Education to the fore with This is Hunting UK

James Barclay, founder of This is Hunting UK, rounds up his summer hard at work educating the public about hunting.

Holiday meets', hound parades and kennel open days are deeply rooted in every hunt's calendar and are the occasions when great interest is shown in their activities. Hunts up and down the country are delighted to provide people with the chance of finding out more about their activities as well as the detailed care and attention that goes into looking after the hounds and hunt horses. This summer, This is Hunting UK was delighted to be given the opportunity to participate in, and help develop new ideas around the existing theme. Some extremely worthwhile events took place which gave a very large number of people a unique opportunity of hearing first-hand the experiences of hard working Masters and Hunt Staff.

We were delighted to be asked to join forces with the Countryside Alliance at the BBC Countryfile Event at Blenheim Palace in July. This is Hunting UK Committee Member Henry de Fossard kindly brought the Christchurch and Farley Hill Beagles along on the Friday and was delighted with the way the day went, describing it as nothing short of "fantastic". The next day it was our turn to work with the Heythrop whose Kennel Staff again did a tremendous job, along with our fellow Committee Members John Osbourne, Kathy Daly and Orlando Hamilton in communicating with a very demanding public, who all day long never stopped in their wish to know more about us and our activities! Not one cross word uttered during the two days and what a pleasure it was to be there.

The Burton Hunt Families Day stood out as a new flagship event where people who had never experienced anything to do with hounds or hunting were invited, through local advertising, to come to the Kennels on the outskirts of Lincoln for a Families Day. With visitors from as far afield as London and Reading, the day was a great success with a hundred and eighty people in attendance, a hundred and forty of whom at never been near a hunt before.

Our last Event was the Bucks County Show where Mike Smith did a tremendous job with his Old Berkeley Beagles. Again, along with Mike and his gang, our team never stopped engaging with an enquiring public all day long. This was the end of what has been a fascinating summer and one we hope we will be able to repeat for many years to come.

To find out more about This is Hunting UK please visit the facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/huntingUK/ or contact James Barclay directly on 07802 327463.