Summarised report of the General Council (GC) meeting held on Thursday, 9th June 2022 commencing at 7.15pm via Zoom.
There were three apologies for absence – Richard Miller had a previously work engagement, Adrian Terheege had a judging engagement and Mat Ackers had resigned from the GC that day.
Chairman’s Welcome – The Chairman welcomed everyone and expressed how good it was to see the vast majority of Council Members at the recent Spring Event and he thanked GC members for their support.
The Chairman then advised the GC that Mat Ackers had resigned his position on the GC and wanted his sincere thanks for Mat’s work over the years for the Society and its members, not only as a GC member but also him and his team in their promotional role, minuted.
The Chair also instructed the Administrator to contact the first reserve, (Simon Devaney) and ask him if he would like to take a seat on the General Council, subject to agreeing the Terms of Reference (TOR), prior to being invited to a General Council meeting.
Rule Change results – The Chairman advised there had been 4 resolutions put to the members and 3 were successful with resolution, No 3 being unsuccessful, this being the rule change that would have banned all non BS rung birds from being shown.
There is status quo on this rule meaning birds not rung with a BS ring can only be shown in the Any Age Classes.
The Chairman reminded all that these birds can still win Best in Show and be placed in sections but cannot win a CC.
A suggestion was made that if the winning bird in the colour run was not BS rung, the CC should be withheld and not go to second in the line-up. It was proposed the Society keep the rules on this matter the same, this was seconded and unanimously accepted.
Rings – colour for 2023 – The Chairman advised the GC had made the decision to change the ring colour to pink for 2022 to avoid confusion with the other club rings following concerns from judges and show organisers.
After a discussion it was unanimously agreed to follow the WBO sequence for 2023 with Dark Blue.
Judges Training Scheme Final Test results –The Chairman acknowledge the hard work of Trevor Terheege and his his team for conducting the final test at the Spring Event under difficult conditions and congratulated the successful candidates:
Laura O’Reilly, Cambridgeshire
Brian Taylor, Northamptonshire
Steve Rich, Somerset
Stephen Lambert, Somerset
Amendments to Judging scheme – The minutes of the sub-group meeting were circulated. Key topics were:
(a). Amendments to the current conditions relating to subsidiary judges.
(b). Introducing judges training scheme for novices.
(c). The BS having decided to move the AGM on an annual basis shall also include the judges training scheme at same time.
These were passed by 7 votes For, 1 Against, 3 Abstentions.
Judges Handbook – An update on the previous amendments agreed at the face to face meeting in March confirmed that these had been completed. The handbook is going to be in a A4 loose leaf format. The next stages are design, printing, and distribution.
Responses to Adverts for the Budgerigar Club and Club Show Secretary roles – Two candidates so far have shown interest.
Spring Event update – The Chairman said he would like to thank all those involved, for putting this event on for the membership. From his perceptive it was a very enjoyable event, and it was great to meet up with members face to face again.
The Vice-chairman re-iterated the Chairman’s thanks for the event which showcased the Society well and was a kick-start to the forthcoming show season. It was brilliant to see so many happy smiling well known faces again after two and half years of virtually no shows.
It was disappointing from a numbers point of view all round from exhibitors, exhibits, attendees, trade stands and financially. However, we can organise and facilitate to the best of our abilities the best show but cannot drag our members to such events and the attendance is what it was, and we must put that down to experience.
The team came together well and made the best of it and from my point of view the weekend went without any major hitches and seemed to be well received by all who attended and understood the number situation. There was one potential major incident which could have been disastrous with a leak in the ice plant at the Dome early on Sunday morning. However, none of our members or the birds were affected and by the time we reached the show hall all was thankfully back to normal.
Some of the successes were the Seminar where Daniel Lütolf went down well and many of those attending were really impressed with his presentation and the move to the new HQ hotel at the Racecourse which met all expectations. The Gala Dinner Dance was well organised by Adrian Richards with superb food and entertainment and raffle and was a fantastic night enjoyed by all.
Convention 2025 – The Convention sub-group is recommending that the 100th Anniversary BS Convention in 2025 be held at the Grand Hotel in Blackpool, which was unanimously approved. This is an excellent venue which provides plenty room for our lecture programme; bird show; sales and trade event; meeting rooms and Gala Dinner all under the one roof. This together with excellent accommodation should make this a Convention to remember.
Patronage update – The Patronage Administrator gave a comprehensive update on all the clubs that had applied for and been granted patronage – these can be found on the BS web site under the heading “Showing”.
He also expressed his sadness at the fact that two shows so far have had be cancelled one due to venue issues and another due to a lack of numbers.
GDPR Training –The Chairman advised that he was pleased to report that the training has now been completed. There are several points which our Solicitors who undertook the training have suggested we need to take to strengthen our rules to cover GDPR issues. These will be placed before Council at our next meeting.
SBS letter re 2020 YB Show – The Society Administrator reported that he had contacted the necessary authorities in Scotland, and they confirmed that no shows had been applied for in 2021. After discussion it was proposed and seconded that we should not make any payment to any Area Society who did not hold a 2020 YB show in 2021. This was unanimously agreed.
Date of next meeting – It was agreed to hold the next meeting on the 4th August 2022.
Close of Meeting – The Chairman closed the meeting at 2129hrs