BCHPA News

January 18 2005

Hi everyone,

Just before Christmas, the 2004/05 new Board of Directors of the B.C. Hanggliding and Paragliding Association met for the first time and reviewed the mandate and role of the BCHPA as a supporter of our sport in the province (the website will be updated in the very near future to reflect some of these developments). And more information as well as input from pilots around the province will be requested on the various forums.

As many of you know, over the last few years the BCHPA has accumulated pilot funds and our Board, with prior input from pilots at the recent Annual General Meeting in Vancouver, determined that these funds should be made to work for the development of our sport and for the protection and maintenance of our sites. It was also determined that wherever possible, the BCHPA partner with Clubs or groups of pilots or propose other financial arrangements, in order to sustain the financial resources and capacity of the BCHPA to assist the sport throughout the province for many years to come.

At the moment, the only annual income for the BCHPA are the membership dues collected annually on the Association´s behalf by HPAC. Your Board will look at other avenues of enhancing our capacity without interfering with the funding efforts of individual clubs or groups.

More about some of this in future postings. At this time, however, we want to reconfirm some timelines for applications for financial support from the BCHPA, as outlined late last year.

FIRST 2005 SUBMISSION ROUND

Proposal categories:

1. Site improvement, acquisition, maintenance
2. Study of an issue of key importance to the sport in B.C. (e.g. small but credible environmental impact study of the actual impact of paragliding and hanggliding on the land this is a proposal from a pilot who would like to see credible documentation to assist in lobby efforts provincially and nationally to have the ban on flying in parks lifted).
3. Support of individual pilots to attend international competitions.

Proposal components:

• executive summary
• statement of benefit to flying community locally and in British Columbia
• itemized budget including other sources of revenue to complete project
• completion timetable

Regarding individual pilots requesting support, please include:

• summary of competition to be attended and personal standing
• statement of personal contribution to flying community (e.g. site work volunteer, service to a club or on a club board, volunteer at flyin, etc.) (Please note that projects can not be funded retroactively).

Deadline for submissions:

First round: January 31, 2005 Letter of intent to submit
March 31, 2005 Completed proposal
(A second round will be held in summer/fall to be announced later)

This redirection of the BCHPA is intended to support our sport where that support is needed now in 2005 and in the future. It is a work in progress and we hope you will e-mail any of the Directors to let us have your feedback. As with a local club, it is only as strong as the membership make it.

On behalf of Peter Bowle-Evans for Golden& North, Jane Hunt for Okanagan, Rob Samplonius for Fraser Valley, Amir Izadi for Vancouver Island and me, Margit Nance for Vancouver/Pemberton, we look forward to working with clubs and pilots to strengthen our sport in the province and hope for your ongoing support.

Margit Nance
President
BCHPA