September 2020 Meeting &
November 2020 Open Show
Almost every Bird group in the country is experiencing difficulties trying to organise their annual exhibitions with new cancellations appearing by the week.
WMGA having undertaken significant due diligence and risk assessment in conjunction with the venue and are pleased to announce that, providing National or Local restrictions do not get worse we will hold an exhibition making it as much a "Covid-19 Safe Event" as it can be.
THE EVENT EVENTUALLY HAD TO BE CANCELLED 7 DAYS BEFORE OPENING DUE TO NATIONAL LOCKDOWN REGULATIONS
WMGA 2020 “Covid -19 Safe” update.
Having established that there was an opportunity to be able to hold a bird exhibition in these challenging times, WMGA members agreed to proceed with arrangements for WMGA 2020 on the 15th November, Fairfield Hall, Fairfield, Bromsgrove B61 9LZ and shared the methodology and practices being applied in the 26th August edition of Cage and Aviary.
We continue to make it clear that there is a WMGA consensus that all and any precautions to make it as “Covid-19 Safe” as possible are being implemented and will be adhered to; and should National or Local restrictive regulations return (it is to be hoped not) then the event will be cancelled.
Moving on, the first task for WMGA show personnel was to communicate to all its members and prior exhibitors, in advance of any schedule being produced or venue commitments being firmed up 1) the process undertaken to consider staging the exhibition 2) the procedures to be adopted and unconditionally adhered to, and 3) most importantly asking “...given all of the safety measures, would you be prepared to exhibit and if so please indicate potential exhibits.”
The response was 99% positive, the 1% being those members with underlying health conditions who obviously err on the side of caution, irrespective of WMGA doing everything to reduce risk, who clearly responded No.
From the positive responses it became clear that if the event was, as with previous years, thrown open to any Gloster breeder / exhibitor to attend, that the event would be bigger than originally anticipated. Control of the event would be problematic and a “Covid-19 Safe” event potentially compromised. The result of the member communication alone identified 60 potential attendees committing well in excess of 600 birds.
From this feed-back it became obvious that a limiting factor that needed due consideration was the number of attendees; in the past we have all experienced “the crush in the aisles” as we all jostle to see and discuss our exhibits in relation to the judges placing; now it is a case of adhering to a) maximum gathering numbers in an enclosed space at any one time and b) social distancing.
With the “Covid-19 Safe” precautions and procedures in place WMGA discussed and determined that the event will not be open to the public and 60 attendees including, Judges, Exhibitors, Admin personnel is a controllable number that will enable people to maximise their time in the exhibition.
At present exhibitors have been advised that there will be no ability to view the judging; however, everything is a moving feast and WMGA are considering how it might be possible to viewing the judging.
So how will WMGA control the exhibit entry? Rather than there being an open-ended number of entries once a maximum 560 has been reached entries will close. Priority will be given to all members, prior year exhibitors and juniors, with no restriction being placed upon the number of exhibits they can enter.
Any Gloster exhibitor new to WMGA can send in an entry with an unrestricted number of birds, BUT they will be placed upon a waiting list. The “new exhibitor” will be written to accepting their entry and advising of the waiting process. Should a member / prior exhibitor who indicated attendance not enter or withdraw after entry the waiting list will be drawn upon.
Final agreement was reached on exhibit / cage presentation insofar that that there will be NO seed on the floor of the show cage. WMGA will supply exhibitors with absorbent material for the floor thereby reducing spillage outside the cage and the need for additional disinfectant cleaning.
The venue, Fairfield Community Centre Fairfield, Bromsgrove B61 9LZ have been very accommodating allowing us unrestricted access to the hall on the afternoon of 14th November to set up staging, external covering, parking, refreshment areas, sanitizing stations, signage, one way systems, distancing guides and to enable exhibitors to drop off birds in advance of the event, which will enable local members to choose when they return on the day to view and for how long, allowing them to further limit any perceived “personal risk”.
Our judges:- Neil Burton, Paul Reay and Dave Hobart, have confirmed their attendance and are looking forward to judging what might be one of very few All Gloster exhibitions in 2020.
As always WMGA does not believe in holding back in coming forward and approach to potential sponsors is gaining ground, Oriole-Gems, Birdcare Company, Easyyem, Jens Rosettes, John Sturman Ltd are all making the event possible and the show promo manager John Cronin is still plugging away looking for additional support to cover the Covid-19 Safety Costs.
It is important for everyone to understand that the WMGA will be closely monitoring the National and Local situation and will comply with Government / Local / Venue guidelines in every respect, to make WMGA 2020 a Covid-19 Safety Compliant Event.
If for any reason it proves necessary to advise Gloster aficionado’s that the event will not take place this decision will be publicised at the beginning of October. No entry fee will be banked before the beginning of November and in the unfortunate event of cancellation all fees will be returned.
Thinking ahead to 2021 WMGA are planning to continue putting on the best event it can, trying to encourage more Gloster breeders into exhibiting their birds by testing the water in good friendly open competition.
WMGA believe that engaging top judging teams is one answer to obtaining good entries. The judging team has to be in accord, and to date WMGA believes that it has engaged teams that do just that Year 1 = Brian and Phil Durrell Year 2 = Ian and Rob Wright, this year as indicated, so what about 2021…Well we’ve taken the plunge and gone abroad to engage a further premier team this time the International Belgian judges - Marnix D’hont and Ludo Lenaers.
So for anyone, local or long distance, the message is – get priority status for 2021, become a member of WMGA its easy, go to the website https://westmidgloster.wixsite.com/wmga/benefits-of-membership download a membership form then complete and post. For long distance members we will try to get your virtual attendance at our quarterly meetings where we anticipate engaging speakers to deliver interesting subject matter for Novice and Champion alike.