The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: carole on October 16, 2008, 01:34:34 pm
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Hi all,
I am looking for anyone else who is a member of this association, I joined back in July at a Gala event.
Please if you are a member mail me as I now feeling quite isolated, and wishing to make contact with others.
I also understand there is an AGM metting on 8th November.
Thanks
Carole
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Following on from this post, has any member actually received any information regarding the agenda and details of the meeting on the 8th November? Has any member received any information at all from the association since joining?
Kate
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Kate,
It looks like just you and me then!!!!!
I have asked the secretary on 4 e-mails and 2 phone messages to make contact.........nothing
If anyone else in France has joined this association please get in touch
Worrying in Brittany
Carole
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I too joined them! I have heard absolutley nothing. I've tried to access the site but to no avale.
Looks like they've taken my money & run >:(
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Hi
I'm Simon from pigsinfrance.com - I would like to make it clear to everybody, that the site www.pigsinfrance.com has no connection at all with this Association.
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To go on a bit further!
As most of you folks living in france know – that I was one of the founders of this Association, but soon resigned due to various discrepancies; however am still a member (till the end of the year!) and also find it amazing that the membership is not informed of anything. ???
I feel responsible for, in the early stages encouraging some of my friends through ‘pif’ to join this Association – when I had belief in it’s merits; so as this is a ‘French matter’, I shall endeavour to find out the whereabouts and future plans (if any) of this Association. I will start a topic on ‘pif’s forum for the investigation!
As a matter of interest, to the french contingency, pif is no longer dedicated to rare breed pig breeding, but to general small farming in France. :)
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Thank you Simon - I promise no one associates you with this mess! It has become a bit of a principle thing with all of us now, so let us see where it takes us?!!
The PIF site is great by the way, and as always much appreciated for its' quality of information.
Thanks
Kate :pig:
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like Simon I was one of the origional founding members but also quickly 'saw the light' and dis -associated myself from this organisation
in theory I am a member until the end of the year but like everyone else I am in the dark as to who is running the assocation, when the AGM is to be held and what direction it will take in the future. Their website provides very little information and at present no contact details!!
I suggest that pig lovers & small holders stick to the origional site set up to support the ideals of ethical pig keeping in France www.pigsinfrance.com :D
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Thanks Simon I will look forward to discussing this topic on your website pigsinfrance.com (http://pigsinfrance.com)
Just so as you know Simon, I, probably along with many others certainly do not hold you at all responsible for the actions or non-actions of L'association of British Pigs in France & that pigsinfrance.com (http://pigsinfrance.com) is a very reliable & valuable source of information for pig breeders & smallholders alike. I have enjoyed the site for many years & hope to do so for many more.
Regards
Donna
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Thanks for the replies,
Simon as others have said you are not to blame.
Interesting that many are coming forward and saying they were members but soon left the association.
Have popped into pif, and it is looking great, also good to see old members are back posting too.
Cheers
Carole
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Hi again
Thanks to everyone who read and replied to this topic
I am going to the meeting in November and am now appealing to any other members who can not attend the AGM to inform the secretary and register a proxy or postal vote. Kate and I are happy to assist anyone in this matter.
We are looking to support past and present members make this a credible association again and assist putting it back on track
The association was set up to promote rare breed pig keeping and to offer advice, support and increase the awareness of these fantastic pigs to others. This is the philosophy we strongly agree with.
So come on register, even if you resigned your committee post - you are still valued and together we will make a difference.
Carole
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hi Carole
I am unable to attend the meeting - please pm me as to how I can register a proxy vote
thanks H
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Hi Kate
No member has received details of agenda as I am still waiting for people to contact me, As soon as I get replies from all members as to who is attending and if they have items for the agenda it will be posted to all,
Lin (Secretary LABPIF)
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Nellie,
I have sent you a PM as to my understaning of the process.
Thanks
Carole
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Hi Lin and welcome to TAS - it is a great forum and I know you will enjoy it.
I must appologise for my earlier posting re the agenda. A couple of days after I posted I was made aware that the agenda's are not recieved by members until 14 days prior to the meeting. Now I know, sorry!
Kate :pig:
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Hi Kate / Carole
Kate - Thank you for the welcome, I have been on here before and yes it is a good site.
Carol - As people seam to be contacting you re the AGM, if they are coming or not. Please can you let me know what is happening,
I ask this having read a posting from Nellie signed 'H', she is not attending. I think I know who she is but she has not been in contact with me yet.
If anyone needs any info re LABPIF.. Please contact me.
I am sorry if this sounds off putting. but I have received an email from Kate ( to which I am not happy). This email will be looked at in full at the AGM (to which I have already informed Kate).
As secretary to the Association, I am trying to arrange a meeting for all members with no one telling me anything apart from bad feeling and nasty rumors.
