Application for Club Affiliation & Public Liability Insurance Cover

Report of the NCA Management Committee Meeting 14-12-19

NCA News on the Eve of a New Decade

Politically 2019 was a troublesome year for the UK  and indeed the past decade has posed challenges for us all but, in the words of Chairman, Chris Smith, “the NCA has gone from strength to strength in recent years”, nine of which have been under his chairmanship.  Chris was addressing the final 2019 management committee meeting of the National Council for Aviculture held at the Fieldhead Hotel, Markfield, Leicestershire on 14^th December. The NCA’s achievements in often difficult circumstances are worthy of recognition.

One particular piece of good news for NCA members to welcome in the New Year was that the cost of NCA affiliation and £5m worth of Third Party Liability insurance remains unchanged for 2020 at £60 which includes 12% Insurance Premium Tax. This was possible due to the sustained support of member clubs and the subsequent sound financial situation of the NCA in spite of low interest rates. Running from January to December the PLI policy covers all  activities  of affiliated clubs from meetings, to shows to fund-raising events throughout the year. Existing member clubs  wishing to renew or new clubs wishing to join can download and complete the simple application form from the NCA website   www.nca.uk.net . PLI is absolutely essential to protect your club and in most cases to allow you to put on bird shows in public premises.

A second piece of good news for all member clubs came from  Secretary ,Ghalib Al-Nasser, when he encouraged all member clubs to take advantage of the NCA’s Awards Scheme which seeks to reward the ordinary, loyal club members for their support of the hobby over many years as well as honouring the high flyers who achieve outstanding success in any branch of aviculture. Visit the NCA website for details of how to secure your long service badges for 15, 20 or 25 years of loyal club service in any capacity……and it’s free to all affiliated clubs!

The Budgerigar Society recently nominated David Hislop for a Gold badge (25 years service), Peter Smith and Ronnie Simpson for Silver long service badges (20 years). All approved by the NCA management committee.

The North East Lizard Canary Club was also on the ball by taking  the trouble to nominate two prominent fanciers on their books for Gold long service badges and entry to the NCA Roll of Honour. These were Stan Bolton (see photograph) and well-known COM judge and Old Varieties expert Kevin McCallum (see photograph). Keith Barker has taken the NCA display banner to all the shows he has attended this year and from 2020 on will also have supplies of NCA badges and information booklets to distribute. This supplements the usual NCA displays at Stafford Spring Show and the National Exhibition. The Secretary will explore the publication of a further information pamphlet to publicise the scheme.

Stan Bolton (right) receiving his 2019 NCA Roll of Honour certificate from Keith Barker

Kevin McCallum with his 2019 NCA Roll of Honour certificate

As part of COM-UK the NCA will be participating in the 2020 World Show taking place in Portugal, birds leaving the UK on 16^th January. So far, the entry from the UK is 202 birds from 29 exhibitors which shows little growth over the years due possibly to the cost @ £20 per exhibit plus a compulsory catalogue @ £15, although this is not unreasonable given that the birds are transported and well looked after while away.

Chris Smith reported that the Parrot Society is very appreciative of the NCA prize money provided in the 2019 National Exhibition and the management committee approved the Secretary/Treasurer’s proposal to continue such prize money for the foreseeable future to encourage exhibitors. Participating clubs at the National need to highlight this contribution in their schedules. It was also agreed to offer seven special rosettes (one for Best in each section, one for Best Exhibit and one for Best Junior Exhibit) at the 2020 National. The issue of safety of staging at the National will be raised at the Parrot Society pre-National meeting in Coventry on 15^th May 2020.

Good news of sorts is the prospect of clarification from the Brexit saga so that DEFRA officials may get some direction. This could result in stricter rules on bird movements etc. either from the UK or continental Europe. For COM shows exhibitors will need to register with DEFRA in advance and will need to get a veterinary certificate. It may be that all UK bird clubs will need to register with their local Authority before shows can be held. A recent consultation in Wales suggests that all bird exhibitors there will need to register in order to show. Costs for this are unclear. The management committee agreed to put a copy of the DEFRA Registration of Premises on both the NCA and the COM-UK websites as a starting point.

Looking forward to the Annual General Meeting on Saturday 4^th April 2020 at which Chris Smith would relinquish his chairmanship after nine very successful years in the job, Barry Mills agreed for his name to go forward as Chair after the 2020 AGM. It would help continuity if Chris Smith were able to serve as Vice-Chair.

