate from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health & NVQ Assessor. I have been running the ERCA inspector training courses in addition to wire rope, PPE and wood ploe courses.
Representative: "Training" This position is due to vote on in the regular period	Phil Latham   (UK)	My name is Phil. I have extensive operational and management experience of running very successful off-ground sites including Operations/General Manager at Tree Top Trek in the Lake District, Manchester and Ripon. My responsibilities included management of the Windermere site and then project managing the opening of Manchester and Ripon including oversight of the construction team, recruitment of staff, implementation of systems and training. I have a Degree in Outdoor Education and a Post Graduate teaching qualification. I have an ongoing interest in training and development which I have been able to maintain as part of the Vertex training team.

Introduction & Approval of the Junior Board

Nomination for the position as:	Name	Self-Introduction
Junior Board: This position is to be approved by the members meeting.	Eoin O'Shaugnessy   (IE)	With over a decade of experience in the commercial adventure park sector, having held roles at the instructor, management, and senior leadership levels I am confident that my skills, expertise, and industry insights would be a valuable addition to the association I hold a BA (Hons) in Outdoor Education and a Postgraduate Diploma in Health & Safety, qualifications that strongly complement my experience in the industry. I began my career as an adventure park instructor in 2012 and became a certified ERCA adventure park trainer in 2017. Subsequently I led Zipit's team including running the inhouse training and have established the company as one of Irelend's first ERCA-certified training bodies. Beyond my background in outdoor education and safety, I also hold a Higher Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care, which provided me with strong understanding of the development needs of young people and the importance of ensuring their safety in outdoor environments. My experience includes working as an outdoor educator in both preschool and after-school settings, facilitating outdoor learning in diverse environments- Currently, as Operations Manager for Ireland's largest adventure park operation, I possess a comprehensive understanding of industry standards and best practices. I have built strong professional relationships with manufacturers and industry experts. In addition, I'm confident my leadership, organisational, and strategic thinking skills will bring value to either board at ERCA.
Junior Board: This position is to be approved by the members meeting.	Michael Andrew Kidd   (IE + UK)	I have always had a keen interest in the outdoors (and all things adventurous!) from a young age and was involved with the Scouts. I studied Activity Tourism and then a BSc (Hons) Environmental Resource Management at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) over 5 years during that time working in a few different outdoor centres across Scotland. Facilitating teambuilding, low ropes courses and camping skills would have been much of my instructional experience prior to “learning the ropes”. In 2020… I moved to Ireland for work; where I continued to develop my knowledge, skills and training in the ropes course sector through leadership of an instructional team at the Carlingford Adventure Centre and Skypark Carlingford. This position has given opportunities in further training for maintenance (for the Bornack and Clic-It systems) and the inspections of ropes courses and PPE. I am an ERCA Trainer for Adventure Parks and led the process for Carlingford Adventure Centre to become an ERCA Certified Training Body. I am also started studying a BA (Hons) in Adventure Tourism Management through the School of Adventure Studies (University of the Highlands and Islands) by Distance Learning; for my research project I plan to investigate “development in the ropes course sector through commercialisation”.