Lin
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Lin I am sorry you feel that you are only having negative responses from the 'pig community' with regard to the Association
Unfortunatley I think you are encountering such negativity as many people feel very frustrated by the lack of communication and unsatisfactory responses to requests for information regarding the Association
I hope that people with attend the AGM & have their concerns appropriately addressed and acted on
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Lin when is the agenda for the AGM going to be published on the website?
Will all the members be forwarded the agenda prior to the AGM please
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If you have a constitution the procedure for paperwork distribution prior to the AGM should be included in that document.
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Hi
For all members of this association or those with an interest to possibly join, the agenda has been published and can be viewed on the official web site, just found it there.
Carole
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Thanks Carole, could you possibly publish the link? HM
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http://www.labpif.com/agm.html :D :D :D
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This is a message from me to the membership of LABPIF.
Dear member
The published A.G.M of the L’Association of British Pigs in France on Saturday 8th November 2008 was confirmed to me as now being an Extraordinary meeting of the Association.
I had hoped to email this letter directly to members of LABPIF which I must confirm is from me personally and is not instigated or approved by the current committee of the Association. I have been unable to gain access to member’s names and email addresses despite requesting this information many times. I personally feel it important to make this last attempt to encourage members to attend the meeting in the hope that many of you will be interested at this important time to participate constructively with the days’ events. I have no idea how many of you there are, but assume there could be around forty members, based on the membership forms that were being filled in at the Open Day back in July.
This meeting will be a chance for the membership to air their views and to influence choices by means of suggestions or voting in a new committee. You may have a proxy vote which you can also use. Pass it on to someone you can trust to use it for the benefit of the membership. You will also need to advise the acting Secretary of your intent for your vote. The meeting will also give members the opportunity to be actively involved in their association whether that role might be as a committee member, or to form part of a team that can work together and really turn this organisation into something that everyone can enjoy.
It will also be an opportunity for members to make their suggestions as to what they would like to see included in the website for example. Also the kinds of events that they would like to participate in during the coming year. What about a social side? A chance to meet up with each other and get to know each other without the daily politics, or the pressure of an ‘event day’.
At its’ conception a year ago, I believe that there were some very firm ideas as to what path the Association would take. I joined in July and have been frustrated like many of you I imagine, that nothing has happened during this latter period, and I have no idea of what path the Association was to take, and can only go by the guide lines as stated below that can be found on the Association website. This meeting will be a good opportunity to find out about and discuss those original plans, and decided whether they are practical to achieve and/or how to achieve them.
As written, the aims and objectives of the Association are:
1. To promote British Pigs wherever possible and also to support the native breeds.
2. To educate breeders to a high standard of health and welfare of their livestock
3. To support the breeders in farm practices such as Artificial Insemination, breeding programmes, etc by way of demonstrations, open days and training days.
4. To educate the breeders on the requirements of farming in France and to comply with French Legislation.
5. To develop markets for both breeding and fattening stock thus creating a demand for the pigs produced.
This is your association. You thought it worthwhile when you made the decision to join, so now this is your chance to actively make it work. Without your presence, the choices for committee members for example will be very limited. It can only be for the good to have as many interested people there as possible to affect the right changes and really make the Association a worthwhile community to belong to. Please stand up and be counted. Put your grievances and frustrations aside, and be there.
I urge you all to give some serious thought to this, and if you want to make a difference then please come along to the meeting. Notify the acting Secretary of your intent as soon as you can so that she will know how many people to expect on the 8th. Alternatively you can forward your suggestions by private email via TAS which may make contact a little easier for you, and make it clear what you would like to be included in the discussions if you cannot attend.
Do you have a particular skill that you can offer? Are a good organiser? Do you have access to contacts that could benefit events etc? Do you have appropriate skills that could benefit the British Rare Breed Pig Community? More importantly than all of those things though, please consider a position on the committee – ‘new blood’, new and fresh ideas – these things are so important for any organisation, and for this Association in particular, an injection of new people could really make a difference, and you could be actively involved in creating a really positive future for all of the membership.
As I have already said – you thought LABPIF a worthwhile organisation to join in the first place, and with your input it can be what ever you want it to be, but you have to be there on the day to make it happen.
We could call these ‘new beginnings’, so please be part of it.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this.
Kate Ball
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having seen the agenda that has now been posted on the website I have emailed the secretary with the following request for information
i notice on the LABPIF website that my name is listed under Any Other Business
Can I please ask why my name has be specifically noted & to what purpose I am to be discussed please
I await her reply
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I have pm Nellie, and I have told her it is not a problem, On the committee meeting back in June Helen was ask to consider being put forward for the committee again and she said no, awaiting confirmation. Confirmation now received and this is the only reason for her name being on the agenda, Nothing else.
