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BICC December Meeting 2012

 

BICC

Report by Gareth Watkins

DECEMBER 2012 COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT

The December meeting of the club’s committee took place at the Lion Brewery, Ash on Sunday 16th December. Unfortunately both Ray Strawbridge and I were unable to attend as Ray had undergone major reconstructive surgery on his knee just days before the meeting and as I don’t drive I was unable to get up to Surrey for the meeting. However, President John Tyerman has kindly provided me with the following report so that members are aware of what is being done on their behalf. John writes:-

“Chairman Albi Deacon opened the meeting on time and welcomed a total of 17 Committee members, some of whom had travelled long distances to attend. There were several items on the agenda, including a number of propositions submitted for voting at the AGM.

At the Epsom Show a member had raised the question of a BICC Merit Award and after much discussion it was agreed that any bird that featured in the first 15 open positions in a BICC International races would qualify for the award with all claims to be made in writing to the Secretary.

Club Finances were discussed in some detail and this year we had the accounts audited by a professional accountant, who found them to be in order. He praised the efforts of Club Treasurer Russell Bradford and although there were some matters to be addressed, the Committee can report that the Club finances are in a very healthy state.

For next season the Club will provide a corporate card for the convoyer’s use, and this will allow the purchase of fuel in France, without having to carry cash or be troubled with Euro exchanges on the boat. The treasurer gave a full report to the Committee and members will see this in due course. The transporter account cash is being transferred back to the UK account where it can be used to buy the new vehicle for 2013. 

John Tyerman and Albi Deacon said that they had been in touch with Phil Brown of Brown's Transport from Wigan in Lancashire. Their firm had built several transporters and photos of several had been sent out to committee, including the one built for the Liverpool Amal, which is similar in design to the one we want. In order for the build to go ahead we need to purchase a Ford Iveco, Daf or similar non HGV lorry which can be racked out and fitted to our requirements. Any vehicle up to 2 year old would be considered, but it must contain a sleeper cab for the driver. To date we have not found a suitable 2 year old lorry and it may be that a new vehicle will need to be purchased. If any fancier can help with sourcing such a vehicle please feel free to contact John or Albi.

A proposed rule change will allow the committee to set the annual subscription fee. The proposed £5 increase in annual subs will allow us to keep the birdage charges at their present low rate which of course is advantageous to all members. The current £20 fee was set many years ago and the proposed increase would give the Club around £5,500 additional income.

 

Jeff Lyden and Mike Mitchell told the committee that the Marseilles race had been re-instated to the International programme and suggested BICC now include this for 2013. There was some discussion where it was highlighted that Marseilles had always been poorly supported and a bit of a loss maker. However it was part of the Europa Cup programme, so Jeff asked for it be re-instated and the cost would be increased to £10 a bird. This was agreed.

 

Russell reported that he was seeking adverts for our new A4 style handbook at a cost of £125 a page, so anyone interested should contact him. A quote of around £1900 had been received from the printers for this new style handbook. John Wills had earlier requested that he be involved in the front page design and this had been agreed by Committee.

 

Albi Deacon and Mike Bunney had spoken with Brian Wall of Gem Supplements about sponsorship. Brian has always been very generous and already sponsors feeding at a greatly reduced cost. This year he and his good lady Viv have agreed to give £250 towards trophies plus a range of Gem Supplements, so the Club are very grateful for their continuing support.

 

Overall the Club has done well despite the economic climate and we are grateful to Russell who keeps a very careful eye on the finances and of course to Carol our hard working Secretary. Jan and Albi Deacon also do a lot of 'behind the scenes' work so our grateful thanks to them for their efforts over the past year.

Remember the Club's Annual presentation is at the Queen's Hotel, Bournemouth, on Saturday 9th February. 2013, and there are only about 20 tickets left. Last year we had around 150 members and friends in attendance so don't miss out on a good weekend in top class company. Contact Jan Deacon on 02392/250322 for tickets and Hotel reservations.

 

The Notices of Motion for members to decide on were also discussed at length and these will go out to the members in the very near future. One of these notices of motion that has been submitted by Geoff and Clayton Preece of Dover is the following:-

 

Delete General Rule 2 in its entirety and replace with – 'Proposed new General Rule 2: The Club’s membership shall be open to the whole of the British Isles and all Ireland, but to exclude the Channel Isles.'

 

If this proposition is agreed by a majority of the members we will have the pleasure of competing against some of the best long distance fanciers in Ireland. It remains to be seen how many Irish fanciers will be interested but in the meantime the committee have agreed to transport the Irish pigeons to Belgium for the International races, FREE OF CHARGE, as long as they can be brought to the Bath marking station.

The Committee wish all our members a very happy Christmas and good racing in 2013."

 

My thanks to John and Carol for keeping me informed of proceedings at the meeting so that I in turn, can keep the members informed.

Here’s wishing all members a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year’s racing. Good luck to one and all.