My Opinion: It’s important to fully understand that the Greyhound Trust receives industry grant funding to the tune of £1.4m each year, that is the £108k per month, not withstanding additional donations from other stakeholders at the stadia.

It is a duty of care that the GBGB & BGRF ensure that all recipients of grants fully account for how they manage and distribute the grant, and maximise the benefit for the retirement and homing of the U.K. sports ex-racing greyhounds.

Given we are in a lock down with the pandemic, it is even more important that we protect the cash resources ensuring the GT branches can be fully resourced ensuring greyhounds needs therein are fully met.

The GBGB are right to question the GT when cash resources are seemingly being directed to the “new kennel project” thereby depleting the reserves to a precarious level not been seen in recent years.

The branches must be given priority for funding over this ‘Lisa folly’

For Professor Steve Dean (chairman) and Lisa (Morris-Tomkins, CEO) to bring in lawyers and squander vast legal sums will do nothing for the branches and the retired greyhounds therein. Egos yes, feeding dogs, no!

I remind Professor Dean and Lisa, I was a GBGB stakeholder director when you brought the draft “New Kennel Project” to the GBGB board giving a full presentation to board members. It was at that meeting you both asked the GBGB board to support the project financially when it arrived at the my own BGRF board.

I communicated that, in my opinion, you both had delusions of grandeur and made my own views clear to Professor Dean and Lisa that this project did very little if anything to increase the significantly number of greyhounds homed each year by the GT.

In my view, this project would use up valuable definite cash resources that the GT did not have – and most importantly fail to deliver a key objective of bringing into balance greyhound homing with greyhounds retirement each year.

It was a known industry key objective whereby the industry could deliver a retirement home for all ‘suitable for homing ‘ ex-racing greyhounds. This was a key objective of GBGB, BGRF and the Governments EFRA Committee along with the DEFRA Minister.

My very own take on that GBGB board meeting, Lise and Steve Dean left with a flea in their ear, a very big flea, with definitely no appetite by the board to financial support the scheme presented.

My opinion, all stakeholders should be aware what is happening at the GT not least, the branches.

You only need to ask why has so many good long serving trustees left or resigned from the GT board under the stewardship of professor Steve Dean and Lisa.

I ask Professor Dean and Lisa, when is the GT going to install 50% of its trustees with elected branch members?

Come on Steve, Lisa lets have full transparency. Let us see how much you really value your branch members by offing places on the trustee board.

After all, this is what we have at the GBGB & BGRF, why not on the GT? Who know, such a stakeholder board may do a much better job than its current trustees.

John Curran