FAREWELL TO BOB

In the summer of 2018 Bob Bacon announced that he was planning to step down as both Treasurer and Trustee as he felt that it was time to retire after 10 years of volunteering for SNIP International.

Bob joined SNIPi in July 2008 when he was asked by Kate Horne, former Chairman and Founder Member, to take over the SNIPi finances. Kate had already known Bob for about 10 years through their mutual motor biking hobby where groups of around 20 bikes would set off for weekends in places such as Wales and Northern France, and later on through working together. Kate was looking for a replacement when Nigel Haygarth, the Treasurer, Founder Member and previous Chairman, retired and in her own words she says “I knew that Bob is upright, sound and solid and that he had a cat and I managed to persuade him to take on the role over a couple of beers in a rather scruffy pub in Islington”.

Bob’s announcement came as quite a bombshell to the Trustees as he has played an invaluable role in so many ways. Not only did Bob deal with the SNIPi finances for 10 years but he also took on the role of Company Secretary after Penny Dye retired. In addition he both redesigned and managed the SNIP International Database which collates the details of the animal welfare groups and the equipment donations they received. Bob’s consistent thoroughness and precision means that the Board could always rely on his judgement when important decisions needed to be made.

Luckily we managed to persuade Bob to stay on for a further year to allow a replacement to be found. Bob officially retired in May 2019 but has continued to offer support to our new Treasurer, Melanie Davies, in her first six months. He has been and still is instrumental in changing the SNIP International constitution from being an Incorporated Company, Limited by Guarantee, to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) which will ensure the reporting and accounting disclosure is simpler.

Bob will now step down as Trustee but continue as a Director of SNIP International.

A big thank you to Bob – his invaluable skills and expertise will be missed within the Board.

We plan to continue working with his legacy and we wish him well!

WELCOME TO MELANIE

SNIP International would like to introduce you to Melanie Davies, our new Treasurer and Trustee!

Melanie developed an interest in TNR when she visited Montenegro on holiday and became interested in the plight of Kotor’s many cats, many of which were in poor health. She discovered a US charity ‘Kotor Kitties’ that had recently been set up to respond to the issue and has been assisting managing this for over a year, and is now registering the charity in the UK.

As an actuary with familiarity with Excel, she applied to volunteer as SNIPi’s new Treasurer. Melanie is already proving to be invaluable to SNIPi’s work and the Board very much looks forward to continuing to work together in the future.