THE BRITTANY CLUB OF GREAT BRITAIN

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD IN YELVERTOFT VILLAGE HALL ON 17TH FEBRUARY 2013

The meeting opened at 15.20.

Present: Mrs H. M. Green, Mr A. Rush, Mr P. Yarrow, Mr B. Molton, Mr J. Anderson, Mrs K. Gorman and Club members as per the Attendance Book.

  1. Apologies for absence were received from: M. Brown, A. Ellis, B. Muir, L. Muir and S. Stone.
  2. The Minutes of the meeting held on 19th February 2012had been posted on the Club website and copies were circulated at the meeting. It was proposed by J. Taylor, seconded by F. Cook and AGREED that these be accepted as a true record.
  3. Matter arising: there were no matters arising from the minutes.
  4. Annual Awards.

(a)The Saint Tugen Trophy for the Best Kennel for 2012 was awarded to Patouche, Alan and Patricia Rush.

(b)The Hameau de Sorny Trophy for the Reserve Best Kennel for 2012 was awarded to Bonapartist, Janette and Paul Yarrow.

  1. Chairman’s Report: (Appendix A). The Chairman, Alan Rush, praised the efforts made by Club membersorganising events and training days, and expressed his gratification regarding recent successes and the fact that the breed has remained truly dual purpose. However, he mentioned his disquiet at the growing use of social media which he felt was not always used correctly and could have the effect of showing the Club in a poor light. He reminded members that any concerns or questions they might have should be addressed directly to officers of the Club or Committee members.
  1. Hon. Secretary’s Report: (Appendix B). The Hon. Secretary, Paul Yarrow, stated that he was proud to have been the administrator of the Club’s affairs for the last seven and a half years during which time he had seen many changes. He was not now seeking re-election due to other impending personal commitments. He drew attention to declining show entries and increasing prices. Following a forecast submitted by the Treasurer to the Committee in June 2012 a decision was taken to seek an alternative venue for the Club Championship show. Tomlinsons Canine Centre has been booked for 2013 and 2014 and investigations are continuing into the possibility of continuing the tradition of a weekend format. However thechange has caused some members to predict that this will result in the breed becoming split. His personal view is that the dual aspect of the breed has never been stronger, a view reinforced by the fact that the only two Dual Champions alive today are both Brittanys. He stated that, in his opinion, a minority of existing committee members do not respect majority decisions and felt that the membership should be aware of this. In conclusion he asked that his successor be given the support that he had received and expressed the wish that he will enjoy being secretary of the Club.
  1. President’s Report:(Appendix C). The President, Margaret Green, commenced her report by reminding everyone that we are here for the Brittany – L’Epagneul Breton. She expressed her thanks to the retiring secretary for all his hard work during his period of office. She stated her understanding of the decision at the June meeting was that alternative venues would be investigated and discussed by the Membership at the AGM. However in August the Committee was informed that a new venue had been booked. When the Committee met in September the dates had been changed, a new KC licence received and the judge informed. She considered this undemocratic with no regard for the wishes of the Membership. She highlighted what she believed to be the benefits of the weekend event and drew attention to the fact that that there are other Club events that also make financial losses. She expressed her personal view that the Club should make every attempt to continue this enjoyable and unique event which she considers is the ‘annual showcase’ for the breed.
  1. Hon Treasurer’s Report: The Hon Treasurer, Bill Molton circulated copies of the Club accounts. In his accompanying report he recorded his pleasure that 2012 had been a successful year with a surplus of nearly £1800. He listed the reasons for this improvement – increase in profitability of the open shows and, contrary to expectations, a profit of over £500 for the Championship show weekend. Field Trials and Working had also shown a profit with a significant amount of donations and lower expenses. Income in the Welfare section had also exceeded expenditure resulting in a net gain of £206.15.He was pleased to report that the Club retained a healthy balance. He outlined his ideas for the future, including more use of digital technology in a bid to reduce printing and postage costs. The Chairman, however, expressed grave concern regarding the accounts, particularly in relation to the breakdown for the championship show weekend, and said that he did not think he could sign them. Kathy Gorman pointed out that no printing costs were included in this breakdown – these amounted to £277.77. It was also noted that John Anderson had some outstanding expenses which had not been submitted. As the Chairman was worried about signing the accounts, it was suggested that this matter be referred back to the Committee. Further discussion took place and it was pointed out that it is a Kennel Club rule that theaccounts be approved at an Annual General Meeting, they cannot be passed at Committee level. As the allocation of the printing coststo specific events did not affect the final balance, it was felt the accounts could be approved. It was proposed by Margaret Green, seconded by Kathy Gorman and AGREED that the accounts be approved and accepted subject to the Championship Show printing costs of £277.77 being allocated to the expenditure on the Balance of Accounts for the Championship Show weekend. (Later signed by K. Gorman)

