## **WPSA UK BRANCH** ## **Annual Report 2024** www.wpsa-uk.com ## **WPSA UK Branch Annual Report 2024** The primary activities of WPSA UK Branch continue to be the advancement of scientific knowledge education and training in the agricultural use of avian species. This is primarily achieved by staging our annual Spring Scientific Meeting to which all members are encouraged to attend. Presentations continue to be a combination of offered and invited papers covering broad topics of interest to and education of members. Presentations from early career researchers are a highlight of these meetings, disseminating information and helping to develop successful careers in applied poultry research. The structure of the meeting is determined by a dedicated Programme Committee overseen by members of the elected Council of the Association. The Council continues to be made up of up to 12 elected Council members and 5 Office holders responsible for the governance of the Association. One AGM is held at the annual Spring Meeting each year with two further formal Council meetings through the year. In 2024 our Spring Meeting was held in Belfast in combination with BSAS and in 2025 in collaboration with BVPA. Membership of the Association varies from 160 to 180 members in recent years and around 50% of active members attended the scientific meetings each. The main annual expenditure of the Association continues to be in support of various research awards, scholarships and travel grants. In the year ended December 2024 over £19,000 was spent in this area in support of our aims and objectives. This is funded through members subscriptions and income from investments. In 2024 our website (www.wpsa-uk.com ) was overhauled and updated offering members a valuable resource of information and advice. With these activities as a yardstick for the ongoing achievement of our aims and objectives it can be demonstrated that 2024 was a successful year for knowledge exchange and education by the Association. 2025 is extending that success to disseminate knowledge of benefit to the development of innovative and practical research supporting the UK poultry industry and those working in it. ## _**Stephen Lister, President, WPSA UK Branch**_ ## **WPSA UK BRANCH** ## **AGM Minutes** ## **2024** **www.wpsa-uk.com** ## **Minutes of the 58th WPSA UK Branch Annual General Meeting 11[th] April 2024 Minor Hall, Assembly Rooms, Belfast** ## **1. Apologies for absence** Apologies were received from: Maureen Bain, Ahmed Hussain Jackie Linden, Cliff Nixey 25 members attended the AGM – thus we met quorate (n=24) ## **2. Minutes of 2023 AGM** Minutes of the 57[th] AGM held on 30[th] March 2023 were circulated on 25[th] March 2024. These were accepted as a true record. Proposed: Emily Burton Seconded: Farina Khattak ## **3. Matters arising from the Minutes** No points were raised from the minutes of the previous AGM. ## **4. President’s report (SL)** I am pleased to report another good year for our Association. Following a very successful Spring Meeting in Birmingham last year, including the annual Gordon Memorial Lecture by Prof Ian Brown on the very topical disease of Avian Influenza, its impact and control, we are embarking on an equally important meeting across the water in Belfast. Our Association remains in a very good place thanks to the participation and interest of members and your hardworking and enthusiastic Council. Vicky Sandilands, our Secretary, keeps us on the straight and narrow and has revamped and reintroduced our newsletter which, together with an updated website (ably supported by Richard Harris, for whom I give many thanks on our behalf), has improved our routes of communication. Farina Khattak, our Treasurer, keeps us afloat and ensures our accounts are accurate and up to date. This hard work means the smooth running of the Association and enables us to support our awards, including travel awards to attend our Spring Meeting, Summer scholarships, our Research Award and the new G D Rosen Award, supported by Gordons widow, Vanda Rosen. We are also supported by our elected Council members and I make special mention and thanks to our two outgoing members, Maureen Bain and Caroline Donaldson, who have