After all this (mainly) good news the Chairman closed the meeting at 16.15 and wished all delegates a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year…..and so say all of us!

Think Parrots - Kempton Park, June 2019

Report of NCA AGM 6 April 2019 and subsequent Management Committee meeting.

NEWS IN SHORT: NCA elects new President, increases prize money for the National Exhibition, issues more long service awards, maintains reduced charge for affiliation and Public Liability Insurance scheme and keeps subscriptions at 2019 level.

At the 2019 Annual General Meeting of the National Council for Aviculture held on 6^th April at The Field Head Hotel, Markfield the Chairman, Chris Smith, welcomed delegates from the Canary  Council, Budgerigar Society, British Bird Council, Foreign Bird Federation and affiliated societies. There were apologies from Saviour Camilleri of the Canary Council and five affiliated societies. The Management Committee meeting took place after a short break following the AGM.

The Chairman’s Report

The Chairman opened his report with the sad news of Brian Hogg’s resignation from the NCA on ill-health grounds. As a Canary Council representative for many years, COM-UK Committee member, OMJ judge, World Show judge and exhibitor, key member of the National Exhibition Team particularly in the Old Variety Canary section, and senior official  of several CBSs Brian’s contribution to our hobby has been outstanding and well-deserving of our admiration and sincere thanks. The Secretary was asked to send a message to Brian conveying everyone’s best wishes.

The eternal uncertainty surrounding BREXIT means that DEFRA remains unable to state the future impact on bird keepers especially in terms of travel with birds to and from the Continent.

The NCA/Canary Council ring scheme continues to flourish with a current uptake of 1,500 rings from 28 fanciers so far this year. Uptake has been reduced somewhat because the Fife Federation are producing their own rings this year.

The Chairman’s request for consideration of increased prize money for the National Exhibition resulted in the following allocations being agreed by the Management Committee following the AGM:

Best Canary £30, 2^nd best £20  3^rd best £10

Budgerigars £20 for Champion, Intermediate and Novice young birds

Foreign £30 Best, £20 2^nd best and £10 for 3^rd best

British £30 best, £20 2^nd Best and £10 third best

Zebra/Bengalese £30 each (£15 for Best, £10 for 2^nd Best, £5 for 3^rd Best)

Best Junior £20.

This needs to be highlighted in all schedules for the National Exhibition

Further to the National exhibition a proposal had been received from the Australian Finch Society that the Foreign Hall should be allowed to lift their birds at 3 o’clock. This needs to be referred to the Parrot Society meeting on 12^th May 2019.

Finally Chris reminded everybody that this would be his last year as Chair of the NCA, but he would continue as NCA delegate at SUN/DEFRA meetings. 

The Treasurer’s Report

Ghalib Al-Nasser presented his Treasurer’s report and balance sheet which revealed a smaller profit than in 2018 due partly to increased insurance premium costs to the NCA by £6 per society for the Public Liability Insurance (PLI) now that  more affiliated societies are joining the scheme. The four affiliation rosettes cost £4.52 plus postage of £3.48 per Society, meaning the cost of affiliation plus insurance has risen to £55. However Clubs clearly appreciate the excellent value offering £5m of cover throughout the year for all their annual shows, meetings and events at a reduced premium to them of £60 including affiliation. Ghalib also questioned whether the insurance cost might rise again in 2020. Nonetheless the Balance Sheet is still strong and it was unanimously approved.

The Secretary’s Report

Wearing his Secretary’s hat Ghalib then spoke to his written report issued prior to the meeting. The Management Committee had met on three occasions during the year, covering a number of topics including reports on meetings with DEFRA, for example the new proposals on the Animal Activities Licensing Bill (AAL), and the consequences of Brexit on animal and bird movements; and the formulation of a General Data Protection Policy.

He commented on the World Show held at Zwolle, Holland at which COM-UK entries and the number of exhibitors were slightly down on the previous year. The show was again successful with a total of 24,863 entries from 3,342 exhibitors representing 23 countries. UK conveyers Gary Mann and Richard Lumley were thanked for their efforts. Brian Hogg and Kevin McCallum were awarded COM OMJ 10-year Judges silver badges.

He welcomed Keith Barker as NCA’s new CBS Liaison Officer  and undertook to forward a complete list of affiliated societies to Keith who is already receiving enquiries about insurance etc. An order would be placed for new NCA display equipment for Keith to use.