Following approval of the accounts, and discussion of the Treasurer’s reportthe Chairman was asked whether the decision to move away from Catthorpe was irreversible, particularly in the light of the interpretation of the Committee decision by the President. A lively debate ensued with many members expressing strong views. Simon Potter stated that other methods of increasing the income for the weekend could be investigated and cited one occasion when he took photographs and the profit went to the Club. As there appeared to be some confusionregarding the decision, Michael Young asked if the Secretary would read out the relevant extract from the minutes of the June Committee meeting. This he did as follows:

“…The Treasurer highlighted the fact that with falling entries and increased costs this year already imposed by Catthorpe we expect to lose money again on the weekend. It was recognised by all that ‘Le Weekend’ was a special, unique event in the Brittany calendar but regrettably had become unsustainable in its present form beyond 2012. A presentation of the facts will be made to the membership at the AGM next February and to seek the memberships view regarding 2013….”

Some members felt that, in view of the above, no firm decision to leave Catthorpe should have been made until after the AGMand it was suggested that a vote be taken.K. Gorman stated that this was not possible as it was not included on the Agenda and, indeed, should not really have been discussed. The Chairman said that the Committee would obtain more information and discuss the matter further.

  1. Field Trial Secretary’s Report:(Appendix D) John Anderson, Field Trial Secretary, gave a brief résumé of the activities which had taken place during the past year and notice of events planned for the coming months. He congratulated all those who had won awards, particularly Rory Major, who had made up a second Brittany with the title Dual Champion. He thanked Skinner’s Dog Food for sponsoring our field trials, gundog working tests etc.
  1. Election of Officers and Committee.

(a)Hon. Secretary: Paul Yarrow is not seeking re-election and the Chairman thanked him, on behalf of all the members, for his hard work and commitment to the Club and to the Breed over the years. He presented Paul with a gift from the Club.

There was only one nomination for the post of Hon. Secretary, Mr Keith Taylor. Keith gave some brief details about himself, his interests and his plans. He was then duly elected to the post of Hon. Secretary.

(b)Vice Chairman: There were two nominations for the post of Vice Chairman, Kathy Gorman the existing post holder and Steve Wright. Steve Wright stated that he wished to withdraw his candidacy and Kathy Gorman was duly re-elected.

(c)Committee Members: At the time the Agenda was distributed there were eight vacancies and nine candidates. Since that time Patricia Rush had resigned from the Committee making nine vacancies. It was suggested that Steve Wright, as an existing retiring member, should be included in the vote but Paul Yarrow stated that this was not possible as his name was not on agenda as a candidate. All nine candidates were, therefore, elected but a vote was taken to determine the period of office of each nominee. The results were:

D. Anderton, G. Davies, R. Holt, K. Orde-Powlett and J. Yarrow will serve for three years.

A. Massie will serve for two years

J. Coombes, M. Coombes and M. Withey will serve for one year.

  1. Proposals:

(a) Proposed by A. Rush, Seconded by P. Yarrow (on behalf of the Committee) the following additions to the Club rules:

Rule 7aNotification of the AGM: “The Hon Secretary is required to send every member a Notice of Meeting not less than 6 weeks prior to the meeting which is to be held before the end of February” (Addition underlined)

Rule 3 Management Structure of the Club“A quorum for committee meetings shall be 50% of committee membership at time of meeting plus one member and including two officers.

Rule 3 (f) “Hon. Treasurer has a day-to-day responsibility for managing the Club’s financial affairs. This involves maintaining accurate accounts, disbursing and collecting monies, where appropriate, liaising with the Club’s appointed auditor and presenting the audited accounts to the members at the AGM. The Club’sFinancial year will be from 1st January to 31st December………” (Addition underlined

It was explained that these additions were Kennel Club requirements which had been inadvertently omitted when the Rules were amended. This proposal was AGREED.

(b) Proposed by Mrs J. Robinson, seconded by Mrs B. Anderson:

“To discuss the use of Social Media Websites for the spreading of the Brittany Club of Great Britain club information. Should any praise or criticism be kept to the AGM so as not to taint the Club’s reputation in the rest of the world”.

Mrs Robinson had already left the meeting at this point but Mrs. Anderson agreed that this proposal be withdrawn and included as part of the proposal by John Anderson regarding a Code of Behaviour and Conduct.

(c) Proposed by John Anderson, seconded by Alan Rush:

“A Code of Behaviour and Conduct should be presented to the next AGM in 2014 for adoption and members of The Brittany Club of Great Britain should abide by this Code of Behaviour and Conduct.”

