CLA Game Fair 2015

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The National Gamekeepers' Organisation (NGO) has announced its intention not to take a stand at this year's CLA Game Fair at Harewood House, Leeds, West Yorkshire. This will be the first time the NGO has not had a stand at the game fair since the organisation's launch in 1997. The National Committee of the NGO - made up of working gamekeepers from across England and Wales - said it had not been an easy decision to reach but the NGO was determined to deliver the best possible value for its members in actively defending and promoting gamekeeping.

Lindsay Waddell, the Chairman of the NGO, said: "The CLA Game Fair is a fieldsports' institution - as is usually the NGO stand - but the game fair is not the best place for us to be this year. It is, of course, important to review constantly how the NGO spends its members' money, and to re-appraise what it does as an organisation. Sometimes it is crucial to shake things up, to keep the NGO fresh and ready for the fight."

He added: "This is a year of potentially huge political and legal upheaval, with many new challenges to keepering on the horizon. Facing up to these threats does not come cheap. Given that, we feel spending big money on a stand at the CLA Game Fair would not serve our members' interests in the best and most cost-effective way possible. The request by the CLA for more money this year was a factor in the NGO National Committee's decision to review our attendance at the game fair."

The NGO will, however, send a small delegation to the CLA Game Fair in order to represent the organisation and its members' interests at the round of meetings and business that take place, each year, over the course of the three days of the game fair.

Notes to Editors

The National Gamekeepers' Organisation represents the gamekeepers of England and Wales. It defends and promotes gamekeeping, gamekeepers and ensures high standards throughout the profession. It was founded in 1997 by a group of gamekeepers who felt that their profession was threatened by public misunderstanding and poor representation. The NGO has around 15,000 members. www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk