REPORT on the BRITISH PIGEON FANCIERS MEDICAL RESEARCH TEAM at the BHW SHOW OF THE YEAR - BLACKPOOL 2008

The Team
In attendance were Dr Gavin Boyd Medical Director, Dr Charles McSharry Consultant Immunologist Biomedical Research Centre Glasgow University, Dr Stephen Bourke Consultant Respiratory physician Newcastle Victoria Infirmary ,Dr Ken Anderson Consultant Respiratory Physician Crosshouse Hospital Kilmarnock, Dr PP Lynch GP Larbert , Dr Eve Rawlinson Manchester University and Dr Andrew Breckenridge, Dr John Allen, Dr Maeve Maguire, and Dr Zoe Marzelli from Crosshouse hospital Kilmarnock. The Administrative team were Mrs Mary Boyd, Allen Boyd and the Research coordinator Ken Boyd.

The weekend as it happened
On Friday afternoon I arrived to set up the Research Stand, attended the administrative offices of the Show and met with the Staff and General manager of the Show Peter Bryant and the chairman of the Committee Brian Mead. I presented a copy of Flights of Memory on behalf of the SHU which has an article on the Research Trust recording the roots of the Research and the important part the Committee of the Show of The Year plays in the success of the research. The usual flurry of activity was evident with officials and fanciers organising and setting up Stands. The general manager Peter Bryant and the Committee chairman and members have to be congratulated on the work they do to ensure the Show goes ahead. They are a formidable and very experienced group and were organised to go ahead with the Show even if DEFRA banished the presence of pigeons due to Avian Flu. It was sad not to see Mrs Mac who has recently passed away. She will be greatly missed by all of us who knew her. May she rest in peace.

On Saturday morning the Team with their equipment arrived at the Show to be met as usual by Kerr Stainthorpe who helps us set up the tables for the forms and info sheets. Kerr holds the record for being the first name on the research exercise each year.

The day proved to be a very busy one for the Research Team with many familiar faces attending. We were very pleased to see Alex Lothian former Trustee who is recovering from a severe stroke and is able to return to the Fancy with the help of Davie Wilson and Sam Mac Fadzen. We wish Alec well in his recovery. I had the fortunate opportunity at the Stand of being able to shake the hand and have a few words with Jimmy Hamilton one of our elder and respected pigeon fanciers who sadly passed away in the weeks after the Show. May he rest in peace.

We have continued to extend the work into inflammation and reaction in the lungs and this year we had enough pairs of hands to allow us to extract plasma immediately after the sample was obtained to enable us to study a particular marker of inflammation which only exists for a few hours. This means that we have information That, had we had to wait for the samples to reach the laboratory in Glasgow, the evidence for this particular response would have disappeared. We also were able to introduce 4 junior doctors to the Research process. This should have spin off in that there will be more willing hands to turn the new data more rapidly into papers for presentation and publication. This is important and a guarantee to the Fancy that the Research they are funding and supporting is scrutinised, appraised and accredited by Independent peer Scientific experts.

On the Saturday we completed 232 sets of data with routine blood screen, special blood test, pulmonary function tests, screen for Carbon Monoxide, height and weight Dr Mc Sharry, Dr Anderson and the 4 junior Drs headed north to the lab in Glasgow straight after the Show on Saturday to deliver the samples and return to their Hospital posts in the NHS for the next day. We also completed another 121 routine samples for the Fanciers on the Sunday and delivered these also to Iona Donnelly our Research Scientist and her colleagues at the laboratory in the Biomedical Research Centre at Glasgow University.

Donations
We were honoured and grateful to receive £25,000 from the Show of The Year Committee - our continued financial life line. As previous beneficiaries of the Fancy we were proud to witness the financial and charitable support given to other excellent, deserving and needy - non pigeon related organisations - a credit to all British Pigeon Fanciers. The record of over 2 million pounds donated by the Show of The Year to Charity since its inception is truly a remarkable achievement and milestone and something to make us all proud. The General Manager and the BHW Show of the Year Committee deserve our thanks. They have demonstrated their tenacity and expertise in running the Show no matter what obstacles are put in their path.

David Power and Tom Dawson of the North East Homing Union presented a cheque to us for £1,875 raised at their annual Show at Newcastle. We thank them for their continued support and encouragement.

Cash donations at the Stand by individual fanciers amounted to £462 . 50 - Thank you one and all for your efforts on our behalf.

This has been another year of major effort by the Research Team at the Show. We are indebted to the Show Committee for their cooperation and support of the Research and we look forward to very positive potential results scientifically from these efforts. The ownership of the Research by the Fancy continues to be the unique driving force behind the Research Teams success. Our young Drs were surprised and enthused by the broad Social spectrum of the fanciers they met at the Stand and the warm and enthusiastic reception they were given. Much counselling of fanciers and their families took place as usual. These young Drs can add an unofficial new qualification to their CV namely "SAB"- Served At Blackpool - which now has a resonance in many Respiratory Units in NHS Hospitals and Research laboratories in the UK and beyond.

Thank you for your support!
To British Pigeon Fanciers in general and the BHW Show of The Year in particular the Research Team and Trustees of the British Pigeon Fanciers Medical Research Trust thank you for your continued enthusiasm, support and cooperation. We wish you good health and happiness and every success in the forthcoming Season.

Yours Sincerely,
Dr PP Lynch Chairperson BPFMRT