Notice is hereby given that the 2024 Devon Birds Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday 23rd March 2024, in the Devon Suite at the Exeter Court Hotel, Kennford, Exeter EX6 7UX. Starting at 3pm
An Agenda for the meeting will be published nearer the time.
We are looking for members (or non-members) who are willing and able to offer their time and energy to the work of Devon Birds, contributing to the conservation and protection of the county’s wildlife.
The membership covers a very broad spectrum of enthusiasts, from simply feeding birds in the garden to more organised record keeping of sightings and identification of rare birds. Our Council similarly represents this range of interest and we do not all need to be expert birders to contribute.
Our current vacancies are:
Chair – provides overall management of the society, as supported, and guided, by Council. Chairs meetings and represents Devon Birds externally. He/she does not need to be an expert birder but should have some understanding of the broad conservation context.
Treasurer – deals with all aspects of the society finances from paying bills to exercising strategic control of the assets. A good grasp of charity law and experience in accountancy are essential but no birding skills are necessary.
Lead Ornithologist – we intend to set up a working group focussing on Monitoring and Records. This group needs a specialist ornithologist to guide the work of the group and provide expert skills in bird identification and conservation. As we develop the record management towards more modern IT systems a good understanding of data bases and information processes will be important.
Editing/PR – our recent work on a Strategy has emphasised the importance of ‘encouraging and promoting an interest in birds’. We want to expand this work using articles, publications and press and require the help of members with editing and writing skills. Bird knowledge useful for not critical!
General admin – there are a number of small administration tasks that we could use some help with. These include managing the web site and Facebook page, membership reminders and other small organisational tasks. General admin experience is all that is needed.
If anyone is interested in finding out more regarding the above posts then please talk to your Branch representative or get in touch directly with the current Chair, Graham Burton (graham.burton@devonbirds.org) or any Council member.
More information is available by contacting the Secretary, Mike Daniels (secretary@devonbirds.org) and by referring to the Devon Birds CIO Constitution, Sections 12 (Charity Trustees) and 13 (Appointment of Charity Trustees) on the Website (www.devonbirds.org).
Volunteers to assist the Society at the Reserves, at the Branches or in other areas are also very welcome. A volunteer to assist with administration of the new Website would also be welcome.
The meeting will be followed by a talk by Kevin Cox, Chair of the RSPB
