National Pedigree Whippet Racing Association



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Andover & District Whippet Racing Club

AGM Minutes

Sunday 19th January 2020 at Abbots Ann Village Hall

1. Apologies were received from Caroline Willoughby, Peter Randall, Rob Hughes, Gaye Scutter, Christine Harry, Dan Bremner, Trish Billingham

2. Welcome from the Chairman: Steve Evans opened the meeting and gave thanks to Dougy and those other members that give up their free time to ensure the track and equipment is in tip top condition. He congratulated members on their successes over the 2019 season including the top NPWRA bitch and dog who both belong to Andover members.

3. Minutes of last meeting. The minutes of the meeting were read by the Secretary and proposed as a true account of the meeting by Stephy Hood, seconded by Sara Eaton. All agreed.

4. Race Manager’s Report: Dougy Hood gave thanks to Pete Bristow for his help in maintaining the equipment and to everyone else who helped by doing jobs. He said that he felt that it had been a good year and he was happy with how the track had run and the equipment. There were ongoing problems with the lawnmower which he was looking into.

5. Treasurer’s Report: Dave Smith opened by saying it had been a good year financially with a profit of £1318.02 at the end of the year. He thanked Pete and Sam Bristow for sponsoring the Hampshire Classic which had been a big success and had contributed to the profit being made. Thanks also went to Alastair and Lynne Holmes for the purchase of sand. The maintenance costs were high compared to 2018 but this was due to the purchase of new more powerful magnets for the traps. It was also mentioned that the toilet hire was more expensive this year. Steve Evans thanked Dave for all the great work he has done as Treasurer in his first year in position and was given a round of applause.

6. Presentation of 2019 League winners jackets took place.

7. 2020 Opens:

12th April Easter Charity Open in aid of the Kidney Trust, Scratch groups in odd numbers, 150 yards, veterans 5 years plus.

19th May Andover Springtime Open, Elite, Veteran and Maiden groups, 150 yards.

16th August Hampshire Classic, scratch groups in even numbers, 160 yards.

22nd September Andover Autumntime Open, Elite, Veteran, possible maiden, will review numbers after our first open. 180 yards.

8. Election of committee and officers. The 2019 committee resigned. It was proposed by Stephy Hood and seconded by Sue Evans that the committee be re-elected on block and everyone agreed. Daniel Bremner has since volunteered to join the committee so brings the total to 10 members. Steve Evans to remain as Chairman, Darcia Gingell to remain as Secretary with Dave Smith remaining as Treasurer.

9. Dog Show to raise funds for the club. Lynne Holmes proposed running a dog show with serious and fun classes. This would be to raise funds for the club and maybe attract more interest in whippet racing. After much discussion it was decided that this would take place on Sunday 14th June. There would be trials at 10am for members wishing to run their dogs. The main gates to the field will be closed while the trials take place. Gates for the dog show will open at 12.30 with the first classes starting at 1pm. Flyers about racing will be given out to any entrees. Lynne is to coordinate classes, judges and prizes. Everyone thanked Lynne for offering to run the show.

10. Money making ideas and attracting new members. Dave Smith asked for any suggestions. One idea was for flyers and posters to be produced that could be put up in local vets. It was suggested that we could run an online raffle where people could buy online tickets from around the country for a high quality prize. Pete Bristow offered to look into what it would cost for the club to be listed higher in google searches as this could potentially send more new members our way.

11. A and B groups for club racing. Angie Sawyer asked if we could introduce two groups to split the good and not so good racing dogs for club racing to try to avoid what happened to Savernake Sparrowhawk. It was pointed out that we had tried having a graded group previously but owners had been difficult about which group their dogs should run in and that splitting the dogs may end up with some very small groups in racing when you try to avoid running larger dogs with smaller ones. After much discussion it was agreed that we would try to have a second group that could include veterans and puppies alongside some of the dogs that require a permanent grading. These dogs would be agreed by both the Racing manager and Secretary to avoid any disagreements. This would be reviewed as the season progresses.

12. Ban of alcohol and bringing glasses onto the field. Andy Alford proposed that we should ban alcohol on the field during meetings and due to safety concerns over potential broken glass that this should also include bringing glasses onto the field. It was pointed out by a number of members that as racing is a social hobby it did not seem right to tell other people what they should and should not being doing on a race day. After further discussion it went to a vote with 1 for and 20 against.

13. Scratch traps update. Steve Evans asked for an update on the new scratch traps which are being made. Dougy confirmed that the traps are currently being made and would be ready in time for the Easter Open. The new traps are not mechanical and would be operated with a foot stamp system. The 4 traps are permanently held together so that we can guarantee that they open at the same time. Steve asked that they would be ready a few weeks prior to the open so that club dogs could get some practice in them before the open date and Dougy said they would be.

A.O.B.

➢ Angie Sawyer asked if we could run more trophy meetings. Sarah Puxty said that she would sort through the trophies and come up with a list of what we have so that they can be added to the race calendar.

➢ Dougy Hood asked if we could waive fees for the toilets when the Nationals were held at Andover. This led to a discussion about the cost of the toilets and whether it would be possible to permanently hire or buy a toilet that we could keep on site and have cleaned/maintained by a local company. Committee to investigate options. All agreed that we will not charge the NPWRA for toilet hire in 2020.

➢ Dave Smith said that the membership forms have been updated and could everyone fill out a new membership from so that he can update member details.

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