AI Update
For once there is very little to advise you. Last weekend was the first real weekend with any serious racing and it seems that things have gone relatively well. I did phone DEFRA in London to see if there was any feedback but no. Still some confusion at some AHDOs as to what we should do and shouldn’t do. The latest was that we needed to advise AHDOs of marking stations. Last week it did state in the Racing Pigeon that you needed to do so but DEFRA clarified this with me on Tuesday morning which was too late to pull the sentence from the RP but the amended version did go out to the BHW, website and AI distribution list. I did receive a report this week from Trevor Young at the Great Yorkshire Amalgamation. It seems that a DEFRA official turned up with a check list of 10 topics concerning the licence conditions. Clive Lister from York was the man on the ground and I understand that he passed with flying colours with all 10 points well and truly covered. Well done Clive for setting the standard. I am sure that things will calm down once we get used to the licence conditions. One query I have had is concerning when the transporter and baskets should be disinfected. The licence conditions state before and after the race and some organisers have been interpreting this in different ways. Well may I draw you attention to the Transport of Animals (Cleansing & Disinfecting) Order 2003 which states that all pigeon transporters and crates are to be disinfected within 24 hours of use. You should all have been complying with this Order anyway so there is no leeway on when the cleansing should be done. The AI licence conditions just reinforce what the Order states.
Continental Racing?
DEFRA has advised me that as there have been several changes and internal interpretation of the licence conditions of late they plan to let the current conditions remain unchanged for a few weeks and then call together the racing pigeon Unions to discuss what, if any, changes there should be., This is the time to assess what is happening on the continent and whether we can ask to race from there. Good news from Holland this week is that they are to be allowed to start racing from 9th May. France unfortunately has had no such indication from their Government despite an impassioned plea to them from the FCF.
Drug testing
Council has recently agreed that each Region will be offered 2 drug tests each with 10 organisations to receive 2 tests free also. They will be advised in due course who they are. In the meantime RPRA organisations can apply for drug tests at the subsidized cost of only £30 per test plus £2 per testing kit. Non affiliated organisations may also take the offer up at £70 per test plus £2 per kit. An advert will appear in the fancy press shortly.
Taking our service to you forward
One thing that surprised me when I took over as General Manager 7 years ago was the lack of investment in technology. I suppose coming from the RAF I was a little bit spoilt but I certainly felt that we could do a lot more with a little bit of money spent because helping us to do our job more efficiently would help you the fancier too. I am pleased that Council has supported my progress most of the time (I have had to be reined in now and again!). Nevertheless we now have a good computer system at the Reddings and I want to be able to maximise its use. The next logical stage is to provide your hard working and in my opinion underestimated region secretaries’ ability to link into our computer programme. I am pleased to say we have set the ball rolling on this. Another aspect of change I want to introduce is a new format of transfers. This will entail you only having to send in an A4 sheet of paper with your transfers on and these will be issued to you free of charge rather than the 5p now which covers the printing costs of the forms. Because we will be able to utilise our office machinery to its extent we won’t need you to send in 2 stamped addressed envelopes as we will have a machine that will insert your return transfer into an envelope before we put them through the franking machine. I am often told that we have too many staff at the Reddings but of course when you have to employ members of staff to stuff envelopes I could save time and money by using technology. But of course postage will need to be paid at some stage. I was little frustrated however to realise that I cannot do this yet as the rule book states that you have to send in 2 stamped addressed envelopes. So I will have to wait till the 2007 AGM before we can apply to have the rule changed. I have to say that I find it very inflexible to have rules that tie down administration like this and I do not believe any charges should be incorporated into the rules. It is difficult to increase when the need arises or in this case do away with.
Future of the Sport
The President made an impassioned plea at the FOS meeting recently. We do have funds available to improve the sport within reason but the committee does not have the monopoly on all the ideas. All members of the Council, and indeed all members of the RPRA, are welcome to make suggestions on how to improve and promote the sport. If you do have any ideas please send them into me. This is the one committee where your ideas will be looked at.
Arson Attacks
I cannot begin to know what it must be like to be on the wrong end of an arson attack at one’s loft. I cannot get my head around what would make anyone want to do such an act either. However, regretfully they do occur from time to time. Sadly 2 fanciers in Rochdale have been recent victims, Gordon Lord and Reg Warburton. I know that the stress from the attack had hospitalised Gordon so we wish him a speedy recovery. Hopefully he will be gladdened by a fantastic act of charity that is taking place on Sunday 9th April when the South East Lancashire Federation is putting on a charity auction for these 2 fanciers at the Firgrove Working Men’s Club in Milnrow, Rochdale. The sale starts at 1.30 pm with penning from midday. If you can support this sale that would be great as there is going to be a 50/50 split between Reg and Gordon. Good luck to you all.
RPRA One Loft Race
The prize list for the One Loft Race was agreed and it is a £20,000 first prize up for grabs, with £10,000 for 2nd, and £5000 for third. Full details will appear on the website www.rpra1loftrace.co.uk and in the press soon.
Patience Please
Ring sales and transfers have been slow this year, certainly well below 2005 levels which is unsurprising considering the uncertainty over AI. However, now that training has started and racing is on the horizon we have had a splurge of ring lists and transfers and for distance requests too. Because there has been this slow input I have not had to employ our summer staff quite so early so please be patient if you are waiting for transfers and distances, matters are in hand to take on our summer staff.
Peter Bryant
General Manager
