RCO Team
Voluntary Regional Co-ordinators (RCOs) who are BVNA Members and RVNs organise meetings and CPD on behalf of the BVNA. Click here to look for the Regional Co-ordinator in your area.
N.B Please ensure you advise us of any changes to your contact details, particularly your email address so we can keep you informed of any regional meetings in your area. Please inform us at: www.bvna@bvna.co.uk
Guidelines For Potential Regional Co- ordinators:
Meetings
As a Regional Co-ordinator, you are expected to hold a minimum of 4 meetings per calendar year, for example, one in Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter, however you can plan them for whenever suits you best. These meetings are offered to both members of BVNA and non-members, enabling you to build a community of veterinary nurses in your region.
In order to cover the costs of these meetings, RCOs charge delegates ‘door money’. Door money covers the cost of any venue hire, catering costs, speaker’s fee and any misc. expenses such as printing, postage, etc. Some companies are happy to provide financial sponsorship towards the meetings or even a speaker depending on the topic of the meeting.
Regional Co-ordinators are not expected to be out of pocket as a result of running a region, however it would be expected that you would need to pay out for some small expenses and claim these amounts back. Venue hire and catering can be invoiced directly to the BVNA office if the venue is happy to do this.
The BVNA Office team can help you with invites, mailshots, E-newsletters and any general queries you might have. So it’s important to remember help is always there!
Frequency of Accessing Emails
Email is now the most frequently used method of communication by regional co-ordinators, the BVNA Office and RCO Team Leader. In some cases, responses to emails are required more urgently than others, so as a guide, we would expect you to access and respond to emails at least twice weekly (Mon – Fri).
BVNA RCO of the Year Competition
For the past few years Bayer Animal Health have kindly sponsored the BVNA RCO of the Year competition, whereby all BVNA RCOs are automatically entered into a competition which rewards them for their efforts in organising meetings throughout the Council Year (October to October). You will be asked to send all correspondence, meeting invites etc, and anything extra that you do/organise as an RCO, to the RCO Team Leader, who will create your own personal portfolio, which will be submitted to the Bayer judging panel in September, and the winning RCO will be announced during the Awards Ceremony on the Saturday morning at BVNA Congress. The winning RCO will receive £1000 sponsorship for their region to help fund further meetings PLUS £200 high street vouchers for themselves.
You will be issued with competition forms which you are asked to hand out to every delegate who attends a meeting you hold and ask them to kindly complete the forms and hand back to you at the end of the meeting.
BVNA Congress
Every year in October BVNA hold their annual congress and as a thank you for your hard work during each year, you will be invited by the current RCO Team Leader to congress, where the RCO AGM takes place on the Saturday afternoon, and the BVNA Council AGM takes place on Sunday, both of which you will be expected to attend. Shared accommodation (with another RCO) is provided along with a ticket for the Saturday evening dinner dance. BVNA will also cover your travelling expenses (depending on your location this will need to have prior approval by the RCO Team Leader).
Regional Co-ordinator’s Annual General Meeting
Every year the RCO AGM is arranged so all regional co-ordinators and assistants can meet up, review the last twelve months, and look forward/plan together for the next year. The AGM always coincides with our Annual Congress, and is normally held on the Saturday afternoon at 2pm (until 3.30pm approx) at the congress venue.
RCOs should have fun and the role should be an enjoyable experience!
If you are interested but would like to receive more detailed information pack along with an application form then please contact RCO Team Leader, Donna Lewis by email donnaleighlewis@hotmail.com
We look forward to hearing from you and you hopefully joining the team!