Ghalib expressed his thanks to Chris Smith for the considerable work he has put into the NCA, and to MC members, especially Dennis Webster (Minute Secretary) and Barry Mills (Publicity Officer) for their efforts over the year. When discussing further publicity platforms it was decided at present to persist with the website rather than commence with a Facebook or Twitter page which virtually requires a dedicated operator to handle resultant communications.

The Public Liability scheme has proved extremely popular with 193 Societies taking up the insurance and affiliation last year and currently 124 societies had already applied this year.

Many societies have applied for NCA Long Service badges, and David Allen, Geoff Gradwell, Brian Hogg, Rosemary Lowe, David Paine, Ron Palfreyman and Robert Read were added to the Roll of Honour during 2018.

The election of officials for 2019

Outgoing President, Dave Paine of the Foreign Bird Federation and Zebra Finch Society then took over proceedings to hand over his chain of office to the NCA’s in-coming President, Bernard Williams, well-known British Bird and Hybrid expert. David had been honoured to be President in 2018 and had enjoyed his year. He wished Bernard an equally good year ahead. Bernard Williams thanked the NCA for the honour of the 2019 Presidency and thanked Dave Paine for his contribution in 2018.

David Paine (outgoing President) with the new 2019 President Bernard Williams

Looking to the future the nomination of Chris Smith by the Canary Council for the post of President Elect for 2020 was unanimously agreed as was the appointment of retiring President Dave Paine to the role of Honorary Life Vice-President.

Nominations for the Management Committee were agreed as follows:

BBC: Bob Partridge, Robb Brown, Bernhard Williams.
BS:   Ghalib Al-Nasser, Beverley Hutt, John Cosby, Trevor Terheege.
CC:   Barry Mills, Chris Smith, Keith Barker, Terry Salt, Saviour Camilleri.
FBF:  Dave Paine, Dennis Webster.

Another FBF nominee and a replacement NCA COM-UK delegate for Brian Hogg is required.

The following NCA Officers were elected from the Management Committee for 2019:

Vice-Chair: Dennis Webster
Secretary/Treasurer: Ghalib Al-Nasser
Minute Secretary: Dennis Webster
Publicity Officer: Barry Mills
COM-UK members: Robb Brown, Ghalib Al-Nasser, and Chris Smith.
Awards Panel: Robb Brown, John Cosby, Dave Paine, Barry Mills (replacing Brian Hogg)

[Regarding Awards the Secretary mentioned that he had received a “thank you” letter from Sandy Innes upon receipt of his Roll of Honour certificate. High Wycombe has applied for a gold Long Service badge for Joe Edwards, and South Bucks CBA had applied for gold Long Service badges for Saviour Camilleri, Dave Allen, Mick Beckingham and Mick Stone. Hetton and Houghton CBS nominated Ernie Scothern for a Roll of Honour Certificate. All were agreed ].

Keith Barker (left) presenting Ernie Scothern
with his NCA Roll of Honour certificate

Paul Tiller FCCA was again elected to be auditor for the NCA.

COM-UK report.   (World Shows Zwolle, 2019, Portugal, 2020). The F.O.I. (Federazione Ornicoltora Italiani – Italian Ornithological Federation) has made a decision to only have “approved” judges at their shows. This effectively means that only COM OMJ judges are acceptable. UK judges do not need to pass a test, and are therefore not approved for judging in Italy. This will affect a number of well-established UK judges, and COM-UK will need to generate a list of “approved” judges. As a consequence of the FOI stance, Bologna has already cancelled their 2019 show. It was agreed that the NCA would make representations to COM-UK to deal with this issue at their next meeting.

For the 2020 World show the experienced team of Richard Lumley and Gary Mann will again act as conveyers.

It was agreed that NCA 2020 subscriptions would remain the same as in 2019.

There were no Resolutions submitted and no matters referred to the AGM by the management committee nor from affiliated societies.

Next Year’s AGM will take place at the Charnwood Arms Hotel, Coalville (subject to availability) on Saturday 4^th April 2020.

Date of next Management Committee meeting is Saturday July 6th, starting at 10.30am.

[See the NCA website ( www.nca.uk.net) for application forms for Affiliation and PLI @ £60 for a whole year of £5m cover of all club meetings, shows and events and 4 rosettes for your annual show. See also information on the NCA’s various Awards and how to claim them…. some of your members will qualify for these ….why not reward their efforts with an award you can present at a club meeting?  The Secretary can be contacted on info@nca.uk.net , or at Evenstar, Pinkuah Lane, Pentlow, Essex CO10 7JW].

Barry Mills
Publicity Officer  16th April 2019.