Lin
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I must take issue with Lin re this reponse a it is TOTALLY untrue
Insert Quote
I have pm Nellie, and I have told her it is not a problem, On the committee meeting back in June Helen was ask to consider being put forward for the committee again and she said no, awaiting confirmation.
I did not attend this committee meeting and was asked via a telephone conversation with the Chairman whetherI would consider standing for the committee.I stated categorically NO and outlined my reasons in a very detailed letter dated 23 June 2008.I assumed that this would be the end of the matter.
quote Confirmation now received and this is the only reason for her name being on the agenda, Nothing else.
I have had no further comunication with the Chairman since and no further confirmation from myself ( my email was very clear re my position)
This is a totally inadequate explanation as to why my name should be published on the internet without my consent.
The issue was resolved in June and even if the matter was unclear ( which it wasnt!) it should have been listed on the Agenda as Commitee Member selection there was no need for my name to be printed - or any other persons name for that matter!!!
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Nellie
Just a thought maybe you could contact the chairperson and ask for their position on this whole event.
It is a shame you are unable to make the meeting, is there maybe someone who could go on your behalf
Carole
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I've just read this whole post in disbelief. Before reading,I was tempted to join. Now that I have seen all the in-fighting,bickering,back-stabbing,politics and jockeying for postition before L'association has even had it's first AGM,there is no way I'd want to be a part of something that couldn't organise a p***-up in a brewery,with a dyslexic secretary and members using various aliases. I moved to France to get away from all the drama,not to get iinvolved in more,so thank you,but I shall gracefully decline and go off and do my own thing........ Ree
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Mr Ree don't knock it 'till you've tried it.
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Try what? As far as I can see,nothing's happening! In fact I might attend,and suggest a name change to L'Association des Lions a Mené par des Anes ;D
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What does that mean?
I hope you all manage to sort it out - I'm sure it started out with the best of intentions and just lost its way a bit. Face to face contact might be better than email - it's so easy to misunderstand someone's intention from the written word.
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Rosemary, thanks that is what we all want, the principles are there for free range outdoor breeding and " enjoy the pigs"!!!!!!!!!!!, I do hope Mr Ree comes along I really want bums on seats and to see this outshine any other organisation in France. We need more people on board,or those who lost interest to come back and say to us newbies what went wrong and how to change we dearly want this to be something to be proud of, and I for one will do my best in this task.
Come on folk
Carole
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Well said Mr Ree. I have been following this, or , rather a similar discussion on the same topic, on another site in France.
You are ,I think, only the second person, with the bottle to stand up and tell it like it is.
Thanks John.
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There are a number of commitee and founder members who resigned because of the same sentiment.
JimG
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I really do hope people attend or at least send in a vote by proxy to, as Mr Ree said put an end to all this, I along with, I'm sure others would like L'association to work for us people in France. From what I've been told , I think I understand a little of why commitee & founders members have resigned, perhaps they would consider returning if there were new blood on the board who like them want to push L' assiciation in the right direction.
Mr Ree please reconsider, the association needs people like you, come on people :-\
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I would attend,but the Landy is off the road for a bit with gearbox trouble,so I won't be going anywhere soon. As a non-member,I can't even give my vote by proxy to a trusted friend either! Have fun and report back please,best wishes..... Ree
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Sure, will do Ree.
Ol yes, Landy's what fun they are, Matt has recently replaced his 2nd & 3rd gear to discover that he also needs to replace 5th ::) We have the parts, it's now finding the time. It's a ex-military 110 defender still green & black camo! We love it, it's such a great workhorse.
Sorry to have gone off the boil....
Donna
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LOL Mine's an ex-mil 100 soft top in green too! If ya need a good mechanic in the Mortain area,let me know..... ;D
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hi Carole
sorry but I missed your posting on November 3
Yes the Chairman knows I am not happy with this posting on the LABPIF website
he has copes of the first email to Lin & I have re emailed them both again today stating clearly my feelings on the issue
to quote from the email I sent
' I am a person NOT an agenda item'
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Just to say thank you to all those who turned up for the meeting on Saturday 8th November. The meeting was a great success and things are moving forward with speed.
The website is changing daily http://www.labpif.com/ please take a peep and pass on your positive comments.
If all you can see is the original green colour then press F5 - possibly on each page, to reveal the new look and content.
Katie :pig:
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Well done! I'm so glad you've been able to find a positive way forward.
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Well done! I'm so glad you've been able to find a positive way forward.
Its called woman power!
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Woman Power!!!
One reason why I didn't join in the first place...... you lot scare me!! ;D
Seriously,well done people,I got the low down on what happened,will watch with interest from now on....... Ree
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Ree,
The membership form can be downloaded from the web site, please think about it.......PLEASE PLEASE
Begging over!!!!!
