Page 7 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2023

News from the Trustees
RAYMOND HIGGINS FNVS, NATIONAL VICE CHAIR
A special trustee meeting which focused on the National championships was held on the 29th of November via zoom. Our Chair, Sandra Hall opened the meeting, welcoming all present. A special word
of welcome was extended to Owain Roberts who has joined the board as
a Welsh Branch Trustee Rep and Chris Spree who was co-opted into the role of Sponsorship Manager.
A new class for a collection of four kinds of vegetables 15 points and under will
be added to the national championships schedule for 2023. The class has been introduced to encourage more members to exhibit at the National Championships. It opens up the potential for entry to a wider range of members and will increase the range of vegetables which will be showcased.
A proposal was tabled to expand the judging pool by allowing exhibitors (who are qualified judges) to judge when they have also entered the show. There are many positives to this proposal as it would allow the show to have access to a wider pool of judges who are potentially more up to date with varieties etc. because they are active exhibitors. It was noted this currently works for the Scottish Branch, and there have been no complaints to date. Opinion is currently divided. Some trustees noted that the judges may see other exhibits being benched, so would know which exhibits belonged to which exhibitors
etc. It was suggested that this might lead to judging the “name” rather than the exhibit? It was agreed that trustees return
the conversation to each branch, so that it can be considered going forward as
it important to retain our high judging standards into the future.
The trustees voted to increase prize money which had not been increased for ten years or more. It was noted the cost
of growing and exhibiting at our national championships has increased dramatically and we must make every
effort to retain existing
exhibitors; to encourage
new exhibitors, and to
stop exhibitors ignoring
NVS shows to attend other
events with a bigger prize
fund. The trustees also
voted to increase the NVS
Expenses mileage rate
to 40p in response to the
increasing fuel prices. A
subgroup agreed to also
draft a written expenses
policy for the society.
Long Beetroot 5 to 3, Large Exhibition Onions 5 to 3, Onions 1KG to 1.5KG 5 to
3 and Celery 3 to 2. It was noted that
the proposal appears to be popular with the membership according to recent discussions and polls on social media that members are holding back entries from local shows and regional level, to ensure they have sufficient exhibits at national
A proposal was also
passed to professionally
record the National
Championships. There
is no relevant expertise in the Trustees committee but would love to hear from any member who may have the expertise to support or advise us. The recording could be used for public relations and uploaded to the website as part of our Library.
A proposal was tabled to reduce class quantity sizes at the National championships. Blanch Leeks 5 to 3, Long Carrots 5 to 3, Parsnips 5 to 3,
Members are holding back entries from local shows and regional level, to ensure they have sufficient exhibits at national level
level. The smaller and local shows are the way everyone gets started, and it’s a bad idea to passively encourage reducing the number of entries at the local shows because people are saving their entries for the National. It was also noted that there are currently inconsistencies in the schedules – e.g., potatoes and 250g onions have the same numbers at National and branch level which is good, where others vary. It was agreed this issue should be discussed and agreed on by the exhibitors only who actually have to
do the growing and showing. It won’t be agreed on in time for the 2023 national, but a decision should be agreed in time for the 2024 National Championships.
The Trustees discussed and debated the format and arrangements for the social evening. As many members may know, historically there has been a social evening for those attending the National. The cost of the evening last year was £2,000. The
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