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News | 29 October 2026

Annual Parents’ Meeting 2026

Annual Parents’ Meeting 28th Oct 2026

Welcome – DC Katy Reid

 

Thank you to everyone who attended our Awards Night and Halloween Party last night. As discussed, here is a copy of the Annual Parents Meeting.

We last reported in July 2025 just before Camp and are now into our final year as a committee.

 

I wanted to start off by reminding you of the goals we set ourselves at the start of our tenure:

 

  • Increase membership
  • Drive Participation at rallies and events both ridden and non-ridden:
  • Improve Test participation and success rate
  • Maintain a healthy bank account balance
  • Drive PC revenue through external field hire and events

 

How are we doing against those goals?

 

Firstly, membership has increased to 128, which is 6 up from this time last year. We are now the 2nd biggest branch in Area 12 and one of only 4 branches growing year on year. Nationally, membership is pretty static, so we are pleased to be doing our part in keeping Pony Club strong.

 

Vikki and Rosie have been working very hard with the rallies to offer up a varied, fun and educational programme. In the 12 months from Sept 25, we have put on 111 rallies with 600 attendees – and this doesn’t include Camp.

 

We have run these at cost to make sure the price to our members, is as low as possible.

 

Tests have been a big focus, and we are thrilled that 40 (edit now 41!) of our members have passed a test in the last year ranging from our mini campers taking E test to Holly Hudgell her B+. We subsidise training and tests to enable as many members as possible to take them as we strongly believe in the benefit of taking them for our members educationally and especially for horse welfare.

 

Events and field hire have contributed massively to the branch; we held 3 competitions which brought lots of old and new faces to our fabulous field – the Area 12 Tetrathlon, Clear Round XC and the Area 12 One Day Event Championships. We also held the Festive Show at Bury Farm as well as our wonderful Halloween events.

 

This year we are adding to the calendar with the Bridgerton Ball, with all profits going to the Hospice of St Francis. Tickets are still on sale, and we would love to see as many of you as possible there.

 

Camp this year was the largest ever with over 70 children across our 3 camps; Yellowstone, Mini and Main. This is the absolute maximum we can take, and we were operating a waiting list again. The new stables went down very well, as did the amended timetable to take into account hot weather and hard ground.

 

On the competition front we have been busy, busy, busy as was evidenced by the very strong Flamstead showing in the Area 12 Winter Leagues. We also had qualifiers at Spring Festival, Regional Champs and National Championships – including for the first time a team in the PC110 Eventing at Bishop Burton – which we won!

 

I want to extend a massive thank you to our committee and also those in vital working groups; Camp Committee, Field Working Group, Events teams and the Flamstead Fun Society for all they do for our club.

 

In September 2027 it will be the turn of a new DC to take over the reins; we invite anyone interested to step forward by the end of November so we can start the handover process in January 2027. To facilitate this, could everyone please complete this short survey on where you could help our club in any little way?

 

Treasurer’s Update – Emily Spry

I’m pleased to report that we have already raised the funds needed for the Branch for 2026.  Happily, this allows us to donate all funds raised at our Pony Club Ball in November to the St Francis Hospice.  The majority of funds are raised from big ridden events, including both the Tetrathlon and One Day Event for Area 12, as well as our famous Festive Show at Bury Farm.  We also had substantial contributions from fundraising events, such as the wonderful Camp Barbecue.
Thanks to both your membership fees and our fundraising, we have been able to train and check all our volunteers, carry out the essential upkeep at the Pony Club Field and support those representing the Club regionally and nationally (through coach support and partial fee refunds).  We will also be able to fund some lovely new jumps at the Field, ready for 2027.
The Flamstead Pony Club Camp in July had a turnover of £27,000 and made a small loss (less than £100).  Rallies are also carefully priced to break even, once coaches and venues have been paid.

 

DC Katy Reid

Joint Secretaries Karen Latham and Vikki Batizovszky

Treasurer Emily Spry

Health & Safety Emilie Morton

Safeguarding Natalie Hubble

Rising Stars Rosie Hamilton

Head Coach Georgie Dalton

Discipline Heads: Juliet Laing, Juliet Hooper, Sarah Hudgell, Kate Rainbow

 

Our mission statement:

“At Flamstead, we strive to cultivate a vibrant and inclusive Pony Club community where individuals of all ages can experience the joy of horsemanship, forge lasting friendships, and engage in quality education centred around horse welfare. Our goal is to create unforgettable experiences through engaging non-ridden activities as well as memorable ridden rallies that inspire friendships that last a lifetime. We strive to make competition fun and accessible, ensuring every child feels supported in their pursuit of achievement while cultivating laughter, companionship, and unity among all members.”