NEWS FOR MEMBERS

Welcome to the new information page for members.  Following the demise of Our Cats magazine the committee decided that this was the best way of sending out information to members.  We know that not everyone has access to the internet but feel that this is the best option at the moment.  

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Burmese BAC

The next meeting of the BBAC will be held on Sunday, 5th September 2010, at the Friesland Sports Centre, Nursery Avenue, Sandiacre.

Any items for the Agenda should be sent for receipt before 5th August 2010 to: 
Mrs Mary Moore, Hon Secretary Burmese BAC, Bridleway House, Cote Lane, Taston, Chipping Norton, Oxon OX7 3JJ  or emailed to: mary.moore@zen.co.uk   

Mary Moore, Secretary

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Notes from the 2010 AGM

The 2010 AGM was held on Saturday 1st May at Regents College Conference centre in London and was attended by 10 Officers and committee members, 3 co-opted committee members and 17 other members of the Club.

Prof Jarvis (Acting Chairman) welcomed everyone to the meeting and members stood in silence to remember those who had died during the year

Mrs Chase (Hon Secretary) read out the election results –

Chairman
Mrs Smith 193  - elected
Prof Jarvis 160
Hon Treasurer
Mr Ward – elected unopposed
Committee
Mrs Amies 258  - re-elected
Prof Jarvis 212 – re-elected
Mrs Hewitt 211 – re-elected
Mrs Woodley 194 - elected
Mrs Hewson 167

A counting error in the Region 5 election had cast doubt on the result and the committee had decided that this election should be held again.
(After the second ballot Mrs Bowen was confirmed as the RA in Region 5.)

Vet Jamie Rushton gave a delightful talk on ‘Challenging Behaviour in Burmese Cats’.  Mr Rushton is not only a behaviourist but also a Burmese owner and everyone was intrigued to hear how his cat had been taught to ring a bell when he wanted a door to be opened!

It was determined that the meeting should be adjourned as there were not enough members present to consider it quorate and no decisions could be made. 

The meeting was re-convened on Saturday 19 June at the Novotel Reading and was attended by 6 Officers and Committee members, 1 co-opted committee member and 10 other members of the club.  According to the rules this second meeting did not need to be quorate.

Chairman’s’ opening remarks.
Good afternoon everyone. I am delighted to see all of you who have managed to come here today.

Before I start I would like you to stand please and remember those who have died this year the only names I have unfortunately are, Elizabeth Amies daughter Catherine and Ray and Jean Mansell and if you knew them think what they bought to your lives, if you didn’t just then just have a quiet moment to think about their passing

So, first, I would like to apologise for having to ask members to attend a second AGM. I think the Officers should have known how few people were coming and postponed the first meeting, saving some of the inconvenience to members and costs involved.  We obviously also need to think hard about future AGMs, to ensure that members are attracted and want to attend.

A lot of you know what happened last year and I was very touched when so many of you asked me to stand again, so I would like to thank everyone who voted me back as Chairman. Your vote of confidence was a huge morale booster to me. I won’t let you down.

For many, many years, the Burmese Cat Club was the flagship of the Cat Fancy and I am determined to see it back there. I want the Club to set the standards that others aspire to. That’s what I said when I agreed to stand again; that’s the basis on which I have been elected.  The work starts in earnest today.

I feel that our Club is at a point where, much like the current government’s situation, we need to have a fresh start. We need to examine our finances; find ways to encourage more feedback; become more open with our members and recruit more young members. 

There are several specific issues which members have already expressed, concern about: the cost of meetings, the cost of our show, the News; communications between the Officers and members, and our website.  We must deal with these issues as a matter of urgency.

So far as the cost of our meetings is concerned, we are starting to address that right now by coming to Reading.  We are also going to a much cheaper church hall for the next Committee Meeting.  So that is underway.  We must also find an alternative venue for next year’s AGM so all suggestions are welcome.

Another issue that has been raised is the News as we have unfortunately lost the fine magazine that Joyce Seville edited for so long.
 
It’s quite nice to see a few colour photos but it’s not a comic, as several members have commented. It’s supposed to have stories, poems and articles which the majority of our members, who are pet-owners, not breeders, like. They enjoy reading stories about the cats’ antics.

I intend to ask the committee to address this situation and come up with positive ideas to get the News “back on track”.  I recall that Joyce had a team of workers around her who collected the content and helped with proof-reading and that seems like the best approach to me. You are all going to have to help here, though: we need your stories and pictures. So please be prepared to help.