served for their two full 4 year terms! The UK Branch of the WPSA is a Charity recognized by the Charity Commission of England. No.803616 And that is not all, we have a very active Programme Committee who receive submissions for papers at our Spring Meeting, manage our invited speakers and arrange the time-consuming administration of our conference venue and attendance at those meetings. I remain blown away by the quality of the presentations made and posters submitted for the Spring meeting, the research and science behind it, especially those delivered by early career individuals. Our young age demographic gives me great confidence for the future of your Association. But there is no room for complacency – with an estimated 180 members there is always natural wastage as individuals move on and we always need to encourage and support new members to maintain our critical mass. I call on all members to spread the word in bringing in new members from across all the areas associated with our industry from research institutes, allied commercial companies and those working at the coal face of our industry. Our future is bright if we can keep up our momentum and remain this broad church of interest. ## **5. Proposed changes to the constitution (VS)** None ## **6. Secretary/Assistant Treasurer’s report (VS)** VS reported on the awards given in 2023 - a. Travel grants - a. Karen Adam - b. Endre Putyora - c. Sarah Struthers - b. President prizes (best oral, best poster) - a. Hyungwook Kang (poster) - b. Endre Putyora (oral) - c. Summer Vacation Scholarships - a. Clare Sims - b. Yuhui Yang - d. Research Award - a. None given ## **7. Treasurer/Assistant Secretary’s report (FK)** - a. Membership Currently stands at 180 members, the same as last year. This is mostly made of individual members (n=138). There have been challenges in timing between membership fees being due and our spring meeting (where some people renew or start their membership). - b. Account balances (as of 31 December 2023, the end of our branch financial year) were at - £33,248 (branch account) - £26,632 (symposium account) - £259,309 (Charifund investments) Plus equipment (£135), giving us total assets of £319,324 - c. Income The UK Branch of the WPSA is a Charity recognized by the Charity Commission of England. No.803616 WPSA-UK income comes from interest on our investments (£19,900), membership fees (£5,029), interest on ‘regular’ bank accounts (£252), royalties from our symposium books (£74), and income from other grants (£296) totalling £25,551 **.** ## d. Expenditure Awards and scholarships make up most of our spending. In 2023 we allocated £10,375 to: travel awards to support student attending the spring meeting (£512), student helpers at the spring meeting (£189), president’s prizes at the spring meeting (£200), research awards (£2500), and summer vacation scholarships (£7,000). Other expenditure (£14,482) included paying our dues to the world branch (£3,108), fees for the spring 2023 branch meeting (£3,540), production of the spring meeting abstracts in British Poultry Abstracts (£2,000), honoraria to the secretaries (outgoing and incoming), treasurer and web master (£4,725). Total expenditure was £24,891 leaving us with a branch surplus of £660. ## **8. Appointment of the auditor (VS)** There were no objections to John Little continuing as the Auditor of the Branch accounts. Proposed: Jos Houdijk Seconded: Stephen Lister ## **9. Report on 2024 Spring Meeting (EL)** Total of 52 people registered for the meeting: 35 were members, 4 non-members, 11 students , plus a further 2 people registered at the meeting. ## **10. UK Branch Council 2024/25 (VS)** Stepping down this year (with thanks for their contributions over the years) are Maureen Bain and Caroline Donaldson, which gives us 6 vacancies (12 councillor positions total). Nominations have been received from Antonija Šimić, Rizwan Azhar, Rita Goncalves, Emma Lund. They were accepted as new councillors to the branch. Proposed Emily Burton Seconded Ian Dunn The UK Branch of the WPSA is a Charity recognized by the Charity Commission of England. No.803616 The new councillors were thanked and welcomed. The UK branch council is as follows (April 2024): ||**Role**|**Name**|**Term date**| |---|---|---|---| |President
Vice President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Elected Councillors
