Accepting David’s resignation is a mistake that the BFS may end up regretting. Up until the awards ceremony he was doing a sterling job.

The BFS has been going through transitions, it has been merging publications into a beautifully presented volume, which even though that too has had teething troubles, is still excellent.

There’s been a reshuffle of the Chairman and Committee, which also needs time to settle into its groove.

There’s a new logo, the website has been overhauled into a much smarter and far more functional design, and the general overall feel of a more professional body has been hiked up.

David’s new broom appeared to be sweeping very clean, and things were getting to the point where the BFS could take its place on the global stage without seeming like the ‘poor relation’.

The awards had unfortunate consequences, but to my way of thinking there are far too many over-reactions involved from all sides. I believe that given more time to work out the best ways of doing things, David could have continued championing the BFS cause and exonerated himself admirably.

As is obvious from your statement, he was thrust into a situation he couldn’t readily avoid. It leaves me wondering what would have been said had the actual awards administrator been able to fulfill the duty, as the results would have been the same.

I believe that if the decision over David stepping down could be reversed, it should be.

Regards.

Joe Young.