Represent Your Profession
Harvey Locke, President of the BVA
The BVA is looking for members to stand as regional representatives in the 9 English government regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Ideal candidates must be committed to promoting the ideals of the BVA and the veterinary profession in general and have a willingness to devote time and effort to representing the members in their region. The BVA is developing an online communication structure to help regional representatives reach their members quickly and easily. Representatives will be expected to gather views and ideas to ensure there is a genuine two-way communication process between BVA Council and the wider membership. Regional representatives will also receive dedicated BVA staff support.
Any UK BVA members can nominate themselves for their region with a supporting statement of up to 500 words. All details are available here.
Commenting, Harvey Locke, President of the BVA, said: “We want BVA Council to really drive our Association but it can only do that with representatives who are willing to communicate directly with the members in their region, bringing opinions and ideas to meetings and feeding back afterwards.
“Members should not rule themselves out of veterinary politics by saying they are ‘just an ordinary vet’. We are looking for anyone who is committed to improving the BVA and who has good communication skills. It doesn’t matter what your background is, it’s about what you can offer to members in your region.”
This year, the council structure will be changing and the regional representatives reflect this. The new Council will be slimmed down to 41 members, including 12 regional representatives for the UK. For the first time all UK members will have a directly elected representative on Council.
The Council will continue to be served by representatives from the BVA’s specialist divisions, the chairs of the BVA’s five standing committees, two recent graduates, three past presidents and the BVA’s three officers. In addition there will be representatives from BVA Scottish Branch and BVA Welsh Branch and two non-voting representatives from BVNA and VPMA.
Nominations opened on the 1st November and will close on 15th December 2010. Elections will be held between 10th January and 18th February 2011.
Veterinary practices are being urged to help owners safely dispose of any unused and expired pet medicines - not just antibiotics - during November's Animal Medicines Amnesty. 