Also anyone else in France please be part of this, I personnally cant wait for the social events to start.
Carole
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I am working on him Carole!!
Kate :pig:
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Mr Ree give in gracefully. :pig: Womanpower. :pig: :pig: :pig:
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The website is transformed! We hope you like it.
Looking for lots of participation now from members and their families. We have a section just for the kid's and a photo gallery so that members can send in their pictures of their own pigs.
For the more serious pig keepers out there, we are developing a legal and welfare section, which we hope to reveal during the next few weeks, which will be a working progress.
Take a look at the website www.labpif.com/ and if you like what you see then please get in touch!
I wanted to thank TAS for allowing this thread to continue, and allowing us to advertise the new website etc. We are calling it 'New Beginnings', and it is certainly that. Everything is in place for the association to move forward now.
Thanks!!
Kate :pig:
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Hi.
This is a request to, Madam Chairperson, Madam Secretary, members of the committee and members of the L'ABPIF.
At the next committee meeting, 6/12/08 ? May I suggest ,serious consideration be given to the appointment of a Liaison Officer, an officer of the L'ABPIF. who would liaise with the Direction Departmental Des Services Veterinaires, ( D.D.S.V.,Ministere De L'agriculture ).
The D.D.S.V. are very interested in the protection of the old breeds. They are also very concerned that non french breeders and newcomers to France who may not yet have sufficient grasp of the language, might be unaware of the health regulations and procedures, movement papers, blood testing ect. required of them to keep Porcine stock in France healthy and free from disease.
I know D.D.S.V. rules vary from department to department, but a fluent french speaking Liaison Officer could establish a rapport with individual departments as necessary.
We live and raise our stock in France and therefor MUST comply with the French health regs. Ignorance , and or, blatant abuse of procedure, will not be tollerated for long. It will only bring disaster in the long run.
That run might not be so long.
So, in your haste to build the Association, please do not overlook the fact, we are uninvited guests in La Belle France and should show her the courtesy of abiding by her rules.
To this end a Liaison Officer could prove indipenseable.
N.B. A meeting between the D.D.S.V. and three representatives of the association (L'ABPIF) did take place earlier this year. It lasted for nearly two hours and was very informative for both parties. Sadly, due to the inappropriate and greedy behaviour from two of the L,abpif's governing body, then and now, the report was never completed.
JanS.
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Jan
Are you offering your services to this end? LABPIF needed an injection of new blood and has received a considerable transfusion within the last week, as can be witnessed on the website. Rome wasn't built in a day or by a small group of dedicated people, so please be patient. The members of l'Association need to portray a unified front in order to maintain momentum and to attract new members.
There is an existing secondary website under construction which will be linked to LABPIF to offer support, welfare, husbandry and legal elements to which you refer, therefore you’re every assistance and input co-ordinating information is appreciated.
You can contact the Secretary and Committee via the website Email which is now functioning correctly.
John Waterfall (Joint President l'Association)
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John:
I asked a very simple question, would the committee give serious consideration to the appointment of a Liaison Officer, to work with the D.D.S.V. ? I also gave the reasons why I thought this to be a very important post. Nothing more.
JanS (Genetic Breeder).
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Sorry this is a bit off topic, but noticed your signature as Genetic Breeder, Jan S. Genuinely and seriously interested in knowing what this is. Would it be possible for you to start a new topic for this? Is it pig genetics? It sounds fascinating. Thanks in advance. HM
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Jan
I appreciate the content of your question and haven't dismissed it but as stated the LABPIF website now allows you to contact the committee via Email.
The next meeting is set for 6th December 2008 and this will provide you with the opportunity to raise your queries. You obviously have not considered that Family Membership involves young people who are likely to have French as their first language and therefore in the not too distant future the website will need to be dual language which will provide the French community the opportunity to be involved. The likelihood is that further down the road the meetings will be conducted in French as the junior members who in time are likely to form the committee, will wish to use their first language when conducting the affairs of LABPIF.
John Waterfall (Joint President l'Association)
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I give up,
John, all that was needed, if you felt an answer was required was,
yes, we will or no, we will not. That easy.
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The suggestion of a liasion officer will be given consideration at the next meeting, along with the other agenda items, which can be found on the official website.
Also the comments made regarding a previous meeting held between members and the DDSV, will also be discussed. This is a new beginning for the association and we are not prepared to go backwards, however if as you say were other motives with other members, this needs to be addressed. Could you please Jan forward me the details via PM.
Picking up from HM posting regarding breeding genetics, maybe you would be willing to put together a piece for the web site, as I am sure it will be of great interest to members.
Thanks
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Have sent PM Carole.