Officials
Alan Williamson – President
Vice President – Gordon Stewart
Secretary – William Davidson
Treasurer – William Davidson
Transport Manager – Gordon Stewart
Race controller – Colin Rae
Contact
History – founded in 1982
Aberdeen Federation was formed in 1982 after the members of Tayside Federation, which we were members of, split and left us with all the assets. We set about changing the name to Aberdeen Federation of Racing Pigeons.
Prior to that Aberdeen were part of the North of Scotland Federation which was formed about 1975 when rail transport was being reduced by the rail network after the BEECHING axe from the then government who decide to reduce the rail network and finally stopped shipping pigeons in 1976. We were forced to start road transport. We were uncomfortable with some propositions being introduce by the then committee and were given the opportunity to leave and join the Tayside Federation which we did.
Transport
We had always bought second hand vehicles because of costs and regularly had large running repairs. In about 2004 new rules came out from DEFRA regarding vehicle transporters and how they should be cleaned making the use of non-porous materials a necessity. That was the Q for the Federation to start an action plan to build ourselves a New vehicle to comply with existing rules with help from the Lottery Fund. We also managed (with Ian Douglas’s help) to get a sponsor who donated £5,000. This plan was executed to a “T” with our finances being controlled by our Sec/ Treasurer Mary Park. The outcome was we had a New vehicle on the road in 2007 with our own private plate AB 07 FED which we will retain. To celebrate the arrival we had an Open day at AUCHLEA farm where we had the use of a large Dutch type barn especially cleaned for us by Alec Clark the owner to allow us to have a barbecue, the New vehicle was for the first time on show to the members after W Davidson and Ian McKay collected it from Geraldy in Germany where the body was fitted. This barbecue was free to all who attended and was not taken from Federation funds. The cost £990, there were 2 porta-loos (donated) one for ladies and one for gents, big barbeque and an operator (Harry Haney) who towed it with his car and cooked all the food, we had everything else you would expect to get at a barbeque with a full array of sweets and cakes, every member past and present of the Federation including families and past and present drivers were invited. In 2027 we had 99 members so a huge event all completely free paid for by gifts and donations and the Dutch barn was give free by Alec Clark. Auchlea, Kingswells.
Now in 2026 our transporter being an old girl at 19yrs of age and now twice the size we need because of falling membership it is time to move forward and execute plan 2027, which is again to fund a New vehicle to preserve the future of racing pigeons in the Aberdeen area for the next 15 yrs. This time the challenge will be even bigger as the cost of the vehicle is horrendous and VAT @ 20% and we only have 38 members.
The new body
The new Chassis Crew Cab. Rear.
The New Chassis Crew Cab. Front.
Since the Federation AGM Dec 7th 2025 where there was £5,000 in the transport fund. Today there is about £15,000, the fund raising ventures have been supported well by most as usual there some who think we are not in need of a new transporter which is a very selfish attitude but it happened the last time as well, I wonder if they will put there birds in the new transporter?
On Thursday the 30th April 2026 W Davidson phoned and announced the Federation were granted £20,000 by the Lottery to help fund our effort, this was our biggest hurdle. So it is now definitely possible to put a brand New 3.5t Crew Cab on the road for 2027, 20years since our last one which will now be sold to help finance our new venture. This is quite remarkable when you consider the size of our federation, an achievement not many Federations in the UK can claim and to do it twice is remarkable.