An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) was called by John Marriott, chairman of the British Breeders Greyhound Forum (BGBF) for Tuesday evening 16th April 2019, to be held at Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield. The meeting was relatively well attended compared to previous ‘AGMs’. Mr Marriott who has been chairman of the British Greyhound Breeders Forum (BGBF) since 29th November 2017 , replacing the outgoing Stuart Forsdike , announced his immediate resignation from the role as chairman of the forum. Citing modern day pressures such as social media interaction as a pivotal reason behind his decision , Mr Marriott invited nominations for the position of chairman from those in attendance. Liz Mort , well known and extremely well respected in the sport through her many years in charge of the Greyhound Stud Book , was proposed as the new chair and support from around the room saw her duly appointed. It was also announced that long standing treasurer of the BGBF , Mr Bob Gilling , a man who has dedicated many years to British breeding and who deserves the thanks of all of us , would also be stepping down, as after some 50 years on the committee he felt it was appropriate to call time. Nominations were invited for the role of treasurer , Rose Draper expressed her interest in supporting the BGBF by carrying out this role and again , in light of support from around the room , Rose was appointed.
John Mullins and Mark Pierrepont were appointed to the BGBF committee.
Liz Mort says “I’m proud to take up the position of ‘chair’ of the BGBF. I am a passionate enthusiast of British breeding and I will, along with my secretary Carl Perry and the wider committee, do all that I can to ensure that this very important sector of our sport has a positive and successful future. I aim to work with my committee to ensure that we as a team provide the very best service to our British bred community possible. I would like to thank the outgoing chairman John Marriott for his work over the past couple of years – and also take this opportunity to thank Bob Gilling for his many years’ work and dedication to the BGBF. Bob has been a stalwart of the sport , a legend in his own right and a man who deserves all of our thanks and respect.”
Carl Perry , secretary of the BGBF stated “I am absolutely delighted with the appointment of Liz as ‘chair’ of the BGBF. Liz is somebody for whom I have a great deal of respect. Her knowledge of the British breeding sector can only see the organisation move from strength to strength. I am very much looking forward to working alongside Liz and indeed the wider committee. If our sport is to have a future , British breeding must be successful. I would also like to thank Bob Gilling , outgoing treasurer , for all of his hard work and dedication to the BGBF over the years. He will be sorely missed. Rose Draper has big shoes to fill , but I am confident that she will take pride in her work as she does with everything she does and will be a great asset to the BGBF”.