Page 18 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2021

NVS National
Championships
2021
The NVS National Championships 2021 will be on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th September. As reported in January, this year the Championships will be hosted and organised by the board of Trustees along with a group of volunteers. Many thanks to everyone who has volunteered to assist so far, it is most appreciated. The Championships will be held in ‘Atcham Memorial Hall’, The Malthouse, Malthouse Lane, Atcham, Nr Shrewsbury, Shropshire. SY5 6QE. Approximately
1 mile off the A5 ring road round Shrewsbury. We anticipate that with our chosen venue, we have more control over the event taking place this year.
You will find a copy of the show schedule in this issue of your SV Magazine. If you recycle it by mistake at any time between now and the Show, a PDF copy will also
be available to download from the NVS website.
Within your show schedule, you will
find Class 26 – The Chairman’s Challenge Shield, each year, a different vegetable type (fifteen points or under) is chosen by the host Branch. This year, the Trustees have chosen ‘Mini Cucumbers’, One dish of Five.
Just to confirm - There will be no inter- Branch competition this year.
The National Vegetable Society AGM 2021 will be held on Saturday 11th September at 3pm in the ‘Sovereign Suite’ at Shrewsbury Town Football Club, known as Montgomery Waters Meadow, Oteley Road, Shrewsbury. SY2 6ST just a couple of miles down the road from the Memorial Hall. Details for the AGM will be provided as usual, in the summer edition of your SV Magazine.
The ‘Sovereign Suite’ is also booked to accommodate a social evening and we hope, by September, that Covid restrictions will allow us to enjoy an evening together in some form or other.
If you are looking for accommodation for the weekend here are the two nearest and largest hotels, but there are plenty of local independent B&B’s in town.
Holiday Inn Express, Shrewsbury Busines Park, Sitka Drive, Shrewsbury SY2 6LG. Tel 03333 209 361. www. hiexshrewsbury.co.uk
Travelodge Shrewsbury Bayston Hill, A5/ A49 Roundabout, Bayston Hill Services, Shrewsbury SY3 0DA. Tel 08719 846103. www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/175/ Shrewsbury-Bayston-Hill-hotel
For any Exhibitors who still hold their trophy(s) from 2019, can you please also start to think about returning of your trophies in time for the show. We look forward to seeing you all again.
All we need now is for vaccines to be 100%, Covid to go away and the weather to improve...not much to ask for I hear you say?
18 Simply Vegetables
Website & Membership System
In January, we reported that our new Membership Engagement System and Website had gone live.
At the time of writing, we have now been up and running for two months and we have been very busy continuing to support our Members and Membership Secretaries and as they get used to the new system. This ranges from double checking new email addresses, querying change of addresses, answering queries, providing guidance, screen shots and instructions. It’s been a very busy time but we are happy that the main peak of subscription renewals has gone well. A big thank to all our Membership Secretaries Neil Hope, Judith Park, Ruth Bleasdale, Gareth Morris and Fred Stewart plus to Jean Forrester our National Treasurer for absorbing their extra workload during this period of learning and transition.
The “Events” and “News” sections within the website are quick and easy to update and we have now started to use the events booking system which has been found to be very effective and we see this as a such a useful tool (see report by Ian Stocks on the initial events, page 19).
Access to the “members only” sections of the website and your own data
To access any “members only” sections within the website, you do need to set up your own user account. Currently we have 483 members who have done this. Doing this will provide you with access to exclusive members information, for example discount codes within the “Resources” section.
Creating your user account is an easy thing to do by clicking on “Create account” which you will find at the top right of your web page, then follow the instructions and
create your own unique password. If you
are not too sure, we have added some step-by-step instructions on the website in the “Resources” section or we can talk you through it and assist you set it up, please just phone Fiona Shenfield on (01592) 890 284 or email fcshome@talktalk.net . Also don’t worry if you ever forget your password, as when you go to log in, there is the option for you to create a new one (you will then be quickly sent an automated email to enable you to do this).
As advised in January, the initial key objective was to provide an easy-to-use portal into the NVS, provide a centralised system, where you, as a member can access your own details and for the NVS
to provide clear, easy to find information, regarding events, news, resources, merchandise, contact details for judges, lecturers and officers plus ease of joining, renewing and setting up Direct Debit or card payment.
As advised in the “News from the Trustees” on page 7, a sub-group has recently been set up to review the membership system now that it’s been used for 2 months with a view to looking at the membership and Financial processes, reporting processes related to membership subscription to further improve the system and reporting ability.
There is also an update on membership including Direct Debt and Card payment uptake by Fiona Shenfield at the bottom of Page 5. Thank you to all who have done this so far, it is most appreciated.
Amazon smile
You may have seen the article in January about the NVS having taken up the opportunity to receive donations via AmazonSmile. In doing so this means that for anyone who is shopping via AmazonSmile, if you select the National Vegetable Society as your chosen charity, then every time a purchase is made, Amazon will give 0.5% of the net purchase price (excluding VAT and other shipping fees) of eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the National Vegetable Society.
We just wanted to thank the first 16 people who have selected the NVS as their chosen Charity to date with 152 purchases made to date.
As previously advised, each Quarter, Amazon will send donations from those purchases directly to the NVS (unless it’s less than £5, in which case it would send annually). Our first donation of £10.55 was received in February, so thankyou to those who are supporting in this way.
If you are going to do some shopping using Amazon (usually via amazon.co.uk), then all you need to do instead, is to
type smile.amazon.co.uk on your web browser. This will log into smile.amazon. co.uk , if you do this you will still see exactly the same data and information, account & wish lists . The selection of products that Amazon offers is identical, as are the prices. Note even if you didn’t wish to choose the NVS as your chosen charity, there are hundreds of charities there to select from who could benefit from one small change, it’s your personal choice and you would be helping a charity.
Doing this costs you nothing, just a few seconds to type and log into smile. amazon.co.uk.
Thank you.