John Anderson explained the purpose behind the proposal and drew attention to a document of a similar nature issued by the Kennel Club. This document includes a section on the use of social media. The proposal was unanimously AGREED.

  1. Appointment of Auditor: It was proposed by Bill Molton, seconded by John Anderson and unanimously AGREEDthat Mr Robert McLeod be appointed as Auditor for 2013.
  1. Honoraria: It was proposed, seconded and unanimously AGREED that the honoraria should remain at £300 for the Hon. Secretary and £250 for the Hon Treasurer and Hon. Field Trial Secretary.
  1. 2017 Championship Show: In accordance with the agreed cycle, the Judge for the 2017 Championship show will be a breed specialist. There are three candidates for consideration. Voting slips were distributed and the number of votes were as follows:

Elizabeth Muir-13

Paul Yarrow-10

Janette Yarrow- 8

Elizabeth Muir will, therefore, be invited to judge the Club 2017 Championship Show.

  1. Any Other Business: Ray Greenwood raised the question of possible health issues within the breed, particularly relating to eye or heart defects. Anne Massie agreed and mentioned two pups she bred with PDA and aortic Stenosis she had reported to Kathy Gorman. Kathy remembered receiving this. Anne mentioned that information had been very sparse from France on these inherited diseases and Ray agreed. Another member mentioned a few incidences of cancer. It was agreed that attention be drawn to this in the Club newsletter and members reminded to keep Kathy informed of any health matters.

The meeting closed at 18.10

Appendix A

Chairman Report Feb 2013

This is the report I feel I need to read out. I have been feeling very positive through the year following all the events of last few months.

These are definitely bringing club members together and help them to get the best out of their Brittanys; through these training days many friendships are formed, we have better behaved dogs which in turn should reduce the numbers coming into rescue.

I have always tried to remember what our late President Stan Smith wanted for our breed. That it would remain a true dual purpose breed and just lately this has been proved beyond doubt that it is definitely the case. Some UK members are also achieving well in France in both disciplines and the dogs are a credit to them.

I must now add that my task as Chairman has been far from easy lately due to the use of Social Media. The internet is a great tool which, used in a positive manner, should be really helpful but sadly has been used to bring the Brittany club into a very poor light nationally and internationally. This cannot be allowed to happen and I will remind committee members that all Club business is private and confidential. Anyone with any queries or questions are very welcome to ask any officers of the club or committee members should they have concerns.

I must also mention that the Kennel Club has a code of Conduct regarding the use of Social Media and that judges especially should refrain from making comments on Club business. It has become obvious that such chats on the net - which not all of us are privy to –are making a “them and us” situation which is far from pleasant. I personally am not happy to put up with such behaviour. I hope we can move on and work hard to keep promoting future events as well as the breed, even if sometimes it means making some changes.

Alan Rush

Appendix B

Secretary’s Report to the 2013 AGM

No doubt by now you will all be aware that I am not seeking a further term of office at this AGM as should I have been successful in seeking another term this would have seen me into my retirement years. There is plenty I want to do and need to do before I start collecting my pension and I would not have been able to commit myself fully to the secretary’s position in the manner it requires.

I feel honoured and proud to have been the administrator of the Club’s affairs for the last seven and a half years. During my term I have witnessed, and been involved with in a small way, some interesting events, The Animal Welfare Act and the Kennel Club’s subsequent itemising of natural bobtail registrations and of course the infamous RSPCA programme which referred to dog showing as a ‘parade of mutants’, and the total knee jerk over the top reaction by the Kennel Club. I have seen the breeds registration increase significantly to over 200 in a year, the largest ever entries at Crufts and our own championship show and of course the breeds success in the field is without equal. Sadly with the onset of the recession I have also seen show entries and registrations tumbling to a level that existed prior to my first involvement with the breed over fifteen years ago.

Due to the ever declining show entries and the accompanying loss of revenue at our championship show coupled with Catthorpes published price increases of around £700.00 to £950.00 by 2016 for the hire of their halls our treasurer produced a forecast of the clubs finances for the July 2012 committee meeting. It was clear to see that with significant losses over the championship weekend for the previous two years of over £400.00 and £500.00 respectively and the increases at Catthorpe the committee voted unanimously to seek alternative venues. The result of which led to Tomlinson’s Canine Centre in Leicestershire being booked for the championship show in 2013 and 2014. The search for local land is ongoing so we may continue the weekend format and although there is an ideal venue close by it is currently used during the shooting season though I believe we may have the use of it for a nominal charitable donation at any time out of the shooting season. There is however a pet friendly hotel restaurant nearby at which people can stay should they wish.