NCA 2012 News

ncaheader.gif (13520 bytes)

2012newslogo.gif (4562 bytes)

Barry Mills the new President of the NCA

Reported by Ghalib Al-Nasser, NCA Secretary

The National Council for Aviculture held its Annual General Meeting on 31^st March at the Charnwood Arms Hotel in Coalville, Leicestershire, followed shortly afterwards by the Management Committee meeting. The Chairman, Chris Smith, welcomed those who attended and presented his written report, stating that he had written a letter of thanks to Dave Whittaker, the previous secretary & treasurer. The visibility of the NCA had been heightened by having the NCA stand at three county shows, the B.S. Woking event and two Stafford events. The Chairman also expressed his pleasure at the return of the British Bird Council to our fold and he is looking forward to working with them to increase awareness to help fanciers understand and comply with legislative requirements. He highlighted the close link with DEFRA through the NCA membership of SUN. His priority for the next year will be to get more closely aligned with Cage Bird Societies and to advertise the post of the CBS Liaison Officer.

The Secretary/Treasurer, Ghalib Al-Nasser, in his report, highlighted his pleasure at the return of the BBC after one year’s absence, and the formation of COM-UK with the IOA. A successful team of birds attended the World Show in Almeria, Spain achieving 5 gold, 1 silver & 3 bronze medals. Letters to 65 NCA Life Members were sent out with the agenda and balance sheets as well as to all affiliated cage bird societies but a few letters to Life Members had been returned due to either moving house or deceased. If anyone knows of the whereabouts of Oliver Tynan (Banbury, Oxon), S. Smith (Spey Bay, Moray), C. Jackson (Chelmsford, Essex) & Miss A. Goldsmith (Barnsley, Yorks) please let the secretary know.

The Secretary also informed members that the Public Liability Insurance package is still popular with 78 clubs taking up the offer and 38 cage bird societies have affiliated.

Members present unanimously approved the new Constitution to reduce the number of representatives from the 4 parent bodies from 4 to 3. Rates of subscription remained the same at Ring member Ł5, Cage Bird Societies Ł20, parent body with membership up to 500 Ł50, up to 1000 members Ł100 and over 1000 members Ł200.

Barry Mills, the new NCA President, with Denis Glasby, the outgoing President

The Secretary informed the meeting that the following representatives from the parent bodies will form the Management Committee and they are; British Bird Council ~ Robb Brown, Bob Partridge, Craig & Julie Walker; Budgerigar Society ~ Ghalib & Janice Al-Nasser, Gordon Grist, Alex Woan; Canary Council ~ David Allen, Brian Hogg, Gary Mann, Terry Salt; Foreign Bird Federation ~ Peter Collins, Dave Paine, Dennis Webster. Barry Mills was inaugurated as the new President and thanked all members for this honour. Following his year as President, Denis Glasby was appointed Honorary Life President to join Brian Hughes, Dennis Norton and Charles Woolley. Roger Carr was elected as President Elect.

The Management Committee held their meeting soon after the AGM and confirmed Chris Smith as the Chairman (elected for 3 years in 2011) and Dennis Webster as Vice Chairman & Minutes Secretary. Other officers elected were Ghalib Al-Nasser as the Secretary and the new Treasurer, as well as Publicity Officer and Website Controller. The new Awards Committee were elected as Robb Brown, Gordon Grist, Brian Hogg & Dave Paine. The important position of CBS Liaison Officer is still vacant and anyone who is interested in this post is asked to contact the secretary. Brian Hogg was approved as the replacement to Andrew Triolo on COM-UK committee.

The NCA appeals to all cage bird societies, regardless of their affiliation, to send the secretary their contact details so that he can formulate a data base of all cage bird societies around the country.

The Management Committee approved two new members to be added to the NCA Roll of Honour, namely Jim Addison and Don Hunter, for outstanding services to the fancy and sadly two members; Fred Rix & Raymond Sawyer, who passed away during the year, were added to the NCA Hall of Fame. Both Crewe & District CBS and the Zebra Finch Society had sent letters nominating members for the NCA Long Service Badges which were approved. They were Jim Addison, Peter Cannan, John Davies, Peter Harrison, Herbert Lock MBE & Dave Paine (Gold) and Graham Davis & Peter Hook (Bronze).

The NCA will have a presence at the London Pet Fair on 12^th/13^th May with a display of different birds in an aviary. The NCA will work closely with the BBC to review the Wildlife and Countryside Act following DEFRA’s recent announcement. An NCA power point presentation will soon be available to be used at evening meetings of cage bird clubs.

Clubs wishing to affiliate to the NCA should visit our website (www.nca.uk.net) or contact the Secretary Ghalib Al-Nasser at Evenstar, Pinkuah Lane, Pentlow, Sudbury CO10 7JW (Tel: 01787 282332 or email at info@nca.uk.net).

NCA Awards
Reported by Ghalib Al-Nasser, NCA Secretary & Publicity Officer

NCA Chairman Chris Smith presenting the new Presidential Chain of Office to the NCA President Denis Glasby

At the last Management Meeting of the National Council for Aviculture (NCA) the Chairman, Chris Smith, presented the newly purchased Presidential Chain of Office to the President Denis Glasby.

The Budgerigar Society nominated Roger Carr for the NCA Roll of Honour for his long services to the Budgerigar Society spanning over 31 years which the NCA committee accepted unanimously. The Budgerigar Society also put forward names of many fanciers for the NCA Long Service Badges of gold (25 years), silver (20 years) and bronze (15 years). Realising the benefits from these NCA awards the Zebra Finch Society as well as Buntingford CBS put forward names of their members for such awards and all were accepted by the Management Committee. In total there were 25 NCA Long Service badges awarded. Affiliated CBS should enjoy these benefits and apply to the Secretary for the awards information for which can be found on the NCA website www.nca.uk.net.

It was also decided to increase the Public Liability Insurance cover for 2012 due to increases in premium costs. This insurance cover is very comprehensive and covers all affiliated societies’ activities throughout the year including shows. The limit of the indemnity is now Ł5,000,000 for any one claim to include all legal costs and damages. The cost of the insurance to the affiliated societies, through the parent bodies, is Ł50 for the year’s premium which includes 5% Insurance Premium Tax. For Cage Birds Societies the affiliation fee is Ł20 and with the insurance cover totals Ł65 (affiliation + insurance). Societies can download the Proforma from the NCA website.

The Secretary Ghalib Al-Nasser has also taken over the duties of the Treasurer as from 1st January and all communication including applications for insurance will now need to be sent to his home address at Evenstar, Pinkuah Lane, Pentlow, Sudbury CO10 7JW (Tel: 01787 282332 or email at info@nca.uk.net). The NCA extends their sincere thanks to Dave Whittaker for carrying out the duties of Secretary and then Treasurer of the NCA over the past few years.

The NCA will be putting forward a motion at the AGM to reduce the number of representatives of the four parent organisation at each meeting from 4 to 3 each (rule 9.i).

The management committee agreed that their priorities for 2012 should be:

Through the BBC we need to increase awareness of current legislation affecting birdkeeping. Recommendations should be checked by a legal expert, and should cover exhibiting as well as general keeping/breeding.
Increase awareness of the NCA by CBS’s.
Education and conservation
Consider producing a booklet on Judges’ requirements and training covering the whole fancy.

The date of the next AGM is Saturday, 31st March, 2012 commencing 10.30am at the Charnwood Arms, Coalville, Leicestershire LE67 1TB.