Southern Counties SBT Society

Saturday 14th April 2018

BC Secretary Report

I would like to thank all the clubs for their continued support during 2017, a lot has happened in the last 12 months. The last two years of my term of office have seen a lot of changes and potential changes in the world of Dogs none more so than the proposed Judges Competency Framework which is still in its pilot phase and changes are and will continue to be made in readiness for when it goes Live. The JCF roadshows are proving very popular.

A lot of debate has taken place on Social Media about the Fee to join the KC Academy of £26.00 and as we all know in recent days this has been reduced for single breed CC specialists to £10.00 which I personally am quite happy to pay. There will be those who will disagree but that is democracy. No one will ever agree on everything. I do think it would be a great loss to the breed if we see more non-breed specialist judging or FCI judges who have no interest for the breed or understand how to judge the breed.

During 2017 we saw a slight increase in the number of registrations of Staffords in the Breed Record Supplement However Blues are still the main colour being registered. My concern is how many of these registered puppies are from Health Tested Parents, education is still the key to getting the message out they’re via the Clubs websites, social media and to the Veterinary Practices. Crufts and Discover Dogs in London seem to be the only major events that we as a breed can get the message out to, however there are various Pets Shows around the UK where we can have a presence, and these should be investigated where possible.

Reminding Clubs to forward their judges lists for 2018/2019 sadly we lost a few good people last year and some have retired from judging, so I hope that lists will be forwarded with these changes. It is a very time-consuming job sorting through all the lists, e-mails where possible please as this is proving to be the way forward when sourcing judges. Out of 11 constituent members in 2017 I only received 7 club judging lists. May I ask that all Constituent members forward their up to date judging lists by no later than 30th June. The Breed Council list will I’m sure still be very important in the years ahead as it will be an up to date record of those Judges across all levels and will assist all the clubs and run alongside the Judges list on the KC website

Can all the Breed Club Secretaries forward their subs for 2018 which currently stands at £35.00, I have already received some, but I need these all to be with me by no later than 31st May as per the Rules and Regulations, A couple of the clubs pay their subs directly into the bank, if any clubs wishes to do this please let me know and I will forward the bank details to them.

I would also be grateful if the Secretaries could forward to me their show dates for 2019 together with any judges they have in place, some have already done so, I have already started the Breed Council Show planner for 2019. If any clubs have dates for 2020 in place they would be useful as well, this to has been started.

The Officers of the Breed Council are up re-election today and you will see from the Agenda that we have no nominations for PRO. In recent years the reports provided by the PRO have been old news as Social Media bring anything Stafford to the public domain. Enquiries to the PRO have been few and far between and maybe its time to think about whether this role is relevant. I am sure that when we get to the Election of officers this can be discussed further.

The role of KCBLO is a three-year term, Karon Jackson is our current KCBLO and was re-elected last time to serve from 1st Jan 2016 until 31st Dec 2018. I will have to notify the KC after June of who we as a Breed wish to have put forward for their consideration. I feel that in the last few years Karon has done an excellent job in the role, has a good working relationship with our Representative on the Council David Winsley and provides the Clubs with relevant and important information. She has provided support to all the Club and the Officers of the Council. I believe she is willing to re-stand and I am sure that will be mentioned in her report shortly. I will be e-mailing all the Constituent members of the Council to ask for their nomination to be with me as soon as possible, so we can get this forwarded to the KC for their approval in readiness for January 2019.

In the last few days on Social Media it has been suggested that the Breed Council and the Clubs are a closed shop. It is important to remind Clubs that matters for the meeting are Confidential until the meeting has taken place. The contents of the minutes of November 2017 if ratified by the meeting today can be made public and it is up to the Clubs to do and not the Breed Council Secretary unless specifically asked to do so by a majority Clubs. this if the public wish to have the information. It might be worth the Clubs looking at something in the Constitution to say what and where this information can be displayed. A Breed Council Facebook page might be the way forward for the Secretary and additional Admin, to post information, the Staffords UK website finished a few years ago. There is still Staffords Org UK page which could be used.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from the Kennel Club and I would think this has been sent to all Breed Club Secretaries however if this is not the case please let me know and I will forward onto you all. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Registered Clubs and Societies guidance, which comes into effect May 2018. I have downloaded all the relevant documents and still reading through it all, there is a PowerPoint presentation and booklet of 11 pages plus other fact sheets.

Finally, I hope that 2018 will see the Clubs working together and I wish you all a successful year.

Helen E Reaney

Secretary