Hi All

I hope everyone is keeping safe and healthy in what has been strange times for us all. It kind of puts life into perspective really but hopefully now things seem to be heading in the right direction we can all get back to the Sport which we love to be a part of.

As you know Alison Weddle stepped down last season from her role as Volunteers Co-Ordinator. Life on the farm had taken much of Alison’s time up and she will be extremely difficult to replace! We are currently working to find the right person for this role and to be a part of the Burgham Orgainsing Team. For now if all volunteer enquires could be directed to volunteers@burghaminternationalhorsetrials.co.uk we will monitor those emails and come back to you soonest.

Burgham 2020
Burgham in 2020 is going to be different. First of all the dates – we have moved things back by 1 month to Thursday 20th – Sunday 23rd August 2020. This is to allow competitors to get runs into horses prior to an International Event. We will in fact be the 1st International back in Britain! Slightly scary but when talking to the Burgham team we all agreed it was the right thing to try and run the event.

We are currently working on a COVID-19 plan with our CMO Jonathon Forty, British Eventing and the FEI to ensure we have the correct measures and systems in place to ensure everyone’s safety. This will inevitable mean we have to do things differently. Everything is also developing quickly and what we plan now may in fact be different by August so please bear with us. If you have real concerns or feel you are in the vulnerable group I would ultimately advise to give 2020 a miss. Your health is paramount and we would not feel it right to compromise that. You can rest assured though that we will be doing everything possible to minimise risk and lay the groundworks for everyone hopefully to have a happy event.

Some of things that may be different (TBC and may change as time goes by!)

  • Temperature checks on arrival to site
  • No Briefing on site – this may be done pre event ‘virtually’ or alternatively at your fence on arrival by our team of BE Officials.
  • Go straight to your cross country fence – we are asking for this year if you could commit to a full day to avoid movement and change over during a day. This is to reduce contact as all equipment will be sanitized between uses.
  • No ‘Bun Run’ this year but we will supply packed lunch and refreshments at your fence with fence judging equipment. This would mean no Bacon Sandwich or Hot Drinks for 2020 – apologies!

Everything is evolving over time and we may be able to relax measures. We really value your expertise and time. As I always say without volunteers we really would not have a Sport – this is not to be taken lightly and again Thank-you!

Shortly you should receive a Survey Monkey Questionnaire asking about your availability, job role, lunch choice etc. It should only take 10 mins to fill in and will really help us to collate information efficiently. If you would prefer to email, that’s also fine, use the volunteers email address above.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries or questions. We hope to welcome you to Burgham in 2020!

Best wishes,

Martyn

Martyn Johnson
EVENT DIRECTOR

m. +44 (0)7742 171060
@. martyn@burghaminternationalhorsetrials.co.uk