TERRI'S update

[TERRI]

Hi again Gemma, richard and all members,

 

Thankyou richard and gemma for you PM and everything you have done for us, we had no prior expectations so you can imagine how touching and emotional this experience has been.

 

I am posting this letter I have emailed to our local magazine editor and the same info has been emailed to those news papers that follow and cover our story.

 

I hope its content shows how the various pigeon websites take collective responsibility when people experience difficulties, and rather than being in competition with each other at times like this, join forces and support its members in such a way, that it should be acknowledged, commended and celebrated by all.

 

I wonder what could be achieved in the long term with a concerted joined force, addressing the fundamental issues and necessities we debate quite often on all such sites.I mention two web sites in particulary that have given help, but many were interested and showed their concern, too many to keep in touch, but I thank them all for their concern

Hi Sheila,

I rang you recently to ask if you would cover "our story" in your magazine next month and said I would send you all the relevant details, thank you for your interest and concern.

On Christmas Eve 2008, in the early hours of the morning four fires were set alight on the Castle Farm Allotment plots in Conisbrough. We received a telephone call saying ours and three other pigeon lofts were ablaze with approx 300 pigeons trapped inside. We were devastated, my husband Peter and some of the others had flown pigeons for 40 yrs, it is a love /passion /commitment that only a pigeon man/woman can relate to.

We and others arrived to discover the lofts were already burnt to the ground and our poor defenceless birds had been cremated. the fire brigade could do nothing but attempt to control and then distinguish the raging fires

Allotment Sites have experienced many such attacks recently by the nocturnal individuals, who prowl our streets and appeared to go undetected by the Police and the general public at large, and to date no one has been arrested for this heinous crime.

After the initial shock and the entirety of the situation was apparent, I posted a letter on various pigeon websites, asking for advice of how to come to terms with such an incident, moved on and find the strength to rebuild what you had lost under such tragic circumstances.

The response from two Sites in particular namely, THE PIGEON CHAT website and PIGEONBASICS.com was overwhelming and these people who offered us their unconditional support will, stay in our hearts and minds forever.

The PIGEON CHAT website, offered advice, concern and condolences and then told us they were going to start a fund for us by organizing an auction, members donated birds and then these birds were later bided for by the same members. The Fund raised £10.000 in approx three weeks, such was the empathy and generosity amongst the fanciers.

This money has now been used to buy us all a new top quality loft, 30ft by 8ft, which has been made and erected for us by Parkhall lofts, each of us then received a check for £200 to help with the costs of materials needed to furnish the insides.

Consequently because of THE FIRE FUND success it was decided that this newly established fund would become a permanent venture, to help others, who God forbid, may find themselves in a similar situation, at some time in the future.

Graham and Pat Burton, the Conisbrough and Denaby Homing Society Secretary also put a post on THE PIGEON CHAT website asking if anyone could help and then referred the donations to the sites FIRE FUND, their help will always be cherished and we would personally like to them Publicly for this. Thank You so much Graham and Pat.

My sister also spent many weeks responding to the overwhelming response, and was amazed, in fact reduced to tears, when the offers of help began to arrive, she was, as I acutely aware, these offers were from total strangers which made it all the more poignant

The PIGEONBASICS.COM website, although aware of the help from the other Site and because of the enormity of our loss, gave the same emotional and unconditional support and then persuaded us to apply directly to their already established FUND for help. the allocation of money from this fund was not guaranteed, but judgement was based on an individual basis and allocated accordingly.

We have just this week, each received a substantial check to help with the costs of re establishing ourselves in the pigeon community, and a letter with their regards saying, how shocked they were, on viewing my pictures, to see the amount of devastation they depicted.

I cannot put into words just how much this support has helped us cope through this difficult time and how proud I am of the members for such an achievement. I speak not only from a personal view point, but refer to the many charities around the world, these very same pigeon men and women, donate so much of their time, efforts and money too, regardless of publicity or acknowledgment as is the case in some instances.

The only expectation I had held on my first contact to these sites, was to receive some comforting, emotional support and advice from anyone who had experienced such as us.

To find the words to express exactly how we feel of the response, support and kindness offered is impossible, but our thanks, appreciation and gratitude comes in abundance and is offered directly to these very special, unique people of the Pigeon Brotherhood.

