Following a discussion at a Mid Ulster Border meeting in 2011 the club decided to go on a promotion drive.

We came up with the idea to print posters and place them in local pet shops, these would be accompanied with an information leaflet of which we got 1000 printed

The leaflet described a typical year in the life of a border man starting off in spring.

January to March: Preparation for breeding.

March to July:  Breeding

July to September:  Moulting period

October to December: Showtime.

We expounded on the hobby being a great challenge and a fantastic way to meet new friends.

The first year we brought in 2 new members, and this year 3 new members.

The club like so many was dormant with very little happening so you can imagine the boost this has given us.

We don’t intend to rest on our laurels; we will continue with the posters and are planning to erect a stall at the “Country comes to Town” event that takes place in Portadown every year. This event attracts around 30.000 people so should be well worth attending.

If we don’t do anything to promote the fancy then it will die a slow death.

I for one don’t buy into the theory that bird keeping is a thing of the past. We have an ageing population and more and more people retire at an early age with absolutely nothing to do.

Surely there is a massive market here.

It’s high time for us all to get out there and promote the hobby.

Get to it!!!

Dave  Somerville.