Annual General Meeting (AGM) Report 2001

24th March 2001

This year the Group has continued to man stalls at many of the County Shows; report was made on income from this source. Thanks are extended to Members who have helped with fundraising, and to those who provide help in other ways, such as the entertaining and informative slideshows on behalf of the Group. A new projector and screen has been purchased so that this educational practice may be extended.

Report was made on the numbers of badger Road Traffic Accident victims report in the last year, and of setts which had unfortunately been dug or interfered with during the period. Most of the known setts are now under the care of Group members who have been assigned setts in their local area to look after through regular visits and reports. One particularly vulnerable sett was capped with steel mesh during the period to protect it from badger diggers.

Survey work by the Group for the presence of badger populations at proposed development sites such as pipeline routes continued during the period. This useful work is becoming a useful source of income for the Group. Members who would like to help with this should contact the Group for details.

While Lancashire badgers do not have bovine tuberculosis, the Government has recently targetted a test area right on the Group's doorstep, in Derbyshire/Staffordshire. The news could not fail to move Members, especially those who have links with badger lovers in that area. This underlines the continuing need for campaigning against the culling of badgers.

An appeal was made for the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF BADGER GROUPS which does such sterling work co-ordinating badger groups in this Country. They are experiencing difficulties due to the unexpected removal of a large portion of their funding, and a pledge was made to try and help with this.