We had everything and then had nothing, many people who had nothing gave us their everything, this we shall never forget and they will stay in our hearts and mind forever!

The GPO (General Post office) also heard of our story and offered their help by way of a community project, initially they intended to help clear the remains from the fire, but the allotment holder themselves had already to their credit, collectively helped to clear this away. After discussion with the Allotment committee, it was decided that the two days allocation of GPO workers, would be spent, repairing the access routes and helping the elderly members to bring their gardens back up to standards, that could easily be maintained.

The committee are also applying for grants to help ensure the long term future of the allotments and plans to try and attract more families to it and hope to capture the local schools etc attention and involvement in the near future.Any constructive suggestions or advise is welcome.

At present I am in consultation with my local councillor and neighbourhood committee, regarding the security issue of allotments and the Police are actively helping these talks.

I have asked if some old lights can be replaced so we can install we can install adequate CCTV equipment and burglar alarms to ensure, should the nocturnal individual /or 's decide to revisit, he/she/or they, would at last be arrested, prosecuted and hopefully punished accordingly.

The local and regional news papers have done a marvelous job of covering "our story" not once, but numerous times, in particular I would like to thank the South Yorkshire times, Free Press, the Doncaster and Sheffield Star for their contribution and concern.

Some friends of ours Colin and Yvonne Rufus have arranged to do a STARS IN THEIR EYES concert the 4 April to help with fund raising, it was arranged initially for 14 Feb but had to be rescheduled because of its popularity and demand, we thank all involved for this.

The reason I ask you to cover our story, is to not only celebrate and honour what has been achieved in such a relatively short time, by so many.

It is to Promote and raise awareness of our Sport, highlight the difficulties, share its achievements, create, attract and inspire new recruits to adopt / participate in this rewarding Sport and Lifestyle.

To show how people come together when faced with adversity, and how each individual person inspires the other.

Through events we have witnessed both end of the spectrum, extreme cruelty and unimaginable kindness, I personally have not only improved my computer skills, I have learnt so much from this experience and the one thing that is abundantly clear is, there are more good people out there than bad, philosophically speaking I feel we have gained much more than we have lost and I would like to thank everyone who were involved.

My intention now is to do something for those members by raising awareness for our Sport/fancy and highlighting the moral commitments within The brotherhood itself.

This is my original letter and that of Graham and Pat Burton.

Conisbrough Allotment Fire Christmas Eve

by TERRI on Sun Dec 28, 2008 9:17 pm

Hello members,

this is the wife of Peter Thompson who appeared on Calendar News tonight speaking of how devastated he and other members of The Conisbrough Homing Society feel after their pigeon lofts were deliberately burnt to the ground, inclusive of approximately 300 birds and two canaries in total, on Christmas Eve.

I am sure you have already read the related letter submitted recently by Graham and Pat Burton. Graham being the president and Pat the secretary of the Denaby HS and who both know each individual member personally and can empathize with our loss.

My husband and his twin brother Eric have flown pigeons since the age of 13 yrs old and fly as Thompson Brothers. They have won many races and have many accreditation's to their name such as, when they were awarded First Prize in the Yorkshire Federation Amalgamation Race with one of their prize birds. Incidentally this bird was later stolen in the same year, we suspect by the same person, who set the lofts alight Christmas eve.

As the wife of a pigeon man it has not always been easy to support my husband in the pursuit of his hobby and as a family we have made many sacrifices. However, even in the early days I was wise enough to recognise that a true pigeon man loves, lives, and breathes pigeons, so consequently I have encouraged and supported my husband throughout.

My husband and his brother have not only lost their lofts, birds and material possessions, they have also lost treasured symbolic items such as our 22 year old sons first pair of wellies, bought when a child . An antique mirror given to him and his brother, by his now, deceased Grandmother. A workmate bought for him by our daughter, when she first qualified as a nurse and many drawings that were done throughout our children’s school years.

I hope to post the beautiful photographs taken last summer of my husbands and his brothers allotment, some taken in the aftermath of the fire and although gruesome and extremely difficult at the time for me to photograph, some photos of those poor defenceless birds that perished in the fires of that night.

This callus incomprehensible act has not only robbed my husband and others of 40 years of their life, it has taken their heart and sole.

