BICC

January 2012 Committee Meeting & AGM

Report by Gareth Watkins

The above meetings took place at the club’s HQ The Lion Brewery at Ash in Surrey on Sunday 29th January. Both meetings were well attended and the club’s business as itemised on the agendas was dealt with professionally and extremely efficiently under the guidance of Chairman Albie Deacon. Albie allows those who wish to contribute to have their say and make their point but he does not allow “wafflers to get carried away with the powers of their own verbosity”!

The BICC's fine array of trophies.

In matters arising from the December meeting it was agreed that Keith Thomas take over the role of Website manager and our thanks go to Paul O’Leary who helped set up and manage the BICC website in 2011.

An email had been received from Lesley Wright of “The House of Aarden” stud at Exeter indicating her interest in sponsoring the BICC and it was agreed that we write to Lesley and Steve outlining our plans for sponsorship.

The subject of marking stations was raised and it was agreed that there be a new marking station in Brighton with the race marked birds subsequently being transported to Horndean. At an earlier committee meeting there had been an approach from several Scottish fanciers with a view to providing a further marking station near the Scottish borders at Carlisle to cater for any Scottish fanciers who might be interested in competing in the BICC National and International race programme. However no further action could be taken on this issue until written confirmation is received by the BICC committee. I should point out that the subject of providing new marking stations in the north, west and other areas  of the UK is at the forefront of the committee’s minds but until fanciers come forward and volunteer to run any prospective new marking stations the committee will be unable to assess their viability.

The 2012 race programme was the next item on the agenda and this will be as follows:-

Nationals

Carentan 28th April; Falaise 12th May; Alencon 26th May; Tours 9th June; Alencon2 28th July; Guernsey YB /OH 25th August; Guernsey 2 YB /OH 8th September.

Internationals

Pau 22nd June; Bordeaux / Agen 30th June; Barcelona 6th July; Tarbes / St Vincent [? yet to be decided] 13th July; Marseille 21st July; Perpignan 3rd August.

The subject of a joint BICC / BBC race in conjunction with the International was then discussed at length and it was eventually decided that the BICC “go it alone” for the 2012 season.

A discussion then took place regarding the workload of the present secretary and it was decided that the secretary’s role be divided into three distinct areas of responsibility. Carol will continue to act as administrative secretary with Russell Bradford taking over the role of treasurer/financial secretary and Chairman Albie Deacon overseeing transport and care and collection of trophies. These three new posts will be undertaken at no additional costs to the members of the BICC.

Pam Gladwin has done an excellent job of promoting the BICC as Press Officer for a number of years but at the December Committee meeting Pam tendered her resignation. The post was then advertised and of the three applicants the committee voted to appoint yours truly to the role of Press Officer. On a personal level I regard this as a great honour to be associated with, and able to promote, what I consider to be the premier organisation in the UK. I only hope I can do as good a job as Pam.

With all business dealt with the meeting was closed and the 2012 AGM opened. The minutes of the 2011 AGM were taken as read. The balance sheet was then discussed and it was proposed that we accept as published and this was passed unanimously along with a vote of thanks to the auditors Russell Bradford and Jim Peters.

The list of resignations and defaulters was then dealt with before the closing of 2011 business.

Next came the election of Officers and for the coming season these will be:-

President John Tyerman - Mick Bunney standing down after his three year stint in office.

Vice Presidents:- Mick Bunney, John Wills and Albie Deacon.

Life Vice President:- Rose Wills, Joe Szarvas, M Bunney and Jan Deacon; R & J Bennett.

Chairman Albie Deacon.

Vice Chairman Mike Mitchell.

RPRA delegate John Gladwin.

Auditors:- An independent firm of accountants headed by Mike Thomas.

Press Officer:- Gareth Watkins with a heartfelt vote of thanks for out going PO Pam Gladwin for all her hard work in promoting the club over the past few years.

Management Committee:- All I/C’s of marking stations and 2011 committee plus Tom Firmager, Bill Knox, Kevin Buddle and Eddie Goode.

Race Controller:- John Tyerman. John invited any members who might wish to participate in the race controlling role to get in touch with him.

Notices of Motion

The voting on these issues was as follows:-

1007 voting slips had been sent out and 237 returned. Results of the voting were:-

Prop1 34 for 194 against .

Prop 2 26 for 203 against.

Prop 3 15 for 192 against.

Prop 4 63 for 150 against.

Prop 5 187 for 42 against.

Prop 6 44 for 174 against.

That concluded the day’s business and the meeting closed at 12.45 pm. There followed a brief discussion on some minor issues but one important point emerged and that is the fact that Yearlings are not allowed to compete in the Pau International race.

This article is not intended to be a verbatim report of the meeting, as that will be covered by Carol in her minutes. However, it is intended to make the membership aware of the spirit in which the above meetings and other BICC meetings are held, and hopefully, give members an insight into the thoughts of the committee and officials. The opportunity is there for any fancier who wishes to compete against the best in Britain and the Continent to join the BICC, the home of International pigeon racing in the UK. Come and give it a go – club racing will never be the same again.

Dennis Ford of Blaenavon with trophies won in BICC racing in 2008. These include the Brian Long Memorial Trophy for Highest Placed British Pigeon in an International race.

New President John Tyerman

Albie & Jan Deacon