This is Hunting UK had such grandiose ideas when they started, where are they now?
This is their meeting minutes from July 2017:
This is Hunting UK Meeting
Wednesday the 5th July 2017 2pm
The Greedy Goose, Salford Hill
GL56 0SP
James Barclay, Lou Berry, Steven Berry, George Bowyer, Quinton
Poulton, Anna Ernsting, Ed Paice, Stephen Froy, Viki Kite, Fiona
Symes, Gary Thorpe Jim Barrington.
Apologies
Allan Storey
Dave Bingham
Gareth Watchman
Alex Thompson
Clive Rees
Johnny Scott
Lavinia Wells
Wayne Burrow
TiHUK came together just over 18 months ago, not to be an alternative to any other hunting organisation but to work together
To send a positive message about hunting.
We now have a regional coordinator in each area, 12 in total,
These I am sure will be tweaked as our organisation grows, the idea is that each Regional Coordinator will contact the hunts in their region, so they are aware who they can talk to.
Our Committee meetings are now twice per year, instead of every six weeks as it was felt the traveling distance for most of our Committee Members was to great.
We are however in regular contact either by phone or email.
TiHUK attended 21 shows/events in the year including the FOH to take a positive message to our own people.
Our leaflet “Ten frequently asked questions” was produced and taken to shows and distributed the length and breadth of the country, this has been very well received by hunting and non-hunting people alike.
We are hoping to work with Countryside Learning, discussions will hopefully commence shortly.
It was discussed during the meeting whether TiHUK would go in the same direction as other organisations such as the CA and MFHA, or would we branch out.
We talked about Regional Coordinators helping hunts to engage with their own communities as much as possible, although most do a very good job already.
It would be impossible for the CA to cover everything that is needed within hunting, the do not have the man power to do everything all the time, therefore there is a gap that could be filled by TiHUK.
TiHUK must have a clear focused remit, all on our committee must know what is required from them, to enable the organisation to grow in the right direction.
A service that is already in place should be provided to hunts to tackle the AR lobby and social media, hunts would hopefully embrace this.
A network of people could then be developed within hunts to help combat this.
Promote hunting through our website and FB page
Fund raising, possibly asking hunts to pay towards anti intelligence.
Initial calculations suggest we could possibly
ask hunts for £1.42 per day per hunt less than the price of a coffee.
A focused initiative on getting a positive message about hunting to the Public and why it is still relevant in the 21st century.
Some Hunts do a fantastic job encouraging people to come out on hound rides, up to 70% of those people have never been with hounds.
It was suggested that Riding Clubs could be offered a discounted rate and possibly a bring a friend day.
Recruiting new people to hunting is always going to be a difficult task since the act came in.
Newcomers days are a concern, if they are hit with antis farmers may not want the hunt on their land.
It must be a goal to spread best practices across all hunts.
Could hunts have a pub of the month, support pro hunt businesses.
It was also said within the meeting that TiHUK was a pressure group to force other hunting organisation’s to up their game, that our leaflets were just a drop in the ocean.
However most felt we are much, much more than a mere pressure group.
The General Election did take most people by surprise, hunting could now be toxic issue to other parties.
Each hunt should have a stand at their local show/event so they can talk to the Public about hunting and why it is still such an important issue.
It is extremely important to try and engage with schools, go in and talk to a class, encourage kennel visits, estate visits ect.
Hopefully Countryside learning may help us to take this forward.
TiHUK is a forward thinking, proactive organisation that could and should complement all other hunting bodies.