I have no doubt many of you members will have experienced similar situations and I would appreciate any good advice on how you came to terms with it and found the strength to start again. I shall keep you posted on any developments TERRI

loft arson

by graham burton on Fri Dec 26, 2008 4:28 pm

early morning on christmas eve our local mindless scum of an arsonist stuck again, this time burning down three lofts on the castle farm allotments gardens lane conisbrough completely destroying the lofts of dave samson, Shaun cartwright & peter & eric thompson who have all got nothing left at all, carl davis & young daughters who are actively involved with the pigeons had their loft fire damaged and lost some of their birds, thompson twins have flown on these gardens for nearly fifty years, a lifetimes work destroyed, pete hobson,s lock had been bolt cropped as it would seem that his loft was the next to be targeted, in the last 18 months seven lofts have been burnt out, some more than once plus recently reg Benton who has been top prize winner in denaby h.s for many years had someone break into his lofts and strip his RACE TEAM of their flight feathers, how long can this go on, the police don,t seem to be able to do anything about it, if you watch calendar on the 27th DEC you will be able to see the devastation for yourselves, we are hoping to set up a fund for these ordinary working class lads who will struggle to get back up and running again, we are also going to approach south Yorkshire region and the r.p.r.a,we would be grateful of any help in whatever shape or form from anyone, any where, the way we see it if they are allowed to be forced out of the sport because of these purely evil deeds then the perpetrator will have won, please if you can, help us not to let this happen

Pat & Graham Burton

Shelia I will send you a link to the , "Before and after " photo's and one of the more recent, those of the new loft, if you need anymore info, pleased contact me via email. TERRi

Hi again members,

 

I am posting this letter I have emailed to our local magazine editor and the same info has been emailed to those news papers that follow and cover our story.

 

I hope its content shows how the various pigeon websites take collective responsibility when people experience difficulties, and rather than being in competition with each other at times like this, join forces and support its members in such a way, that it should be acknowledged, commended and celebrated by all.

 

I wonder what could be achieved in the long term with a concerted joined force, addressing the fundamental issues and necessities we debate quite often on all such sites. I mention two web sites in particularly that have given help, but many were interested and showed their concern, too many to keep in touch, but I thank them all for their concern

 

 

 

 

 

[grizzle_hen]

That is great, well done for putting the letter together. Everyone on here and Pigeon Chat should be thanked for helping you and the others in their time of need.

 

We wish you every success and it's great that you are making more people aware of these arson attacks.

[jimmy white]

well done terry ,, i hope things work out well for you now, after that devastating loss,, its great to see [as others have also  done] the gennuine  appreciation you have shown,to the members  pigeon basics , and off course pigeon chat,,,,  may you have a great" pigeon future"  ahead of you    best of luck

[OLDYELLOW]

yup have to say best of luck and from the ashes the phoenix rises again to become great and magnificent again

[TERRI]

As grizzle hen has said, everyone should be "Thanked" and she is so right, I posted a Thank You from me personally yesterday on a thread, Fire Victims Thank you. Today I was so eager to tell you of the response we received, much as I have written, I forgot to say how all the other victims reacted to the arrival of their post, like us they were so grateful and asked me to thank you on behalf of themselves, At the moment I feel like the secretary who is trying to keep up with a boss that never stops dictating and does so at speed I think you know what I mean. So much has happened, its hard to keep pace and there are so many people to thank sometimes its hard to know where to start, not to mention, my other mission, Promoting the Sport and Raising its Profile and attempting to educate the public of its value in communities, using our personal experience as my tool.

 

Thank You for the responses to my post and most importantly

 

THNKYOU ONCE AGAIN TO YOU ALL, FROM ALL OF US. TERRI

[frank-123]

thanks for keeping us up to date they say good always triumphs over evil

[TERRI]

Bart I think that is evident from what has happened in our case and thank you for your comment and support.

 

OldYellow thank you for posting the picture from my link of Andy and Lee from Parkhall lofts, erecting Shaun's loft, they did us proud and so too deserve any publicity that comes their way.

 

My thanks to you Ian (Mackay) who advised me about posting when I was too tired and couldn't concentrate on how to do something regarding my posting

 

And a special mention of gratitude for the constant communication from JM couriers who offered their support free of charge should we need it. TERRI