Border Union Schools Countryside Day and dog show cancelled

The Schools Countryside Day is hugely popular among the region's P5 pupils each year. However, this year, it has become another victim of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Border Union Schools Countryside Day, normally held in May, and the two-day Border Union Championship Dog Show which had been scheduled for June 19 and 20, will not take place. However, the organisers of the dog show are investigating the possibility of rescheduling in the autumn.

The other core event in the society’s calendar, the Border Union Kelso Ram Sales, is viewed as business-critical and will go ahead on September 10, and it is hoped that additional events will also be able to return to the venue later this year.

BUAS chairman Ian Fleming said: “We know that this will come as a huge disappointment to many people, but while the vaccination programme continues apace with extremely encouraging results, significant uncertainty about the dates of lockdown-easing remains.

"The safety of the public, exhibitors, contractors, staff and our members, and adherence to Scottish Government guidelines, must remain our priority.

"Each event takes several months to plan and the point had been reached where costs would start to be incurred.

"Without absolute certainty that these events could proceed, the financial risks for the society remained too high and the regrettable decision to cancel had to be made.”

He added: “We are, however, committed to holding our business-critical Kelso Ram Sales on Friday, September 10, an important event for the sheep-farming industry.

"We’re also hopeful that the easing of lockdown measures will mean that we will be able to host other events again later this year.

"In the meantime, we’re delighted that the Borders Events Centre is currently being used by NHS Borders as a vaccination centre.”