The Budgerigar Society - CHAIRMAN'S ANNUAL REPORT MAY 2010
It is with pleasure that I present my Annual Report.
Our audited accounts show that we still have three main sources of income; subscriptions - £53369 (£51664), ring sales - £28320 (£29586) and
sponsorship - £9766 (£8001), the main areas of expense being: office
expenses - £38885 (£38711), publications - £21970 (£19792) and general
expenses - £17217 (£17181).
Note: the figures in brackets relate to 2008
Total membership at the end of 2009 was 2821 (2896). Sadly this figure
reflected 75 (75)fewer members than at the same time in 2008 and included
336 (322) new members and 57 (44) who had re-joined the society. The fall in the level of membership remains a matter of concern, not just for the General Council, but also for every member of The Budgerigar Society. Already I have received letters suggesting that the General Council look at ways of recruiting new members and we would, of course, welcome any constructive suggestions from the membership, not only to recruit new members, but also to keep the ones that we already have.
The main highlight of the past year for so many of us was, of course, the Club Show. Once again we are indebted to our Show Manager, Dave Hislop and his hard working team for putting on what has been described by quite a few members as “the best one for many years”.
The change in the timetable for the show, especially being allowed to book in birds on the Saturday morning, was certainly well received and although the change to the judging procedure received some negative comments prior to the show, it proved to work very well and will be in place again this year with more publicity beforehand so that everyone knows the correct procedure.
It certainly was a great weekend, and although it showed a slight profit, it was quite noticeable that fall in income from the Auction of Promises was the main reason for the lesser profit margin last year.
The interim version of the Colour Standards & Guidelines for Judges & Exhibitors was on the whole fairly well accepted, but due to a number of concerns expressed by the membership a joint meeting of the General Purpose & Finance Committee and the Judges Panel & Colour Standards Committee was held to discuss these concerns and a number of amendments have been made and will be publicised in the society magazine.
The “Judges Day” received a good attendance over the two days with the new Colour Standards and Guidelines being the main topic. A number of points were raised and these were also taken to the joint meeting.
Our main Sponsors continue to be Cranswick Pet Products (Bucktons), and I am pleased to be able to report that I have just recently signed another contract for a further two years.
We, as a society, are very grateful to them for their generous and continued support that resulted in the society benefitting by £9766 (£8001) last year.
The Convention is now almost upon us and it promises to be yet another great weekend with some superb lectures and presentations, an Area/Specialist Society quiz plus a Convention Dinner. I urge you all to attend the weekend if at all possible and enjoy another great (and sunny!) weekend in Southport.
Our bi-monthly magazine, “The Budgerigar” continues to be an important and successful part of our society with many members stating how much they look forward to receiving their copy and, as its Editor, I must thank everyone, including Dave Whittaker, Dave Herring, Mick Freakley and Ray Brown, who have helped in any way to make it such a great success.
I have now completed my second year as your Chairman, and I still continue to learn, but I feel that the past year has once again been a very successful year for our society. I now look forward the next two years when, with the smaller General Council including three new members, I hope that as a society we can continue to move forward for the benefit of all our members.
I conclude this report by offering my very sincere thanks to our Secretary, Dave
Whittaker for all his untiring work on behalf of the society, our Vice Chairman, Dave Hislop, our President, Bob Francis who continues to work so hard for the fancy especially in his local Area Society, and of course all the officers and members of the General Council, not forgetting you, the members, for your continued
support during the past year.
I am sure that the coming year will continue to throw up its challenges, but if we all work together with the benefit of the society and its members at the forefront of everything, then I am sure that we will all be able to look forward to another good and successful year.
George Booth – Chairman May 2nd 2010