PRESS  RELEASE                                         

BTS 24                                                                                                                                 20 October 2017

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS ?.

Yesterday, 19 October, the Staffordshire Moorlands & District Federation Management Committee met, primarily, to evaluate the 2017 Racing Season, to continue with the arrangements for the 2017 season Show, Prize Presentation & Auction and begin our planning for the 2018 season.

So, in the best interest of good communications I will detail below the topics that were discussed and the decisions that were arrived at.

First to rise to her feet was the Federation Treasurer to give a brief financial report on both the Old & Young Bird racing seasons, plus reports on the “Special” races that the Federation organised and ran during 2017. She commented first on the magnificent support that the Fed had received from the members. Particularly in respect of the “Special” races. As a result of this support she was able to announce that ALL aspects of the SMDF racing had resulted in a profit, even when the allocation of Prize Money for individual Federation races was taken into consideration. Full details of the financial affairs will be shown in the end of year accounts, which will be published just before the date of the AGM.

Whilst talking about the AGM, it was brought to our attention that the date we had picked for the 2017 AGM clashed with the Blackpool Show and whilst appreciating that you would all rather come to our AGM than swan off to Blackpool, we decided not to upset the RPRA any more than we have already done, so we have rearranged the Fed AGM for a week later, 28 January at the same location as before. This, of course, means that any propositions for amendments or additions to the Fed Rules must be in the hands of the Secretary by December 31 2017.  I would like to invite as many members as possible to come to the meeting and have your say about who is appointed to run the Federation. Don’t worry, no one will be pressed into joining in if they don’t want to, but it would be nice to see all clubs being represented on the Management Committee and to have your views put forward. So, please try and come along you will be made more than welcome.

As some of you will be aware, the convoying contract we had with Geoff Silvester Jnr ran out at the end of the 2017 Young Bird season and so the Management Committee have been discussing what arrangements should be made for the future and those discussions continued yesterday. Everyone agreed that as far as racing was concerned the 2017 season had been second to none and that the way the birds had been looked after prior to liberation had been excellent. However, some concern was expressed about the condition of some of the crates and whether or not they were fit for purpose and being maintained satisfactorily. Geoff Silvester explained that the condition some of the crates were in when they were returned to him showed a certain amount of misuse and mishandling by clubs and although crates had been repaired, the next time they were returned they showed similar signs of careless handling, which of course became rather expensive to cope with.

However, the meeting requested that Geoff went away and prepared a costed contract for next season and the season after, plus a written assurance that the maintaining of the supply of satisfactory crates would be guaranteed throughout the period of the contract/s. In addition, assurance was required in respect of Geoff’s vehicles and their ability to satisfactorily meet the RPRA requirements to enable him to obtain and keep a Convoyer’s License.

Under the heading of “Correspondence” the meeting was advised that the Secretary had received an application from Ian Fradley who manages the MNFC OLR race and to whom all the birds scheduled to take part in the race are registered, for the OLR birds to be convoyed by the SMDF and liberated with the Federation birds at each of the race points that comprise the Fed’s Young Bird race programme. All race controlling decisions will be in the hands of the SMDF race team The purpose of this request is to give the OLR birds adequate actual race experience prior to their final race, when they would be released on their own. If this scenario was to become a reality a considerable financial benefit to the Federation would accrue and therefore serious consideration should be given to the proposal. The secretary confirmed that the location of the OLR loft was within the current boundaries of the Federation and after much discussion the Management Committee voted in favour of going ahead with Mr Fradley’s request. Nevertheless, this is not a decision that can be taken by the Committee on its own and therefore each member club has been advised of the situation and been requested to call meetings to vote on the proposal and then advise the Federation secretary of their decisions.

The next subject on the agenda was the 2017 Show, Prize Presentation & Auction. The President and Secretary confirmed that all arrangements were progressing smoothly and that Gerry Clements had confirmed his acceptance to present the Prizes etc. Ray Bullen had also agreed to judge the various Classes in the Show and that the donors of the birds for Auction had also been contacted and some had even confirmed the details of the birds they would be donating take my word for it they are a mouth-watering lot! Don’t forget, if you can’t make it to the Auction you can make a bid, in advance by telephoning Jill (01260 223563) and advise her of your bid and that will be the starting bid at the actual event. So, just think about it, there are birds on offer here that are from just about the best fanciers in the United Kingdom R & B Smith, Brian Lee, Gary Daykin, Alistair Ewart, Leach Bros and a kit of YB’s from some of the Fed Toppers from the 2017 season (this kit to be auctioned as one Lot). So, don’t forget the date, December 2 at the usual venue, the Kidsgrove Working Men’s Club, starting at 1.00pm (penning for the Show 12 noon). Don’t forget there will be a FREE BUFFET and very competitively priced drinks both soft and alcoholic! Hope to see you there.

The Committee also discussed various ideas for social events to take place during the closed season in order to raise funds to help with the running of the Federation and therefore avoid having to put prices up or raise subscription costs etc. The idea that came out top of the pile was a Special Horse Racing Evening. Geoff Silvester Jnr volunteered to look into this idea, so if you can offer any help or advice, please give him a ring.

Following the undoubted success of the Federation’s three “Special Races” it was agreed that all three would again be staged in 2018. The 4 Bird Yearling Race will be flown in conjunction with the Carenton/Coutances Race and the YB Breeder/Buyer will be flown from Yeovil and next year there will be 4 Auctions with the first one being in mid-February 2018 at Berryhill Club and the Gold Ring Race will be flown from Portland or whichever is the longest YB race once the final Race Programmes have been agreed. Just a reminder that in the last three years Gold Ring Races we have paid out a massive £21,234.00 in Prize and Pool Money and in 2018 we are making it even better by introducing a 2 Bird Average Prize with a Guaranteed Prize of £200. Orders for Rings are already being taken, in fact over 250 have already been ordered, so as there will be a limited number of rings available I suggest you contact Jeff Roberts (01782 777930) and let him know how many rings you would like. Remember, once they’re gone they’re gone, no more rings will be bought.

We were then advised that there was a little dissatisfaction that the results for the Breeder/Buyer and Gold Ring races were somewhat delayed due in part to the Secretary being on holiday when the race was flown. However, this was not the only cause for the delay as some anomalies were found when the distances were checked and of course, we had to make sure everyone had transferred their birds correctly. Nevertheless, if we had been provided with the necessary information we could have produced an “Early Birds” result much sooner. So plans have been put in place for the Secretary to receive the information in respect of the first six Breeder/Buyer and Gold Rings timed in in each club as soon as the club Secretaries have completed their result. This will mean that a Provisional type result will be available at the same time as the Federation race early birds are published. I hope this satisfies all those competitors in the future.

That just about sums the meeting up and I hope you will agree that this Committee is keeping you, the members, well and truly in touch with the way you Federation is being run.

Cheers for now

Brian T Smith

Press Officer - SMDF