Another bone of contention is our show which was, and should be the highlight of our year. So, we must look at the venue and indeed the date of the Show, which I believe Alan and Linda are already doing. We must try to encourage people from a wider area to support it. I know all shows are suffering but if you put the Show in somewhere like Flitwick you rule out the West straight away. In the early days, we held the Show in Wolverhampton, so maybe we can go back to the Midlands. We never had the moans we have now when it was held there. If the Asian Cat Association can get 72 cats into a Village hall in the middle of nowhere, and the show was financially sound.    with our numbers we can surely do better.  In fact, we absolutely must do better: our finances demand it.

Finally, the website where  I understand it was agreed at the RAs meeting in March that a revamp was needed. This is the ideal opportunity not only to smarten it up and bring it into to the 21st century but also to look at ways of making it work for us,  and hopefully save the club a great deal of money.

I am determined to make changes: that’s what I have been elected to do.  However, I do not underestimate how difficult it will be nor the importance of you the members in this process.

As you know I have been involved in Welfare for over 25 years and more recently as Chairman. My guiding principle is that the cats come first and I’m passionate about that.  Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case in some parts of the club.

In the end, it’s the members who decide how the Club should be run.  So please do tell us what you like and what you dislike and hold us to account if we do not do what you want.

Together, we can restore the Burmese Cat Club to its pre-eminent position.

Thank you.
Maureen Smith
Chairman and Principal Trustee

Officers’ reports (tabled).
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Mrs Chase (Hon Secretary) said that the running costs of the club were going to have to be reduced and one particularly expensive item for her was postage, although she tried to keep this down by emailing routine paperwork to committee members and Regional advisers.  Mrs Amies (membership secretary) commented that membership numbers were well down on previous years and effort was needed to recruit new members.  She said that the breeder-sponsorship scheme was not cost effective and would be reviewed.

Mrs Green’s report on the GCCF Council meetings contained the news that once again Steve Crow, Maria Chapman, Helen Marriott-Power and Joyce Green had been elected to the Executive Committee.  Steve Crow had also been responsible for drafting the proposed Breeding Policy for GCCF registered cats.  The amendments to the Burmese Standard of Points had finally been approved and would take effect on 1st June 2010.  At an additional Council meeting in April delegates voted in favour of the GCCF’s becoming an incorporated company. 

The BBAC report from Lady Yardley explained that two very successful seminars were held in 2009, one at each of the Burmese shows.  Topics included Burmese Colours, Judging a Kitten, the Burmese Wedge, Veterinary Defects and The Work of the GCCF Genetics committee. 
During the year Dr Colin & Mr Twigge were promoted to full judge and the Probationers were Mrs Clare, Mrs Dugdale, Mrs Francis-Wilson, Mrs Heath, Mrs Johnson, Mrs Lorton-Hobbs, Mrs Martin, Mr Morris, Mrs Prowse, Mrs Walpole, Mrs Ward and Mr Williams.

In her Benevolent Fund report Mrs Smith (Principal trustee) thanked everyone who attended the fund-raising Garden Party and charity raffle last August.  The funds raised were in excess of £7K.  She urged Regional Advisers to hold fund-raising days in their areas. 
It was decided by the Trustees that a new safe-house was needed in the Oxford region and this was being sited with Mrs Mary Moore.  Mrs Smith finished by thanking everyone involved in welfare.

The Editor’s report from Miss Matthews said that 2009 had been a year of huge change for the News as a new printer had to be found at short notice.  She had been overwhelmed by the number of members who had contacted her to say that they liked the new format and the special issue.  However she went on to remind members that she can only put in what she receives so she always needs more articles, poems, letters and especially more pet pictures.  She said she would be trying new ideas in 2010 to see if they are popular but also to see if they can bring in some funds for the News to offset the rising costs.

Mrs Ward (Show Manager) reported on a successful 2009 show in Flitwick with an entry of 105 Burmese and 5 Household Pets.  Unfortunately the bar area had been out of action as it was being refurbished, but there were several local pubs providing food.  I t had been decided to return to Flitwick in 2010.

Mr Ward presented the accounts and explained some apparent anomalies in the figures, e.g. the timing of the payments for the News skewed the accounts as some editions were paid in the year of publication and some the following year.  Show costs were also rising and the 2009 show lost £2.5K.  Mr Ward explained that he had transferred £4K from the ‘buffer’ fund to the show account and that left just £11K for future years.  He said that the show was subsidising each cat to the tune of £21 and this was not acceptable.  He confirmed that the accounts had been passed by the Auditors.

During members question time it was suggested that the AGM could perhaps alternate between different Regions with the RAs for that region hosting the event.

Copies of the full reports are available from the Hon Secretary and the accounts are available from the Hon Treasurer.

Sue Chase
Hon Secretary
30 June 2010