~~Ce~~
~~Ce~~
~~Ce~~
~~Ce~~
~~Ce~~
~~Ce~~
~~Ce~~
~~Ce~~
~~Ce~~
~~Ce~~
~~Ce~~
~~Ce~~
~~Ce~~
~~Cea~~||Stephen Lister
Jessica Martin
Laura Faller
VickySandilands
Farina Khattak
Cormac O’Shea
Ade Adebiyi
Eloise Lawler
Salvatore Galgano
Fiona Short
Sarah Struthers
Rizwan Azhar
Rita Goncalves
Emma Lund
Antonija Šimić|20251
20251
2027*
2028
2026*
2024
2025*
2025
2025
2027
2027
2028
2028
2028
2028| 1 interim post, 3 years instead of 4 years * ineligible for re-election ## **11. Any Other Business** None The AGM closed at 09:03 ## **APPROVED at the AGM on 12[th] March 2025** Signed: (Mr S A Lister, Branch President) The UK Branch of the WPSA is a Charity recognized by the Charity Commission of England. No.803616 **WORLD'S POULTRY SCIENCE ASSOCIATION - UK BRANCH ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER, 2024** ||**PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT**||||**SYMPOSIUM ACCOUNT**|**SYMPOSIUM ACCOUNT**|**SYMPOSIUM ACCOUNT**||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**INCOME**|**2024**|**2023**|||||**2024**|**2023**| ||**Interest**
**Membership**|**456**
**6,067**
**20,948**
**102**
**-**
**2,500**
**271**|**252**
**5,029**
**19,900**
**74**
**296**
**-**
**-**||**Income**|||**286**|**19,308**| ||**Dividends**||||**Expenditure**|||**14,894**|**5,975**| ||**Royalties**
**Grant**||||||||| ||||||||||| ||**Research Award Refunded**
**Spring Meeting**||||**NET DEFICIT 2024( 2023 SURPLUS)**|||**14,608**|**13,333**| ||||||||||| |||**30,344**|**25,551**||**Balance Sheet at 31st December, 2024**
||||| ||||||~~**ASSETS**~~|||~~**2024**~~|~~**2023**~~| ||**EXPENDITURE**|**2,846**
**-**
**5,030**
**444**
**70**
**2,000**
**1,189**
**19,175**
**10**
**1,256**
**57**
|**3,108**
**-**
**4,725**
**413**
**70**
**2,000**
**3,540**
**10,375**
**15**
**645**
**0**
||**Equipment**
**Charifund -at cost**|||**125**
**259,309**
**31,551**
**5,641**
**6,382**|**135**
**259,309**
**33,248**
**26,632**
**-**| ||||||||||| ||**WPSA Levies**||||**( 23,275 Income Units & 468 Accum.)**||||| ||**Travel Expenses- Council**
**Secretary, Treasurer & Webmaster**||||**(Market Value £ 495,708 )**
**Royal Bank of Scotland**
**Branch**||||| ||**Accountancy Fee**
**Postages, Stationery & Sundries**||||**Symposium**
**Debtor -Advance payment ESPW 2027**||||| ||**BPS Publication Costs**||||||||| ||**Spring Meeting**
**Prizes & Awards**||||||||| ||**Depreciation**
**Website Charges**
**Marketing**|||||||**303,008**|**319,324**| ||||||**LIABILITIES**||||| ||||||**Creditors**|||**419**|**394**| ||||||**Reserves-**
**Brought Forward**
||**318,930**
||| ||**BRANCH DEFICIT 2024**|~~**32,077**~~|~~**24,891**~~|**Surplus**|**LESS: Decrease in Year**||**16,341**|**302,589**|**318,930**| ||**BRANCH DEFICIT 2024**|**1,733**|**660**||||||| |||||||||**303,008**|**319,324**| NOTES; As a registered Charity, the UK Branch of the Association is not liable to taxation on investment income, capital gains or corporation tax but is liable for VAT. REPORT TO THE MEMBERS: I have examined the accounts of the WPSA UK Branch for the year to 31st December, 2024 The Charity's Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The Charity trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993( the act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: Examine the accounts (under section 43(3) a of the Act) Follow the procedures laid down in the general directions given by the Charity Commissioner State whether any particular matters have come to my attention. My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with these records.It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. the procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts. In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention 1) Which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements: to keep accounting records in accordance with section 41 of the 1993 act and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the act. have not been met; or - 2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. John Little 1 Masonhill Place Ayr, Scotland. KA7 3PA 7th February 2025